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diff --git a/38835.txt b/38835.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 2128e68..0000000 --- a/38835.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4247 +0,0 @@ - BLACK-EYED SUSAN - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost -no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Title: Black-Eyed Susan - -Author: Ethel Calvert Phillips - -Release Date: February 11, 2012 [EBook #38835] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACK-EYED SUSAN *** - - - - -Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net. - -[Illustration: _"I'M HERE," SAID THE VOICE. "I'VE COME. I'M PHIL."_] - - - BLACK-EYED SUSAN - - BY - - ETHEL CALVERT PHILLIPS - - AUTHOR OF "WEE ANN" AND "LITTLE FRIEND LYDIA" - - WITH DRAWINGS BY HAROLD CUE - - HOUGHTON MIFFLIN CO BOSTON & NEW YORK - - BLACK-EYED SUSAN - - - - - - -Table of Contents - - - CHAPTER I--BLACK-EYED SUSAN OF FEATHERBED LANE - CHAPTER II--OVER THE GARDEN WALL - CHAPTER III--MADAME BONNET'S SHOP - CHAPTER IV--THE SQUASH BABY - CHAPTER V--DOWN AT MISS LIZA'S - CHAPTER VI--THE GYPSIES - CHAPTER VII--IN THE SCHOOLHOUSE - CHAPTER VIII--SUSAN'S PRESENT - CHAPTER IX--HICKORY DICKORY DOCK - CHAPTER X--THE VISIT - CHAPTER XI--HOW THE MONEY WAS SPENT - CHAPTER XII--THANKSGIVING IN FEATHERBED LANE - - - - - *BLACK-EYED SUSAN* - - - - -CHAPTER I--BLACK-EYED SUSAN OF FEATHERBED LANE - - -A pair of black eyes, a head covered with short brown curls, two red -cheeks, and a tip-tilted nose--that was Susan. A warm heart, a pair of -eager little hands always ready to help, little feet that tripped -willingly about on errands--that was Susan, too. - -"The best little girl in Putnam County," said Grandfather, snuggling -Susan up so close that his gray beard tickled her nose and made her -laugh. - -"My little comfort," said Grandmother, with a hand on Susan's bobbing -curls that simply couldn't be made to lie flat no matter how much you -brushed and brushed. - -Susan herself didn't say very much to this, but oh, how she did love -Grandfather, from the crown of his big slouch hat to the toes of his -high leather boots that he delighted to wear both winter and summer! - -As for Grandmother, who could help loving her, with her merry smile, her -soft pink cheeks shaded by a row of little white curls, and her jar of -cinnamon cookies on the low shelf in the pantry? Yes, her jar of -cinnamon cookies on the low shelf in the pantry, for, somehow, in -Susan's mind, Grandmother and the cinnamon cookies were pleasantly -mingled and together made up the love and comfort and cheer that to -Susan meant home. - -The house Susan lived in with Grandmother and Grandfather Whiting and -Snuff the dog was a broad, low, white house that stood far back from the -road at the end of Featherbed Lane. - -Susan thought this the funniest name she had ever heard. - -As she and Grandfather, hand in hand, would carefully pick their way -over the stones that covered the road from house to highway, she never -tired of asking, "Grandfather, why do you call it Featherbed Lane? It's -not a bit like a feather bed. It's as hard as hard can be." - -"Because there are just as many stones in this lane as there are -feathers in a feather bed," Grandfather would answer gravely. "Some day -you must count them and see." - -"But how many feathers are there in a feather bed?" Susan would ask. -"You must count them, too," was Grandfather's reply. - -At the end of the lane, on the roadside, stood a little house with three -windows, a front door, and a pointed roof with a chimney. This was -Grandfather's law office, and here he was to be found at work every day, -coming up to the house only at meal-time. Inside there was one big room, -not only lined all round with books, but with books overflowing their -shelves and piled upon the chairs and tumbled upon the floor. -Grandfather's big desk was drawn up close to the windows, and as Susan -passed in and out of the gate she never failed to smile and wave her -hand in greeting. - -If Grandfather were not busy, he would invite her in, and then Susan on -the floor would build houses of the heavy law books, using Grandfather's -shabby old hassock for table or bed as the case might be. - -One cool May afternoon Susan climbed upon Grandfather's lap as he sat in -front of the coal fire that burned in the office grate every day that -gave the least excuse for it. - -Grandmother had gone calling in the village, and Susan was staying with -Grandfather until her return. Susan cuddled her head down on -Grandfather's broad shoulder. - -"Say 'William Ti Trimity' for me, please," said she coaxingly. - -So Grandfather obediently repeated, - - William Ti Trimity, he's a good fisherman; - Catches his hens and puts them in pens. - Some lays eggs and some lays none. - Wire, briar, limber lock, - Three geese in a flock. - One flew east, and one flew west, - And one flew over the cuckoo's nest. - -Susan gave Grandfather's cheek a pat by way of thanks. - -"Sing to me now, please," was the next command. - -Obligingly Grandfather tuned up and sang in his sweet old voice-- - - It rains and it hails and it's cold stormy weather. - In comes the farmer drinking up the cider. - You be the reaper and I'll be the binder, - I've lost my true love, and right here I find her. - -This was an old favorite, and it never failed to delight Susan to have -Grandfather in great surprise discover her as the lost true love "right -here" in his arms. - -"Now, 'Chickamy,'" said Susan, smoothing herself down after the vigorous -hug she felt called upon to bestow. - - Chickamy, Chickamy, crany crow, - Went to the well to wash his toe. - When he came back the black-eyed chicken was gone-- - -said Grandfather in a mysterious voice. - -"Can't you remember any more of it, Grandfather?" implored Susan. "Don't -you know who Chickamy was, or who stole the black-eyed chicken? I do -wish I knew." - -"No, I can't remember," said Grandfather regretfully. "You know all I -know about it, Susan. Only I do think Chickamy was a foolish fellow to -wash his toe just at that minute. Why didn't he take the black-eyed -chicken with him or leave somebody at home to take care of him?" - -"Yes, it is a pity," sighed the little girl. "Or why didn't he wash his -toe in the tub at home? Well, anyway, Grandfather, now tell about the -time I came to live with you." And Susan re-settled herself comfortably -as Grandfather slipped down in his chair and stretched out his feet -toward the low fire. - -"It was a cold winter night," began Grandfather, with the ease of one -who has told his story many times, "and the ground was covered with -snow. All the little rabbits were snuggled down in their holes in the -ground trying to keep warm. All the little birds were cuddled together -in their nests under the eaves. All the little boys and girls were sound -asleep tucked in their warm beds--" - -"All but one," interrupted Susan. - -"Yes, all but one," agreed Grandfather, "and she was riding along in a -sleigh, and the sleigh-bells went _jingle jangle, jingle jangle_, and -the horses' feet went _crunch, crunch, crunch_, through the snow." - -"Now, tell was I cold," prompted Susan, as Grandfather paused to spread -his silk handkerchief over his head to keep off the draught. - -"The little girl wasn't one bit cold," went on Grandfather smoothly, -"because she was dressed in fur from head to foot. She wore a white fur -coat and a white fur cap that came so far down over her face that all -you could see was the tip of her nose." - -"And that was red," supplied Susan. - -"And she had a pair of white furry mittens on her hands, and her feet -were wrapped in a white fur rug. - -"Well, by and by the horse turned in a lane that was so packed with snow -that you couldn't tell whether it was a Featherbed Lane or not. _Crunch, -crunch, crunch_, went the horses' feet, _jingle jangle, jingle jangle_, -went the bells until they were almost up to the white house at the end -of the lane. - -"Now in that white house there sat a grandmother and a grandfather -before the fire. - -"Presently the grandmother laid down her knitting. - -"'I think I hear sleigh-bells in the lane,' said she. - -"The grandfather put down his book. - -"'I think I hear horses' feet,' said he. - -"Then the grandmother rose and looked out of the window. - -"'I see a lantern,' said she, peering out through the snowflakes, for it -had begun to snow again. - -"At that the grandfather flung open the door and in came--" - -"Me!" exclaimed Susan. "And I didn't cry one bit. Did I?" - -"Mercy, no," said Grandfather, opening his eyes wide at the very -thought. "You just winked and blinked in the light, and when I held out -my arms you came straight to me." - -"And what did you say, Grandfather?" - -"I said, 'My little black-eyed Susan.'" - -"And that has been my name ever since," said Susan with an air of -satisfaction. "Now, tell what Grandmother was doing." - -"Grandmother had both arms round your father who carried you in, for -once upon a time he was her little boy," concluded Grandfather. - -"And you were so glad to see me that night because my mother had gone to -heaven, weren't you?" mused Susan. "And then my father went away to -build a big bridge, and then he went to the war and he never came back." - -A silence fell for a moment upon Grandfather Whiting and Susan as they -gazed into the fire, and then the little girl stirred and spoke. - -"I think I will go and play with Flip awhile, Grandfather," said she. - -She slipped down from Grandfather's lap, and, leaving him to fall into a -doze, proceeded to set up housekeeping with Flip, her rag doll, behind a -pile of books in a corner. - -Flip and Snuff, the shaggy brown setter, were Susan's constant -playmates, for the house in Featherbed Lane stood a little way out of -the village and there were no children living near by. - -The other side of the Lane, on a little knoll, perched the old Tallman -house, empty since last autumn when Miss Eliza Tallman had gone down to -the village to live with her niece. - -Across the way and up the road stood the deserted little old -schoolhouse, long ago abandoned for the new brick building in the heart -of the village. - -But, although Susan had no near neighbors and often longed for some one -her own age to play with, still she dearly loved the lively Snuff who -could outrace her any day, who played a skillful game of hide and seek, -and who returned tenfold the strength of her love with all the might of -his affectionate pink tongue, his briskly wagging tail, and his faithful -little heart. - -As for Flip, it is hard to say what Susan would have done without her. -She was a long thin wobbly rag doll, with a head flat like a turtle's, -and not a single spear of hair on it. But to Susan, her brown eyes were -the tenderest and her rosy lips the sweetest to be found anywhere, and -it was into Flip's sympathetic ear that Susan poured her griefs and -troubles, great or small. She was Susan's bedfellow, too, lying outside -the coverlid where her little mother might easily put out her hand and -touch her in the night. - -Susan had other good friends, too. There was the newel post opposite the -front door at home. Susan had never thought anything about the newel -post until one day, playing "lady come to see" with a shawl on for a -long skirt, she had tripped and bumped her head against the post. Now, -this was fully six months ago, and when Susan was only a little girl, as -she would have been sure to explain, and so she did what other little -girls have done before. Feeling the newel post to blame for her fall, -she pounded it with both hands and kicked it with both feet. And -suddenly, in the midst of the pounding and kicking, Susan spied a big -dent in the side of the post. Had she done that? Oh! what a mean, a -cruel girl she was! She hurried upstairs for her new hair-ribbon, which -she tied round what she called the newel post's neck, and sitting down -she tried to smooth out the dent and soothe the newel post's hurt -feelings at the same time. Perhaps Grandmother could have explained that -dent as made by a trunk carelessly carried upstairs, but Susan always -believed that she had made it. She rarely passed the newel post without -giving it a pat, and, sitting on the stairs, she and Flip and the newel -post often had many a pleasant chat together. - -And there was Snowball, the rubber cat, that had been Susan's favorite -toy when she was a baby. Snowball may once have deserved her name. But -now she was a dingy gray that not even frequent scrubbings with soap and -water could freshen. She had lost her tail, she had lost her squeak, but -Susan was loyal to her old pet and still lavished tender care upon her. - -Then, too, there was the shawl dolly. Most of the time the dolly was a -plain little black-and-white checked shawl spread over Grandmother's -shoulders or neatly folded on the hatbox in Grandmother's closet. But -whenever Susan was a little ailing, Grandmother folded the shawl into a -soft comfortable dolly, who cuddled nicely and who never failed to give -to Susan the comfort needed. - -Just now Susan was playing school in the corner. She was the teacher, -and Flip and the hassock, who this afternoon was a fat little boy named -Benny, were the scholars. - -"Flippy, who made you?" asked the teacher. - -"God," answered Flippy promptly. - -Susan made her talk in a squeaky little voice. - -"Benny, how much is two and two?" was the next question. - -But Benny didn't answer. Perhaps he couldn't. - -"Benny, how much is two and two?" repeated the teacher loudly. - -Still no answer. - -This was dreadful, and Susan felt that she must be severe. Shaking her -finger warningly at disobedient Benny, she went to Grandfather's desk to -borrow his long black ruler, and, glancing out of the window, she saw a -big red wagon toiling slowly up the road. - -"It's the circus!" exclaimed Susan. "Grandfather, wake up, the circus is -coming." - -Grandfather woke himself up with a shake and peered out of the window, -over Susan's head. - -"No, that is not the circus," said he. "That's a moving-van. Somebody's -furniture is packed inside that wagon. Hello, they're turning in at the -Tallman place. Liza must have rented it." - -And Grandfather and Susan, with great interest, watched the heavy van -turn and jolt along the driveway that led to the house next door. - -"Here comes another van," called Susan, whose sharp eyes spied the red -wagon far down the road. - -This van bore what the movers call "a swinging load." On the back of the -wagon were tied all the pieces of furniture that couldn't be crammed or -squeezed into the van itself. - -The horses pulled and strained up the little hill until they were -directly opposite Susan's gate, and then, with a crash, something fell -off the back of the wagon. - -"Look, look!" cried Susan, hopping up and down. "Look, Grandfather, it's -a rocking-horse!" - -Sure enough, a dapple gray rocking-horse, with a gay red saddle, was -rocking away in the middle of the road as if he meant to reach Banbury -Cross before nightfall. - -"There will be somebody for me to play with!" cried Susan, climbing up -on Grandfather's desk in her excitement. "Maybe I will have a ride on -that rocking-horse. Won't there be somebody for me to play with, -Grandfather?" - -And Susan, her eyes shining, put both arms around Grandfather's neck and -gave him a great hug. - -"It looks that way," said Grandfather, as soon as Susan let him breathe -again. "It looks as if that rocking-horse was about your size, too. But -here comes your grandmother. Perhaps she has heard something about it in -the village." - -Like a flash Susan was off down the road, and by the time Grandfather -had put on his hat and shut the office door Susan had learned all the -news that Grandmother had to tell. - -"Grandmother knows all about it," called Susan, flying up the road -again. "Miss Liza Tallman has rented her house for a year. And, -Grandfather, there is a little boy as old as me and his name is Philip -Vane." - - - - -CHAPTER II--OVER THE GARDEN WALL - - -Philip Vane! The words flashed into Susan's mind as soon as she opened -her eyes the next morning, Philip Vane--the new little boy next door! -And Susan jumped out of bed and, running to the window, peered eagerly -over at the old Tallman house. - -Yes, some one was already up and stirring, for smoke was pouring out of -the kitchen chimney, but there was no sign to be seen of any little boy. - -Breakfast over, Susan hurried through her daily tasks about the house, -and then ran out to the chicken-yard, with her bowl of chicken-feed -under her arm. She waited until the fowls, with their usual squawkings -and cluckings, had gathered about her feet, and addressed them solemnly. - -"I've a piece of news for you," said Susan, "and you are not going to -have one bite of breakfast until I've told you. There is a little boy -coming to live next door, and his name is Philip Vane. We are going to -play together and be friends. Aren't you glad?" - -Old Frizzly, so named because her feathers grew the wrong way, could no -longer restrain her impatience at this delay of her meal. She uttered an -extra loud squawk and flapped her wings wrathfully. But Susan accepted -it as an answer to her question. - -"Old Frizzly is the only one of you with any manners at all," said she -reprovingly. "You are greedy, and you are rude, and you don't care a bit -whether I have any one to play with or not." - -And, hastily emptying her bowl, Susan departed to station herself upon -the low stone wall that separated the Tallman house from her own. She -saw heads pass and repass the open windows, sounds of hammering floated -out upon the sweet spring air, rugs were vigorously shaken on the little -back porch. The butcher's cart rumbled noisily past on the main road, -and a slim lady, with fair hair and a long blue apron, stepped out on -the porch and, shading her eyes with her hand, gazed down the driveway -as if she were expecting some one. - -But, in spite of these interesting sights and sounds, Susan felt -disappointed, for not a single peep did she have of the new little boy. - -"Did Miss Liza say there was a little boy, Grandmother?" asked Susan, -coming into the house at dinner-time so low in her mind that she dragged -patient Flippy along by one arm, her limp feet trailing on the ground -behind her. - -"Why, yes," answered Grandmother, gazing into the oven at a pan of -nicely browned biscuit. "I told you yesterday what she said, Susan. 