"Mammy," he said, "they don't grow beds of Roses and Violets out here, nor anywhere, I guess, but at home."

"It is you that have to grow 'out here,' Magnus."

"Yes'm. How much?" said Magnus; "I'm a good half-inch taller already."

"Dear me!" said Mrs. Kindred, quoting her favourite lines:

"It is not growing like a tree
That makes man better be."

"A whole half-inch, Magnus?"

Magnus laughed.

"Ah, mammy," he said, "you can't keep dark worth a cent. Truly, a whole half-inch. Call it three-quarters."

"I must remember and tell the girls," said Mrs. Kindred.