tom out,' Tom said, with a sneer.
Both jokes were atrocious, but they made Jerrie laugh, which was
something. She was glad on the whole that Billy had come, and when he
offered her the berries and the flowers, she accepted them graciously,
and bade him sit down, if he could find a seat.

'Here is one on the wash bench,' she said, 'or, will be when I have
emptied the tub;' and she was about to take up the latter, when Billy
sprang to her assistance and emptied it himself, while Tom sat looking
on, chaffing with anger and disgust.

After a moment Billy stuttered out:

'Ann Eliza sent me here, and wants you to c-c-come and see her rooms.
G-g-got a suite, you know; and, by Jove, they are like a b-b-bazaar,
they are so f-full of things, and fl-flowers; half Vassar is there. Got
your basket of d-daisies, Tom, and when I asked her where she g-g-got
'em, she said it was n-n-none of my business. D-did she steal 'em?' and
he turned to Jerrie, whose face was scarlet, as she replied:

'No, I gave them to her, with a lot of others; I could not bring them
all and it was better to dispose of home flowers, as I can get them any
time.'

Tom could have beaten the air, he was so angry. He had been vain enough
to hope that his gift was carefully put away in some box or parcel; and
lo! it was in the possession of that red-haired Peterkin girl, whose
_penchant_ for himself he suspected, and whom he despised accordingly.

'Much obliged to you for giving away my flowers,' he was going to say,
when Mrs. Crawford called again, and this time in real distress.

'Jerrie, Jerrie! you _must_ come now, for here is Dick St. Claire.'

For an instant Jerrie hesitated, and then ashamed of the feeling which
had at first prompted her not to let Dick into the wood-shed, she
replied:

'If Tom and Billy can he admitted to my boudoir, Dick can. Send him in.'

'By George, this is jolly!' Dick said, as he bent his tall figure under
the low door-way, and seated himself upon the inverted washtub which
Billy had emptied. 'Have you all been washing?' 'No,' Jerrie answered,
proudly. 'I am the washerwoman, and all those clothes you saw on the
line are my handiwork.'

'By George!' Dick said again. 'You are a trump, Jerrie! Why didn't you
wear that dress when you were graduated? It's the prettiest costume I
ever saw.'

'Th-that's what I think, only I d-didn't d-dare t-tell her so!' Billy
cried, springing to his feet and hopping about like a little robin.