'A -little boy about the age of your Susan,' said she. Now run to the door -for me and see whether Grandfather is coming. I want him to carry over -this plate of biscuit to Mrs. Vane to show ourselves neighborly, and you -shall go along with him if you like." - -Susan needed no second invitation. She skipped ahead of Grandfather as -they went through the low place made in the stone wall for Grandmother -and Miss Tallman to step through easily. But when they reached the -doorway, and Mrs. Vane stood before them, she shyly hid behind -Grandfather's great leather boots. - -She listened to the grown-up talk with ears wide open for some mention -of a person her own age, but it was not until Grandfather turned to go -that she felt bold enough to slip her hand in his and give it a little -squeeze as if to remind him why she had come. - -"Oh, yes," said Grandfather, understanding the squeeze perfectly and so -proving himself to Susan the wisest man in the world. "This is my little -granddaughter Susan, Mrs. Vane. She was very much interested in a -rocking-horse that fell from one of your vans yesterday." - -"That was Phil's rocking-horse," said Mrs. Vane, smiling kindly down -into Susan's big black eyes, at this moment half friendly and half shy. -"Philip is my little boy, and he will be so glad of a next-door -neighbor. He has had no one to play with in the city, and he has been -very ill, too, but I know he will enjoy himself here where he can run -and shout as much as he likes, and I'm sure he will soon be well, now -that he can play out in this good sun and air." - -Susan looked all about her in search of a little boy running and -shouting as much as he liked, but Phil's mother met her glance with a -shake of the head. - -"No, he isn't here yet," said she. "But I expect him any minute. His -father is going to bring him up from the city this morning." - -Filled with the hope of seeing Phil arrive, Susan hurried through her -dinner, but as she left the house and started toward the garden wall, -the sight of Snuff limping dismally along on three legs drove all other -thoughts from her mind. - -"Grandfather, Grandfather, Snuffy's hurt," she called, and, putting her -arms around her shaggy playfellow, she tried to help him up the back -steps. - -Snuff whimpered a little to gain sympathy, but he bore the pain without -flinching when Grandfather gently pulled the cruel splinter from his -foot, and washed and bound up the wound. Susan, remembering Snuff's -sweet tooth, begged a bowl of custard from Grandmother, and she was -enjoying Snuff's pleasure in the treat when a voice fell upon her ears. - -"I'm here," said the voice. "I've come. I'm Phil." - -Susan sprang to her feet and faced the thinnest little boy she had ever -seen. - -"He's as thin as a bone," thought she, borrowing an expression from -Grandmother. - -But the thin little face owned a pair of honest blue eyes, and a smile -so wide that you couldn't help smiling back even if you happened to be -feeling very cross. And, as Susan didn't feel cross in the least, you -may imagine how broadly she smiled upon her new neighbor. - -"Is this your dog?" asked Phil, eyeing Snuff's bandage with respectful -interest. "I'm going to have a dog and a cat and maybe some hens and -chickens, too." - -Susan related Snuff's accident, and the invalid, feeling all eyes upon -him, dropped his head heavily to the ground with a deep sigh and a -mournful thud of his tail. Then he opened one eye to see the effect upon -his audience. - -Susan and Phil broke into laughter at such sly tricks, and Snuff, -delighted with his success, beat his tail violently upon the piazza -floor. - -"I brought over my Noah's Ark," announced Phil, taking from under his -arm the gayly painted little house upon which Susan's eyes had been -fixed from the first. "We'll play, if you like." - -And Susan and Phil, with the ease of old friends, proceeded to marshal -the strange little toy animals in line, two by two, behind Mr. and Mrs. -Noah and their stiff and stolid family. - -"Now you sing a song," said Phil. "Do you know it?" And without waiting -for Susan's shake of the head he burst loudly into tune: - - "They marched the animals, two by two, - One wide river to cross-- - The elephant and the kangaroo, - One wide river to cross." - -"But you see the kangaroo won't stand up, so I have to put the tiger -with the elephant. Then you sing it this way" - -And he took up the chant again: - - "They marched the animals, two by two, - One wide river to cross-- - The elephant and the tigeroo, - One wide river to cross." - -"Do you like it?" asked Phil, looking up into Susan's face with a smile. - -Susan nodded with an energy that set her curls a-bobbing. - -"There's Grandmother in the window," said she. "Let's go in and see -her." - -Grandmother put down her knitting to welcome Philip, and bade Susan pass -the cinnamon cookies. - -"I know my mother likes me to eat them," announced Phil, silent until he -had disposed of his cooky, "because she wants me to grow fat." - -"Perhaps she would like you to take another one," said Grandmother, -hiding a smile and passing the plate again. - -"I was sick," went on Phil, whose tongue seemed loosened by the second -cinnamon cooky. "I was sick so long I nearly all melted away. My father -calls me Spindle Shanks. But I'm going to grow big and fat now--if I eat -enough," he added with his eyes on the plate of cakes. - -Each with a cooky in hand and an extra one in Phil's pocket, Susan -escorted her new friend down Featherbed Lane in the hope that -Grandfather would invite them into the office. - -He was writing busily, but when Susan and Phil, clinging to the -window-sill, all but pressed their noses against the pane, Grandfather -put down his pen and motioned them to come in. - -"How do you do, sir," said Grandfather as Phil shook hands in true manly -fashion. "So you are my next-door neighbor. I hope we shall be good -friends." - -"Oh, he will, Grandfather," said Susan, speaking up for her new -acquaintance, who, standing speechless, allowed his gaze to travel from -the high boots up to the quizzical brown eyes looking so pleasantly down -upon him. - -"Well, neighbor, we shall have to fatten you up a little, I'm thinking," -remarked Grandfather heartily, observing thin little Phil in his turn. - -"Yes," agreed Phil, finding his tongue at last and taking a nibble of -his cooky as if to begin the fattening process at once. - -"I mean to eat and grow fat. My mother wants me to; she said so. My -father calls me Spindle Shanks," he added, as if rather proud of his new -name. - -"Is that so?" said Grandfather with interest. "Now I shouldn't have -thought of calling you that. But I might have called you 'Pint o' -Peanuts' if any one had asked me." - -Phil and Susan went off into a fit of laughter at this funny name, and -when they recovered Grandfather remarked gravely: - -"The best thing to do in a case like this is to build up an appetite. -Susan, you go with Philip up to his house and ask his mother if she will -let him take a little drive with Parson Drew and you and me over to -Green Valley. Be sure to tell her it's to work up an appetite. Then cut -across and tell Grandmother we are going to the Green Valley Court-House -and that we shall be home by five o'clock." - -Grandfather was forced to stand on the doorstep and call the last part -of his directions after Susan. For at the first mention of a drive she -had caught Phil's hand and started on a run up the driveway leading to -his house. - -Mrs. Vane hastily polished off her son with a corner of the kitchen -roller towel, snuggled him into a warm sweater, and sent word to -Grandfather that she was very glad to have Philip go driving, though he -didn't need to work up an appetite she was sure. - -Grandmother made Susan hunt for her straw hat which, strange to say, was -not to be found upon its accustomed nail. Grandmother and Phil searched -downstairs, while Susan ran about frantically upstairs, so afraid they -would be late that she could only half look. But at last she discovered -her hat upside down under the bed, with rubber Snowball taking a nap in -it, just as Susan had put her to bed the day before. - -In spite of this delay the children were in good time, and with Susan -wedged tightly on the seat between Grandfather and the minister, and -Phil standing between the great leather boots with either hand on -Grandfather's knee, they drove off in fine style. - -Mr. Drew was the village minister, a young man with a pleasant manner -and a twinkle in his kind blue eyes. He and Grandfather were special -friends. They liked to talk together, though they rarely agreed, and -sometimes became so excited in their talk that you might almost think -they were quarreling. But of course Susan knew better than that. - -Grandfather's horse, big bony Nero, had hurt his knee and had been -turned out to grass to rest and recover. So this afternoon Mr. Drew held -the reins and chirruped gently to his little brown Molly as she carried -them briskly along the road. - -As the grown-up talk rumbled on over her head, Susan peered out like a -bright-eyed bird, and at every interesting landmark or familiar spot she -called, "Look, Phil, look!" until from its frequent turning there was -some danger that Phil's head might snap completely off its frail little -neck. - -"There is the old schoolhouse, Phil," called Susan. "We can play house -on the doorstep. - -"And here is the row of cherry trees. By and by we will come here with a -pail. - -"And, Phil, the crossest old cow lives in this field. Don't you ever -come here by yourself. Once I only climbed up on the fence to look at -her, and she put down her head and ran at me. And how she did moo--as -cross as anything." - -"I'm not afraid of her," said Phil stoutly, as, safe behind the shelter -of Grandfather's boots and bowling swiftly along the road, he cast a -defiant look at the surly bossy securely fastened by a rope to a stout -stake in the ground. "Maybe I'll take you there sometime. I won't let -her hurt you." - -But the cow was left behind them, and Susan called Phil to look at the -poultry farm, with its ducks and geese, its hens and chickens, cackling -cheerfully and running about in amiable confusion. - -Now they were nearing the town of Green Valley, and down the hill and -over the bridge they rumbled to stop before the imposing stone -Court-House, with its parking-space for automobiles and its row of -hitching-posts, to one of which was tied little brown Molly. - -Susan danced impatiently up and down as Grandfather descended heavily to -the sidewalk. - -"Oh, Grandfather," said she, catching hold of his hand, "I want to take -Philly to Madame Bonnet's. May I? Please say 'yes.'" - -"To be sure," answered Grandfather, feeling in his pocket as he spoke. -"It will be a good place for you to wait. Here's ten cents apiece. Spend -it carefully, and be sure you don't get lost on the way." - -Susan laughed as she caught Phil by the arm and dragged him off. Lost on -the way to Madame Bonnet's! when every one in the world knew it was just -across the street from the Court-House. - -Once safely over the crossing Susan stopped and pointed: - -"Look, Phil," said she. "It's the nicest place you ever knew. Here it -is. Here's Madame Bonnet's shop." - - - - -CHAPTER III--MADAME BONNET'S SHOP - - -Madame Bonnet's shop was so small that if you hadn't known it was there -you might easily have walked past it and never seen it at all. - -It was one story high, with a low front door, and panes of glass in the -one window so tiny that it was difficult to see the wares that Madame -Bonnet had for sale. But if you shut one eye and pressed the other close -to the glass, you were well repaid for your trouble, for Madame Bonnet -kept a toy shop the like of which was not to be found anywhere, though -you traveled the world over in search of it. - -It was not that the shop was large, because it wasn't. It was not that -Madame Bonnet had many toys for sale, because she hadn't. But the -children said you could buy at Madame Bonnet's what you couldn't buy -anywhere else. And though the grown people sometimes stated, and perhaps -truly, that Madame Bonnet hadn't bought a penny's worth of new stock in -twenty-five years, the children were well satisfied, and no doubt that -is the true test of a toy shop, after all. - -"Oh, Phil," cried Susan, pressing one eye against the window, "do look -at the china doll carriage, and the little doll's lamp with a pink shade -and all, and that beautiful pair of vases that would just go on the -mantel in my doll's house. I mean if I had a doll's house," added Susan -truthfully. - -But Phil, twisting and turning and almost standing on his head, was -calling out: - -"Look at the china boy rowing in the boat--with all his bundles, too. -What do you think is in them, Susan? Do tell me. What is in that yellow -striped bundle? What do you think is in that one?" - -"Something for him to eat, I guess," said Susan sensibly. "Let's go -inside and look around." - -Madame Bonnet was comfortably knitting in the rear of the shop, and -didn't think of getting up to wait upon her customers. - -"Well, Susan Whiting," said she, gazing at the children over her -spectacles. "How do you do? Is your grandmother well? And so your -grandfather is going to call by for you. I suppose he came in to the -Court-House on business. And this is the little boy who has come to live -next door to you, is it? Well, my dears, I hope you will find something -you like here. Just walk around, and if you want to know about anything -bring it to me. My knee has been so bad with rheumatism that I don't get -up if I can help it." - -And Madame Bonnet returned to her knitting, apparently forgetting the -children, who walked about on tiptoe eyeing the toys and handling -everything within reach. - -Madame Bonnet had been born and brought up in the town of Green Valley -and had never journeyed farther away than fifty miles. People were -somewhat surprised, therefore, when, one fine day, the girl they had -always known as Mary Bonnet had opened her little shop, and had raised -over the front door a sign which boldly read, "Madame Bonnet." - -"There is French blood in me somewhere, I'm sure," said she. "And I -don't see why I shouldn't call myself 'Madame,' if I like." - -And now that Madame Bonnet was an old lady with white hair and -spectacles, most people had forgotten that she had ever borne any other -name. - -"Phil," said Susan, standing entranced before a low shelf, "won't you -come and look at this doll?" - -In the center of a large square of cardboard was sewed a bisque doll, -whose long flaxen braid hung over one shoulder and reached to the tips -of her dimpled toes. Surrounding her, also sewed on the card, was her -wardrobe, consisting of a pink dress, a pink hat, and a pair of pink kid -boots, a similar costume in blue, a Red Riding Hood cape, and a green -silk umbrella. - -Susan fairly held her breath before this vision of loveliness. But Phil -was spellbound at the other end of the shop--and no wonder. - -In a long glass tube, full of water, was a little red imp, even to horns -and tail, and, instructed by Susan how to press upon the rubber top, -Phil soon learned to make the imp execute a gay dance or move slowly up -and down in his narrow, watery prison. - -"Come along," urged Susan, tugging at Phil's arm. "There are lots more -things to see. Look at this little piano. It has four -keys--_tink-a-link-a-link_! And here's a swimming boy--how pretty he -is!" And Susan carefully lifted the light little figure, who lay with -rosy hands and feet outstretched all ready for a splash. - -"I like the animals." - -And Phil paused before a table laden with small trays on each of which -reposed a family of tiny bisque animals. There sat demure Mrs. Pussy and -her five tortoise-shell kittens. Four timid little lambs huddled close -to the Mother Sheep as if asking protection from a herd of big gray -elephants, who, in turn, trumpeted silently with upturned trunks, at the -disgrace of being placed next a placid family of black-and-white pigs. -There were ducks and chickens, camels and donkeys, cows and -horses--sitting, standing, and lying side by side in a peaceful and -united frame of mind not often to be met with in this world. - -Phil carried a tray of fat snub-nosed little animals back to Madame -Bonnet to find out what they were. - -"Land sakes!" exclaimed Madame Bonnet. "Don't you know what they are? -They're dogs, pug dogs. Didn't you ever see one? Susan, didn't you ever -see a pug dog? Well, I don't know as they are as common as they used to -be. Ladies used to like them for pets." And Madame Bonnet shook her head -over the way times had changed since she was a girl. - -The children wandered round and round, entranced afresh at each table -and shelf. - -There was a small wooden clock, like the timepiece in Susan's kitchen at -home, whose pendulum swung gayly to and fro if only you helped it a -little with your finger. There were dolls' hats made by Madame Bonnet -herself, that varied in style from a knitted tam-o'-shanter to a strange -turban-like affair with a jaunty chicken feather in the top. There was -sheet after sheet of paper dolls that surely belonged to the days of -long ago, for the ladies wore their hair in a way that Grandmother would -have recognized as a waterfall, and the little girl dolls had droll -pantalettes hanging below their skirts. - -There was a beautiful sawdust and china doll, whose wavy black china -hair was piled high upon her head, whose strapped china boots gracefully -took "first position" when she was held upright, and whose rosy lips -smiled sweetly in spite of the fact that her bright green silk dress was -neatly pasted on, so that it wouldn't come off, no matter what the -emergency. Perhaps the fancy gilt paper trimming on dolly's frock kept -her cheerful. Perhaps Susan's open admiration warmed her chilly little -china heart and helped her to forget any discomfort she might suffer. - -At any rate, Susan passed reluctantly from her side to view the doll's -furniture, and there she entered into such a delightful wilderness of -chairs, beds, tables, and sofas as would be difficult to describe. -Parlor sets with red and blue velvet trimmings; bedroom sets quite -complete, down to the cradle rocking comfortably away beside the -mother's big bed; rocking-chairs; baby's high chair; a bookcase filled -with tiny paper books; a stove with lids that really lifted off. - -"Oh, I can't go home!" cried Susan, when Grandfather opened the door -and, stooping low to save his head, came into the shop. - -"Five minutes more," said Grandfather, as he sat down for a little talk -with his old friend Madame Bonnet. - -"Oh, Phil, only five minutes more." And in that five minutes Susan flew -around like a distracted hen, making up her mind what her purchase -should be. - -Phil had been absorbed for some time in a pile of paper books with gay -red-and-white pictured covers, and he now came forward with his -selection. "The Story of Naughty Adolphus," read Grandfather, and gazed -with interest upon the picture of Adolphus, to whom "naughty" seemed a -mild word to apply. For not only was Adolphus dancing up and down in a -fit of temper, and all but striking his meek and shrinking little nurse -who stood terror stricken close by; but it was very evident that -Adolphus refused to have his hair brushed, his face washed, or finger -nails trimmed. All this the picture showed quite plainly, and innocent -Phil gazed at it with a virtuous air, for, in his worst moments, he felt -sure he had never even approached "Naughty Adolphus." - -"It looks interesting," announced Grandfather soberly. "I think you've -made a good choice. Susan, are you ready?" - -"Look," murmured Susan, faint with admiration. "Look what I've found." - -It was a white china egg, and, lifting off the top, there lay a little -dolly, as snug as could be. - -"It's beautiful," said Susan. And bold with gratitude, she stood on -tiptoe and placed a kiss upon Madame Bonnet's wrinkled cheek. - -"Well!" said Madame Bonnet, taken aback for the moment, but liking it -nevertheless. "If I had a good knee I'd step down cellar for a bottle of -my raspberry vinegar to treat you all. How are your knees, Mr. Whiting?" - -"Young as a boy's," returned Grandfather, rubbing them as he spoke. "But -here's Parson Drew. Suppose we let him step down. He doesn't know that -he has any knees." - -So Parson Drew, as fond as Susan of raspberry vinegar, obligingly -"stepped down cellar," and brought up a tall rosy bottle the contents of -which, under Madame Bonnet's careful eye, he poured into thin little -glasses with a gold band about the top. - -"Well," said Grandfather, after he had actually turned the bottle upside -down to prove to Susan and Phil that there was not a single drop left in -it, "I'm afraid the time has come for us to go." - -And after many good-byes and messages for Grandmother, the party moved -toward the door. - -Parson Drew led the way, and, as he opened the door, something from -outside, with a clatter and clash, darted into the shop, whirled down -the aisle, and subsided with a jangle into a dark corner at the back of -the store. - -Madame Bonnet, completely forgetting her bad knee, mounted her chair in -a twinkling and stood holding her skirts about her feet, calling-- - -"Help! Help! Help!" - -Susan, clutching tight to her eggshell baby, tried to climb up into -Grandfather's arms, while Phil, making himself as small as possible, hid -under a convenient table. - -Grandfather was peering into the dark corner where the clattering -object, now silent and motionless, could be faintly seen. - -Suddenly Grandfather put back his head and laughed. - -"It's a cat," said he; "a poor forlorn little gray cat. And we were all -afraid of a cat." - -He gave a second look, and then he spoke in a different tone. - -"Tut, tut, tut," said Grandfather, as if he were angry. - -He gently moved toward the trembling pussy, but before Madame Bonnet -could step down from her chair or Phil come out from under the table, in -from the street walked Mr. Drew, whom no one had missed until now. He -held by the coat-collar a freckled, red-headed boy, and he was pushing -him along in no very gentle way. - -"This is the boy who did the deed," said Mr. Drew, and he sounded angry -in the same way Grandfather did. "I thought I would catch him enjoying -his fun if I stepped outside, and, sure enough, there he was, doubled up -with laughter and slapping himself on the knee at the joke. A fine -joke," added Mr. Drew, giving the boy a little shake, "a fine -joke--tormenting a poor cat." - -"The other boys were in it, too," whined the culprit, squirming, "only -they ran away." - -"That doesn't excuse you," answered Mr. Drew sternly. "I have a notion -to tie the tin can on you. 