“I’ll help when pa can spare me,� promised Joe Spencer.
“I will, if Baldie will,� said John Eppes, who never wished to do anything without his brother Archibald.
“Oh! I’ll be in it with the others,� said Archie.
“Of course you will, David?� Anne appealed to the silent boy whose voice she had expected to hear first.
“There’s my corn acre——� David began hesitatingly.
“Of course!� laughed Dick.
“That’s just it,� Anne said eagerly. “You’ve done such splendid work, raising such fine corn and winning prizes. You know so much more than the rest of us about working crops that—why, we need you dreadfully.�
David tried not to look pleased. “I’ll do what I can,� he agreed. “But I just tell you, I’m not going to neglect my corn acre for anything; that I’m not.�
“Of course not,� said Mrs. Wilson. “And you, Dick—you’ll help, of course?�
“No; no, Cousin Agnes,� Dick answered positively. “I’m getting enough garden work to last my lifetime. And besides, I’ve got something else to do, if I ever get a chance at it.