they
started for the nearest clump of bushes, each carrying a tin cup,
which, when filled with berries, was to be emptied into one of the
buckets placed at a convenient spot.

Alene gave a gasp of joy, when parting the branches she found an
abundance of delicious fruit. Her first scratch, a tiny one on the
back of her hand, was proudly exhibited to the others.

"How many have you eaten?" inquired Laura.

"Not a one!"

"Show your tongue, little girl," said Ivy in a doubting tone. "Why,
you poor thing, you haven't tasted one! Look at mine," she opened her
mouth.

"Poor Mrs. Kump!" said Alene.

The others laughed.

"Oh, there will be plenty for her. Eat all you wish, Alene; Mat and
Hugh are noted pickers, there's no fear of our taking home empty
buckets," said Laura.

Alene's lips were soon in the same state as Ivy's. The air had given
her a sharp appetite, and when in the course of the morning, Laura
found a package of sandwiches and tarts hidden under the seat of the
surrey, she declared that nothing had ever tasted quite so good as the
portion she disposed of, along with her tin of clear cold water from a
neighboring well.

While enjoying luncheon her eyes wandered over the berry patch which
sloped gently upward to the road. A great many children and a few men
and women were scattered over the field, stripping the bushes.

Across the patch a barred gate led to fields of pasture, and some of
the boys on the safe side of the fence were goading a great red bull
into a state of frenzy.

As he tossed his head and bellowed, stamping and goring the ground,
Alene was glad there was a strong fence between them. She thought she
recognized among the mischievous lads one of the crowd they had passed
on the road in the early morning.

The girls brushed away the crumbs of the feast and went back to the
bushes, while the boys returned the borrowed water bucket to its owner,
who lived a short distance up the lane.

Alene was busy picking the ripe berries from an unusually heavy-laden
branch, rejoicing to see her measure filling so rapidly, when she heard
a terrified shriek.

She jumped to her feet, letting the cup fall from her grasp, and turned
to find the other girls standing with horror-stricken faces, gazing
across the patch. In a moment she knew what had happened. The wide,
barred gate had become unfastened in some way, probably by one of the
boys. It was standing wide open and the angry bull had come