186 THE STRAWBERRY GARDEN. 



" You don't mean it, my boy ! Ripe already ! What 

 are you going to do with it? " 



" Use it for a sample. Take it round and show it to the 

 dealers as a specimen of our crop." 



" So I would. I'd go this afternoon. You can have my 

 lunch-basket to carry it in, and I'll line it with soft white 

 paper, so that it will look extra fine." 



" Good for you, Kate ! I'll start right after dinner." 



He did so. Trotting gayly along with his basket he little 

 heeded the passers, or what they might think of him. 

 Entering the first provision store he came to, he displayed 

 his sample bunch of grapes, and offered his crop at market 

 rates, whatever they might be. The man in the store 

 questioned him concerning his fruit, and told him to bring 

 a bushel of them as soon as they were ready. 



" What do you mean to pay for them ? " 



" Can't tell. See how they look, and how the market 

 stands. Western grapes will be here soon, and then they 

 will be cheap enough." 



Johnny mentally hoped that the western grapes would 

 stay away a few days. On entering another store, he met 

 with nearly the same experience. They would buy them if 

 as good as the sample. Feeling highly elated at the pros- 

 pect of the market, he thought he would treat himself. He 

 had worked hard all summer, and virtue should be rewarded. 

 He would indulge in a few peanuts. 



An ancient female, of Irish descent, commonly sat at the 



