"I'd have to reckon that out. It's a good notion, though, to make the ell tight. That's what the birds are doin'."
Astonished, Marcia glanced up from her work.
"I mean," floundered on Eleazer, "they're gettin' their nests built an' kinder pickin' out their mates. Pickin' the right mate's quite a job for some folks."
He saw Marcia turn scarlet. Mercy! What a slip! She thought he was twitting her about Jason.
"What I set out to say was that when you get the wrong mate you know it," he countered hastily.
No sooner, however, were the words out of his mouth than he saw they were no better.
Perhaps it would be well to abandon the mating question and start on a new tack. He had tried the spring. Suppose he took summer as his theme?
"Summer's a nice season, ain't it?" ventured he.
"Yes, although I never enjoy it as much as the other months. I don't like the heat and I detest the summer boarders."