"It won't bite you," he said laughingly. "But how queer and hard, with all these little points," pinching them with her dainty fingers. "Grains," he explained. "And a husk grows on the outside to keep it warm. When the winter is going to be very cold the husk is very thick." "Will this winter be cold?" "Land alive! yes. Winters always _are_ cold." Warren settled himself and drew the ear across the blade. A shower of corn rattled down on the bottom of the tub. "Oh! is that the way you peel it off?" He threw his head back and laughed. "Oh, you Englisher! We _shell_ it off." "Well, it peels too. You peel a potato and an apple with a knife blade. Oh, what a pretty white core!" "Cob. We Americans are adding new words to the language. A core has seeds in it. There, see how soft it is." Doris took it in her hand and then laid her cheek against it. "Oh, how soft and fuzzy it is!" she cried. "And what do you do with it?" "We don't plant that part of it. That core has no seeds. You have to plant a grain like this. The little clear point we call a heart, and that sprouts and grows. This is a good use for the cob." He had finished another, which he tossed into the fire. A bright blaze seemed to run over it all at once and die down. Then the small end flamed out and the fire crept along in a doubtful manner until it was all covered again. "They're splendid to kindle the fire with. And pine cones. America has lots of useful things." "But they burn cones in France. I like the spicy smell. It's queer though," wrinkling her forehead. "Did the Indians know about corn the first?" "That is the general impression unless America was settled before the Indians. Uncle Win has his head full of these things and is writing a book. And there is tobacco that Sir Walter Raleigh carried home from Virginia." "Oh, I know about Sir Walter and Queen Elizabeth." "He was a splendid hero. I think people are growing tame now; there are no wars except Indian skirmishes." "Why, Napoleon is fighting all the time." "Oh, that doesn't count," declared the young man with a lofty air. "We had some magnificent heroes in the Revolution. There are lots of places for you to see. Bunker Hill and Lexington and Concord and the headquarters of Washington and Lafayette. The French were real good to us, though we have had some scrimmages with them. And now that you are to be a Boston girl----" "But I was in Old Boston before," and she laughed. "Very old Boston, that is so far back no one can remember, and it was called Ikanhoe, which means Boston. There is the old church and the abbey that St. Botolph founded. They came over somewhere in six hundred, and were missionaries from France--St. Botolph and his brother." "Whew!" ejaculated Warren with a long whistle, looking up at the little girl as if she were hundreds of years old. Betty opened the door. "Uncle Win is going," she announced. "Come and say good-by to him."