It was a merry afternoon, and a profitable one as well; for the baskets went home well laden. Going back the party kept together, arriving at Alec’s house in the early twilight, tired, happy, and, above all else, hungry.
“Grandmother,” Blue Bonnet said that evening, “did you ever want to do something for somebody very, very much?”
“Frequently.”
“I wish I could do something for Alec.”
“Why, dear?”
“Oh, because—”
“I am not sure that you are not doing something for him, Elizabeth. General Trent was saying only this afternoon how much brighter and happier he had seemed lately.”
“Oh, I don’t mean that! I mean something very particular.”
“You can do something for me, Elizabeth,” Miss Clyde said. “I met Miss Rankin this afternoon; and she gave me a most discouraging report of your school work.”