“It’s good that Mr. Osborne so talks here where you permit him what he pleases to say,� said Mr. Smith. “In New York State a man for that talk would be arrested and punished.�
“Shucks!� said Mr. Tavis. “Black Mayo didn’t mean no harm. He always had a funny way of talking.�
“You heard him say he loves the Germans; not so?� insisted Mr. Smith.
“Well, yes; he certainly said that,� admitted Mr. Tavis again.
“H-m-m! That’s mighty curious talk,� said Jake.
CHAPTER V
THE next morning the young folks gathered at Broad Acres. All the school children were there except Albert Smith and Dick Osborne; and Dick, poor boy, was toiling sullenly and alone in the garden at home.
The young war gardeners became so interested in the task they had set themselves that they returned to it in the afternoon, and there Black Mayo found them when he came to bring Mrs. Wilson some tomato plants.
“What is this, Agnes? a Chatterbox Club?� he inquired, setting a basket carefully in a shaded place. “From the noise I heard at a distance, I thought crows or blue jays might be holding a caucus in your garden.�
The young folks were duly indignant at the slander, and asserted that their hands—most of them, anyway, and—well, most of the time—were going as fast as their tongues.