“And may I ask what the words are?”

“One is ‘Fiddle.’ Does that sound very bad to you?”

“N-no, I think not. What does it signify, please?”

“Oh, you just say ‘Fiddle’ when—when something happens you don’t like.”

“I see; ‘Fiddle;’ yes, quite expressive. And the others?”

“‘Shucks’ is one of them.”

“Used, I fancy, in much the same sense as ‘Fiddle’?”

Holly nodded.

“Only—only not so much so,” she added.

“Certainly not,” replied Winthrop. “I understand. For instance, if you fell down[137] stairs you’d say ‘Fiddle!’ but if you merely bumped your head you’d say ‘Shucks!’”

[137]

“Yes,” laughed Holly.

“And the third prohibited word?” asked Winthrop.

“That’s—that’s——” Holly bent her head very meekly over her plate—“that’s ‘Darnation!’”

“Expressive, at least,” laughed Winthrop. “That is reserved, I suppose, for such extraordinary occasions as when you fall from a sixth-story window?”

“No; I say that when I stick a needle into my finger,” answered Holly. “It seems to suit better than ‘Fiddle’ or ‘Shucks;’ don’t you think so, Mr. Winthrop?”

“Well, I don’t remember ever having stuck a needle into my finger, but I’ll try it some time and give you my candid opinion on the question.”

After breakfast Winthrop wandered out into the garden and from thence into the grove beyond. There were pines and cedars[138] here, and oaks, and other trees which he didn’t know the names of. The gray-green Spanish moss draped an occasional limb, and at times there was some underbrush. Finding the 

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