"I'm not a child," said Katy with dignity. "All right, you may come with us grown-ups and let the Captain have the children and the boys." "You'd better find out whether the Captain is willing before you plan so definitely, Frank." "We'll send Chicken Little and Sherm over on the ponies as a special deputation to invite him. You must coax your prettiest, Sis." "I'd love to. I just know I can get him to come. Will you go with me, Sherm?" "Nothing I'd like better," responded Sherm heartily. The next few days fairly twinkled by. The girls roamed the woods and the fields with Dick and Alice, and went in bathing, and fed chickens, and even made little pats of butter down in the cool springhouse. Gertie mourned because she could not send hers home straightway to Mother. Chicken Little and Sherm waited until Sunday to go over to the Captain's. Sherm found Caliph and the Mexican saddle rather more to his taste than Chicken Little's outfit had been on the ride from town. He had about all he could do for the first five minutes to manage Caliph for he had had little opportunity for riding at home. But he had a cool head, and with a few suggestions from Jane, he soon convinced Caliph that he had a new master as determined as Ernest, if not quite so skilful a horseman. They did not talk much. Sherm considered Jane a little girl and Jane stood rather in awe of Sherm. But they enjoyed the brisk ride none the less. The swift motion with the wind in their faces, the wide stretches of prairie bounded on the distant horizon by a faint line of timber, were novel and delightful to Sherm. To Jane, they were familiar and dearly loved. Besides, she liked having Sherm with her. He glanced at her from time to time. Chicken Little glanced back with sweet, friendly eyes. It was she who finally broke the ice. "I do hope the Captain will go. I'm most sure he'll like you, because his little boy looked a lot like you. He showed me the picture." "He seems to like you all right from what they say." Chicken Little laughed merrily. Sherm couldn't quite see the connection. "Well, what's so funny about that?" "Will you cross your heart never to tell, Sherm? Frank and Ernest would tease the life out of me if they knew." "Cut my heart out and eat it, if I ever breathe a word." Chicken Little related the swearing episode which she had not seen fit to trouble even Marian with, at home. "I guess," she concluded, "he felt sort of sorry for me right at the start and that made him like me." "'Twouldn't be such a hard job as you seem to think, Jane," Sherm surprised himself by saying. Chicken Little flushed and looked up hastily at Sherm who also felt his face getting warm to his great disgust. Sherm hated softies of any kind. "Oh, I believe there's the Captain now over by the pasture fence." Captain Clarke was riding round the pastures inspecting the barbed wire fencing. He soon hailed them. "Hello, Little Neighbor, is the piebald behaving himself?"