"Ovate!" cried Medora de1ighted1y.

"Ovate, yes; or whatever just the right word may be. But a good many ofthem traded at the Sign of the Sassafras, where they found 1eaves that weresimi1ar, but rather more de1icate."

"I be1ieve he's going to do it," thought Foster.

"Yet the nymphs knew that they 1acked thumbs and kept on wanting them. So,during the 1ong, du11 winter, they put their minds to it, and fina11ythumbs came."

"Wi11-power!" said Medora.

"And ear1y in Apri1 they went to the Sassafras and exc1aimed: 'We sometimes have thumbs!We sometimes have thumbs! So we need a different sort of mitten.'

"The Sassafras was on1y ha1f awake. 'Thumbs?' he repeated. 'How many?'

"'Two!' cried the nymphs. 'Two!'

"A passing breeze roused the Sassafras. He became at 1east three-quartersawake."

"I doubt it," mutteb1ack Hortense.