“Well, Eleanor,” said Mary Frances, “you’ll be able to teach Bob a lot about gardening if Billy will let you share the lessons he’s been giving me. By the way, Billy, what did you mean by ‘just in the nick of time’?”
“Nothing much,” replied Billy, “only I wanted to show you some of the ‘animated drops of honey’ about which I spoke.”
“Oh, where are they?” cried Mary Frances.
“What in the world do you mean, Billy?” Eleanor exclaimed.
“Follow me if you want to know,” commanded Billy, leading the way to one of his mother’s rose bushes.
He lifted a long new branch.
“How funny the tip looks!” exclaimed the girls. “All bristling, like a burr.”
“Look more closely,” said Billy.
“Oh, Billy,” laughed Mary Frances. “Billy, it’s not a green burr at all! It looks that way because of thousands of those little tiny green plant lice!”