'It's only for a joke,' you know. That is -what you told me." - -"No, no," whimpered the boy, jerking and twisting about. "Let me go. -I'll give you five cents if you do. I'll give you ten cents if you let -me go." And he pulled from his pocket a handful of coins and held them -out on his grimy palm. - -"Is it yours?" asked Mr. Drew. "Is it your money?" - -The boy nodded. - -"Good!" said Mr. Drew. "Then I'll take it." And he coolly slipped the -coins into his pocket. - -"Now," said he to the boy, tightening his grip on his collar, "you come -with me, and we will spend this money on a treat for poor pussy. And you -shall watch her enjoy it, too." - -When Mr. Drew returned with his unwilling companion, he found Madame -Bonnet composedly knitting in her chair, the rest of the group eyeing -pussy, still motionless in her corner. - -"Now, Tim," said Parson Drew cheerfully, to his sulky, red-haired -friend, "you shall have the pleasure of giving pussy the milk and the -cat-meat which you bought for her with your money." - -Tim silently spread the feast and retreated a few steps. - -"Come, puss, puss," encouraged Madame Bonnet in her comfortable voice, -"drink your milk." - -And pussy timidly put out her pink tongue and drank the milk thirstily. - -"You needn't be afraid to leave her to me," observed Madame Bonnet to -Grandfather, who was looking at his watch. "I like a cat, when I know -it's a cat and not a whirlwind. I'll take off the can when she is more -used to me, and I'll keep her here a bit till I find her a home." - -Outside the shop, the party halted once more. - -"Don't play any more tricks like this, will you, Tim?" asked Mr. Drew. -"And shake hands." - -Tim nodded and thrust out his hard little hand. He grinned cheerfully up -at Mr. Drew, and was off down the street, whistling shrilly between his -fingers as he ran. - -"When I get home," confided Susan in Grandfather's ear, as she sat on -his lap on the homeward ride, "I'm going to tell Snowball all about it, -and about that bad boy, and then I guess she will be glad that she has -lost her tail. Don't you?" - - - - -CHAPTER IV--THE SQUASH BABY - - -Susan was very unhappy. She stood by her bedroom window, kicking the -wall, and at every kick she said, "mean, mean, mean." - -It was all about a little berry pie. Grandmother had made for Susan's -dinner a saucer pie. It was juicy and brown and had fancy little crimps -all about the edge. It looked almost too good to eat. - -But instead of being pleased and thanking Grandmother, Susan had scowled -up her face at sight of it, and had muttered, - -"I don't like the little pie. I want a piece of the big one." - -Now, there is no telling why Susan acted in that way. I don't believe -she could have explained it herself. The words seemed to pop out of her -mouth, her face seemed to snarl itself up, and, for no reason at all she -suddenly felt very angry at the poor, pretty little saucer pie. - -And after this dreadful speech, nobody spoke. - -Susan felt Grandfather looking at her over his spectacles. She saw -Grandmother take the saucer pie and set it aside. And then, somehow, -nobody seemed to remember that Susan was at the table at all. She sat -there, the lump in her throat growing bigger and bigger and with a -strange prickly feeling in the end of her nose, until the tears began to -chase one another down her cheeks. And then Susan slipped from her chair -and ran upstairs. - -On the floor near the door lay innocent Snowball. Susan pushed her to -one side with such force that Snowball flew under the bed and struck the -wall with a thump. Then Susan threw herself on the bed beside Flip and -clasped her in her arms. - -First she cried until she couldn't cry any more, and then she whispered -the whole story into Flip's ear. "Nobody loves me but you, Flippy," -finished Susan with a gasp. Already she felt comforted, for, no matter -what happened, Flippy was always on her side. - -After a little, she rolled off the bed, and stood looking out of the -window into the hot garden below. There was not a breath of air -stirring. The leaves of the fruit trees scarcely moved, the sky seemed -to swim and dance before her eyes, and the only sound to be heard was -the shrill singing of the locusts in the trees. - -It was then that Susan said, "mean, mean, mean," and she meant -Grandmother, and Grandfather, and every one in the whole round world -except Flippy Whiting. - -Susan twisted the shade cord and sniffed, and tried to think of all the -cross and disagreeable things Grandmother and Grandfather had ever done -to her. - -But there was something strange about those thoughts. They were as -contrary as Susan herself. For all she could remember were the times -when Grandmother and Grandfather had been kind and patient and good, and -little by little quite a different feeling came over her. - -"Grandfather always takes me driving with him when he can," thought she. -"And Grandmother made the new dress for Flip; and she brought me a -paint-box yesterday from Green Valley." - -And suddenly Susan began to cry again. - -"But this time it is sorry tears. The other time it was mad ones," -thought she to herself, for Susan was quite as sharp as are most little -girls to know when she was in the right or in the wrong. - -Downstairs she flew, and flung her arms about Grandmother. - -"Oh, oh, oh," moaned Susan, burying her face in Grandmother's neck. "Oh, -Grandmother, Grandmother." And if she had stood upon the church steps -and shouted, "I'm sorry," to the whole village, she couldn't have said -it more plainly. - -Grandmother understood her quite well, and all she said was: - -"I couldn't believe that my Susan would be so rude to me." - -"I didn't mean it, I didn't mean it," whispered Susan, and, sealing the -peace with a kiss, she went in search of Grandfather. - -He sat on the porch, reading his paper, and he must have heard all that -she said, for he opened his arms, and without a word she snuggled down -upon his lap. With both hands she pulled his face round to hers and -placed a kiss upon what she called "my very own spot," none other than -the tip of Grandfather's nose. - -"Promise you will never let any one else kiss you there," Susan had once -begged. - -"I promise," Grandfather had answered with a laugh. And no doubt he kept -his word. - -But now, he put his hand into his baggy coat pocket and pulled out a -plump summer squash. - -"I thought this would make a nice dolly for you," said he. "I picked it -up after dinner in the garden." And with his knife he deftly cut eyes -and nose and mouth, and handed over the simpering orange-colored baby to -the delighted Susan. - -"Now we will go down to the office," said he, "and let Grandmother have -a nap this afternoon. I have to see a man on business, but you can play -around the schoolhouse while I'm busy." - -At the roadside gate they stopped a moment "to catch the breeze," said -Grandfather, pulling off his hat and mopping his brow. - -A man, whistling a lively tune, came up the road, and surely he felt the -heat but little, for he wore a brown velveteen jacket and had knotted -about his throat a bright red handkerchief. His face was brown and his -soft hat showed dark curling hair underneath the brim. - -Grandfather eyed him shrewdly, and, as the man passed the gate, he -spoke. - -"Sarishan," said Grandfather. - -The man stopped short and looked Grandfather straight in the eye. - -"Sarishan, rye," answered the man. - -Grandfather Whiting laughed and shook his head. - -"No, no," said he. "I'm no rye, and 'sarishan' is all the Romany I know. -But I wanted to see whether you would answer me. There are not many -Romanies to be seen about here nowadays. Are there?" - -The man shook his head and moved on. After a pause, he began his -whistling again. - -"What is it, Grandfather?" asked Susan. "What were you saying? Who is -that man?" - -"He is a gypsy," answered Grandfather, watching the man out of sight, -past the schoolhouse and round the bend of the road. "I thought so when -I saw him, so I spoke to him in Romany or gypsy talk. I said, -'Sarishan.' That means, 'good-day.' I'm surprised he answered me. They -generally pretend not to understand." - -"Sarishan," repeated Susan. She liked the soft pretty word. "But what -did he call you, Grandfather?" - -"He called me 'rye.' That means a gentleman. A Romany rye is a gypsy -gentleman. Some people like gypsy life, Susan, and know and understand -the gypsies better than others do. Sometimes they slip away and live -with the gypsies for a time. And this man thought I was one of them -because I spoke to him in Romany." - -Susan wanted to ask Grandfather what gypsy life was like. But the man -Grandfather was to see on business drove up just then, so she slipped -across the road to the deserted schoolhouse, and, bringing out her own -little broom which she kept under the porch, she proceeded to give the -steps and the walk a thorough sweeping. - -This housewifely task ended, she seated herself on the steps, for she -thought the squash baby needed an afternoon nap. Tied round the handle -of the broom was a little blue cloth that Susan used for a duster. It -was new and clean, so she fastened it round the neck of the squash baby -as a cloak, and so rocked the baby to and fro and hummed a little song. - -It was quiet on the schoolhouse steps. The shadows crept silently across -the road, so silently that they did not disturb a little head pillowed -on the hard boards of the porch. - -The flowers and grasses in the neglected yard stirred and rustled in the -afternoon breeze, just beginning to spring up, but all they murmured was -"Hush! Hush!" The bees hummed and buzzed busily about among the flowers, -one inquisitive young fellow, who knew no better, actually lighting on -Susan's gay hair-ribbon, as if he thought it a new kind of blossom. But -the little mother did not stir, for the very song the bees sang was a -lullaby. - -So that Susan's nap was long and refreshing, and when at last she woke -and stretched her stiff little arms and legs, she discovered that she -was hungry. - -"You stay here, baby," said she, firmly planting the ever-smiling squash -baby upon the steps. "I'll be back in a minute with a cooky for you." - -Susan trudged leisurely up Featherbed Lane. Near the end she halted, -and, leaning on the garden wall, stared with interest over at the -Tallman house. - -The sound of crying was plainly to be heard floating out upon the air. -The dismal wails grew louder, and then the door opened and Phil's father -appeared. - -He walked with a determined air to the big lilac bush near the foot of -the steps, and, pulling out his pen-knife, carefully selected and cut -off a stout little branch. - -"It's a switch," thought Susan, terror-stricken. "Oh, me, it's a -switch." - -At this moment the door was flung open again, and out upon the porch -darted a little figure. Its face was red, its arms were whirling, it was -dancing up and down and crying all at once. But, nevertheless, as Susan -peered closely, she saw that it was Phil. There was no doubt about that. - -His friend on the other side of the fence held her breath at the sight. -Oh, how sorry she was for him! She knew just how badly he felt. She, -too, would have been dancing in a frenzy if, a little earlier that -afternoon, she had seen Grandfather cutting a switch. - -But, finally, Phil found his voice. "No, no!" he shrieked; "I'll be -good! I'll be good! I'll be good!" - -His father turned and looked at him. - -"Stop crying," said he. - -Phil sobbed and capered about a moment longer, but at last his sobs died -away and he stood still. - -His father eyed him a moment longer. Then he shut his pen-knife with a -snap and dropped the switch in the grass. - -At this welcome sight Phil vanished into the house, and his father -slowly followed him. - -"What a horrid day," thought Susan. "Poor Philly! But I won't tell I -saw. I mean I won't tell any one but Grandmother and Grandfather and -Flip." - -Armed with her cookies, Susan traveled back to the schoolhouse. On the -little stone walk she stopped and stared. The schoolhouse steps were -bare! - -Where was the squash baby? Surely she hadn't walked away by herself. -Neither had she rolled off, toppled over by her own weight, for Susan -searched carefully in the grass about the steps. She shook the -schoolhouse door. It was firmly locked. She peeped in the window. The -same familiar scene met her eye: rows of old-fashioned benches, rusty -stove, dingy maps upon the wall, tin dipper left upon the window-sill. - -To Susan's relief she saw Grandfather's business friend drive away, and -she hurried across the road to tell of the mysterious disappearance. - -"Too bad," said Grandfather, as hand in hand they walked up to the -house. "But I'll make you another baby. Some mischievous boy has passed -by and taken it. There is not much travel on this road, though, and you -never lost anything before, did you? It's strange." - -Over on the Tallman steps sat Phil alone. He was spick and span in a -clean starched suit, his hair was brushed to a gloss, and he was turning -the leaves of a picture-book in a way that any proper and well-behaved -child might imitate. At this moment, whatever may have been true earlier -in the day, there was not the slightest suggestion of Naughty Adolphus -about little Phil. - -But he seemed dispirited, and Grandmother, who had sharp eyes and ears -as well as a warm heart, and who had guessed something of Phil's unhappy -afternoon, looked from the drooping little figure on the steps to the -red-rimmed eyes of her own Susan. - -"Susan," said she briskly, "it's a long while to supper-time. You run -over and ask Mrs. Vane to let Philip come back here with you. Tell her I -have a little treat for you two. I hope I won't give them bad dreams," -Grandmother added to herself, as Susan gladly sped over the garden wall -and across the green lawn on her pleasant errand. - -Back came the children, hand in hand, already looking brighter, and when -they saw the little saucer pie, neatly cut in two, they broke into broad -smiles. - -"Chew it well," instructed Grandmother, "and when you have finished, be -sure you run around the house three times. - -"But I believe their pleasure is worth one nightmare," reflected she, -"though I don't know that Mrs. Vane would agree with me." - -"It's good," announced Phil, his own cheerful self once more, as he -joyously ate berry juice with a spoon. - -"It's the best pie I ever tasted," said Susan, twisting about in her -chair to smile at Grandmother. Never, never again would she be rude to -Grandmother; of that she was sure. - -"But I do wish," said Susan, looking round at every one, "that I knew -who took my squash baby." - - - - -CHAPTER V--DOWN AT MISS LIZA'S - - -"Here is your tin pail, Susan. Try not to lose the cover, child." - -"Yes, Grandmother." - -"And I've put your slippers in this little bag. Be sure to bring them -home again with you." - -"Yes, Grandmother." - -"And tell Miss Liza she is to start you home at half-past three. - -"Tell her I said so. She will have had quite enough of you children by -that time, but she is so good-natured she would let you stay till -Doomsday if you liked." And Grandmother, straightening Susan's hat, -smiled down into the expectant little face looking up into hers. - -"Yes, Grandmother," answered Susan for the last time, and ran off to -join Phil, who, also provided with a pail and a pair of bedroom -slippers, stood waiting in the lane. - -"Isn't this nice?" asked Susan as, clashing their pails cheerfully, they -moved briskly along the road. "I do love to go to Miss Liza's. When she -lived in your house I used to go over every day, and sometimes when she -was baking she would let me help. She had little wee cake pans of a -fish, and a leaf, and a star." And Susan smiled at happy memories of -Miss Liza's baking-days. - -"Will we make cakes to-day, do you think?" inquired Phil, who, invited -with Susan to spend the day at Miss Eliza Tallman's, was making his -first social call of the season and was not quite sure what was expected -of him. For all he knew to the contrary, it was customary to carry a tin -pail and bedroom slippers when going visiting for the day. - -"I don't believe so," returned Susan doubtfully. "Miss Liza doesn't live -alone now. She lives with her niece, Miss Lunette. And Miss Lunette -can't bear the tiniest bit of noise. That's why we brought our slippers. -We have to put them on the minute we get there, and walk on tiptoe, and -just whisper." And Susan's voice sank mysteriously as she related their -programme for the day. - -Phil looked downcast. The prospect of whispering and walking on tiptoe -was not in the least pleasing to him. - -"Is Miss Lunette sick?" he inquired soberly. - -"Oh, yes," Susan assured him, "she is. I heard Grandmother and Miss Liza -talking. No one knows just what is the matter with her, but she must -have good things to eat, and some one to wait on her, and not one bit of -noise. And I heard Grandmother and Grandfather talking, too," went on -the "little pitcher." "Grandmother said, 'Liza's a saint on earth,' and -Grandfather said, 'In my opinion, all Miss Lunette needs is a little -hard work!' I don't know just what they meant. But, anyway, we are going -to fill our pails with currants and raspberries. Miss Liza said so." - -Phil brightened for a moment, but his face clouded again and he stopped -in the road. - -"Can't we shout before we get there, Susan?" he asked plaintively. "I -feel just like shouting to-day." - -"I do, too," agreed Susan willingly. "Let's shout now where there is no -one to stop us." And putting down their bundles so that they might swing -their arms as well, the children opened their mouths and shouted until -they could shout no more. - -On either side of the road lay a dense little wood. The noise of the -shouting woke the echoes and startled the birds who rose in the air with -a whirr of wings and then settled down again. There was the crackling of -underbrush and the rustle of leaves, but neither of the children saw a -cautious little figure, with brown face and tumbled black hair, peering -at them from behind a tree. His hungry eyes traveled to their pails and -stopped there. - -"I'll race you!" shouted Phil suddenly. And he was off, with Susan close -behind, their empty pails swinging as they ran. - -The little brown figure turned and disappeared among the tree-trunks. - -Miss Eliza Tallman stood waiting for her guests on the steps of the -white cottage that was separated from the street by an old-fashioned -flower garden, now glowing in its prime. - -Miss Liza herself was as wholesome and sweet and crisp as the row of -pinks that bordered the walk and sent their spicy odors out upon the -warm summer air. Miss Liza was round and plump. Her crinkly brown hair, -with only a few threads of gray, was drawn into a round little knob at -the back of her head. Her eyes, round and blue, looked out pleasantly -from behind round gold spectacles. She stood, absently smoothing down -her stiffly starched white apron, until she caught sight of the -children, and then she waved her hand in greeting. - -"I'm glad to see you," she called softly. - -And something in the quiet voice made Susan remember to close the gate -behind her gently instead of letting it swing shut with a slam. - -"Sit right down here on the porch steps and put on your slippers. Miss -Lunette feels right well to-day, and she wants you to come up and see -her before dinner." - -And Miss Liza smiled so warmly at little Phil that he cheered up -immediately. Going to see Miss Lunette couldn't be very dreadful if Miss -Liza looked so pleasant about it. - -Up the steep stairs they toiled softly, and were ushered into a room so -darkened that, coming from the glare of the sun outside, it was at first -difficult to see anything. - -But Phil at length made out a figure, wrapped in a shawl this warm -summer day, seated in a cushioned rocking-chair, and felt a cool, slim -hand take his own for an instant. He looked timidly into the face above -him and saw with a lightened heart that Miss Lunette was not dreadful at -all, that she didn't look in the least as he had expected and feared to -see her look. - -And in the fullness of his heart, little Phil spoke out. - -"Why, you are pretty," said he to Miss Lunette. - -Miss Lunette's pale, thin face flushed with pleasure, and she laid a -hand lightly upon Philip's head. - -"I feel so well to-day," said she graciously, "that I want to show you -children some toys that I've been making. Some day I mean to sell them -in the city, but it won't do any harm, I suppose, to show them to you -beforehand. It is what we call wool-work," added she carefully. - -On a table, drawn close to Miss Lunette's chair, stood a group of -animals made of worsted. There were yellow chickens standing unsteadily -upon their toothpick legs. Lopsided white sheep faced a pair of stout -rabbits evidently suffering from the mumps. A dull brown rooster -suddenly blossomed out into a gorgeous tail of red and green and purple -yarn. - -For a grown person it would be difficult to imagine who, in the city, -would purchase these strange specimens of natural history, but such a -disloyal thought did not occur to the children. They admired the toys to -Miss Lunette's complete satisfaction, and they had their reward. For -Miss Lunette took from the shelf under the table a book, a home-made -book, between whose pasteboard covers had been sewed leaves of stiff -white paper. - -"As a special treat," said Miss Lunette sweetly to her round-eyed -audience, "I am going to show you my book." - -She paused for an instant to allow Susan and Phil to feast their eyes -upon the book in silence. - -"This is the cover," said she at last, "and I made the picture myself." - -The picture was that of a rigid little boy, in a paper soldier cap, -stiffly blowing upon a tin trumpet. The picture was carefully colored -with red and blue crayons. - -"Oh, it's pretty," said Susan, in honest admiration. She meant to make a -book herself as soon as she reached home. - -"What's inside?" asked Philip. He felt sorry for that little boy, who, -as long as he lived with Miss Lunette, might never make a noise. - -"I think the cover ought to be bright and gay, so that it will attract -the children," went on the authoress. "Don't you think so, too?" - -Yes, Susan and Phil thought so, too. - -"But what's inside?" asked Philip again. - -How was that little boy going to play soldier, and never once shout or -fire off a gun? - -"The name of the book is 'Scripture for Little Ones,'" continued Miss -Lunette. "I will read parts of it to you if you like." And opening at -page one, she began to read. - - A is for Absalom who hung by his hair - From a tree--How painful to be left swinging there. - - B is for Baalam--He had a donkey who spoke-- - If we heard it to-day we would think it a joke. - - C is for Cain--His brother Abel he slew-- - He was a murderer--May it never be true of you! - - D is for Daniel who, in the lion's den, - Suffered no harm from beasts or from men. - - E is for-- - -But whom E stood for the children never knew, for Miss Liza appeared in -the doorway bearing a tray. - -"Here is your dinner, Lunette," said she gently. "Children, you creep -downstairs now. You don't want to overdo, Lunette," she added, as she -placed the invalid's substantial dinner before her. "You've been talking -for an hour now." - -Downstairs Miss Liza closed the stairway door that led up to Miss -Lunette's room. - -"Now you can talk out as loud as you like," said she, "and you won't -disturb any one. What's the news up at your house, Susan? Have you and -Phil found the buried ten cents yet?" - -No, Susan had forgotten all about it. - -So, as she stepped about putting their dinner on the table, Miss Liza -told Phil the story of the buried ten cents. - -"You know, Phil," said she, "you are living in my house,--the house I -was born and brought up in. And one day, when I was a little girl eight -years old, my uncle, who had a farm a mile or so away, drove past our -house and saw me in the road. - -"'Here's ten cents,' said he. 