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Then they talked together for a long tie shook his head and tugged his whiskers He cut a thin slice from the yellowest pumpkin and a thin slice fro judge, and he tasted the, and they all smiled

Mr Paddock leaned over the table and said:

“Good afternoon, Wilder You and the boy are taking in the sight, I see Having a good time, Almanzo?”

Aled to say: “Yes, sir”

The tall judge had taken the red ribbon and the blue ribbon out of his pocket The fat judge took hold of his sleeve, and all the judges put their heads together again

The tall judge turned around slowly Slowly he took a pin froh the blue ribbon He was not very near Alh to reach it He held out the blue ribbon, above another pumpkin He leaned, and stretched out his arm slowly, and he thrust the pin into Almanzo’s pumpkin

Father’s hand clapped on Almanzo’s shoulder All at once Al all over Mr Paddock was shaking his hand All the judges were s Ever so ot first prize!”

Mr Webb said, “That’s a fine pumpkin, Almanzo don’t know as I ever saw a finer”

Mr Paddock said:

“I never saw a pu pumpkin, Almanzo?”

Suddenly everything see and very still Alht before, that et a prize for apumpkins in the ordinary way Maybe, if he told, they’d take the prize away froht think he had tried to cheat

He looked at Father, but Father’s face didn’t tell him what to do

“I—I just—I kept hoeing it, and—” he said Then he knew that he was telling a lie Father was hearing hi a lie He looked up at Mr Paddock and said: “I raised it on ht?”

“Yes, that’s all right,” Mr Paddock answered

Father laughed “There’s tricks in all trades but ours, Paddock Andtoo, eh?”