the three b's club had only one rule—each member was to try every day to be all three of the b's.

usually it was quite easy to be one b. often it was not so very difficult to be two b's. but to be three b's was many times very, very hard indeed.

the saturday ned brown's father gave him the new catching glove was one of those times. ned wanted to go out and try the glove. just as he was starting, however, mrs. brown called him.

"ned," she said, "the wood box is empty!"

ned knew what that meant, but he remembered b number two in time to keep from frowning.

"all right," he called back cheerily, and went out, whistling, to the barn.

thwack! went the ax into the wood. ned was strong, and every blow told. his mother, hearing the chopping, smiled to herself. she knew about the b's.

"whew!" said ned presently, stopping for breath. "this is being b number one, all right. two b's in one morning aren't so bad!"

"hi, ned!" came over the fence as he started for the house with an armful of wood. "why don't you come over? you said you had a new glove."

"have," answered ned as two other members of the three b's climbed into sight. "wait a minute."

he dumped his wood into the box in the kitchen, and then ran proudly back with the precious glove. "here it is."

the boys felt of it, pinched it, tried it on. "it's a dandy. come on and catch!" they urged.

"can't just yet. you can use it till i come." and ned returned to his work, while the boys ran off with the glove.

the three b's met at ned's house that afternoon. the club always reported once a week on their success as b's.

"i don't have any chance to be b number three," complained ned, when his turn came to talk.

mrs. brown was just coming in with a pitcher of lemonade. "i know better, ned," she said. "how about chopping wood when you wanted to play ball? that made all three b's this morning—busy, bright, and brave."

"and i know another b number three, too," cried ned baker. "how about loaning us your catching glove when you hadn't used it yourself?"

ned smiled shyly, and b number two was written all over his face as he slowly sipped his lemonade.