'Five for you and five for Jim.' Jim was -my brother. Now I was a selfish little thing," said Miss Liza, shaking -her head, "and what did I do but dig a hole under the kitchen window and -put the ten cents in it. Some day, when Jim was out of the way, I meant -to dig it up and spend it all on myself. But do you know, I never have -found that money from that day to this. I dug, and Jim dug, and Susan -here has dug, and I suppose you will try now. If you find it, be sure -you let me know." - -"I will find it," said Phil, excited. "I will. You see." - -Miss Liza nodded wisely. - -"That is what Susan thought," she answered. "Now draw up to the table. I -hope you are hungry." And Miss Liza smiled hospitably round at her -guests. - -They were hungry. The good dinner disappeared from their plates like -magic, but the crowning touch came when the little cakes shaped like -fish and leaves and stars appeared upon the table. - -"I told Phil about them," Susan repeated over and over; "I told him, I -told him." - -After dinner, Susan and Phil went into the garden to fill their pails -with currants and raspberries. It must be admitted that they picked more -raspberries than currants, and that they put almost as many berries into -their mouths as into their pails. - -They were hard at work when Miss Liza joined them. - -"It's half-past three," said she, shading her eyes with her hands and -looking up at the sky. "And if your Grandmother meant what she said, you -ought to start for home. But what I'm thinking of is the weather. It's -clear enough overhead, but low down there are black clouds that look -like a shower to me. I don't know whether you ought to set out or not." - -The clouds looked very far away to the children, and, now that their -pails were almost full, it seemed a pity not to stay a little longer. - -But Miss Liza took one more look round at the sky and made up her mind -once for all. - -"You must go right along," she decided, "and hurry, too. I shan't have -an easy moment till I think you are safe at home. Here are your hats and -slippers. Miss Lunette is napping, now, so I will say good-bye for you. -Hurry right along, children, and don't stop to play by the way." - -And all in a twinkling Susan and Phil found themselves walking down the -village street, with Miss Liza at the gate, waving good-bye with one -hand and motioning them along with the other. - -The sun was shining as they left the village and turned into the country -road that led past home, but there were low mutterings and rumblings and -Phil stopped to listen. - -"There's a wagon on the bridge," said he. "Maybe they will give us a -ride." - -"It's thunder," returned Susan, more weather-wise than he. "Listen. It's -getting dark, too. I wish a wagon would come along." - -But there was no sound of wheels; only rumblings of thunder growing ever -louder, the rustle of leaves in the rising wind, and the call of the -birds to one another as they hastened to shelter from the coming storm. - -"It's blue sky overhead, anyway," said Susan. "Let's run." - -"It's raining," announced Phil, heavily burdened with slippers and pail. -"I hear it on the leaves. I can't run. Let's sit down under a tree." - -"No, no!" exclaimed Susan, seizing his hand. "Come on! It's blue sky -overhead. I want to get home to Grandmother. I don't like it in the -woods in the rain. Come on! Do hurry--Run!" - -The tiny patch of blue sky upon which Susan had pinned her faith had -been rapidly growing smaller. Now it was altogether out of sight. There -was a sharp flash of lightning, a loud clap of thunder, and down came -the rain like the bursting of a waterspout. - -"Oh, run, Philly, run!" called Susan, darting to the side of the road. -"Come here with me under the trees." - -A flash of lightning and long roll of thunder came just at that moment, -and put to flight all Phil's small stock of courage. He was frightened -and tired, and he could endure no more. He dropped his pail of precious -berries to the ground, he let fall his slippers, and, standing in the -downpour, he lifted up his voice and wept. - -"Mamma, Mamma!" wailed Phil. "I want Mamma!" - -Poor Susan was distracted. Her lip trembled and her eyes filled with -tears, but she bravely ran out into the road again and caught Phil by -the arm. - -"Come, Philly, come," entreated Susan. - -But Phil, bewildered by the dazzling flashes of light and peals of -thunder, was beside himself with fear. He jerked his arm away and ran -screaming up the road, splashing through puddles as he went. - -"Oh, Philly! Oh, Grandfather! Oh, Grandfather!" wailed Susan. She felt -that the end of the world had come. - -But deliverance was at hand. - -Out of the woods appeared a man and a boy. The man easily overtook Phil -and lifted him in his arms. - -"Don't be afraid, missy," called he to Susan above Phil's screams. "Come -along with me." - -The boy had gathered up the scattered bundles, and he now grasped -Susan's hand, and so, dripping with rain, the little party vanished into -the shelter of the woods. - - - - -CHAPTER VI--THE GYPSIES - - -Susan sneezed twice, coughed, and looked about her. - -She stood in a tent, round like a circus tent, and the air was heavy -with smoke from a fire smouldering on the ground. There were no doors or -windows in the tent, and but little light entered on this dark afternoon -through a half-dozen rents in the roof. - -But Susan made out in the gloom not only the man and boy who had brought -her there, but a plump, dark woman, with gold hoops in her ears, who was -gently wiping the rain from Phil's face, three or four ragged children -dressed in bright reds and yellows, staring intently at her with big -black eyes, and a dog or two, discreetly lurking in the dim background. - -Susan sneezed again, and the woman turned from Phil and spoke. - -"It's the smoke, dearie," said she kindly. "You'll be used to it in a -moment. Tell your little brother not to be afraid. He is among friends. -We wouldn't hurt a hair of your heads. Tell him that." - -"I want to go home," said Phil, with under lip thrust out. "I want to go -home." - -"And so you shall," said the woman briskly, "as soon as it stops raining -a bit, and my man can find out where you live." - -"Straight up the hill," said Susan quickly. She, too, was eager to be at -home. "I saw you at my gate," she added shyly, to the man. "My -grandfather said 'Sarishan' to you." - -Susan knew the brown velveteen coat, though the red tie was hidden under -the upturned collar. - -The man looked at her a moment, and then he smiled. - -"True enough," said he. "I remember. I'll take you home. I'll harness -the 'gry' and take them in the van," said he to his wife. "It's still -raining hard. They shall know that the gypsies are good to deal with, -and that the worst of them is not James Lee." - -And, whistling his gay little tune, Mr. James Lee lifted the tent flap -and went out again into the rain which still pattered musically on the -canvas roof. - -Susan began to enjoy herself. Now that she knew she was going home -shortly, she looked about her with fresh pleasure. - -"It would be fun to live in a tent," she thought,--"so different from -home. No beds, no chairs, no table. The gypsies must eat sitting on the -ground, and sleep, perhaps, on that great heap in the corner." - -That it was not very clean, and was very, very crowded, smoky and dark -did not enter Susan's mind. - -She smiled at the children still staring silently at her. Besides the -big boy who, with back turned, seemed busy in the corner, there were -three little girls, two of whom, with coarse black hair and bold eyes, -smiled back at Susan and then fell to giggling and poking one another. -One of them darted forward and jerked at Susan's scarlet hair-ribbon. -The other stole slyly behind her and twitched her dress. They were -mischievous, trixy children, and Susan felt uneasy with them. She was -relieved when their mother, seeing the rough play, exclaimed, "Clear -out, you young ones," and drove them away. - -The third little girl, who was scarcely more than a baby, remained in -her place, staring solemnly at Susan. She did not look like the other -children; indeed, she did not look like a gypsy at all. She was a -slender little creature with pale brown hair, large gray eyes, and a -tiny hooked nose that gave a strange air of determination to her baby -face. She held something behind her back, and suddenly she stepped -forward and showed it to Susan. - -It was the lost squash baby! - -Susan knew it instantly. It had even the bit of blue rag tied about its -neck. - -"Why, it's my squash baby!" said she, in surprise. - -"Yours, is it?" said Mrs. Lee, coming forward. "My man picked it up in -the road and gave it to Gentilla. Give it back, Gentilla. The little -miss wants it." - -"No, no, I don't want it," said Susan hastily. "Let her keep it. Is her -name Gentilla? She is a nice little girl." - -"Gentilla Lee, a good gypsy name," returned Mrs. Lee. "She is an orphan. -She is my husband's brother's child. You might think I had enough to do -with three children of my own. But no, I must have one more." And Mrs. -Lee lifted the tent flap and moodily looked out into the still falling -rain. - -Susan smiled at Gentilla, who looked soberly back and then moved closer -to Susan's side and began stroking the visitor's dress with a tiny hand -that was far from clean. Suddenly she slipped her hand in Susan's, and, -swinging round on it, smiled up into her face. - -It seemed a good beginning of a friendship, and Susan was sorry when -Mrs. Lee turned round in the doorway and said: - -"Here comes my man with the van. You will be home in no time now." - -Through the woods stepped Mr. James Lee leading a bony gray horse, which -was drawing a gypsy van, gay with bright red and green and black paint. -He opened the door in the back of the van and helped the children in. - -"My pail," said Phil, clutching his slippers. "I've lost my pail." - -Mrs. Lee disappeared into the tent, and came out in a moment with Phil's -pail--empty! No wonder the big boy, busy eating Phil's berries, had -turned his back in the corner of the tent. - -"Don't cry, Phil. You shall have half my berries. Don't cry. We're going -home." And Susan waved vigorous good-byes to Mrs. Lee and Gentilla, held -back by her aunt from following Susan into the van. - -Mr. Lee carefully led his horse through the woods to the muddy road, and -then, sitting up in front, drove his old "gry" up the hill toward -Featherbed Lane. - -In the meantime Susan and Phil were looking round the van in surprise -and delight. - -"It's like a little playhouse," said Susan, squeezing Phil's hand. "Oh, -I wish I lived in a gypsy van all the time." - -Opposite the door, in the very front of the van, were two beds, one -above the other like berths on a ship, and broad enough, each one, to -hold three or four gypsy children at once, if need be, and as, in fact, -they very often did. There was a little cookstove, whose pipe wandered -out of the side of the van in a most unusual way. And alongside the -stove was a table, hanging by hinges from the wall. A high chest of -drawers and two chairs completed the furniture of the van, which looked -very much like a state-room and felt somewhat like one, too, as it -swayed over the hillocks and ruts in the road. - -Up Featherbed Lane bounced the van, and there on the porch stood -Grandmother and Miss Liza, both with white cheeks and anxious faces, -while Grandfather came hurrying from the barn where he had been -harnessing old Nero with a speed that quite upset the dignity of that -staid Roman-nosed beast. - -"Where were you, children?" cried Miss Liza in greeting, twisting the -corner of her apron as she spoke. "I ran up here in all that downpour, -and I didn't see a sign of you on the way." - -"My berries are gone," called Phil. "The big boy ate them. And I was -afraid. And we were inside a tent." - -"They are gypsies," said Susan in a low voice to Grandmother, who was -carefully feeling her all over. "They live in a tent. And, inside, that -van is just like a doll's house. Their name is Lee. I wish I lived in a -van; it's better than a tent, I think. And they have the nicest little -girl you ever saw. Her name is Gentilla Lee. She likes me, I know she -does, Grandmother. I want to go see her again." - -"You are wet in spots, child, and damp all over," was all Grandmother -replied. "Come straight in the house and let me put dry clothes on you." - -Grandfather and the gypsy had been talking together all this time, and -now Grandfather put something into Mr. James Lee's hand that made his -white teeth gleam in a smile, and caused him to drive first to the store -in the village before returning to his hungry family in their tent in -the woods. - -Then Phil was escorted home; Miss Liza was driven back to Miss Lunette, -who might be worried sick by her absence, Miss Liza thought, but who -proved to have slept soundly through the storm; and Susan, her tongue -wagging, was put into a hot bath and dressed in dry clothes from head to -foot before Grandfather returned. - -"I want to go back and see the gypsies," Susan teased the next day. "I -want to see Gentilla. Please, Grandfather, take me to see the gypsies." - -So Grandmother baked a cake in her largest tin, and at the village store -Grandfather and Susan purchased several yards of bright red hair-ribbon. -With these offerings they made their way to the gypsy tent, and received -a hospitable welcome. - -The van, with all its conveniences, was willingly displayed, and -Grandfather was invited to test with his hand the softness of the beds, -the like of which, Mrs. Lee declared, was not to be found in kings' -palaces. Privately, Grandfather believed this to be true, but, of -course, he didn't say it aloud. - -To-day, with the sun shining, and the dogs gnawing a bone at a safe -distance in the grass, the tent seemed to Susan even more attractive -than before. She thought with scorn of her own white little room at -home, and wished with all her heart that she had been born a gypsy -child. Even the two bold little girls seemed pleasanter, and indeed, -delighted with their new hair-ribbons and awed by Grandfather's -presence, they were more quiet and well-behaved, at least during Susan's -call. - -The big boy silently devoured his share of Grandmother's cake, and then, -with a hungry look still gleaming in his eyes, gazed so longingly at the -crumbs remaining that Grandfather took pity upon him. With a turn of his -hand he flipped a piece of money at the lad so that, with sure aim, he -struck the boy's bare foot. - -"Go buy something to eat with it," commanded Grandfather. - -Pulling at his tangled hair in a rough bow of thanks, the boy, waiting -for no second bidding, vanished among the trees and was seen no more by -his family that afternoon. - -Mr. James Lee entertained Grandfather as one gentleman should another. -He had many stories of adventure to tell, and he even brought out his -fiddle from under the beds and played several lively gypsy tunes. - -"Shall I tell the little miss's fortune?" asked Mrs. Lee, with a -half-sly look, and she laughed outright when Grandfather shook his head -with a smile. - -"I believe in your fortune-telling just about as much as you do," he -answered. "My granddaughter seems perfectly happy this moment. She -doesn't need any better fortune than she has." - -Nor did she, for she and Gentilla, still carrying the squash baby, had -become good friends and were enjoying their play together equally well. -They walked off, hand in hand, Susan helping Gentilla over the rough -places and mothering her to her heart's delight. She washed her new -baby's face and hands in the brook and dried them upon her own -handkerchief. She told her about Flip, and Snowball, and Snuff, to which -Gentilla listened with a roll of her big gray eyes. She, herself, didn't -talk very much, but Susan quite made up for this lack, and had begun to -teach her "Two little blackbirds sat upon a hill," when she heard -Grandfather calling and knew that she must go. - -"I don't want to leave Gentilla," said Susan, as she joined the group -before the tent. "Do you suppose I can come and play with her -to-morrow?" "Perhaps Mrs. Lee will let Gentilla come and play with you," -answered Mr. Whiting, who thought Susan better off at home than in the -gypsy camp. - -So it was settled that Mr. James Lee would bring Gentilla to-morrow to -spend the day, and Susan went home with a happy heart, chattering to -Grandfather about her new-found friends. - -"Wouldn't you like to be a gypsy, Grandfather?" asked she. "Wouldn't you -like to live in a tent? Why isn't everybody a gypsy? It's such a nice -way to live." - -"Well, Susan, most people think it better to stay in one place instead -of wandering over the face of the earth," answered Grandfather. "And -among other things, they want their children to go to school and to -church, too." - -"I don't care so much about going to school," said Susan, honestly. "I -know I would like to live in a tent and ride around in that van." - -"It seems pleasant enough now, while it is warm weather," admitted -Grandfather. "But what about cold, and rain, and snow, and not any too -much to eat?" - -"They were hungry, weren't they?" pondered Susan. "How they did like -Grandmother's cake!" - -That night at supper Susan looked round the pleasant, well-lighted room, -with its table spread with good things to eat. She thought of the tent -in the woods, the trees standing tall and black about it, and the -near-by brook gurgling over its stones without a pause. It seemed dark -and dreary and lonely, and with a little shudder Susan bent down and -whispered to Snuff: - -"I wouldn't have us be gypsies, Snuff, for anything in the world." - -And when she went to bed, she astonished Grandmother by saying in the -midst of her prayers: - -"Thank you, God, for not making Grandmother a gypsy, because then I -wouldn't have any apple sauce for my supper." - - - - -CHAPTER VII--IN THE SCHOOLHOUSE - - -Susan and Gentilla were at play in the garden, walking Indian fashion up -one path and down the other between the rows of summer vegetables. The -little girls held their arms outstretched to keep their balance, and, -now and then, with shrill little screams, one or the other would almost, -but not quite, topple over. - -Occasionally Gentilla, unsteady on her feet, made a misstep among the -beets and peas, and once she sat down upon a cabbage. But, as she was as -light as a feather, it certainly did the cabbage no harm, and perhaps a -great deal of good for all we know to the contrary. - -"Gentilla," said Susan, struck with a happy thought, "let's go play on -the schoolhouse steps." - -"Yes, let's," said Gentilla agreeably. She did not know where the -schoolhouse steps were, but she would have gone as willingly to the -North Pole if Susan had suggested it. - -She and Susan had become warm friends. Gentilla spent almost every day -at the house on Featherbed Lane, and Grandmother and Grandfather and -even Miss Liza had grown fond of the little gypsy girl because of her -happy disposition and loving little ways. Gentilla was not a great -talker, but she made smiles and a dimple and funny little bobs of her -head take the place of speech. She liked to steal up behind you and -place a kiss as soft as thistledown in the palm of your hand. She rubbed -gently up against one as a little kitten would, and by her pats and what -Susan called "smoothings" told you how much she loved you without a -single word. - -"She is a good child," said Grandmother. "I can hardly believe that she -is a real gypsy child. She doesn't seem like one to me." - -"She does wind herself round