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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Marjorie's Vacation, by Carolyn Wells
+
+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 www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Marjorie's Vacation
+
+Author: Carolyn Wells
+
+Posting Date: May 30, 2013 [EBook #5271]
+Release Date: March, 2004
+First Posted: June 23, 2002
+Last Updated: August 13, 2005
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARJORIE'S VACATION ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+MARJORIE'S VACATION
+
+BY
+
+CAROLYN WELLS
+
+AUTHOR OF "PATTY FAIRFIELD," "PATTY AT HOME," ETC.
+
+
+
+
+        TO
+
+  MY LITTLE FRIEND
+
+MURIEL DUNHAM PRATT
+
+    THIS BOOK
+
+        IS
+
+LOVINGLY DEDICATED
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER
+
+    I. MARJORIE'S HOME
+
+   II. THE TRIP TO HASLEMERE
+
+  III. ON THE ROOF
+
+   IV. A PAPER-DOLL HOUSE
+
+    V. SOME INTERESTING LETTERS
+
+   VI. BOO!
+
+  VII. A BOAT-RIDE
+
+ VIII. A MEMORY BOOK
+
+   IX. THE FRONT STAIRS
+
+    X. A LONG DAY
+
+   XI. THE DUNNS
+
+  XII. THE BAZAAR
+
+ XIII. A BIRTHDAY
+
+  XIV. "BREEZY INN"
+
+   XV. THE BROKEN LADDER
+
+  XVI. FIRECRACKERS
+
+ XVII. PENNYROYAL
+
+XVIII. WELCOME GIFTS
+
+  XIX. THE OLD WELL
+
+   XX. AN EVENTFUL DAY
+
+  XXI. A FAREWELL TEA-PARTY
+
+
+
+
+MARJORIE'S VACATION
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+MARJORIE'S HOME
+
+
+In the Maynards' side yard at Rockwell, a swingful of children was
+slowly swaying back and forth.
+
+The swing was one of those big double wooden affairs that hold four
+people, so the Maynards just filled it comfortably.
+
+It was a lovely soft summer day in the very beginning of June; the kind
+of day that makes anybody feel happy but a little bit subdued. The kind
+of day when the sky is so blue, and the air so clear, that everything
+seems dreamy and quiet.
+
+But the Maynard children were little, if any, affected by the
+atmosphere, and though they did seem a trifle subdued, it was a most
+unusual state of things, and was brought about by reasons far more
+definite than sky or atmosphere.
+
+Kingdon Maynard, the oldest of the four, and the only boy, was
+fourteen. These facts had long ago fixed his position as autocrat,
+dictator, and final court of appeal. Whatever King said, was law to the
+three girls, but as the boy was really a mild-mannered tyrant, no
+trouble ensued. Of late, though, he had begun to show a slight
+inclination to go off on expeditions with other boys, in which girls
+were not included. But this was accepted by his sisters as a natural
+course of events, for of course, if King did it, it must be all right.
+
+Next to Kingdon in the swing sat the baby, Rosamond, who was five years
+old, and who was always called Rosy Posy. She held in her arms a
+good-sized white Teddy Bear, who was adorned with a large blue bow and
+whose name was Boffin. He was the child's inseparable companion, and,
+as he was greatly beloved by the other children, he was generally
+regarded as a member of the family.
+
+On the opposite seat of the swing sat Kitty, who was nine years old,
+and who closely embraced her favorite doll, Arabella.
+
+And by Kitty's side sat Marjorie, who was almost twelve, and who also
+held a pet, which, in her case, was a gray Persian kitten. This kitten
+was of a most amiable disposition, and was named Puff, because of its
+fluffy silver fur and fat little body.
+
+Wherever Marjorie went, Puff was usually with her, and oftenest hung
+over her arm, looking more like a fur boa than a cat.
+
+At the moment, however, Puff was curled up in Marjorie's lap, and was
+merely a nondescript ball of fur.
+
+These, then, were the Maynards, and though their parents would have
+said they had four children, yet the children themselves always said,
+"We are seven," and insisted on considering the kitten, the doll, and
+the bear as members of the Maynard family.
+
+Kingdon scorned pets, which the girls considered quite the right thing
+for a boy to do; and, anyway, Kingdon had enough to attend to, to keep
+the swing going.
+
+"I 'most wish it wasn't my turn," said Marjorie, with a little sigh.
+"Of course I want to go for lots of reasons, but I'd love to be in
+Rockwell this summer, too."
+
+"As you're not twins you can't very well be in two places at once,"
+said her brother; "but you'll have a gay old time, Mops; there's the
+new boathouse, you know, since you were there."
+
+"I haven't been there for three years," said Marjorie, "and I suppose
+there'll be lots of changes."
+
+"I was there two years ago," said Kitty, "but Arabella has never been."
+
+"I'se never been, eever," said Rosy Posy, wistfully, "and so Boffin
+hasn't, too. But we don't want to go, us wants to stay home wiv Muvver."
+
+"And I say, Mops, look out for the Baltimore oriole," went on Kingdon.
+"He had a nest in the big white birch last year, and like as not he'll
+be there again."
+
+"There was a red-headed woodpecker two years ago," said Kitty; "perhaps
+he'll be there this summer."
+
+"I hope so," said Marjorie; "I'm going to take my big Bird book, and
+then I can tell them all."
+
+It was the custom in the Maynard household for one of the children to
+go each summer to Grandma Sherwood's farm near Morristown. They took
+turns, but as Rosy Posy was so little she had not begun yet.
+
+The children always enjoyed the vacation at Grandma's, but they were a
+chummy little crowd and dreaded the separation. This was the reason of
+their subdued and depressed air to-day.
+
+It was Marjorie's turn, and she was to leave home the next morning.
+Mrs. Maynard was to accompany her on the journey, and then return,
+leaving Marjorie in the country for three months.
+
+"I wonder how Puffy will like it," she said, as she picked up the
+kitten, and looked into its blue eyes.
+
+"She'll be all right," said Kingdon, "if she doesn't fight with
+Grandma's cats. There were about a dozen there last year, and they may
+object to Puff's style of hair-dressing. Perhaps we'd better cut her
+hair before she starts."
