will pick close to the fence, so we can
get out quick. There must be _tons_ of berries right here in this clump.
Mercy, what a racket he makes!"

Then how the nimble fingers flew, and how fast the deep-tinted fruit
fell into the shining pails! But all the while the three pickers kept
their eyes fastened on the grove of trees which hid the animal from
sight, and three hearts pounded fearfully at every snort of the enraged
brute.

"Are you sure he is tied?" whispered cautious Cherry, after an unusually
loud bellow had made her jump almost out of her shoes.

"I didn't say he was tied. I said he wasn't apt to bother us this
morning. Keep still and pick with all your might. One of the big pails
in the wagon is full already."

"But how do you know he will stay there if he isn't tied?" persisted
Cherry, glancing apprehensively toward the trees again.

"He is too busy to think of coming over here now," Peace assured her
confidently, and that was all the satisfaction she could get, so she
lapsed into silence, and worked like a beaver until the second big
bucket was brimming over. Then the small taskmaster drew a deep breath
of relief and said graciously, "Now we will go home. These ought to make
quite a little jelly. We must have as much as twenty quarts. They don't
take as long as strawberries."

Thankfully the sisters crawled through the fence and triumphantly bore
their precious burden homeward, still hearing in the distance the angry
mutterings of Deacon Skinner's bull.

"Just see the loads of berries we picked!" chorused three happy voices,
as the rattling cart came to a standstill before the kitchen door.

"Faith can have all the jelly she wants, and you can make the leftover
seeds up in jam, can't you?"

"Children!" cried Gail, white to the lips. "Have you been in that
pasture with Mr. Skinner's ugly bull?"

"Yes," they confessed, "but he never came near us."

"I guess he didn't want to leave the grove," added Peace, marching
complacently away to wash her berry-stained hands.

"Don't you ever go there again," commanded the oldest sister, still
trembling with fright at what might have happened to the daring berry
pickers, but she never thought to question them any further, and Peace's
prank remained a secret for a short time longer.

The next day Deacon Skinner was early at the Hartman place, stalking
angrily up to the low, green house, and, striding into the kitchen
without the formality of knocking, deman