"Oh, you can believe in me all you want," returned the major. "I'm one of the finest fellows in the world, and worthy of anybody's friendship--and if anybody ought to know, Jimmieboy, I'm the one, for I know myself intimately. I've known myself ever since I was a little bit of a boy, and I can tell you if there's any man in the world who has a noble character and a good conscience and a heart in the right place, I'm him. It's only what I say you mustn't believe in. Remember that, and we shall be all right." "All right," said Jimmieboy. "We'll do it that way. Now tell me what you don't know about finding preserved cherries and pickled peaches. We've got to lay in a very large supply of them, and I haven't the first idea how to get 'em." "H'm! What I don't know about 'em would take a long time to tell," returned the major, with a shake of his head, "because there's so much of it. In the first place, "I do not know If cherries grow On trees, or roofs, or rocks; Or if they come In cans--ho-hum!-- Or packed up in a box. Mayhap you'll find The proper kind Down where they sell red paint; And then, you see, Oh, dear! Ah, me! And then again you mayn't." "That appears to settle the cherries," said Jimmieboy, somewhat impatiently, for it did seem to him that the major was wasting a great deal of valuable time. "Oh, dear me, no!" ejaculated the major. "I could go on like that forever about cherries. For instance: "You might perchance Get some in France, And some in Germany; A crate or two In far Barboo, And some in Labradee." "Where's Labradee?" asked Jimmieboy. "It's Labrador," said the major, with a smile; "but Labradee rhymes better with Germany, and as long as you know I'm not telling the truth, and are not likely to go there, it doesn't make any difference if I change it a little." "That's so," said Jimmieboy, with a snicker. "But how about those peaches? Do you know anything that isn't so about them?" "Oh, yes, lots," said the major. "I know that when the peach is green, And growing on the tree, It's harder than a common bean, And yellow as can be. I know that if you eat a peach That's just a bit too young, A lesson strong the act will teach, And leave your nerves unstrung. And, furthermore, I know this fact: The crop, however hale In every year before 'tis packed, Doth never fail to fail." "That's very interesting," said Jimmieboy, when the major had recited these lines, "but it doesn't help me a bit. What I want to know is how the pickled peaches are to be found, and where."