your heart," confided Miss Liza. "If I -lived alone I would almost think of adopting her, though I don't know -whether her people would be willing to part with her." - -"Mr. Whiting says they are a little jealous because we do so much for -Gentilla, and not for their own little girls. He thinks we haven't been -very wise," answered Mrs. Whiting. "And now that you have made Gentilla -these aprons, I don't know what they will say." - -From the shady back porch, where Grandmother and Miss Liza sat rocking -and sewing together, it looked as if two Susans, one large and one -small, were walking down the path toward them. For Gentilla wore, fitted -to her small person, a dress Susan had outgrown, and on her feet a pair -of Susan's shoes, the toes well stuffed with cotton. - -"Grandmother, we are going to play," called Susan. "And I want to -whisper in your ear." - -"Can't you say it out loud?" inquired Grandmother mildly. "It isn't -polite to whisper, Susan." - -"I only wanted to ask if I might pack a lunch in my little basket for -us," said Susan. "It isn't a secret. I just as lief have Miss Liza -hear." - -Susan reappeared in a moment, basket in hand, carrying Snowball and -Flip. - -"Let me see what you took, Susan," said Grandmother. - -In the basket were two molasses peppermints and two lumps of sugar. -"Just enough for Gentilla and me," said Susan contentedly. "Phil has -gone to Green Valley with his mother." - -Down the lane they started, Gentilla carrying Snowball, Susan with Flip -and the basket of lunch. - -"There is no use looking in there to-day," announced Susan, waving her -hand toward the office. "Grandfather has gone fishing, and Snuff has -gone with him. This is good weather for fishing. Grandfather said so, -and he knows everything." - -"Everything," echoed Gentilla loyally. - -"Yes, he does," Susan chattered on. "When I was little, I used to wonder -why he wasn't a king. There are always plenty of kings in fairy stories, -but there don't seem to be any round here. Did you ever see a king?" - -Gentilla shook her head solemnly, but Susan was not looking at her. - -"Gentilla," said Susan, staring at the schoolhouse door, "it's open!" - -Never before had Susan seen the schoolhouse door unlocked. Many times -had she shaken it and rattled the knob, and all of no avail. But now the -door actually stood ajar, and, with a push that sent it wide open, -Susan, followed by Gentilla, stepped over the threshold. - -The air in the schoolroom was close and warm, and dust lay thick upon -the floor and danced in the beams of sunlight that filtered through the -grimy window-panes. - -Susan walked about, surveying the battered desks covered with scratches -and ink-spots and ornamented with initials cut into the wood. The door -of the rusty stove stood open, and within lay a heap of torn papers. The -faded maps were not interesting, and Susan began to think the schoolroom -more attractive when peeped at from the porch than when actually within -it. - -"Let's go outside," said she to Gentilla, who had followed her about -like Mary's lamb. "Then we'll sit down and eat our lunch." The lunch -basket, guarded by Flip and Snowball, had been left on the porch steps. - -Susan turned the knob of the schoolhouse door, which had swung shut -behind them, and pulled. The door wouldn't open. Susan tugged until she -grew red in the face. - -"You try, Gentilla," said she. - -Gentilla obligingly gave a pull, and toppled over backward upon the -floor. - -"Don't cry," said Susan, helping her to her feet. "We will just climb -out of the window." - -But the windows, swollen and stiff, were no more accommodating than the -door. - -Susan climbed up on the window-sill, and, covered with dust and dirt, -pushed and pulled until she was quite out of breath. - -"I can't," she gasped. "I can't open it. What shall we do?" - -Gentilla's face puckered up at sight of Susan's distress. She ran back -to the door and beat upon it with her soft little fists. - -"You open, you open," called Gentilla, in a pitiful little pipe that -would have moved a heart of stone. - -Susan wanted to cry. There was a big lump in her throat, and it was only -vigorous winking and blinking that kept the tears from falling down her -cheeks. - -But Susan was repeating to herself something she had overheard -Grandmother say to Miss Liza that very afternoon. - -"Susan is a real little mother to Gentilla," Grandmother had said. - -And, at the time, Susan had thought, "If Gentilla ever falls into the -fire or tumbles down the well, I must be the one to pull her out." - -And she had almost hoped that something of the kind might happen, so -that she might show how brave she was, and how devoted to her little -friend. - -Surely now the time had come. Perhaps they would have to stay forever in -the schoolhouse. Without anything to eat they would grow thinner and -thinner and thinner until there would be nothing left of them at all. At -this doleful thought, one tear rolled down Susan's nose and splashed on -the dusty boards. But only one! For she swallowed hard, gave herself a -little shake, and then took Gentilla by the hand. - -"Come," said she, drawing her gently away from the door. "We will stay -by the window, and when anybody goes by, we will knock and shout and -call, and some one will let us out, I know." - -So the two little girls stationed themselves by the front window and -looked longingly out at the sunny road, the dancing leaves, and oh, -cruelest of all, the lunch basket on the porch steps, still guarded by -the faithful Flip and Snowball. - -Susan, her face streaked with dirt, polished off the window-glass as -best she could with her pocket handkerchief. - -"Grandmother will find us," said she hopefully. "Or else Grandfather -will. Don't you be afraid, Gentilla." - -But in her heart she thought: - -"Grandfather has gone fishing, and perhaps he won't be home till black -night. And I didn't tell Grandmother where we were going; I know I -didn't tell her where we were going." - -These sad thoughts were interrupted by the welcome sound of wheels. - -"Knock and scream, knock and scream!" called Susan excitedly. - -And they fell to work with a will, Susan redoubling her efforts when she -saw that it was Mr. Drew, hastening home behind little brown Molly. - -But the _clip_, _clap_, _clip_, _clap_, of Molly's hoofs drowned all the -noise they made, and Mr. Drew, with not a glance toward the schoolhouse, -drove out of sight. - -Susan looked blankly at Gentilla. - -"Oh, what a long time we've been here," said she forlornly. "It must be -nearly night." - -"Nearly night," echoed Gentilla. - -She sat down on the floor with her back against the wall, leaving Susan -alone on guard. She shut her eyes, her head nodded once or twice, and -when Susan next glanced at her she lay on the floor sound asleep. - -"Oh, Gentilla, wake up! I'm afraid to stay here alone. Wake up!" began -poor Susan, who at that moment would have welcomed the company of even a -fly buzzing on the window-pane. But the thought of Grandmother's speech -silenced her. - -"I won't wake her up, and I won't cry either," thought she. And pressing -her face against the window, she bravely watched the empty road for a -five minutes that actually seemed to her two hours long. - -All kinds of dreadful thoughts began to come to Susan's mind. Were there -bears in the woods, and at nightfall would they come lumbering out, and, -pushing the door open, squeeze her and Gentilla to death in a mighty -bear hug? What if Grandfather had made a mistake and the Indians had not -all gone away years ago! Suppose they should carry her off and stain her -brown with berry juice, like the little girl in her story book, so that, -even if Grandfather should see her, he would never know that it was his -black-eyed Susan, but would think she was a real true little Indian -girl. - -Susan gave a start of horror and almost screamed out loud. Up the road -this moment there came prowling a big dark animal. - -"Gentilla, Gentilla, here's a bear!" called Susan in a frenzy. "Wake up -and help me! Here's a bear! Oh! Oh! He's coming after us! Gentilla! -Gentilla!--Why, it's Snuffy! Snuffy! Snuffy! save me!" - -And Susan's cries of fright changed into those of joy and hope as soon -as she saw that the great brown bear was none other than shaggy, -comfortable, homelike Snuff. - -Snuffy's bright eyes caught sight of his familiars, Snowball and Flip, -seated in lonely state upon the schoolhouse steps. The little basket, -which, in days gone by, had often held goodies, as he well knew, excited -his curiosity. Up the steps tripped Master Snuff to sniff delicately at -the refreshments, and then, to the joy of the prisoners, he saw their -faces and heard their knocks and calls. - -He barked furiously, and leaped up at the window. He ran to the door, -scratching and whining to be let in, then back to the window where he -echoed their cries for help by barkings so frantic that Grandfather, -trudging leisurely along with his string of fish, wondered what Snuff -had cornered on the old school porch. - -Snuff was wise enough to know that something was wrong, and that -Grandfather was needed to set it right. - -Susan held her breath for fear he was leaving them to their fate as he -galloped down the walk, but it was only to circle round Grandfather and -back again to the steps, where he halted, waiting for his master to join -him. - -"You rascal," called Grandfather. "I suppose you think I ought to carry -those dolls up to the house for Susan. Come along with me, sir." - -But when Snuff recommenced barking and leaping at the window, -Grandfather Whiting followed him up the walk, and a second later the -treacherous door was flung open and Susan was in his arms. - -"My own Susan, what is it? What are you doing in here?" asked -Grandfather tenderly, as a very dirty little girl clasped him tight, and -sent a hot shower of tears down the back of his neck. - -"The door wouldn't open, and I didn't wake her up, and I was afraid of -bears and Indians," sobbed Susan. "But I knew you'd come, I knew you'd -come! And Snuff shall have all the lunch, every bit, because he saved -us." - -And breathing hard, and winking fast, and holding tight to Grandfather's -hand, Susan gladly rewarded Snuff, who devoured his treat in two bites, -and then, waving his tail jauntily, ran on ahead to prepare Grandmother -for their coming. - -Halfway up the lane, the party met Miss Liza, homeward bound. - -"Let me take Gentilla," said she, when she had heard the story. "I'll -leave her at the camp. She is too little to understand, but Susan has -had quite a fright. They weren't gone from home an hour, though," she -added, "but I suppose it seemed long to them." - -Of course it did. Susan could never be made to believe that she and -Gentilla had not been imprisoned in the schoolhouse for hours and hours, -perhaps half a day. - -When she reached home, she enjoyed telling the story over and over. -Grandmother was sympathetic, and gave Susan a lecture upon going into -strange places and shutting the door behind her. Grandfather was -concerned with the fact that the door was open at all, and wanted to -know who had been tampering with town property. - -Phil was the most satisfactory audience of all, for he bitterly -regretted having missed the adventure, and listened again and again to -Susan's account of it with undiminished interest. She was able to brag -and boast to him as she could to no one else, and before they separated -for the night neither one was quite sure whether or not real bears and -Indians had come out of the woods and been driven away by Susan -single-handed. - -"We'll play about it," said Phil, rising slowly from the steps as he -heard his mother for the third time call him to come home. "We'll take -turns being bears and Indians. We can play in my woodshed and we'll play -it the first thing--" - -"Phil!" came his father's voice. - -Phil skipped down the path toward home with the speed of a grasshopper. - -"To-morrow!" he called back as he hopped over the stone wall. - -Something so exciting was to happen "to-morrow" that, for the time -being, this adventure was to be cast in the shade. But Susan went to bed -that night feeling quite a heroine, and knowing there was no one in the -world Phil envied so much as herself. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII--SUSAN'S PRESENT - - -The next morning early, before breakfast, Susan ran out on the front -porch to view the new day. Grandfather had suggested that she go look -for "fairy tablecloths" in the grass, but Susan more than half suspected -that he wanted her out of the way while he finished shaving. She -couldn't help whisking about the room and it did make his hand shake. - -Susan watched two rosy little clouds grow fainter and fainter in the -pale blue morning sky, and then disappear. She leaned over the porch -railing and stared down into the bed of gay portulaca that Grandmother -tended with such care both night and morning. - -"Grandmother's flowers," thought she, smiling at the bright little cups, -all wet with dew. "They are awake and I am awake. I guess everybody is -awake now. But where is Snuff? He's always the first one up." - -Susan turned to go in search of her playmate when a flutter of white -caught her eye. On one of the porch posts a slip of paper had been -fastened with a common white pin. In a twinkling Susan was on the rail -and down again, paper in hand. - -"Grandfather, Grandfather, here's a letter," she called, and, running -through the house, she gave the paper to Grandfather, just settling -himself at the breakfast table. - -"Hum," said Mr. Whiting, when he had read the slip and studied it -backward and forward. "This is a strange thing. It's for you, Susan. -Look at this, Grandmother." - -On a jagged slip of wrapping-paper, printed in uneven letters that -slanted downhill, were the words: - -"A pressent for the little miss on the school-house steps." - -"A present for me?" said Susan, delighted, as Grandfather read it aloud. -"I'll go straight down and get it. Shall I?" - -"No, no. Eat your breakfast first," answered Grandfather, who was not -nearly so pleased at the idea of a present as Susan thought he ought to -be. - -In fact, over Susan's head, he and Grandmother exchanged glances which -seemed to say they did not altogether understand what had happened. - -But Susan saw nothing of this, and, breakfast over, she and Grandfather -started at once down the lane to see what her mysterious present might -be. - -"Grandfather, where is Snuff?" asked Susan. "I haven't seen him this -morning." - -"No more have I," answered Grandfather. - -He whistled again and again, and Susan called, but no Snuff appeared in -answer to these familiar signals. - -On the school porch lay a dark bundle. It was a large bundle, and it -moved slightly from side to side. As they drew nearer they heard a wail, -and Susan immediately recognized the cry. - -"It's Gentilla," she called out. "It's Gentilla crying." - -Yes, it was Gentilla, so securely wrapped in a big gray shawl that had -been wound tightly about her and pinned in place that she could move -neither hands nor feet, and could only rock herself from side to side as -she lay on the hard boards of the porch floor. - -Grandfather and Susan helped her out of the blanket, and Gentilla tried -to tell her story, but all she could say was: - -"All gone away,--riding." - -She rolled her big gray eyes and waved her tiny hand, and that was the -best that she could do to explain her presence there so early in the -morning. - -There was a strange look on Grandfather's face, and he thrust his hands -in his pockets and pursed up his mouth as if to whistle as he stared at -the little schoolhouse. For from every window the panes of glass had -been neatly removed, and a glance within showed that the old stove had -disappeared also. - -"You take Gentilla up to the house, Susan," said he. "I'm going down the -road a ways." - -"Yes, I will," said Susan. "But, Grandfather, where is my present?" - -"Perhaps Gentilla is the present," called back Mr. Whiting, already -striding down the hill. - -And half an hour later when he returned to the house, Grandfather sank -into a chair, put the tips of his fingers together, and began to laugh. - -"Do tell me what it is all about," said Grandmother, coming out on the -porch, duster in hand. "The children are over at Mrs. Vane's, and they -came up here with such a story that I don't know what to -think:--Gentilla wrapped in a shawl, and panes of glass gone, and I -don't know what all." - -Grandfather nodded in agreement as she spoke. - -"Yes, sir," said he. "They told the truth. The glass is gone and the -stove is gone from the schoolhouse, and what is more, the gypsies -themselves have gone from the grove. They have cleared out bag and -baggage, and have left Gentilla to us." - -"Do you mean to tell me that they have deserted that child?" demanded -Grandmother. "What kind of people are they, anyway, to do such a thing -as that?" - -"Gypsies," answered Grandfather tersely. "She wasn't their own child, -you know. And they were always jealous of the way we treated her. I -suppose they argued that, if we were so fond of her, we would be glad of -the chance to take care of her. I've telephoned, so that people will be -on the lookout for them, but the chances are we shall never hear of them -again." - -"I wouldn't want Gentilla to go back to them after the way they have -treated her," said Grandmother indignantly. - -"No, except that she is one of them, after all," answered Mr. Whiting. -"Well, we will keep the little girl for a time. We needn't be in any -great hurry to decide what to do. At any rate, Susan will enjoy a visit -from her." - -And that Susan proceeded to do at once. She and Phil and Gentilla spent -a long and happy day together. - -But that night, with Gentilla tucked snugly in the big spare-room bed -across the hall, Susan was so excited she couldn't sleep. She twisted -and turned and tossed, and at last pattered downstairs for a drink of -water. - -In the kitchen, to her surprise, she found Grandfather feeding Snuff, -who had been missing all day. Snuff ate his good supper as if he were -starving. He was covered with mud, an old rope was tied round his neck, -and he was so stiff and lame he could scarcely hobble. - -Susan waited until Grandfather had seen Snuff safely at rest upon a -comfortable bed of straw in the barn. Then upstairs they went together, -and Grandfather lay down on the outside of Susan's bed beside her and -took her hand in his. - -"Where do you think Snuff was all day, Grandfather?" began Susan. "I -wish he could talk and tell us." - -"So do I," said Grandfather heartily, "Did I ever tell you about a dog I -had when I was a little boy--" - -"Yes, you did," interrupted Susan. "Thank you, Grandfather, but I know -all about him. His name was Nick and he was black all over with not a -white spot anywhere. Grandfather, do you think Mr. James Lee took the -stove from the schoolhouse?" - -"I think he did," answered Grandfather briefly. - -"And the glass out of the windows?" - -"And the glass out of the windows." - -"What will he do with them?" - -"Sell them, I think," said Grandfather. - -"But they didn't belong to him?" questioned Susan. - -"No; they belonged to the town." - -"Then he stole!" exclaimed Susan, pulling her hand from Grandfather's so -that she might shake an accusing finger in his face. - -"It looks that way," admitted Mr. Whiting. - -"But you wouldn't steal." - -"I hope not," returned Grandfather. "But you must remember, Susan, that -the gypsies don't go to school or to church, and so they don't know the -difference between right and wrong as well as the people who do." - -"They ought to go," said Susan morally. "I go. Everybody ought to go. -I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to teach Gentilla Bible -stories right away to-morrow. How long will she stay here? Forever?" - -"No, not forever. I don't know how long. Now you must go to sleep, or -Grandmother will be up here after us." - -"I will," promised Susan drowsily. "But, you know, Grandfather, I think -they took Snuffy, too, and that is where he was all day. Don't you?" - -Grandfather nodded in the darkness. He had been thinking the same -thought, but he tiptoed out of the room without another word, and a -moment later Susan fell asleep. - -Early the next morning she began to train Gentilla. She made her say -"thank you," and "please," and "excuse me," until the poor little -visitor was so bewildered that she couldn't answer the simplest -question. She forced her to listen to Bible stories which she didn't -know very well herself, so poky and long-drawn-out that, if Gentilla -hadn't had a happy way of falling into little cat-naps whenever the -story was too dull to bear, I don't know what would have become of her. - -In her own behavior Susan was so moral and proper, and so unlike her own -lovable little self, that Grandmother, though she didn't say a word, -couldn't help thinking, "If this keeps up, I shall have to go away on a -visit. Only I know it won't last." - -And it didn't last. It was too unnatural. Of course it didn't last. - -After dinner Grandmother asked Susan to go to the store for two spools -of black thread. - -"Your Grandfather has torn the pocket