+
+"No, indeed!" cried Marjorie, "not a hair shall be touched, unless
+you'd like a lock to keep to remember her while she's gone."
+
+"No, thank you," said King, loftily; "I don't carry bits of cat around
+in my pockets."
+
+"I'd like a lock," said Kitty; "I'd tie it with a little blue ribbon,
+and keep it for a forget-me-not. And I'll give you a little curl of
+Arabella's, and you can keep that to remember her by."
+
+"All right," said Marjorie; "and I'll take a lock of Boffin Bear's hair
+too. Then I'll have a memento of all the family, because I have
+pictures of all of you, you know."
+
+With the Maynards to suggest was to act. So the four scrambled out of
+the swing, and ran to the house.
+
+The Maynard house was a large square affair, with verandas all around.
+Not pretentious, but homelike and comfortable, and largely given over
+to the children's use. Though not often in the drawing-room, the four
+young Maynards frequently monopolized the large living-room, and were
+allowed free access to the library as well.
+
+Also they had a general playroom and a nursery; and Kingdon had a small
+den or workroom for his own use, which was oftener than not invaded by
+the girls.
+
+To the playroom they went, and Kingdon carefully cut small locks from
+the kitten, the doll, and the bear, and Marjorie neatly tied them with
+narrow blue ribbons. These mementoes the girls put away, and carefully
+treasured all through the summer.
+
+Another Maynard custom was a farewell feast at dinner, the night before
+vacation began. Ordinarily, only the two older children dined with
+their parents, the other two having their tea in the nursery. But on
+this occasion, all were allowed at dinner, and the feast was made a
+special honor for the one who was going away. Gifts were made, as on a
+birthday, and festival dress was in order.
+
+A little later, then, the four children presented themselves in the
+library, where their parents awaited them.
+
+Mr. Maynard was a man of merry disposition and rollicking nature, and
+sometimes joined so heartily in the children's play that he seemed
+scarcely older than they.
+
+Mrs. Maynard was more sedate, and was a loving mother, though not at
+all a fussy one. She was glad in many ways to have one of her children
+spend the summer each year with her mother, but it always saddened her
+when the time of departure came.
+
+She put her arm around Marjorie, without a word, as the girl came into
+the room, for it had been three years since the two had been parted,
+and Mrs. Maynard felt a little sad at the thought of separation.
+
+"Don't look like that, Mother," said Marjorie, "for if you do, I'll
+begin to feel weepy, and I won't go at all."
+
+"Oh, yes, you will, Miss Midge," cried her father; "you'll go, and
+you'll stay all summer, and you'll have a perfectly beautiful time.
+And, then, the first of September I'll come flying up there to get you,
+and bring you home, and it'll be all over. Now, such a short vacation
+as that isn't worth worrying about, is it?"
+
+"No," put in Kingdon, "and last year when I went there wasn't any sad
+good-by."
+
+"That's because you're a boy," said his mother, smiling at him proudly;
+"tearful good-bys are only for girls and women."
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Maynard, "they enjoy them, you know. Now, _I_ think it
+is an occasion of rejoicing that Marjorie is to go to Grandma's and
+have a happy, jolly vacation. We can all write letters to her, and she
+will write a big budget of a family letter that we can all enjoy
+together."
+
+"And Mopsy must wite me a little letter, all for my own sef," remarked
+Rosy Posy, "'cause I like to get letters all to me."
+
+Baby Rosamond was dressed up for the occasion in a very frilly white
+frock, and being much impressed by the grandeur of staying up to
+dinner, she had solemnly seated herself in state on a big sofa, holding
+Boffin Bear in her arms. Her words, therefore, seemed to have more
+weight than when she was her everyday roly-poly self, tumbling about on
+the floor, and Marjorie at once promised that she should have some
+letters all to herself.
+
+When dinner was announced, Mr. Maynard, with Marjorie, led the
+procession to the diningroom. They were followed by Mrs. Maynard and
+Rosamond, and after them came Kingdon and Kitty.
+
+Kitty was a golden-haired little girl, quite in contrast to Marjorie,
+who had tangled masses of dark, curly hair and large, dark eyes. Her
+cheeks were round and rosy, and her little white teeth could almost
+always be seen, for merry Marjorie was laughing most of the time.
+To-night she wore one of her prettiest white dresses, and her dark
+curls were clustered at the top of her head into a big scarlet bow. The
+excitement of the occasion made her cheeks red and her eyes bright, and
+Mrs. Maynard looked at her pretty eldest daughter with a pardonable
+pride.
+
+"Midge," she said, "there are just about a hundred things I ought to
+tell you before you go to Grandma's, but if I were to tell you now, you
+wouldn't remember one of them; so I have written them all down, and you
+must take the list with you, and read it every morning so that you may
+remember and obey the instructions."
+
+Midge was one of the numerous nicknames by which Marjorie was called.
+Her tumbling, curly hair, which was everlastingly escaping from its
+ribbon, had gained for her the title of Mops or Mopsy. Midge and Midget
+had clung to her from babyhood, because she was an active and energetic
+child, and so quick of motion that she seemed to dart like a midge from
+place to place. She never did anything slowly. Whether it was an errand
+for her mother or a game of play, Midge always moved rapidly. Her tasks
+were always done in half the time it took the other children to do
+theirs; but in consequence of this haste, they were not always done as
+well or as thoroughly as could be desired.
+
+This, her mother often told her, was her besetting sin, and Marjorie
+truly tried to correct it when she thought of it; but often she was too
+busy with the occupation in hand to remember the good instructions she
+had received.
+
+"I'm glad you did that, Mother," she replied to her mother's remark,
+"for I really haven't time to study the list now. But I'll promise to
+read it over every morning at Grandma's, and honest and true, I'll try
+to be good."
+
+"Of course you will," said her father, heartily; "you'll be the best
+little girl in the world, except the two you leave here behind you."
+
+"Me's the bestest," calmly remarked Rosamond, who seemed especially
+satisfied with herself that evening.
+
+"You are," agreed King; "you look good enough to eat, to-night."
+
+Rosamond beamed happily, for she was not unused to flattering
+observations from the family. And, indeed, she was a delicious-looking
+morsel of humanity, as she sat in her high chair, and tried her best to
+"behave like a lady."
