Page:Hard-pan; a story of bonanza fortunes (IA hardpanbonanza00bonnrich).pdf/104

92 She stopped and looked tentatively at Letitia, as if curious to see how she was taking these revelations.

"Do what?" asked Letitia, not understanding.

"Make the jam. Not that I mind much. But it's a little sort of fancy of my father's. Sometimes older people have those ideas, and it's best to humor them, I think; don't you?"

"Oh, much the best," assented the other, turning aside and looking at the plants. "It 's best to humor everybody; it's so much easier to get on. What beautiful ferns!"

"Yes; I am quite proud of them. But this is a splendid window for ferns."

"Did you raise these yourself? I never saw such plants out of a greenhouse."

Viola was now eagerly interested.

"Yes, I grew them all—some of them from a few roots like black threads. I sell these, too. There is a man at one of the Kearney Street florists' who used to live near here and knew us, and he buys them from me. At Christmas I do quite well."

Letitia examined the ferns.

"I wonder if you would let me buy one or two of them," she said. "We can't get such plants at our florist's, and I am fonder of them than of any other kind of fern."

Viola agreed with a blush of pleasure, and