in his coat," said she. "Gentilla -will wait with me until you come back, for she walks slowly and I am in -a hurry." - -"Yes, Grandmother," said Susan, primly, hoping they were admiring her -manners. - -She walked quickly, and was back in a short time with two spools of -_white_ thread. - -"But I told you _black_," said Grandmother. "I can't mend your -Grandfather's coat with white thread. I will keep these spools, but you -will have to go back for black ones. Remember what I want it for, and -then you won't make another mistake." - -Gentilla, really enjoying herself alone with Grandmother, sat on the -shady porch, comfortably holding Flip. - -The sun was hot, and the road was dusty, and it is not pleasant when one -is trying to be an example to be told that one has made a mistake. Susan -felt aggrieved. - -"You said white spools, Grandmother," she answered bluntly. "I know you -said white." - -Now this was not at all like Susan (perhaps the strain of being an -example was beginning to tell) and Mrs. Whiting stared at her in -surprise. - -"Do you mean to be saucy, Susan?" she asked, after a pause. "Go on your -errand at once, without another word." - -Susan turned on her heel and swallowed hard. She wanted to scream, or -throw something at somebody, but she didn't dare do anything but walk -slowly down the lane on her errand. - -When she returned, Grandmother took the spools and went into the house. -Gentilla, still cuddling Flip, looked up with a smile, but she received -a black look in return. - -"You can't hold Flip," said Susan, glowering at her. "You may have -Snowball, but Flip is mine." And she roughly seized Flippy to pull her -out of Gentilla's arms. - -But Gentilla was not a gypsy child for nothing. If Susan could pull and -slap, she could scratch and kick. So when Grandmother, at sounds of the -scuffle, looked out of the window, she saw the model teacher and her -pupil engaged in a hand-to-hand battle, with innocent Flip nearly torn -in two between them. - -"Susan Whiting!" called Grandmother. - -And at the sound of her voice, with a mighty push that sent Gentilla -backward upon the floor, Susan wrenched Flip from her grasp, and turned -and faced the window. - -"Put down your doll," commanded Grandmother. "Now, go upstairs to your -room and wait there for me." - -It was a miserable Susan whom Grandmother joined a few moments later. -Without a word, Mrs. Whiting washed the hot face and hands, and helped -Susan make ready for bed. - -Downstairs she put Gentilla into the hammock, she herself lay down on -the couch, and the afternoon quiet was unbroken as they all refreshed -themselves with a long nap. - -When Susan woke, and saw Grandmother standing by her bedside, she -stretched out her arms and laid her penitent head upon Grandmother's -soft shoulder. - -"I don't know what did it," said Susan at last, when she had whispered -for several moments in Grandmother's ear. "I meant to be good. I was -trying so hard." And Susan pensively put out her tongue and caught a -tear rolling slowly down her cheek. - -"Well, Susan, take my advice," said Grandmother sensibly, "and don't try -to train Gentilla any more. It is all most of us can do to take care of -ourselves, and we think Gentilla is a nice little girl just as she is -now, don't we?" - -Susan nodded soberly. Much nicer than Susan Whiting, she thought, as she -remembered slapping and pushing and knocking Gentilla down. - -But she brightened when Grandmother added: - -"Hurry now and dress yourself. We are all invited over to Mrs. Vane's -for tea, Grandfather and all. And you are going to wear your new dress -with the little pink flowers. I put the last stitch in it for you not -five minutes ago." - - - - -CHAPTER IX--HICKORY DICKORY DOCK - - -It was a stormy autumn afternoon, and Phil sat in his rocking-chair -before the red coal fire watching the clock upon the mantelpiece. He -hoped it would strike soon and tell him what time it was, for he was -expecting company, and he felt that he had already waited quite long -enough. - -He looked round the nursery and saw that everything was in its place, -spick and span and ready for visitors, too. The big dapple gray -rocking-horse stood in his corner, his fore feet impatiently lifted and -an eager gleam in his brown glass eye. No doubt he was anxious to do his -part by giving the visitor as many rides as she wished. - -The tin kitchen, with its gay blue oven, was polished until it sparkled -and glittered like precious stones. The kitchen was a favorite toy with -Phil. He never tired of making strange little messes of pounded crackers -and water, that smelled of the tins they were cooked in, and tasted no -one but Phil could say how, for no one but he would eat them. - -His big electric train, running on real tracks, a present from -Great-Uncle Fred, was nicely set up in the middle of the floor, and -looked as if it could take you to Jericho and return in one afternoon. -Little black Pompey in a red-and-white striped minstrel suit, high hat -on head, looked anxiously from the cab of the engine, for, as engineer, -was he not responsible for the safety of a whole family of paper dolls -who occupied an entire passenger car and who seemed not at all concerned -at the delay in starting? - -The nodding donkey, the dancing bear, the flannel rabbit with only one -ear, stood stiffly on parade. The box of tin soldiers and sailors lay -invitingly open. - -Yes, everything was ready, even to the big sailboat that leaned against -the wall, canvas spread to catch the first salt breeze. And best of all, -there stood the low nursery table covered with a spotless white cloth, a -sight which promised such a pleasant ending to what was sure to be a -pleasant afternoon that Phil treated himself to a violent rocking as a -way of working off his emotion. - -For Phil had been ill in bed, and this was his first taste of fun in two -whole weeks. He had looked forward mightily to this very moment, and his -mother's promise that he should have a party as soon as he was well had -helped, more than anything else, to make the big spoonfuls of black -medicine go down without a struggle. - -Phil's cheeks were white and his face was thin, and he wore for warmth -his manly little blue-and-white checked bathrobe, since only last night -his cough had been croupy again. Not that Phil called it his bathrobe. -In admiring imitation of his father's lounging costume he called it his -"smoking-jacket," and he had even had the daring to slip a match or two -into the deep side pocket, in which he fervently hoped no one might pry. -If Phil's mother had even suspected such a thing, he and the matches -would have parted company speedily, he well knew. He meant to slip them -safely back as soon as the party was over, and no one would be the wiser -or harmed in the least by what he had done, he thought. He smiled to -himself as he fingered the forbidden objects that nestled so innocently -in his pocket and gave him such a jaunty grown-up feeling. - -And, in Phil's secret heart, there was another reason why he was happy -this afternoon. Gentilla had gone away. - -It was not that Phil didn't like Gentilla, for he did. He had played -happily with her and Susan through the long summer days that the little -girl had spent in Featherbed Lane. He had enjoyed, he thought, the long -stay Gentilla had made with the Whitings when her gypsy relatives had -disappeared in the night and had never been heard of from that time to -this. - -But at last Gentilla's visit had come to an end. Mr. Drew knew of a Home -for little children who needed some one to love and care for them. And -so, one bright October day, the good minister took the little gypsy girl -to her new home where she would lead an ordered, comfortable life quite -different from the rough-and-tumble days she had known in gypsy van or -camp. - -At parting, Phil had presented Gentilla with his treasured Noah's ark -because she loved it so. He would willingly have given her his express -wagon, in which he had treated her to many a ride, if his mother hadn't -explained that it would not go into Gentilla's tiny trunk which her kind -friends were filling for her with a neat little outfit. He stood upon -the station platform, loyally waving his hat until the train was quite -out of sight. - -And it was not until then that he learned how pleasant it was to have an -undivided Susan for a playmate once again, a Susan who was always glad -to see him, who never whispered secrets and wouldn't tell, who never ran -away from him, and who, in short, was to be the chosen guest of honor -that very afternoon. - -"It must be most supper-time," grumbled Phil. "I wish the clock would -strike, or Susan would come, or something would happen." - -The clock on the mantel began a whirring and creaking that caused Phil -to spring to his feet and fasten his eyes upon the little Roman soldier -in helmet and shield, who stood alert, both day and night, atop the -clock, ready to strike the hours as they came. The whirring grew louder. -Slowly the little Roman soldier raised his arm and loudly struck his -shield once, twice. Two o'clock! - -"Time for Susan," said Phil joyfully. - -He dragged a low cricket to the window, and, standing upon it, looked -out at the sodden brown lawn, the leafless trees rocking in a late -October gale, and the gray windswept sky. Big raindrops hurried nowhere -in particular down the window-pane, and Phil amused himself by racing -them with his finger. And presently he spied Susan. - -"Come on, come on!" he shouted, knocking on the window, quite careless -of the fact that Susan couldn't possibly hear him. "I've been waiting -forever. Come on!" - -The little figure in blue waterproof cape and hood, Susan's pride, -hurried down to the stone wall, through the gap, and across Phil's lawn. -Here was a puddle, and the blue waterproof hopped nimbly over it. Just -one peep into the empty dog kennel, and Phil heard the side door shut, -and knew that Susan would be there in a moment. - -He waited impatiently, his eyes at the crack of the nursery door, since -the cold halls were forbidden him. He heard Susan and his mother -talking, and at last up she came, a box under her arm. - -"See what I've brought," said Susan. "Grandmother sent it. And your -mother gave me some, just now, too. We will each have a long string of -them." - -Susan sat down on the hearth-rug and opened the box. It was full of -buttons, large and small, dull and bright, white and colored, and these -she poured out in a little heap upon the floor. - -"Grandmother sent a long thread for each of us," and Susan pounced upon -a small parcel at the bottom of the box. "She told me how to do it, too. -You string the buttons, as many as you like, and one of them is your -'touch button.' You must never tell which one that is, because who ever -touches that button must give you one of his. Do you see?" - -"But won't you even tell me, Susan?" asked simple Phil, who wanted to -share all things with his friend, even to dark mysteries like "touch -buttons." - -"Why, yes," said Susan generously, "if you will tell me yours." - -Phil nodded and rummaged in the button heap. - -"These are good ones," said he, ranging them on the floor before him. -"I'm going to begin to string." - -Phil's taste was severe. He had chosen several large, dark, velvet -buttons, a brass military button, a useful black button or two that -might have come from his father's coat, a flat silver disk as big as a -dollar, and, as a lighter touch, all the buttons he could find covered -with a gay tartan plaid gingham. - -Susan uttered cries of delight as she rapidly made her selection. - -"Look at these blue diamonds," she exclaimed rapturously over some glass -buttons that had seen better days. "And here is one with beautiful pink -flowers painted on it. Here is a white fur one off my baby coat, and -these little violet-and-white checks are from Grandmother's gingham -dress. I know they are." - -"Now this is the grandmother," she went on, taking up a fat brown -doorknob of a button. "I'll put her on my string first of all, so that -she can take care of the rest of them. And next I'll put this little -green velvet one so that it won't be lonesome." - -"Which is your touch button?" asked Phil, after working busily in -silence for a whole minute. - -"Shh-h-h!" warned Susan, looking carefully about her before answering, -as if a spy might be peeping through the keyhole or even hiding behind -the one-eared rabbit. "This one. It's my favorite, too." And she touched -a hard little rose-colored ball that looked uncommonly like a pill. -"Which is yours?" - -Phil proudly displayed the military button, and whirled away from Susan -just in time to keep the secret from his mother who entered the room, -bearing a tray. - -"Are you ready for your refreshments?" she asked, setting her burden -down upon the table. "Oh, let me see your button strings." - -She took both strings in her hand to look them over, and to the delight -of the children she touched both of the charmed buttons. - -"Touch! Touch!" they cried, capering about like wild Indians. "You -touched the 'touch button.' You owe us one now." - -"So I do," said Mrs. Vane, laughing. "I had forgotten all about 'touch -buttons.' I shall be more careful after this. You won't catch me again. -Now, Phil, there are your refreshments, so draw up to the table whenever -you are ready. I must go look for buttons to pay my debt!" - -Mrs. Vane, still laughing, took the tray and went downstairs. - -Susan and Phil found themselves ready for the refreshments and made -haste to set the little table with the green-and-white china tea-set. -The dinner plates were quite large enough to hold the sponge cakes, and -if the tea-cups seemed a trifle small, think how many more times the -brimming pitcher of lemonade would go round. - -Phil set out four plates instead of two. - -"We will each ask one company to come to the table," said he. "I want -the rocking-horse, he looks so thirsty, and your grandfather always -stops to give Nero a drink when we go riding." - -And Phil dragged his steed over to the table, where he rocked back and -forth for a moment bumping his nose against the edge of the table each -time. Indeed, with his open jaws and bright red nostrils, he looked as -if a whole trough of lemonade would be needed to slake his thirst. - -"I'll take the bunny because he has only one ear," said tender-hearted -Susan. - -As she stooped to pick up the rabbit, she uttered a scream and sent poor -bun flying half-way across the room. A small brown object, far more -frightened than Susan, sped like a streak of lightning along the wall, -and disappeared into the big closet where Phil kept his toys. - -"What is it? What is it?" cried Phil, for Susan was jumping up and down -with her hands over her ears. - -"It's on me! It's on me!" cried Susan, shuddering and shaking. "It's a -mouse! It's a mouse!" - -"It isn't on you," said Phil. "Don't cry, Susan. I saw him go in the -closet. I'll fix him, you see." - -With a bravery worthy of a better cause Phil opened the closet door, -struck one of his precious matches, threw it into the closet after the -mouse, and firmly shut the door. - -"There now," said he. "I fixed him." - -"What did you do?" quavered Susan, opening one eye. "Are you sure he -isn't on me? Look." - -"I killed him," returned Phil briefly. - -"How?" - -"I burned him up," answered Phil in a deep voice. - -"Really?" said Susan, awed. "But won't it set the house on fire?" - -"No," said Phil stoutly. "It won't. I mean I don't think it will. Maybe -we had better look and see. You look, Susan." - -On the floor of the closet stood an open Jack-in-the-box, and it was -upon poor Jack's hat that the match had alighted. Jack had bushy white -hair, and an equally bushy beard, and he was blazing merrily, grinning -like a hero all the while, when Susan opened the door. - -Susan's heart stood still. Oh, if Mrs. Vane were only there! - -"Run, Phil!" she called. "Run for your mother!" - -And then with a presence of mind that, when he heard the tale, -Grandfather considered remarkable, she picked up the pitcher of lemonade -and emptied it over the blaze. - -Phil ran screaming downstairs. - -"The house is on fire and the mouse is burned up! Mamma, Mamma, come -quick! The mouse is on fire and the house is burned up!" - -When Mrs. Vane reached the nursery, she found the fire out, the closet -floor covered with lemonade, Jack-in-the-box burned to a crisp, and -Susan, with shining eyes, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, but able -after a moment to tell her story. - -"But, child," said Mrs. Vane, when she had made sure that the fire was -completely out and that the only article damaged was the unfortunate -Jack-in-the-box, "which one of you had matches, and what has become of -Phil? Who had the match, Susan?" - -Ah, that was the question that Phil dared not face, and that had caused -him to hide himself securely behind the big sofa in the parlor where no -one went in cold weather except for a special reason. - -But at last he was found, and, standing before his mother, listened with -drooping head to the truths his own conscience had already told him. - -"I think you have found out for yourself, Phil, why a little boy should -never touch matches," said Mrs. Vane soberly. "If it hadn't been for -Susan, our house might have been burned to the ground. I'm sure I don't -know what your father would say if he were here." - -Phil's eyes grew glassy at the very thought, but he said nothing. -Indeed, there was nothing he could say in excuse. - -"You have spoiled your party, and ruined your Jack-in-the-box," went on -his mother. "And, now, after hiding so long in that chilly room, you -will have to go straight to bed so that you won't take cold." - -At this Phil's tears burst forth, and Susan was moved to pity. - -"Oh, dear," said she, with an arm about Phil's heaving shoulders, "he -will never touch the matches again, will you, Philly? Tell your mother -you won't." - -"N-n-no," blubbered Phil dismally. - -Mrs. Vane smiled down at the small sinner's comforter. - -"It seems too bad that Susan shouldn't have her refreshments," she -remarked,--"especially since she put out the fire." - -And in a very few moments Susan was sitting on the edge of Phil's bed, -and both were drinking hot chocolate and eating the party sponge cakes. - -"Hadn't you better thank Susan for putting out the fire and saving our -house from burning down?" asked Mrs. Vane, as, a little later, she -helped Susan into her waterproof. She wanted to drive the lesson home, -and impress upon Phil's mind the danger they had so narrowly escaped. - -"Thank you, Susan," returned Phil obediently. "But I'm going to do -something nice for you to-morrow," he added. "I'm going to give you my -'touch button,' you see." - - - - -CHAPTER X--THE VISIT - - -Grandfather and Susan were going on a visit to the Town of Banbury. - -They were to stay at the house of Grandfather's friend, Mr. Spargo, and -Susan was delighted at the thought, for once Mr. Spargo had spent a -whole week at Featherbed Lane and with him had come his little daughter -Letty, just Susan's age. - -Susan remembered the good times they had had together, and now she could -scarcely wait for the day to come when she would see Letty Spargo again. - -They were going to Banbury, she knew, because Grandfather had a "case" -at the Banbury Court-House. Susan thought of this "case" as a big black -bag something like the suitcase Grandfather was to carry on the visit. -Sometime she meant to ask why he kept a "case" so far away from home in -Banbury; but now that question must wait, for she was very busy deciding -just which of her belongings she would take with her on the journey. - -Susan didn't trouble her head about dresses; Grandmother would attend to -that, she knew. Her difficulty lay in making up her mind which of her -toys to take with her, and Grandmother looked with dismay at the pile on -Susan's bed, a pile which, as Susan ran blithely up and down stairs, -grew larger with every trip. - -"Susan, child," said Grandmother, "what are your washboard and tub doing -on the bed here, and this box of blocks, and your flat-iron? Are you -thinking of taking them to Banbury? You will need a Saratoga trunk, if -you keep on." - -"I thought Letty would like to see them," faltered Susan, halting with -an armful in the doorway. - -"So she will, when she comes to visit you," answered Grandmother. "It is -your turn now to see her toys. And I should leave Flip and Snowball -home, too, if I were you. You will be gone only four or five days, a -week at the most, you know." - -"I am afraid they will miss me," said Susan, coming forward to look -wistfully at her pile of treasures. - -"No, they won't," said Grandmother, shaking her head with decision. -"They will be all the more glad to see you when you come home again. And -they will be company for me, too. You don't want to leave me entirely -alone, do you?" - -"Oh, Grandmother!" cried Susan, her tender heart touched. "I don't want -to leave you home alone at all. I won't go. I won't go one step." And -she caught Mrs. Whiting's hand and patted it gently against her cheek. - -"Nonsense, Susan," answered Mrs. Whiting, smiling down upon her -granddaughter. "How do you suppose