reat melon held in
the skirt of her red gown, and was off down the slope at the top of
her speed.

Ephraim put on his "specs" and gravely stared after her; then shook
his head, saying:

"Dat yeah gell's de flightiest evah! Ain't it de trufe?"

But now a new idea had come to Jim, and laying a hand on the collars
of the other lads, he brought their heads into whispering nearness of
his own:

"Say, fellows, _let's buy Billy_! A mule that understands English is
the mule to draw the Water Lily!"

A pause, while the notion was considered, then Melvin exclaimed:

"Good enough! If he doesn't ask too much. Try him!"

"Yes, ask him. I'll contribute a fiver, myself," added Gerald.

Ephraim had now struggled over the fence and was pottering about among
the melons, with the eye of a connoisseur selecting and laying aside a
dozen of the choicest. Those which were not already black of stem he
passed by as worthless, as he did those which did not yield a peculiar
softness to the pressure of his thumb. His face fairly glittered and
his "roomaticals" were wholly forgotten; till his attention was
suddenly arrested by the word "money," spoken by one of the boys
beyond the fence. At that he stood up, put his hands on his hips, and
groaned; then keenly listened to what was being said.

"Ye-es. I _might_ want to sell Billy, but I cayn't. I cayn't never
sell anything."

"Well, we're looking for a mule, a likely mule. One strong enough to
haul a house-boat. Billy's pretty big; looks as if he could."

"Billy can do anything he's asked to. Cayn't you, Billy?"

It was funny to see the clever beast rise slowly to his feet, shake
the dust from his great frame, turn his sorrowful gaze upon his
master's face, and utter his assenting bray.

Melvin flung himself on the grass and laughed till his sides ached;
then sprang up again wild with eagerness to possess such a comical
creature:

"Oh! Buy him--buy him--no matter the price! He'd be the life of the
whole trip! I'll give something, too, as much as I can spare!"

Jim tried to keep his face straight as he inquired:

"What is the price of Billy, sir?"

The farmer sighed, so long and deeply, that the mule lay down again
as if pondering the matter.

"Young man, that there Billy-mule is beyond price. There ain't another
like him, neither along the Magothy nor on the Eastern Sho'. I cayn't
sell Billy."

During his life upon the mountains James Barlow had seen something of
"horse-tra