Two or three evenings afterward the old man was on his knees weeding his pansy bed when he heard steps near by.
"Uncle Sam! Uncle Sam! where are you?" called a girl's voice.
"Here I am, my little pink of a Lucy," and he straightened himself up by the side of the apple tree around which the pansies were growing.
"That is a lovely place for them. They don't have too much sunshine. How large the blossoms are! May I have that big purple one? It looks at me like a loving face."
"Of course you may, Lucy. But where is Joe?"
"He has gone on an errand for mother. After that, he's coming here. But we can't stay very long this evening. Mother said we must go to bed early to-night so as to be fresh for the picnic to-morrow. You are going, aren't you, Uncle Sam?"
"Certainly I am. I wouldn't miss it for the world."
"I'm so glad. Mother said I must be sure to tell you not to take any lunch. We shall carry enough for you. It is a lovely lunch. Roast chicken and nut cake and apple jelly. I can hardly wait for to-morrow. Now aren't you glad you are going?"
"It makes me hungry to think of it, so you and I will have to eat some cherries I picked this afternoon."
"Aren't they beauties! How juicy they are. Red cherries are prettier, but I think I like these blackhearts the best. Here comes Joe now."