Grandfather would get along without -you to take care of him? And I expect to be too busy to be lonely. I -hope to finish my braided rug while you are gone." - -So Susan decided that, after all, she would go with Grandfather, and -that Grandmother must be left in Flip and Snowball's special charge. - -"Take good care of Grandmother, and be good children yourselves," -whispered she a day or so later, as she ran into the little sewing-room -to bid them good-bye. Flip and Snowball had been placed on top of the -sewing-machine so that they might easily guard Grandmother as she -braided her rug. "Kiss me good-bye and look at my new hat." And Susan -stole an admiring glance in the mirror at her new squirrel cap. - -She felt very proud of her cap, with tippet and muff to match, and once -on the train she sat up stiff and prim hoping some one would say: - -"Who is that good little girl in the squirrel furs?" - -But after waiting a whole minute to hear the flattering comment which -did not come, Susan turned to look out of the window, and sensibly -forgot about herself and her furs as she gazed at the world whirling -past. - -She was so interested in all she saw that the journey seemed a short -one, and she could scarcely believe it was over when Grandfather folded -his paper and lifted down the suitcase from the rack over his head. - -But there on the platform stood Letty, smiling shyly and holding fast to -her father's hand, and, what seemed really wonderful to Susan, Letty -wore a little squirrel cap and tippet and muff like her own. - -"We are twins!" cried Susan in an ecstasy of joy, as arm in arm they -walked up the street behind Grandfather and Mr. Spargo. - -Her eyes were glancing hither and thither as she surveyed the neat -red-brick houses, with white front door and glistening white doorstep, -each in its own spacious garden plot, that made up street after street -in Banbury Town. - -"We are real twins," agreed Letty, her blue eyes shining and her yellow -curls dancing as she nodded eagerly at Susan. "And we are going to sleep -together; Mother said so. And I asked Annie what was for dinner -to-night, but all she would tell me was 'Brussels sprouts' and 'Queen of -Puddings.' You like Queen of Puddings, don't you?" - -Susan admitted that she liked Queen of Puddings. She had never before -heard of "Bussels sprouts," but, if asked, she would willingly have said -that she liked them too, so happy was she to be in Banbury and visiting -Letty Spargo. - -"But I haven't told you the nicest yet, Susan," went on Letty, squeezing -her visitor's arm as she talked. "There is going to be a Fair in our -church two days after to-morrow, and there is going to be a Blackbird -Pie. Mother is going to have it, Mother and Miss Lamb. Miss Lamb is my -Sunday-School teacher. And they are making the curtains for it now, red -curtains with big blackbirds flying all over them. Now aren't you glad -you came to see me?" - -Susan's head was whirling. What was a blackbird pie, and why should a -pie have curtains? - -At dinner, Susan discovered that "Bussels sprouts" were like baby -cabbages, but it was not until later in the evening that Mrs. Spargo, -seeing Susan's bewilderment at Letty's talk of the Blackbird Pie, made -clear the mystery to her. - -"It is not a real pie, Susan," said she. "It is going to be the largest -dishpan we can buy, covered with paper to look like a pie and filled -with little articles and toys that cost five or ten cents each. You will -pull a string, and out of the pie will come something nice. And the -blackbird curtains are to drape the booth. Do you understand?" - -Susan smiled up into Mrs. Spargo's face. Already she felt at home with -Letty's mother. And she liked Letty's baby, too, a fat, good-natured -blue-eyed baby, not quite two years old, who poked his fingers into -everything and who never cried no matter how many times he sat down hard -on the floor with a thump. - -"He is a little bit banty because he is fat. That is why he sits down so -hard. But I like babies to be banty," said Letty loyally. - -"I do too," agreed Susan. "They are much nicer that way." - -The next morning before sun-up, Letty and Susan were awake, both very -much surprised to find themselves side by side in bed. - -"I knew I was here when I went to sleep," said Susan, rubbing her eyes -and staring round, "but when I woke up I thought I was home." - -"No, you are here," said Letty, sitting up on top of her pillow as if it -were a stool and speaking earnestly. "Now I'll tell you what I thought, -Susan. You know the Fair is only one day after to-morrow now. Don't you -think we ought to begin to save right away so that we can have lots of -pulls at the Blackbird Pie? And there will be ice-cream, too, and other -good things, I know. Have you any money?" - -Susan was as business-like as Letty. - -"Yes, plenty," she answered, slipping out of bed. - -And a moment later, she and Letty were gazing into the depths of her -little green handbag where shone three bright new ten-cent pieces. - -"Good," said Letty. "Just think how much we can buy with that. Now I -haven't any money at all. But Father comes home to lunch every day, and -we will be there to meet him when he comes up the street. I will ask him -for some money then, and when he goes back to the office after luncheon -I will ask him for more. He will never remember," said Letty, with a -confidence born of experience. "He is a very absent-minded man. My -mother herself says so." - -Susan was charmed with this idea. - -"Shall we keep it all in my pocketbook?" she asked. Already she could -see its green sides bulging with riches. - -Letty twisted a curl and pondered. - -"No," she decided at last, "for you might take it out in the street with -you and lose it. I'll show you where we will keep our money." - -And on tiptoe for fear of waking the baby, she crept into the nursery -next door and back. - -"Here! just the thing," said she, displaying a little round white jar -decorated with a bunch of scarlet holly berries and prickly green -leaves. - -"We can keep our money in this, because it is mine. No one will touch -it. And we will put it on the end of the mantelpiece in the nursery, up -high where the baby can't reach it. Shall we do that?" - -In answer, Susan shook her three ten-cent pieces into the jar, and with -head on one side admired the effect. - -"But if any one looks in he will see the money, and maybe ask what it is -for. Then we can't keep it a secret," she objected. - -Letty, with finger on lip, tiptoed into the nursery again, and returned -with a doll's brown-and-white checked sunbonnet in her hand. - -"It belongs to the baby's doll, Lolly," said she. "I just snatched up -the first thing I could find. We will stuff it into the jar on top of -the money, and if people see it, they will think we have left it there -careless-like." - -The sunbonnet was tucked into the jar, and the little girls felt -perfectly sure that no one would suspect the presence of money under it. - -"It does look put there careless-like, doesn't it?" repeated Letty. - -She liked to use those words which she had borrowed from Annie the cook. -Many times had she heard Annie say, "I think I'll toss off a pudding, -careless-like, for dinner," or, "I'll give the room a little dusting, -careless-like, before your mother comes home," and she admired the turn -of expression. - -At noon that day, on his way home to luncheon, Mr. Spargo was warmly -greeted by Letty and Susan halfway down the block and escorted to his -own door. Upon Letty's whispering in his ear, he slipped two ten-cent -pieces into her hand. - -"One for each of you," said he, good-naturedly tweaking Letty's nose, -red in the sharp November wind. - -When he came out an hour or so later, he was in a hurry, and in answer -to Letty's murmur he dropped a handful of small coins into her -outstretched palm, and hastily departed without waiting for the chorus -of thanks that followed him down the street and round the corner. - -"Four pennies, two fives, and a quarter. As sure as I live, a quarter!" -counted Letty. "Oh, Susan, Susan!" And flinging their arms about one -another, the little girls hopped joyously about until Susan tripped and -went down in a heap. - -The girls found it hard to keep away from the little holly jar. The -money was taken out and counted over and over each time the nursery was -found unoccupied save by placid Johnny, who innocently played with his -shabby Lolly or ran unsteadily about the room, bumping down and picking -himself up undisturbed. - -"Only to-day, and then to-morrow is the Fair," said Letty the next -morning. "We must be sure not to miss Father at noon." - -But to-day, of all days, Mr. Spargo did not come home to luncheon at -all. He and Mr. Whiting were both busy with the mysterious "case" at -Banbury Court-House. - -Letty and Susan consoled themselves by counting the money and planning -what they would buy with it. - -"And there is still to-morrow before we go to the Fair," suggested Susan -hopefully. "When are we going to tell, and show the bowlful? Maybe -Grandfather will give us more when he hears about it." - -Susan enjoyed having a secret with Letty, but she wanted to share it -with Grandfather, too. - -"We will tell when we are ready to start for the Fair," answered Letty -firmly, "and not a minute before. You never can tell what will happen." - -But this plan was not carried out. Letty little knew how truly she spoke -when she said "you never can tell what will happen." - -The next day, the great Day of the Fair, the money was counted the first -thing in the morning, as soon as Johnny had had his bath and Mrs. Spargo -had left the room. - -"Five tens, one quarter, two fives, and four pennies!" Susan and Letty -had said it so often that they could repeat it backward. It had grown to -be a chant that rang in their ears. - -Half an hour later they stole back to count it again. - -"Look," said Susan, stooping in the middle of the room. She held out the -little brown-and-white sunbonnet that had hidden the money so -"careless-like." - -Letty ran to the mantelpiece. The jar was gone! - -For an instant she and Susan stared at one another. Then they ran wildly -about the room looking in every nook and corner for the missing jar, -much to baby Johnny's entertainment. He sat on the floor sucking his -fingers, and he laughed and chuckled and kicked his heels up and down as -he watched the exertions of his sister and her friend. - -"Here it is," called Letty at last. "By the doll's bed." And from under -the bed, where slumbered Lolly face downward, out rolled the little -holly jar. - -"But where is the money?" demanded Letty. Her first fright over, she was -growing angry. - -"There is something in Johnny's mouth," announced Susan. - -With a practiced hand, Letty put her finger into the baby's mouth and -out came the quarter. - -"Oh, you! You!" cried Letty. Her face grew pink and she gave Johnny a -shake that sent him backward upon the floor. - -Treated so unkindly and robbed of his new plaything, Johnny burst into a -wail that brought his mother hurrying to his side. - -While she listened to Susan and Letty, who both talked at once in their -excitement, Mrs. Spargo was feeling carefully in Johnny's mouth and, -when at last she spoke, she said: - -"The first thing to do is to find the money, for until we do I shall be -afraid that Johnny has swallowed some of it. Do you know how much you -had?" - -"Five tens, one quarter, two fives, and four pennies," answered Susan -and Letty in a breath. - -Mrs. Spargo smiled. - -"Here is the quarter," said she. "Now we must all hunt for the rest of -the money." - -"How did Johnny reach up to the mantelpiece?" demanded Letty. "We have -to stretch and stretch, and we put the jar there on purpose because it -was so high." - -Mrs. Spargo pointed to a chair, and Johnny, taking the hint, in a short -time, in spite of his bandy legs, had hitched and pulled himself up -until he stood upon the seat. He laughed and clapped his hands and made -a sudden spring at his mother who caught him just in time to save him -from a fall. - -"Rascal," said she, patting him on the back as he clung to her. "That is -how he did it. Now we must all look for the money." - -It was surprising the number of places Johnny Spargo had contrived to -hide the money. - -Four ten-cent pieces were found in Letty's doll carriage; three pennies -were under the rug; one five-cent piece was on the window-sill; the -other in the express wagon. But one penny and a ten-cent piece were -still missing. - -"Oh, Johnny, did you swallow them?" asked Mrs. Spargo. - -But Johnny, not being able to talk, only laughed and hid his face in his -mother's neck. - -Susan and Letty were crawling about the floor on their hands and knees -when Mrs. Spargo had a bright thought. - -She unbuttoned Johnny's little brown shoe, and there, tucked in the -side, was the penny. - -"Now only the ten cents is lacking," said Mrs. Spargo. "How happy I -shall be if we find it and I know he has not swallowed it." - -But it seemed as though the ten-cent piece was not to be found. -Everything was turned upside down and shaken, furniture was moved, -corners were brushed out, but no piece of money came to light. - -At last Susan and Letty dismantled the doll's bed, and vigorously shook -and flapped each little sheet and blanket. Letty fell upon the pillows -and beat them violently, while Susan rescued poor Lolly from under foot, -and, holding her out of the baby's reach, danced her up and down to -Johnny's great delight. - -He stretched out his hands for his dolly, and just then Susan gave a cry -of joy. - -"I've found it! It's here! It's inside Lolly. Feel! Feel! It's here!" - -Sure enough, through a hole in poor old Lolly's back Johnny had poked -the ten-cent piece, and there it lay embedded in dolly's soft cotton -inside. - -"I'm so glad," said Mrs. Spargo, "and so relieved. I felt that it simply -must be found, and now here it is. My precious Johnny! You didn't -swallow it after all." - -And Mrs. Spargo hugged Johnny as if he had done something very wonderful -indeed, instead of turning his nursery topsy-turvy for half an hour. - -"I feel the same way," confided Letty to Susan in a low voice, "for I -didn't know what kind of a time we would have at the Fair to-night if we -didn't find that ten-cent piece." - - - - -CHAPTER XI--HOW THE MONEY WAS SPENT - - -It was the night of the Fair. - -Letty and Susan, on tiptoe with excitement and carefully carrying the -green leather bag between them, walked to the church behind Mrs. Spargo -and Miss Lamb, whose Blackbird Pie was all ready and waiting for -customers. - -In the green pocketbook reposed the "five tens, one quarter, two fives, -and four pennies." - -"See that star, Letty?" asked Susan, holding tight to Letty's arm as she -gazed up at the moon, half hidden in the clouds, and at a single star -that shone near by. "Let's wish on it." - - "Star light, star bright, - First star I've seen to-night, - I wish I may, I wish I might - Have the wish I wish to-night"-- - -recited the two little girls in chorus. - -There was silence for a moment, and then Susan whispered: - -"What did you wish, Letty?" - -"Will you tell me if I tell you?" was Letty's reply. - -Susan nodded, and bent her ear invitingly to her friend's lips. - -"I wished that we would have a good time at the Fair," whispered Letty. - -"So did I!" cried Susan, opening her eyes wide. "So did I! Isn't it -strange that we always think of the same thing? We must be really truly -twins." - -"We are," answered Letty with conviction. "I do wish you weren't going -home to-morrow. I wish you could stay here forever." - -Here Mrs. Spargo and Miss Lamb turned in at the church gate, gayly -illumined to-night for the Fair by a colored lantern, and the "twins" -followed close on their heels down a narrow stone walk and through a -side door into the lecture-room of the church. - -"This is the Sunday-School room," whispered Letty. "There is my seat -over in the corner. Oh, look, look! There is the Blackbird Pie." - -And, sure enough, in the very corner where Letty sat every Sunday -morning in company with four other little girls and Miss Lamb, stood a -booth draped with scarlet curtains over which winged a gay flight of -blackbirds. And best of all, there was the Blackbird Pie in the midst, -so enticing with its profusion of strings, so mysterious with its hidden -treasure of "toys and small articles for five and ten cents," that Susan -and Letty made a bee-line in that direction determined to spend all -their wealth on that particular attraction. - -"Give me your hats and coats, girls," said Mrs. Spargo. "And if I were -you, I would walk around the room first and see what there is for sale -before I spent my money here." - -"Oh, just one pull, just one pull," clamored the little girls, gazing at -the fascinating Pie with eager eyes. - -Mrs. Spargo laughed. - -"Red strings are five cents, white ones are ten," said she. "Pull away!" - -The green pocketbook was opened and the bankers peered inside just as if -they didn't already know the contents by heart. - -"There are the two fives," said Letty who thought herself quite a -business woman. "Let us spend them now and get rid of them." - -So, after studying the Pie from all angles, two red strings that seemed -especially desirable were chosen; and, grasping them firmly and shutting -their eyes, Susan and Letty each pulled on her own string and out came -two little parcels, neatly wrapped in scarlet paper. - -"Look, look!" called Susan, poking a small plaid box, that held four -colored pencils, in Letty's face. - -"See mine, see mine!" answered Letty, returning the compliment by -thrusting under Susan's nose a tiny doll's pocketbook, just big enough -to hold a cent. - -"I like mine best," said Susan contentedly. - -"I do too," responded Letty. - -And, thoroughly satisfied, they set off hand in hand on a tour of the -room. - -The handkerchief-and-apron table they passed by with scarcely a glance. -That booth might be interesting to grown people, but they didn't intend -to spend any of their money upon such useful, everyday articles. - -The fancy table came next in their wanderings, and Susan and Letty, -though admiring the embroidered sofa cushions, the lace table-covers, -and the satin workbags, knew that they could never afford such -splendors. - -"They must cost a hundred dollars," said Letty, who, since it was her -church and therefore her Fair, so to speak, felt that she must supply -Susan with information. - -"Maybe we can find a little present here for your mother and for -Grandmother," said the country mouse to the city mouse in a low voice. - -The city mouse nodded in reply and stood on tiptoe for a better view. It -had been decided before leaving home that a present should be bought for -Mrs. Spargo and one for Mrs. Whiting. - -"There seem to be little things down at this end," announced Letty. -"Come on. I'm going to ask." - -And, catching the eye of one of the ladies in charge, she piped up: - -"Please, have you any presents here for about ten cents? We want one for -my mother and one for Susan's grandmother." - -"Ten cents?" said the lady, shaking her head. "I'm afraid not. But let -me look about and see." - -Presently she returned with a handful of articles which she placed -before her small customers. - -"I've nothing for ten cents," said she kindly. "But here are several -articles for twenty-five and thirty and fifty cents." - -"Oh, Letty, I want that for Grandmother," said Susan, forgetting both -her shyness and her manners as she pointed a forefinger at an object -which she felt sure would delight Grandmother beyond words. - -It was a pale-blue stocking-darner with a little girl painted on one -side and a little boy on the other, and Susan knew in her heart that she -would never be happy again unless she could carry it home to-morrow and -place it in Grandmother's hands. - -"That is twenty-five cents," said the lady, and she waited patiently -while Susan and Letty put their heads together and consulted whether -they ought to spend so large a sum. - -At length Letty decided it. - -"We will," said she recklessly. - -So the stocking-darner was wrapped and tied and handed over to Susan, -who, without a single qualm, watched Letty take the precious quarter -from its resting-place in the green pocketbook and hand it across the -counter. It was money well spent, she thought. - -"Now we must buy something for my mother," said Letty. "How do you like -this, Susan?" - -It was a long purple box covered with bunches of violets and scrolls of -gilt. In it were three cakes of strongly scented violet soap. - -"I like it," said Susan, sniffing vigorously. "The box is pretty, too. -Maybe your mother will give it to you when it is empty." - -"I will take this, please," said Letty, with the air of an experienced -shopper. - -And so easy and so delightful is it to form the habit of spending money -that Letty and Susan didn't even blink when they heard the price, -"thirty cents." - -They moved on, laden with their bundles, their eyes glancing hither and -thither as they missed nothing of the gay scene about them. The Fair was -now at its height. Every one was either buying or selling or walking -about, laughing and talking, and all displaying their purchases in