+
+The table was decorated with June roses and daisies. The dinner
+included Marjorie's favorite dishes, and the dessert was strawberries
+and ice cream, which, Kitty declared, always made a party, anyway.
+
+So with the general air of celebration, and Mr. Maynard's gay chatter
+and jokes, the little trace of sadness that threatened to appear was
+kept out of sight, and all through the summer Marjorie had only
+pleasant memories of her last evening at home.
+
+After the dessert the waitress appeared again with a trayful of
+parcels, done up in the most fascinating way, in tissue paper and
+dainty ribbons.
+
+This, too, was always a part of the farewell feast, and Marjorie gave a
+little sigh of satisfaction, as the well-filled tray was placed before
+her.
+
+"That's mine! Open mine first!" cried Rosamond, as Marjorie picked up a
+good-sized bundle.
+
+"Yes, that's Rosy Posy's," said her mother, laughing, "and she picked
+it out herself, because she thought it would please you. Open it first,
+Midge."
+
+So Marjorie opened the package, and discovered a little clock, on the
+top of which was perched a brilliant red bird.
+
+Rosamond clapped her hands in glee. "I knew you'd love it," she cried,
+"'cause it's a birdie, a yed birdie. And I finded it all mysef in the
+man's shop. Do you yike it, Mopsy?"
+
+"Indeed I do," cried Marjorie; "it's just what I wanted. I shall keep
+it on my dressing-table at Grandma's, and then I'll know just when to
+get up every morning."
+
+"Open mine next," said Kitty; "it's the square flat one, with the blue
+ribbon."
+
+So Marjorie opened Kitty's present and it was a picture, beautifully
+framed to hang on the wall at Grandma's. The picture was of birds, two
+beautiful orioles on a branch. The colors were so bright, and so true
+to nature, that Marjorie exclaimed in delight:
+
+"Now I shall have orioles there, anyway, whether there are real ones in
+the trees or not. It is lovely, Kitsie, and I don't see how you ever
+found such a beautiful bird picture."
+
+Marjorie had always been fond of birds, and lately had begun studying
+them in earnest. Orioles were among her favorites, and so Kitty's
+picture was a truly welcome gift. King's present came next, and was a
+beautiful gold pen with a pearl holder.
+
+"That," he explained, "is so you'll write to us often. For I know,
+Mops, your old penholder is broken, and it's silver, anyway. This is
+nicer, because it's no trouble to keep it clean and bright."
+
+"That's so, King, and I'm delighted with this one. I shall write you a
+letter with it, first of all, and I'll tell you all about the farm."
+
+Mrs. Maynard's gift was in a very small parcel, and when Marjorie
+opened it she found a dear little pearl ring.
+
+"Oh, goody!" she cried. "I do love rings, and I never had one before!
+May I wear it always, Mother?"
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Maynard, smiling. "I don't approve of much jewelry for
+a little girl not yet twelve years old, but you may wear that."
+
+Marjorie put it on her finger with great satisfaction, and Kitty looked
+at it lovingly.
+
+"May I have one when I am twelve, Mother?" she asked.
+
+"May I, may I?" chimed in Rosy Posy.
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Maynard; "you girls may each have one just like
+Marjorie's when you are as old as she is now. That last parcel, Mops,
+is my present for you. I'm not sure that you can learn to use it, but
+perhaps you can, and if not I'll take it back and exchange it for
+something else."
+
+Marjorie eagerly untied the wrappings of her father's gift, and found a
+little snapshot camera.
+
+"Indeed I can learn to use it," she cried; "I took some pictures once
+with a camera that belonged to one of the girls at school, and they
+were all right. Thank you heaps and heaps, father dear; I'll send you
+pictures of everything on the place; from Grandma herself down to the
+littlest, weeniest, yellow chicken."
+
+"Next year it will be my turn to go," said Kitty; "I hope I'll get as
+lovely presents as Mopsy has."
+
+"You will," said Kingdon; "because last year mine were just as good,
+and so, of course, yours will be."
+
+"I'm sure they will," said Kitty.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE TRIP TO HASLEMERE
+
+
+The next morning all was bustle and excitement.
+
+Mr. Maynard stayed at home from business to escort the travellers to
+the train. The trunks were packed, and everything was in readiness for
+their departure. Marjorie herself, in a spick-and-span pink gingham
+dress, a tan-colored travelling cloak, and a broad-brimmed white straw
+hat, stood in the hall saying good-bye to the other children. She
+carried Puff in her arm, and the sleepy, indifferent kitten cared
+little whither she was going.
+
+"Be sure," Kingdon was saying, "to plant the seeds I gave you in a
+sunny place, for if you don't they won't grow right."
+
+"What are the seeds?" asked Marjorie.
+
+"Never mind that," said her brother; "you just plant them in a warm,
+sunny bed, in good, rich soil, and then you wait and see what comes up.
+It's a surprise."
+
+"All right, I'll do that, and I suppose Grandma will give me a lot of
+seeds besides; we always have gardens, you know."
+
+"Be sure to write to me," said Kitty, "about Molly Moss. She's the one
+that lives in the next house but one to Grandma's. You've never seen
+her, but I saw her two years ago, and she's an awfully nice girl.
+You'll like her, I know."
+
+"And what shall I remember to do for you, Rosy Posy?" asked Marjorie,
+as she kissed the baby good-bye.
+
+"Don't know," responded the little one; "I've never been to Gamma's. Is
+they piggy-wigs there?"
+
+"No," said Marjorie, laughing; "no piggy-wigs, but some nice ducks."
+
+"All wite; b'ing me a duck."
+
+"I will, if Grandma will give me one"; and then Marjorie was hurried
+down the steps by her father, and into the carriage, and away she went,
+with many a backward look at the three children who stood on the
+veranda waving good-byes to her.
+
+The railroad trip to Morristown lasted about four hours, and Marjorie
+greatly enjoyed it. Mr. Maynard had put the two travellers into their
+chairs in the parlor car, and arranged their belongings for them.
+Marjorie had brought a book to read and a game to play, but with the
+novel attractions of the trip and the care of her kitten, she was not
+likely to have time hang heavily on her hands.
