"
"And was it broke right off?"
"No. Oh, no. Only the bone of my ankle was broken."
"It smarted some, I guess; didn't it?"
"No. Now Hephzibah, what do those two letters spell?"
"C, a, ca. That don't mean nothin'."
" Now the next. D, a —"
"What's D, a?"
"D, a, da."
"What's that?"
"Nothing; only it spells that."
"How soon'll you be up again?"
"I do not know. In a few weeks."
"Before the nuts is ripe?"
"Oh, yes, I hope so."
"Well, I'll show you where there's the biggest hickory nuts
you ever see! They're right back of Mr. Lamb's barn — only
three fields to cross — and there's three hickory trees; and
the biggest one has the biggest nuts, mother says, she ever
see. Will you go and get some?"
"But, Hephzibah, those are Mr. Lamb's nuts, aren't they?"
"I don't care."
"But," said Daisy, looking very grave, "don't you know,
Hephzibah, it is wrong to meddle with anything that belongs to
other people?"
"He hain't no right to 'em, I don't believe."
"I thought you said they were in Mr. Lamb's field?"
"So they be."
"Then they are his nuts. You would not like anybody to take
them, if they belonged to you."
"It don't make no odds," said Hephzibah, sturdily, but looking
down at the same time.
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