such -a holiday mood, that Susan, at least, felt that she had never been in -such a festive scene before. - -They had halted near the despised apron table when, glancing up, Susan -spied above her head a doll made of Turkish toweling. - -"Letty," said she, pulling at her friend's dress, "can't we buy that -doll for Johnny? I know he would like it, and his old Lolly has a hole -in her back." - -So Letty, as spokesman and guardian of the pocketbook, bought and paid -for the soft little dolly which fortunately proved to cost only ten -cents. - -Near the apron table was a half-open door which led into the church -kitchen. In the kitchen stood the high freezers that supplied the -popular ice-cream table, and, busily washing dishes with her back turned -to the door, stood hard-working Swedish Mrs. Jansen, who was glad of the -money that the church cleaning and any odd jobs might bring to her. - -Her little girl Emmy, no older than Letty and Susan, stood at her elbow, -ready to act as errand girl. And just at the moment that Susan and Letty -caught sight of her, Emmy was in disgrace, for her mother turned angrily -upon her and with her hard fingers snipped the sides of her flaxen head. -Then she resumed her dish-washing, and Emmy slunk away to the door, -where she stood rubbing her sharp little knuckles in her eyes and -peeping out at the gay scene in which she had no part. - -"Did you see that?" asked Letty indignantly. "Wasn't that the meanest?" - -"Wasn't it?" answered Susan, her eyes round with sympathy. "Let's buy -her a present." - -Present-buying, if Susan had stopped to think, seemed to be somewhat -like running downhill--not so easy at the beginning, but, once started, -the simplest thing in the world. - -And Letty was of one mind with her. - -"Ice-cream," she decided. "And we will watch her eat it." - -Glowing with patronage and generosity, and feeling as important as if -they were treating a whole orphan asylum, Letty and Susan led the -astonished Emmy across the room to the ice-cream table. - -"The best ice-cream that you have for ten cents," ordered Letty largely. - -And in a few moments they had the pleasure of seeing Emmy devour, in -luscious mouthfuls, a large saucer of the pink-and-white frozen sweet. - -"When are we going to have ours?" asked Susan, who began to think it -would be fully as pleasant to sit down and eat ice-cream herself as to -stand with hands full of bundles and watch some one else enjoying the -treat. - -"Right now," returned Letty, with an air of authority. - -She opened the pocketbook as she spoke, but after a glance inside she -turned a dismal countenance upon her friend. - -"We've spent it," she faltered. "We've spent it all but four cents." - -And she held the pocketbook, now woefully empty, so that Susan might see -the sad truth for herself. - -Susan stared blankly from the pocketbook into Letty's face. - -"Won't we have any ice-cream at all, then?" she asked piteously. - -Resourceful Letty turned and led the way down the room. - -"We will just ask mother for some money," said she airily. - -But alas for their plans! The Blackbird Pie was so popular, and both -Mrs. Spargo and Miss Lamb were so occupied, that they did not even see -Susan and Letty, who tried in vain to gain their attention. - -They wandered back to watch Emmy finishing her ice-cream, quite innocent -of the fact that her benefactors' feeling toward her had undergone a -change. - -"Greedy thing," said Letty spitefully. "See how she gobbles." - -"She's spilling it," murmured Susan. "Look at her. Even Johnny wouldn't -do that." - -"Look, look!" gasped Letty. "Did you ever?" - -For poor Emmy, to whom ice-cream was a rare treat, had lifted her saucer -in both hands and was polishing it off with her little pink tongue, for -all the world like a pussy-cat. - -"Come along," said Letty impatiently. "We can buy some candy, anyway, -with our four cents." - -At the candy table another disappointment awaited them. They looked -scornfully at the two squares of fudge which was all their four cents -would buy for them. - -"I never knew anything like it," scolded Letty, with her mouth full. -"You can do a great deal better round the corner from home. It's only a -penny a square and much nicer than this." - -"Good-evening, young ladies," said a voice over their heads, "I hope you -are enjoying the Fair to-night." - -The little girls looked up into the face of the new minister, Dr. -Steele, and Susan hastily licked off her finger-tips so that she might -shake hands politely, while Letty choked on a large crumb of fudge and -burst into a spasm of coughing. - -"I hope you are both enjoying the evening," repeated Dr. Steele, pulling -out his handkerchief and offering it to Letty, whose eyes were streaming -with tears and who had left her handkerchief in her coat pocket. He and -Letty were old acquaintances, but it was Susan who answered his -question, since Letty was unable to speak. - -"We did have a good time," said Susan frankly, "until we spent all our -money. But now we aren't having a good time, for our money is all gone -and we haven't had a bit of ice-cream; not a bit." - -"I'll tell you what it is," burst out Letty, who had recovered her -voice. "I think everybody charged us too much for everything, and that -is why we haven't any money left." - -Dr. Steele's eyes twinkled. - -"I have heard that complaint before about church fairs," said he. -"Suppose you show me what you bought, and I will tell you whether I -think you have been overcharged." - -So Susan and Letty spread their purchases out upon a bench, and Dr. -Steele sat down to look them over. - -"The pencil box and the pocketbook were five cents apiece," began Letty. -"But they are all right because Mother sold them to us. Then Susan -bought a stocking-darner for her grandmother. Show it to Dr. Steele, -Susan. That lady in a blue silk dress made her pay a quarter for it, and -I think she asked too much. And she made me pay thirty cents for this -present for my mother. I think she ought to give us some of the money -back." And Letty shook her head wrathfully at the broad back of a -placid, fair-haired lady who stood behind the fancy table. - -Dr. Steele glanced at the lady and smothered a laugh. It was his own -wife, Mrs. Steele, whom Letty had not recognized without a hat. - -Dr. Steele admired both presents and looked at the price tags still tied -to them. - -"No," said he at last. "They are marked twenty-five and thirty cents. I -don't think you were overcharged here. I think you have good value for -your money. And you spent ten cents on a doll for the baby, and ten -cents to treat a little girl to ice-cream, and four cents on candy for -yourselves. No," repeated Dr. Steele soberly, shaking his head, "I think -you have proved yourselves excellent shoppers, and that you have spent -your money to very good effect. And I now invite both you young ladies -to be my guests at the ice-cream table." - -Dr. Steele rose, and escorted Susan and Letty across the room. He sat -down between them, and, though he was able to eat only one plate of -ice-cream while they easily devoured two apiece, he seemed to enjoy the -treat quite as well as they. - -When they had finished, there stood Annie in the doorway, waiting to -take them home. Mrs. Spargo would stay until the Fair closed, and that -would be too late for the little girls to be out of bed. - -"Good-night," said Dr. Steele, shaking hands. "And remember what I told -you. That you are excellent shoppers, and that you have good value for -your money, very good value, indeed." - - - - -CHAPTER XII--THANKSGIVING IN FEATHERBED LANE - - -It was the morning of Thanksgiving Day, and Susan woke, sat up in bed, -and looked about her. Beside her, on the quilt, lay the black-and-white -shawl dolly, and, if you remember that she came out to play only when -Susan was ailing, then you will know, without being told, that Susan had -been ill. - -Yes, for three whole days Susan had been in bed. But to-day she meant -not only to be up and dressed, but to go downstairs as well, for to-day -was Thanksgiving Day, and to stay in bed on such an occasion was -something Susan didn't intend to do. - -Four days ago Susan and Grandfather had come home from Banbury. They had -arrived late in the evening, and Susan, tired out, had fallen asleep in -her chair at the dinner-table, and had been carried up to bed without -telling Grandmother a single word about her visit or even presenting her -with the stocking-darner which she had carried in her hand all the way -home from Letty's house. - -Of the next two days all Susan could remember was a sharp pain and a big -black bottle of medicine, with occasional glimpses of Grandmother and -Grandfather tiptoeing about the darkened room. - -But yesterday Susan had felt more like herself. She had enjoyed cuddling -the shawl baby, she had eaten a plate of milk toast for her dinner, and -she had given Grandmother a complete history of her visit from the -moment she left Featherbed Lane until her return. - -She had asked to see Flip, but Grandmother had said mysteriously that -Flip, in her turn, had gone visiting, and that she wouldn't be back -until dinner-time Thanksgiving Day. - -"When is Thanksgiving Day?" Susan had asked. - -"To-morrow," Grandmother had answered, and Susan had sprung up in bed -with a cry. - -"Won't I be well to-morrow?" she asked imploringly. "Won't I be well for -Thanksgiving Day?" - -Grandmother at this moment was shaking the big black medicine bottle. It -did seem to Susan that it was always medicine time, though Grandmother -said it was marked on the bottle "To be taken every two hours." - -Mrs. Whiting smiled at her tone of despair. - -"I think so," said she encouragingly. "That is, if you take your -medicine nicely," she added, approaching the bed with a large spoon in -one hand and the bottle in the other. - -Susan shut her eyes and opened her mouth. Down went the medicine, and, -without a whimper and with only a wry face to tell how she really felt, -Susan smiled bravely up at Grandmother. - -"A good child," said Grandmother approvingly. "I'm sure you will be -downstairs to-morrow." - -Now to-morrow had come, and Susan, slipping out of bed and into her warm -rosy wrapper and slippers, trotted downstairs in search of some one. - -She found Grandmother quite alone, save for a delicious smell in the air -of roasting turkey. Grandmother was busy baking, but she stopped long -enough to help Susan dress and to answer a few of the questions that -tumbled pell-mell from Susan's lips. - -"Where is Grandfather? Gone to Thanksgiving service at church. You slept -late this morning, Susan. When will Phil be home? Not for two weeks. -They have all gone to his grandfather's for Thanksgiving, and they mean -to visit his Great-Uncle Fred, who gave him his electric train, on their -way back." - -"Is any one coming here for Thanksgiving, Grandmother?" asked Susan, -delicately eating a bowl of bread and milk for breakfast from one end of -the table on which Mrs. Whiting was stirring up a cake. - -"Miss Liza is coming," answered Mrs. Whiting, stopping her work and -putting down her spoon. "I may as well tell you now, Susan, I suppose. -Miss Lunette is married." - -Susan looked at Grandmother for a moment without speaking. How unkind of -Miss Lunette to have a wedding while she was away! - -"Didn't she save me any cake?" she asked at length. "Did Phil go to the -wedding?" - -"There wasn't any wedding, Susan, or any cake," answered Mrs. Whiting. -"No one was invited but Miss Liza. They stood up in the parlor and Mr. -Drew married them. Then they went off to Green Valley, where her husband -lives." - -"Maybe she will ask me to come to see her there," said Susan hopefully. - -"Perhaps she will," said Grandmother. "It may be the making of her, -Susan," she went on, half to herself. "She certainly was full of whims -and crotchets, and would try the patience of any one but a saint like -Miss Liza. Your Grandfather always said that all she needed was hard -work, and I think she will have it now, for her husband was a widower -with three children and an old mother, too. It may make a woman of her. -I hope so, I'm sure. I know things won't be so hard for Miss Liza, and -I'm glad of that." - -And Grandmother beat her batter with such determination that her cheeks -grew pink and her little white curls bobbed up and down in time with the -beating. - -"Is Flip coming with Miss Liza?" asked Susan. - -"Um-um," was all Grandmother answered. - -So Susan put away her little bowl and went into the front hall to call -upon her friend the newel post. - -"You ought to be dressed up for Thanksgiving," decided Susan, stroking -her friend's bulky form. "Which do you like best, pink or blue? Pink, -did you say? Then Snowball shall wear a blue ribbon and you shall have a -pink one on your neck to celebrate the day." - -Susan spent some time selecting and arranging the ribbons to suit the -taste of all concerned. She then found the table set for Thanksgiving -dinner, so she posted herself in the front window where she could look -all the way down the lane to the gate and report to Grandmother the -moment old Nero's Roman nose was visible. - -She watched and watched, and at last they came jogging along, Miss Liza -well wrapped up against the cold November air that had a "feel" of snow -in it, and Grandfather wearing his fur-lined gloves for the first time -this season, Susan observed. - -In came Miss Liza, while Grandfather drove on to the barn, and to -Susan's delight Miss Liza carried a big bundle which she placed in the -little girl's outstretched arms. - -"It's Flip," Susan repeated joyfully. "I know it's Flip. It's my Flip." - -Yes, it was Flip, but a Flip so changed, so beautified, so transformed -that only the members of her own family would have known her. - -In the first place, her face and hands, which had grown a dingy brown, -had become several shades lighter, producing a fresh, youthful -appearance heretofore sorely lacking. Her bald head had blossomed out in -a beautiful crop of worsted hair, in color a rich garnet-brown. - -"Miss Lunette always used that color for her worsted hens," Miss Liza -explained, "and I thought it would make real pretty-looking hair for -Flip." - -Susan was delighted with the effect. She smiled radiantly at Miss Liza. -But when she examined her child's complete new wardrobe, she put Flippy -down on the couch, and flung her arms first around Miss Liza and then -about Grandmother's neck. - -For Flippy wore a new set of underwear, even to a red flannel petticoat -trimmed with red crocheted lace. She wore a brown cloth dress, -elaborately decorated with yellow feather-stitching. But, most beautiful -of all, about her sloping shoulders was a dark-blue cape, lined with -scarlet satin and edged with narrow black fur; upon her head was tied a -dark-blue fur-trimmed cap to match, from under which her garnet worsted -hair peeped coyly; and, oh, crowning touch! about her neck upon a ribbon -hung a black fur muff. - -Susan's excitement and delight were such that even Thanksgiving dinner -seemed of little importance compared with this unexpected trousseau of -Flippy Whiting. Susan did manage to sit still in her chair at the table, -but she turned every moment or two to smile happily upon Flip, who -returned her glances with proud and conscious looks. - -"One square inch of turkey for Miss Susan Whiting," announced -Grandfather, when at last her turn came to be served, "and a thimbleful -of mashed potato, one crumb of bread, and an acorn cup of milk. And that -is all the dinner you get, if I have anything to say about it." - -And Grandfather brandished the carving knife and looked so severe that -Susan went off into a fit of laughter in which every one joined. - -"Were there many out at church this morning?" asked Grandmother. "Was -Mr. Drew's sermon good?" - -"Oh, that reminds me," said Grandfather, "that I have to go out this -afternoon. I promised Parson Drew that I would take something to eat -down to the Widow Banks. The Young People's Society gave her five -dollars to buy a Thanksgiving dinner for herself and her six children, -and if she didn't go spend the five dollars on a crepe veil and a -Bible." - -Grandfather gave a chuckle as he thought of the surprise that the Widow -Banks had given the Young People. - -"I don't blame her," said he stoutly. "She probably takes more pride and -pleasure in what she bought than we can imagine. The neighbors won't let -her starve. You fix up a good basket for her, won't you, Grandmother?" - -And that Mrs. Whiting did, though she shook her head over what she -termed "extravagance and shiftlessness." - -A little later, Susan and Mr. Whiting, who carried a large basket, the -contents of which would mean far more to the six hungry Banks orphans -than would a crepe veil and a Bible, started down Featherbed Lane on -their charitable errand. - -"The air will do Susan good," Grandfather declared. "And if she is -tired, I will carry her home. It isn't far, anyway." - -Susan enjoyed both the walk and the short call they made at the dingy -little white house in the Hollow. - -Mrs. Banks, a thin, tearful wisp of a woman, with pale-blue eyes and -untidy hair, gratefully accepted their offering; and the six sorrowful -little Banks cheered up immediately when word went round as to what the -basket held, so their visitors made haste to be gone, that they might be -kept no longer from their Thanksgiving feast. - -While Mr. Whiting talked to Mrs. Banks, Susan gazed round the poor -little room, and eyed the Banks orphans standing in a row like steps, -who, to do them justice, quite as frankly eyed her in return. The crepe -veil was not in evidence, but on the mantelpiece lay the new Bible, -black and shiny, and smelling powerfully of leather. - -"Yes, six of them," said Mrs. Banks in her melancholy voice, waving her -hand at the line, which looked more dejected than ever when attention -was thus directed to it. "And not one of them old enough to do a stroke -of work or to earn a penny." - -"This is Richie," she went on, pointing to the tallest son of Banks, who -dug his bare toes into the floor in an agony of embarrassment. "He's the -flower of the family. He will amount to something. He never opens his -mouth for a word. He's like me. - -"And this is Mervin. He eats like a fish. And his brother Claudius is -not far behind him. I gave them their names, for I do like a -rich-sounding name. Mr. Banks wasn't of my way of thinking. He was all -for plain, commonsense names. He named the next two,--Maria and Also -Jane." - -"'Also,' did you say?" inquired Mr. Whiting, who was thoroughly enjoying -his call. "That is a name new to me." - -"It was a mistake," explained Mrs. Banks dolefully. "The two girls were -christened together, and, after Maria was baptized, the minister turned -to Jane and, says he, 'Also Jane Banks,' and 'Also Jane' she has been to -this day, for her father wouldn't go against the minister's word for -anything in the world." - -"What is the baby's name?" asked Mr. Whiting, preparing to depart. - -"Her name is a compromise," answered Mrs. Banks, pulling out her damp -handkerchief to wipe the baby's eyes which had instantly overflowed at -hearing herself called a "mean name," as she whimpered into her mother's -ear. "To please me we named her Cleopatra, but we always call her Pat, -her father was such a one for plain names." - -When Mr. Whiting and Susan reached home they found Grandmother and Miss -Liza rocking placidly before a roaring fire, and room was made for -Grandfather's chair with Susan on a cricket at his feet. - -"Now, we will tell what we are most thankful for," said Grandmother, -when the story of the call at the Banks' had been related, and a way of -helping Mrs. Banks support her six children had been discussed. "You -begin, Miss Liza." - -"I'm thankful," said Miss Liza, without a moment's hesitation, "for good -friends, for health, and a home." - -"I'm most thankful," said Grandmother, "for Grandfather, and Susan, and -a peaceful life. I couldn't live in strife with any one." - -Grandfather thrust his boots out toward the fire and pulled his silk -handkerchief from his pocket. - -"I'm thankful," said he, carefully spreading his handkerchief over his -head, "I'm thankful for my home, and that means Grandmother and Susan, -and I'm thankful, too, that I have my own teeth. I mean it, I'm not -joking." And he soberly snapped his strong white teeth together without -a smile. - -"I'm thankful," piped up Susan, glad her turn had come, "for -Grandfather, and Grandmother, and Miss Liza, and Snuff, and Flip, and -Nero, and--" - -Grandfather caught her up from the cricket and held her in his arms. - -"My black-eyed Susan," said he, tenderly. - -Susan looked round with a smile. - -"I think," said she,--"I think I'm thankful--why, I think I'm thankful -for just everything." - -THE END - - - - - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACK-EYED SUSAN *** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/38835 - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one -owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and -you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission -and without paying copyright royalties. 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