I 'm sorry I ca n't be a Methodist , like you and mother and Aunt Jane , but I ca n't and that 's all there is to it , ' I says . Then I waited , scared-like . But father , he just looked relieved and he says , says he , ` Goodness , boy , you can be a Presbyterian or anything else you like , so long as it 's Protestant . I 'm not caring , ' he says . ` The main thing is that you must be good and do what 's right . ' I tell you , '' concluded Peter emphatically , `` father is a Christian all right . '' `` Well , I suppose your mind will be at rest now , '' said Felicity . `` What 's that you have in your buttonhole ? '' `` That 's a four-leaved clover , '' answered Peter exultantly . `` That means good luck for the summer . I found it in Markdale . There ai n't much clover in Carlisle this year of any kind of leaf . The crop is going to be a failure . Your Uncle Roger says it 's because there ai n't enough old maids in Carlisle . There 's lots of them in Markdale , and that 's the reason , he says , why they always have such good clover crops there . '' `` What on earth have old maids to do with it ? '' cried Cecily . `` I do n't believe they 've a single thing to do with it , but Mr. Roger says they have , and he says a man called Darwin proved it . This is the rigmarole he got off to me the other day . The clover crop depends on there being plenty of bumble-bees , because they are the only insects with tongues long enough to -- to -- fer -- fertilize -- I think he called it the blossoms .
But mice eat XXXXX and cats eat mice and old maids keep cats .
Cecily Christian Darwin Methodist Peter Presbyterian Protestant Roger bumble-bees buttonhole