ill at last one day
some of the big people said in the children's hearing, "a couple of
days' sunshine and the blackberries will be at their prime; there's a
splendid show of them this year."

Nora and Hilary could scarcely keep from jumping with joy, and they made
Cecil nearly as eager as themselves. The sun seemed to enter into their
feelings, for the very next morning he showed a more smiling face than
for some time past, and continued in this amiable humour for several
days, so that the children were able on the third day to set off, armed
with baskets nearly as big as themselves, for a regular good
blackberrying.

[Illustration]

All went well for some time. They had been told where and how far they
might go, and though it took _rather_ longer than they had expected, to
fill even one of the baskets, they worked on cheerfully, nowise
disheartened, chattering to each other from time to time, when a strange
thing happened.

Nora was just saying that the _only_ thing she was ever afraid of in the
woods was "snakes," and Cecil was assuring her that he was quite certain
there were none in "our woods," when he was startled by her giving a
little scream.

"What's the matter?" he called out, half thinking that a snake had
appeared after all.

"Hush, Cecil, oh, hush!" said Nora in a low and startled voice; "come
here, and you, Hilary, come close here, but don't make any noise."

Wondering, and a little frightened, the two boys crept through the
bushes to her side.

"What is it, Nora?" they both whispered in an awestruck tone.

[Illustration]

"I don't know," she replied. "Cecil, do _you_ know of anything _queer_
in these woods? Are there any dwarfs or--or creatures like in fairy
stories? For I am sure I saw a very, very little black or dark-brown man
with a red jacket and cap--he wasn't as high as up to my
waist--scrambling among the bushes over there, and picking and eating
blackberries."

Cecil and Hilary stared at her.

"You must have fancied it, Nora," said Cecil. "I never heard of a--" but
he was interrupted by a sort of smothered scream.

"There, there," whispered Nora, clutching hold of both the boys, "there
he is again!"

And sure enough there "he" was, and just exactly as Nora had described
him. A tiny dark-brown creature, like a wee old man, with a little red
jacket, and a small red skull-cap on the top of his head. He seemed to
have come up suddenly from among the bushes; he was holding the bra