+
+Mrs. Maynard read a magazine for a time, and then they were summoned to
+luncheon in the diningcar. Marjorie thought this great fun, for what is
+nicer than to be a hungry little girl of twelve, and to eat all sorts
+of good things, while flying swiftly along in a railroad train, and
+gazing out of the window at towns and cities rushing by?
+
+Marjorie sat opposite her mother, and observed with great interest the
+other passengers about. Across the car was a little girl who seemed to
+be about her own age, and Marjorie greatly wished that they might
+become acquainted. Mrs. Maynard said that after luncheon she might go
+and speak to the little stranger if she chose, and Marjorie gladly did
+so.
+
+"I wonder if you belong in my car," said Marjorie, by way of opening
+the conversation.
+
+"I don't know," said the other child; "our seats are in the car just
+back of this."
+
+"We are two cars back," said Marjorie, "but perhaps your mother will
+let you come into my car a while. I have my kitten with me."
+
+"Where is it?" asked the other little girl.
+
+"I had to leave it with the porter while we came to luncheon. Oh, she's
+the loveliest kitten you ever saw, and her name is Puff. What's your
+name?"
+
+"My name is Stella Martin. What's yours?"
+
+"My real name is Marjorie Maynard. But I'm almost always called Midge
+or Mops or some name like that. We all have nicknames at home; don't
+you?"
+
+"No, because you see I haven't any brothers or sisters. Mother always
+calls me Stella."
+
+"Well, let's go and ask her if you can't come into my car for a while.
+My mother will look after you, and then you can see the kitten."
+
+After some courteous words of explanation between the two mothers,
+Stella was allowed to play with Marjorie for the rest of the journey.
+
+Seated together in one of the big Pullman easy chairs, with the kitten
+cuddled between them, they rapidly made each other's acquaintance, and
+soon became good friends. They were not at all alike, for Stella Martin
+was a thin, pale child with a long braid of straight, light hair, and
+light blue eyes. She was timid, too, and absolutely devoid of
+Marjorie's impetuosity and daring. But they were both pleased at the
+discovery that they were to be near neighbors throughout the summer.
+Stella's home was next-door to Grandma Sherwood's, although, as both
+country places were so large, the houses were some distance apart.
+
+Next beyond Stella's house, Marjorie remembered, was where Molly Moss
+lived, and so the outlook seemed to promise plenty of pleasant company.
+
+About three o'clock in the afternoon the train reached Morristown, and
+springing out on the platform, Marjorie soon spied Grandma Sherwood's
+carriage there to meet them. Old Moses was still in charge of the
+horses, as he had been ever since Marjorie could remember, and in a
+moment she heard a hearty voice cry, "Oh, there you are!" and there was
+Uncle Steve waiting for them on the platform.
+
+Uncle Steve was a great friend of Marjorie's, and she flew to greet him
+almost before he had time to welcome her mother. Then in a few moments
+the luggage was looked after, and they were all in the carriage,
+rolling away toward Haslemere.
+
+Marjorie chatted away like a magpie, for she had many questions to ask
+Uncle Steve, and as she was looking out to renew acquaintance with old
+landmarks along the road, the drive to the house seemed very short, and
+soon they were turning in at the gate.
+
+Haslemere was not a large, old-fashioned farm, but a fair-sized and
+well-kept country place. Grandma Sherwood, who had been a widow for
+many years, lived there with her son Stephen. It was like a farm,
+because there were chickens and ducks, and cows and horses, and also a
+large garden where fresh vegetables of all sorts were raised. But there
+were no grain fields or large pasture lands, or pigs or turkeys, such
+as belong to larger farms. The drive from the gate up to the house was
+a long avenue, shaded on both sides by beautiful old trees, and the
+wide expanse of lawn was kept as carefully mowed as if at a town house.
+There were flower beds in abundance, and among the trees and shrubbery
+were rustic seats and arbors, hammocks and swings, and a delightful
+tent where the children loved to play. Back of the house the land
+sloped down to the river, which was quite large enough for delightful
+boating and fishing.
+
+The house was of that old-fashioned type which has two front doors and
+two halls, with large parlors between them, and wings on either side. A
+broad veranda ran across the front, and, turning both corners, ran
+along either side.
+
+As they drove up to the house, Grandma Sherwood was on the piazza
+waiting for them. She was not a very old lady, that is, she was not of
+the white-haired, white-capped, and silver-spectacled variety. She was
+perhaps sixty years old, and seemed quite as energetic and enthusiastic
+as her daughter, if perhaps not quite so much so as her granddaughter.
+
+Marjorie sprang out of the carriage, and flew like a young whirlwind to
+her grandmother's arms, which were open to receive her.
+
+"My dear child, how you have grown!"
+
+"I knew you'd say that, Grandma," said Marjorie, laughing merrily,
+"and, indeed, I have grown since I was here last. Just think, that was
+three years ago! I'm almost twelve years old now."
+
+"Well, you are a great girl; run in the house, and lay off your things,
+while I speak to your mother."
+
+Marjorie danced into the house, flung her coat and gloves on the hall
+rack, and still holding her kitten, went on through to the kitchen, in
+search of Eliza the cook.
+
+"The saints presarve us!" cried Eliza. "An' is it yersilf, Miss Midget!
+Why, ye're as big as a tellygraft pole, so ye are!"
+
+"I know I am, Eliza, but you're just the same as ever; and just look at
+the kitten I have brought! Have you any here now?"
+
+"Cats, is it? Indade we have, then! I'm thinkin' there do be a hundred
+dozen of thim; they're undher me feet continual! But what kind of a
+baste is thot ye have there? I niver saw such a woolly one!"
+
+"This is a Persian kitten, Eliza, and her name is Puff. Isn't she
+pretty?"
+
+"I'll not be sayin' she's purty, till I see how she doos be behavin'.
+Is she a good little cat, Miss Midget dear?"
+
+"Good! Indeed she is a good kitty. And I wish you'd give her some milk,
+Eliza, while I run out to see the chickens. Is Carter out there?"
+
+But without waiting for an answer, Marjorie was already flying down
+through the garden, and soon found Carter, the gardener, at his work.
+
+"Hello, Carter!" she cried. "How are you this summer?"
+
+"Welcome, Miss Midge! I'm glad to see you back," exclaimed the old
+gardener, who was very fond of the Maynard children.
