If Paddy is n't any better to-morrow , we 'll do that . '' They went away together hand in hand , children-wise , up the lane of spruces crossed with bars of moonlight . And there was peace over all that fresh and flowery land , and peace in our little hearts . CHAPTER VI . THE MYSTERY OF GOLDEN MILESTONE Paddy was smeared with medicated lard the next day , all of us assisting at the rite , although the Story Girl was high priestess . Then , out of regard for mats and cushions , he was kept in durance vile in the granary until he had licked his fur clean . This treatment being repeated every day for a week , Pat recovered his usual health and spirits , and our minds were set at rest to enjoy the next excitement -- collecting for a school library fund . Our teacher thought it would be an excellent thing to have a library in connection with the school ; and he suggested that each of the pupils should try to see how much money he or she could raise for the project during the month of June . We might earn it by honest toil , or gather it in by contributions levied on our friends . The result was a determined rivalry as to which pupil should collect the largest sum ; and this rivalry was especially intense in our home coterie . Our relatives started us with a quarter apiece . For the rest , we knew we must depend on our own exertions . Peter was handicapped at the beginning by the fact that he had no family friend to finance him . `` If my Aunt Jane 'd been living she 'd have given me something , '' he remarked . `` And if my father had n't run away he might have given me something too . But I 'm going to do the best I can anyhow . Your Aunt Olivia says I can have the job of gathering the eggs , and I 'm to have one egg out of every dozen to sell for myself . '' Felicity made a similar bargain with her mother . The Story Girl and Cecily were each to be paid ten cents a week for washing dishes in their respective homes . Felix and Dan contracted to keep the gardens free from weeds .
I caught brook trout in the westering valley of spruces and sold them XXXXX a cent apiece .
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