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 gave them to her. Then he looked cautiously round the tree-trunk. The pretty girl was watching them covertly. He held out the note for her to see, and pointed to Pollyooly. Pollyooly untied the violets with deft fingers, set the note in the middle of them, and tied them up again. The pretty girl watched her with sparkling eyes.

Then Pollyooly looked at the pretty girl thoughtfully, and said, "I may as well do it now, sir."

"Right you are. She's tumbled to what you're up to all right," said the gentleman eagerly. "When you've given them to her walk straight on; and I'll catch you up."

Pollyooly rose, took the Lump by the hand, and sauntered toward the pretty girt. Two yards from her, she said to the Lump: "Give these flowers to the pretty lady, Lump, dear." And she gave him the violets.

The Lump toddled up to the chairs with a very grave and earnest face, and offered the violets to the sour-faced dowager. It was not only that he was of too tender years to be a trustworthy judge of female beauty, but the dowager was by far the more resplendent creature of the two. Even her