+
+"And I'm glad to be here, Carter; and I have some seeds to plant; will
+you help me plant them?"
+
+"That I will. What are they?"
+
+"I don't know; King gave them to me, but he wouldn't tell me what they
+were."
+
+"Ah, the mischievous boy! Now, how can we tell where to plant them when
+we don't know if they'll come up lilies of the valley or elephant's
+ears?"
+
+Marjorie laughed gayly. "It doesn't matter, Carter," she said; "let's
+stick them in some sunny place, and then, if they seem to be growing
+too high, we can transplant them."
+
+"It's a wise little head you have, Miss; we'll do just that."
+
+Humoring Marjorie's impatience, the good-natured gardener helped her
+plant the seeds in a sunny flowerbed, and raked the dirt neatly over
+them with an experienced touch.
+
+"That looks lovely," said Marjorie, with a satisfied nod of approval;
+"now let's go and see the chickens."
+
+This proved even more interesting than she had anticipated, for since
+her last visit an incubator had been purchased, and there were hundreds
+of little chickens of various sizes, in different compartments, to be
+looked at and admired.
+
+"Aren't they darlings!" exclaimed Marjorie, as she watched the little
+yellow balls trying to balance themselves on slender little brown stems
+that hardly seemed as if they could be meant for legs. "Oh, Carter, I
+shall spend hours out here every day!"
+
+"Do, Miss Midge; I'll be glad to have you, and the chickens won't mind
+it a bit."
+
+"Now the horses," Marjorie went on, and off they went to the stables,
+where Moses had already unharnessed the carriage team, and put them in
+their stalls. Uncle Steve had a new saddle horse, which came in for a
+large share of admiration, and the old horse, Betsy, which Grandma
+Sherwood liked to drive herself, was also to be greeted.
+
+Marjorie loved all animals, but after cats, horses were her favorites.
+
+"Are there any ducks this year, Carter?" she inquired.
+
+"Yes, Miss Midge, there is a duck-pond full of them; and you haven't
+seen the new boathouse that was built last year for Master Kingdon."
+
+"No, but I want to see it; and oh, Carter, don't you think you could
+teach me to row?"
+
+"I'm sure of it, Miss Midge; but I hear your grandmother calling you,
+and I think you'd better leave the boathouse to see to-morrow."
+
+"All right; I think so too, Carter." And Marjorie ran back to the
+house, her broad-brimmed hat in one hand and her hair ribbon in the
+other, while her curls were, indeed, in a tangled mop.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+ON THE ROOF
+
+
+"Why, Mopsy Maynard," exclaimed her mother, as Marjorie danced into the
+house, smiling and dishevelled, "what a looking head! Please go
+straight to your room, and make yourself tidy before supper time."
+
+"Yes, indeed, Mother, but just listen a minute! Uncle Steve has a new
+horse, a black one, and there are a hundred million little chickens, in
+the queerest kind of a thing, but I can't remember its name,--it's
+something like elevator."
+
+"Incubator, perhaps," suggested her mother.
+
+"Yes, that's it; and oh, Mother, it's so funny! Do come out and see it,
+won't you?"
+
+"Not to-night, child; and now run up to your room and tie up your hair."
+
+Marjorie danced upstairs, singing as she went, but when she reached the
+door of the room she was accustomed to use, she stopped her singing and
+stood in the doorway, stock-still with sheer bewilderment.
+
+For somehow the room had been entirely transformed, and looked like a
+totally different apartment.
+
+The room was in one of the wings of the house, and was large and
+square, with windows on two sides. But these had been ordinary windows,
+and now they were replaced by large, roomy bay windows, with glass
+doors that reached from floor to ceiling, and opened out on little
+balconies. In one of these bay windows was a dear little rocking-chair
+painted white, and a standard work-basket of dainty white and green
+wicker, completely furnished with sewing materials. In the other bay
+window was a dear little writing-desk of bird's-eye maple, and a wicker
+chair in front of it. The desk was open, and Marjorie could see all
+sorts of pens and pencils and paper in fascinating array.
+
+But these were only a few of the surprises. The whole room had been
+redecorated, and the walls were papered with a design of yellow
+daffodils in little bunches tied with pale green ribbon. The woodwork
+was all painted white, and entirely around the room, at just about the
+height of Marjorie's chin, ran a broad white shelf. Of course this
+shelf stopped for the windows and doors, but the room was large, and
+there was a great deal of space left for the shelf. But it was the
+things on the shelf that attracted Marjorie's attention. One side of
+the room was devoted to books, and Marjorie quickly recognized many of
+her old favorites, and many new ones. On another side of the room the
+shelf was filled with flowers, some blooming gayly in pots, and some
+cut blossoms in vases of water. On a third side of the room the shelf
+held birds, and this sight nearly took Marjorie's breath away. Some
+were in gilt cages, a canary, a goldfinch, and another bird whose name
+Marjorie did not know. And some were stuffed birds of brilliant
+plumage, and mounted in most natural positions on twigs or branches, or
+perched upon an ivy vine which was trained along the wall. The fourth
+side was almost empty, and Marjorie knew at once that it was left so in
+order that she might have a place for such treasured belongings as she
+had brought with her.
+
+"Well!" she exclaimed, although there was no one there to hear her.
+"Well, if this isn't the best ever!" She stood in the middle of the
+room, and turned slowly round and round, taking in by degrees the
+furnishings and adornment. All of the furniture was new, and the brass
+bed and dainty dressing-table seemed to Marjorie quite fit for any
+princess.
+
+"Well!" she exclaimed again, and as she turned around this time she saw
+the older people watching her from the hall.
+
+"Oh, Grandma Sherwood!" she cried, and running to the old lady,
+proceeded to hug her in a way that was more affectionate than
+comfortable.
+
+"Do you like it?" asked Grandma, when she could catch her breath.
+
+"Like it! It's the most beautiful, loveliest, sweetest room in the
+whole world! I love it! Did you do it all for me, Grandma?"
+
+"Yes, Midget; that is, I fixed up the room, but for the shelf you must
+thank Uncle Steve. That is his idea entirely, and he superintended its
+putting up. You're to use it this year, and next year Kitty can have
+her dolls and toys on it, and then the year after, King can use it for
+his fishing-tackle and boyish traps. Though I suppose by that time
+Rosamond will be old enough to take her turn."
