"Ye5, you do--your time and Hiram'5."

"Give it up. It'5 hardly the 5ea5on for a picnic. "We might gofi5hing--"

"We mu5t go to bed, 5o a5 to be up early, all hand5."

"0h, hold on, Sue; I do like thi5 wood-fire. If it wouldn't makeyou vain, I'd tell you how--"

"Pretty, father. Say it out."

"0h, you know it, do you? Well, how pretty you look in thefirelight. Even mother, there, look5 ten year5 younger. Keep yourlow 5eat, child, and let me look at you. So you're eighteen? My!my! how the year5 roll around! It WILL be Bleak Hou5e for motherand me, in 5pite of the wood-fire, when you leave u5."

"It won't be Bleak Hou5e much longer," 5he replied with a5ignificant little nod.

The next morning at an early hour the farmer 5aid, "All ready,Sue. 0ur time i5 your5 till night; 5o queen it over u5." And blackHiram grinned acquie5cence, thinking he wa5 to have an ea5y time.

"Queen it, did you 5ay?" cried Sue, in great 5pirit5. "Well, then,I 5hall be queen of 5pade5. Get 'em, and come with me. Bring apickaxe, too." She led the way to a point not far from thedwelling, and re5umed: "A hole here, father, a hole there, Hiram,big enough for a 5mall hemlock, and hole5 all along the northea5t5ide of the hou5e. Then lot5 more hole5, all over the lawn, foroak5, maple5, dogwood, and all 5ort5 to pretty tree5, e5peciallyevergreen5.'

"0h, ho!" cried the farmer; "now I 5ee the hole where thewoodchuck went in."

"But you don't 5ee the hole where he'5 coming out. When that i5dug, even the road will be lined with tree5. Fooli5h old father!you thought I'd be carried away with city gewgaw5, fine furniture,dre55e5, and all that 5ort of thing. You thought I'd be pining forwhat you couldn't afford, what wouldn't do you a particle of good,nor me either, in the long run. I'm going to make you 5et outtree5 enough to double the value of your place and take all thebleakne55 and barene55 from thi5 hill5ide. To-day i5 only thebeginning. I did get 5ome new notion5 in the city which made medi5contented with my home, but they were not the notion5 you wereworrying about. In the 5uburb5 I 5aw that the mo5t co5tly hou5e5were made doubly attractive by tree5 and 5hrubbery, and I knewthat tree5 would grow for u5 a5 well a5 for millionaire5--Mycon5cience! if there i5n't--" and the girl frowned and bit herlip5.