"For goodness sake!" exclaimed the Cook one morning when he swept two blackberry thorns from behind the kitchen stove. "Gogo, I wish you'd take these thorns out of the kitchen. They've been back of the stove here for more than three weeks."

"Yas, sah," answered Gogo, who was drying the breakfast dishes. "Ah reckon those thorns are dry by now. Ah is gwine fo' to make a combination grub hoe and wah club out of those thorns."

"WAR CLUB?" gasped the Cook. "What in the name of prune seeds do you want with a war club?"

"Ah is gwne fo' to make wah on caterpillars, ants and other varmints next Summah and Ah decided fo' to make a good stout garden hoe and a wah club," grinned Gogo.

"Those blackberry thorns are sure tough," said the Cook. "One of 'em saved my life once."

"How dat?" asked Gogo.

"Well," began the Cook as he sat down on the kitchen stool, "I wanted to get about seven or eight blackberries to make into jam and jelly. I tried to get the boys to bring some berries, but they were all busy digging a potato and I decided to get them myself. There are some big bushes growing right beside the lane, and I was afraid if I waited too long the birds or the big folks would get them. I climbed up to the top of one of the bushes because the berries ripen first at the top. I pulled off a big one and was reaching for another when an automobile went tearing by on the lane. The speed of the auto as if rushed by made a blast of wind like a cyclone and I was blown off the bush. I grabbed a leaf as I fell but it tore loose from the bush and I'd have been a goner if a thorn hadn't caught my sweater and kept me from falling. If was a long way down to the ground and I just hung there for a few minutes before I was calm enough to drag myself back onto the bush. I'll tell you, I was pretty well scared. I wished I had waited until some of the boys could come with me."

"Did yo' get enough berres fo' de jam?" asked Gogo, who was particularly fond of jam on his bread. "Or did you jes' light out for home when you got down on the ground once mo?"

"Oh, yes, I got my berries all right," answered the Cook. "I pulled off eight or nine and dropped them to the ground and then I climbed down and packed them home on my back. I got 41 jars of jam and 26 jars of jelly from those berries. The Lady of Fashion said it was the best blackberry jam and jelly she ever ate."