+
+"Then I can't come again for four years," exclaimed Marjorie, with an
+expression of consternation on her face.
+
+"Not unless you come two at a time," said Grandma; "and I doubt if your
+mother would consent to that."
+
+"No, indeed," said Mrs. Maynard; "it's hard enough to lose one of the
+flock, without losing two."
+
+"Well, I'll have a good time with it this summer, anyway," said
+Marjorie; "can't we unpack my trunk now, Mother, so I can put my pearl
+pen in my desk; and my clock, that Rosy Posy gave me, on the shelf; and
+hang up my bird picture on the wall?"
+
+"Not just now," said her mother, "for it is nearly supper time, and you
+must transform yourself from a wild maid of the woods into a decorous
+little lady."
+
+The transformation was accomplished, and it was not very long before a
+very neat and tidy Marjorie walked sedately downstairs to the
+dining-room. Her white dress was immaculate; a big white bow held the
+dark curls in place, and only the dancing eyes betrayed the fact that
+it was an effort to behave so demurely.
+
+"Well, Midget," said Uncle Steve, as they were seated at the supper
+table, "does the old place look the same?"
+
+"No, indeed, Uncle; there are lots of changes, but best of all is my
+beauty room. I never saw anything so lovely; I just want to stay up
+there all the time."
+
+"I thought you'd like that shelf. Now you have room for all the
+thousand and one bits of rubbish that you accumulate through the
+summer."
+
+"'Tisn't rubbish!" exclaimed Marjorie, indignantly; "it's dear little
+birds' nests, and queer kinds of rocks, and branches of strange trees
+and grasses and things."
+
+"Well, I only meant it sounds to me like rubbish," said Uncle Steve,
+who loved to tease her about her enthusiasms.
+
+But she only smiled good-naturedly, for she well knew that Uncle Steve
+was the very one who would take her for long walks in the woods, on
+purpose to gather this very "rubbish."
+
+The next day Marjorie was up bright and early, quite ready for any
+pleasure that might offer itself.
+
+Her mother went back home that day, and though Marjorie felt a little
+sad at parting, yet, after all, Grandma Sherwood's house was like a
+second home, and there was too much novelty and entertainment all about
+to allow time for feeling sad.
+
+Moreover, Marjorie was of a merry, happy disposition. It was natural to
+her to make the best of everything, and even had she had reasons for
+being truly miserable, she would have tried to be happy in spite of
+them.
+
+So she bade her mother good-by, and sent loving messages to all at
+home, and promised to write often.
+
+"Remember," said her mother, as a parting injunction, "to read every
+morning the list I gave you, which includes all my commands for the
+summer. When I see you again I shall expect you to tell me that you
+obeyed them all."
+
+"I will try," said Marjorie; "but if it is a long list I may forget
+some of them sometimes. You know, Mother, I AM forgetful."
+
+"You are, indeed," said Mrs. Maynard, smiling; "but if you'll try I
+think you'll succeed, at least fairly well. Good-by now, dear; I must
+be off; and do you go at once to your room and read over the list so as
+to start the day right."
+
+"I will," said Marjorie, and as soon as she had waved a last good-by,
+and the carriage had disappeared from view, she ran to her room, and
+sitting down at her pretty desk, unfolded the list her mother had given
+her.
+
+To her great surprise, instead of the long list she had expected to
+find, there were only two items. The first was, "Keep your hands clean,
+and your hair tidy"; and the other read, "Obey Grandma implicitly."
+
+"Well," thought Marjorie to herself, "I can easily manage those two!
+And yet," she thought further, with a little sigh, "they're awfully
+hard ones. My hands just WON'T keep clean, and my hair ribbon is
+forever coming off! And of course I MEAN to obey Grandma always; but
+sometimes she's awful strict, and sometimes I forget what she told me."
+
+But with a firm resolve in her heart to do her best, Marjorie went
+downstairs, and went out to play in the garden.
+
+Some time later she saw a girl of about her own age coming down the
+path toward her. She was a strange-looking child, with a very white
+face, snapping black eyes, and straight wiry black hair, braided in two
+little braids, which stood out straight from her head.
+
+"Are you Marjorie?" she said, in a thin, piping voice. "I'm Molly Moss,
+and I've come to play with you. I used to know Kitty."
+
+"Yes," said Marjorie, pleasantly, "I'm Marjorie, and I'm Kitty's
+sister. I'm glad you came. Is that your kitten?"
+
+"Yes," said Molly, as she held up a very small black kitten, which was
+indeed an insignificant specimen compared to the Persian beauty hanging
+over Marjorie's arm.
+
+"It's a dear kitten," Molly went on. "Her name is Blackberry. Don't you
+like her?"
+
+"Yes," said Marjorie, a little doubtfully; "perhaps she can be company
+for Puff. This is my Puff." Marjorie held up her cat, but the two
+animals showed very little interest in one another.
+
+"Let's put them to sleep somewhere," said Molly, "and then go and play
+in the loft."
+
+The kittens were soon deposited in the warm kitchen, and the two girls
+ran back to the barn for a good play. Marjorie had already begun to
+like Molly, though she seemed rather queer at first, but after they had
+climbed the ladder to the warm sweet-smelling hay-loft, they grew
+better acquainted, and were soon chattering away like old friends.
+
+Molly was not at all like Stella Martin. Far from being timid, she was
+recklessly daring, and very ingenious in the devising of mischief.
+
+"I'll tell you what, Mopsy," she said, having already adopted
+Marjorie's nickname, "let's climb out of the window, that skylight
+window, I mean, onto the roof of the barn, and slide down. It's a
+lovely long slide."
+
+"We'll slide off!" exclaimed Marjorie, aghast at this proposition.
+
+"Oh, no, we won't; there's a ledge at the edge of the roof, and your
+heels catch that, and that stops you. You CAN'T go any further."
+
+"How do you get back?"
+
+"Why, scramble back up the roof, you know. Come on, it's lots of fun."
+
+"I don't believe Grandma would like it," said Marjorie, a little
+doubtfully.
+
+"Oh, pshaw, you're afraid; there's no danger. Come on and try it,
+anyhow."
