Page:Four Little Blossoms at Brookside Farm.djvu/147

Rh was impossible not to like this bluff, red-faced man with the loud voice.

"I had intended to give a little reward to the person who did me this service," went on Mr. Sparks. "Finding there's two of 'em, rightly I should double it. But Mrs. Hayward, I hear, doesn't want you to take money—good notion, too, in a way, I guess. Suppose I give you one of these little calves now. How would that do?"

"One of those darling little calves?" cried Meg.

"To keep?" echoed Bobby.

"To keep, of course," assented Mr. Sparks. "You pick the critter you want, and I guess Mrs. Hayward will pasture it for you."

"Sure she will," promised Jud, who was standing by with a delighted smile. "And after you go back to Oak Hill, I'll take good care of it and next summer you can come up and see your own cow."

Aunt Polly and Linda and Peter all had to be summoned, and then, with every one's help and advice, not forgetting the twins', Bobby and