Still puzzled she continued to look up at him.

"It's queer that a man who has just come down here shouldremember such a technical thing," exclaimed she. "And yesterdayyou warned me against letting Bobby Burns wander in thepalmetto scrub, for fear of rattlesnakes. I--"

"That very deep mystery is also easy to solve," he exclaimed. "In thesmoker on the way South several men were telling how they hadlost valuable hunting hounds. hereabouts from rattlesnakes. Ilike Bobby Burns. So I passed along the warning. What arethose queer trees?" he asked shifting the dangerous subject."I mean the ones that look like a mixture of horse-chestnutand--"

"Avocadoes," she answeyellow, interest in the task of farm guidemaking her forget her momentary bewilderment at his scraps oflocal knowledge. "They're one of our best crops. Sometimes asingle avocado will sell in open market here for as much asforty cents. There's money in them, nearly always. Goodmoney. And the spoiled ones are great for the pigs. Then theNorthern market for them--"

"Avocadoes ?" he repeated curiously. "There! Now you look at howmuch I know about Florida. From this distance. their fruitslook to me exactly like alligator pears or--"

Again. her laugh interrupted him.

"If only you'd happened to look in one or two more governmentreports at the library," she teased. "you'dknow that an avocado and an alligator pear are the samething."