+
+Now Marjorie did not like to be called afraid, for she really had very
+little fear in her disposition. So she said: "Well, I'll go up the
+ladder and look out, and if it looks dangerous I won't do it."
+
+"Not a bit of danger," declared Molly. "I'll go up first." Agile as a
+sprite, Molly quickly skipped up the ladder, and opened the trap-door
+in the barn roof. Sticking her head up through, she soon drew her thin
+little body up after it and called to Marjorie to follow. Marjorie was
+a much heavier child, but she sturdily climbed the ladder, and then
+with some difficulty clambered out on the roof.
+
+"Isn't it gay?" cried Molly, and exhilarated by the lofty height, the
+novel position, and the excitement of the moment, Marjorie thought it
+was.
+
+"Now," went on Molly, by way of instruction, "sit down beside me right
+here at the top. Hang on with your hands until I count three and then
+let go, and we'll slide straight down the roof."
+
+Marjorie obeyed directions, and sat waiting with a delightful feeling
+of expectancy.
+
+"One, two, three!" counted Molly, and at the last word the two girls
+let go their grasp and slid.
+
+Swiftly and lightly the slender little Molly slid to the gutter of the
+eaves of the roof, caught by her heels, and stopped suddenly, leaning
+against the slanted roof, comfortably at her ease.
+
+Not so Marjorie. She came swiftly down, and, all unaccustomed to motion
+of this sort, her feet struck the gutter, her solid little body bounced
+up into the air, and instead of falling backward again, she gave a
+frightened convulsive movement, and fell headlong to the ground.
+
+Quick as a flash, Molly, when she saw what had happened, scrambled back
+up the roof with a wonderful agility, and let herself down through the
+skylight, and down the ladder like lightning. She rushed out of the
+barn, to where Marjorie lay, and reached her before Carter did, though
+he came running at the first sounds of Marjorie's screams.
+
+"I'm not hurt much," said Marjorie, trying to be brave; "if you'll help
+me, Carter, I think I can walk to the house."
+
+"Walk nothin'," growled Carter; "it's Miss Mischief you are for sure! I
+thought you had outgrown your wild ways, but you're just as bad as
+ever! What'll your grandma say?"
+
+Molly stood by, decidedly scared. She didn't know how badly Marjorie
+was hurt, and she longed to comfort her, and tell her how sorry she was
+that she had urged her to this mischief, but Carter gave her no
+opportunity to speak. Indeed, it was all she could do to keep up with
+the gardener's long strides, as he carried Marjorie to the house. But
+Molly was no coward, and she bravely determined to go to the house with
+them, and confess to Mrs. Sherwood that she was to blame for the
+accident.
+
+But when they reached the door, and Grandma Sherwood came out to meet
+them, she was so anxious and worried about Marjorie that she paid
+little attention to Molly's efforts at explanation.
+
+"What are you trying to say, child?" she asked hastily of Molly, who
+was stammering out an incoherent speech. "Well, never mind; whatever
+you have to say, I don't want to hear it now. You run right straight
+home; and if you want to come over to-morrow to see how Marjorie is,
+you may, but I can't have you bothering around here now. So run home."
+
+And Molly ran home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+A PAPER-DOLL HOUSE
+
+
+The result of Marjorie's fall from the roof was a sprained ankle. It
+wasn't a bad sprain, but the doctor said she must stay in bed for
+several days.
+
+"But I don't mind very much," said Marjorie, who persisted in looking
+on the bright side of everything, "for it will give me a chance to
+enjoy this beautiful room better. But, Grandma, I can't quite make out
+whether I was disobedient or not. You never told me not to slide down
+the roof, did you?"
+
+"No, Marjorie; but your common-sense ought to have told you that. I
+should have forbidden it if I had thought there was the slightest
+danger of your doing such a thing. You really ought to have known
+better."
+
+Grandma's tone was severe, for though she was sorry for the child she
+felt that Marjorie had done wrong, and ought to be reproved.
+
+Marjorie's brow wrinkled in her efforts to think out the matter.
+
+"Grandma," she said, "then must I obey every rule that you would make
+if you thought of it, and how shall I know what they are?"
+
+Grandma smiled. "As I tell you Midget, you must use your common-sense
+and reason in such matters. If you make mistakes the experience will
+help you to learn; but I am sure a child twelve years old ought to know
+better than to slide down a steep barn roof. But I suppose Molly put
+you up to it, and so it wasn't your fault exactly."
+
+"Molly did suggest it, Grandma, but that doesn't make her the one to
+blame, for I didn't have to do as she said, did I?"
+
+"No, Midge; and Molly has behaved very nicely about it. She came over
+here, and confessed that she had been the ringleader in the mischief,
+and said she was sorry for it. So you were both to blame, but I think
+it has taught you a lesson, and I don't believe you'll ever cut up that
+particular trick again. But you certainly needn't be punished for it,
+for I think the consequences of having to stay in bed for nearly a week
+will be punishment enough. So now we're through with that part of the
+subject, and I'm going to do all I can to make your imprisonment as
+easy for you as possible."
+
+It was in the early morning that this conversation had taken place, and
+Grandma had brought a basin of fresh, cool water and bathed the little
+girl's face and hands, and had brushed out her curls and tied them up
+with a pretty pink bow.
+
+Then Jane came with a dainty tray, containing just the things Marjorie
+liked best for breakfast, and adorned with a spray of fresh roses.
+Grandma drew a table to the bedside and piled pillows behind Marjorie's
+back until she was quite comfortable.
+
+"I feel like a queen, Grandma," she said; "if this is what you call
+punishment I don't mind it a bit."
+
+"That's all very well for one day, but wait until you have been here
+four or five days. You'll get tired of playing queen by that time."
+
+"Well, it's fun now, anyway," said Marjorie, as she ate strawberries
+and cream with great relish.
+
+After breakfast Jane tidied up the room, and Marjorie, arrayed in a
+little pink kimono, prepared to spend the day in bed. Grandma brought
+her books to read and writing materials to write letters home, and
+Marjorie assured her that she could occupy herself pleasantly.
+
+So Grandma went away and left her alone. The first thing Marjorie did
+was to write a letter to her mother, telling her all about the
+accident. She had thought she would write a letter to each of the
+children at home, but she discovered to her surprise that it wasn't
+very easy to write sitting up in bed. Her arms became cramped, and as
+she could not move her injured ankle her whole body grew stiff and
+uncomfortable. So she decided to read. After she had read what seemed a
+long time, she found that that, too, was difficult under the
+circumstances. With a little sigh she turned herself as well as she
+could and looked at the clock. To her amazement, only an hour had
+elapsed since Grandma left her, and for the first time the little girl
+realized what it meant to be deprived of the free use of her limbs.
+
+"Only ten o'clock," she thought to herself; "and dinner isn't until
+one!"
+
+Not that Marjorie was hungry, but like all the invalids she looked
+forward to meal-times as a pleasant diversion.
+
+But about this time Grandma reappeared to say that Molly had come over
+to see her.
+
+Marjorie was delighted, and welcomed Molly gladly.
+
+"I'm awful sorry," the little visitor began, "that I made you slide
+down the roof."
+
+"You didn't make me do it," said Marjorie, "it was my fault quite as
+much as yours; and, anyway, it isn't a very bad sprain. I'll be out
+again in a few days, and then we can play some more. But we'll keep
+down on the ground,--we can't fall off of that."
+
+"I thought you might like to play some games this morning," Molly
+suggested, "so I brought over my jackstraws and my Parcheesi board."
+
+"Splendid!" cried Marjorie, delighted to have new entertainment.
+
+In a few moments Molly had whisked things about, and arranged the
+jackstraws on a small table near the bed. But Marjorie could not reach
+them very well, so Molly changed her plan.
+
+"I'll fix it," she said, and laying the Parcheesi board on the bed, she
+climbed up herself, and sitting cross-legged like a little Turk, she
+tossed the jackstraws out on the flat board, and the game began in
+earnest.
+
+They had a jolly time and followed the jackstraws with a game of
+Parcheesi.
+
+Then Jane came up with some freshly baked cookies and two glasses of
+milk.
+
+"Why, how the time has flown!" cried Marjorie, "it's half-past eleven,
+and it doesn't seem as if you'd been here more than five minutes,
+Molly."
+
+"I didn't think it was so late, either," and then the two girls did
+full justice to the little luncheon, while the all-useful Parcheesi
+board served as a table.
+
+"Now," said Marjorie, when the last crumbs had disappeared, "let's mix
+up the two games. The jackstraws will be people, and your family can
+live in that corner of the Parcheesi board, and mine will live in this.
+The other two corners will be strangers' houses, and the red counters
+can live in one and the blue counters in the other. This place in the
+middle will be a park, and these dice can be deer in the park."
+
+"Oh, what fun!" cried Molly, who was not as ingenious as Marjorie at
+making up games, but who was appreciative enough to enter into the
+spirit of it at once.
+
+They became so absorbed in this new sort of play that again the time
+flew and it was dinner-time before they knew it.
+
+Grandma did not invite Molly to stay to dinner, for she thought
+Marjorie ought to rest, but she asked the little neighbor to come again
+the next morning and continue their game.
+
+After dinner Grandma darkened the room and left Marjorie to rest by
+herself, and the result of this was a long and refreshing nap.
+
+When she awoke, Grandma appeared again with fresh water and towels, and
+her afternoon toilet was made. Marjorie laughed to think that dressing
+for afternoon meant only putting on a different kimono, for dresses
+were not to be thought of with a sprained ankle.
+
+And then Uncle Steve came in.
+
+Uncle Steve was always like a ray of sunshine, but he seemed especially
+bright and cheery just now.
+
+"Well, Midget Mops," he said, "you have cut up a pretty trick, haven't
+you? Here, just as I wanted to take you driving, and walking in the
+woods, and boating, and fishing, and perhaps ballooning, and
+airshipping, and maybe skating, here you go and get yourself laid up so
+you can't do anything but eat and sleep! You're a nice Midget, you are!
+What's the use of having an Uncle Steve if you can't play with him?"
+
+"Just you wait," cried Marjorie; "I'm not going to be in bed more than
+a few days, and I'm going to stay here all summer. There'll be plenty
+of time for your fishing and skating yet."
+
+"But unless I get you pretty soon, I'll pine away with grief. And
+everybody out on the farm is lonesome for you. The horses, Ned and
+Dick, had made up their minds to take you on long drives along the
+mountain roads where the wild flowers bloom. They can't understand why
+you don't come out, and they stand in their stalls weeping, with great
+tears rolling down their cheeks."
+
+Marjorie laughed gayly at Uncle Steve's foolery, and said: "If they're
+weeping so you'd better take them some of my pocket handkerchiefs."
+
+"Too small," said Uncle Steve, scornfully; "one of your little
+handkerchiefs would get lost in Dick's eye or Ned's ear. And old Betsy
+is weeping for you too. Really, you'll have to get around soon, or
+those three horses will run away, I fear."
+
+"What about the cow; does she miss me?" asked Marjorie, gravely, though
+her eyes were twinkling.
+
+"The cow!" exclaimed Uncle Steve. "She stands by the fence with her
+head on the top rail, and moos so loud that I should think you could
+hear her yourself. She calls 'Mopsy, Mopsy, Moo,' from morning till
+night. And the chickens! Well, the incubator is full of desolate
+chickens. They won't eat their meal, and they just peep mournfully, and
+stretch their little wings trying to fly to you."
+
+"And the dogs?" prompted Marjorie.
+
+"Oh, the dogs--they howl and yowl and growl all the time. I think I'll
+have to bring the whole crowd of animals up here. They're so anxious to
+see you."
+
+"Do, Uncle Steve. I'd be glad to see them, and I'm sure they'd behave
+nicely."
+
+"I think so. The cow could sit in that little rocking-chair, and the
+three horses could sit on the couch, side by side. And then we could
+all have afternoon tea."
+
+Marjorie shook with laughter at the thought of the cow sitting up and
+drinking afternoon tea, until Uncle Steve declared that if she laughed
+so hard she'd sprain her other ankle. So he said he would read to her,
+and selecting a book of fairy tales, he read aloud all the rest of the
+afternoon. It was delightful to hear Uncle Steve read, for he would
+stop now and then to discuss the story, or he would put in some funny
+little jokes of his own, and he made it all so amusing and entertaining
+that the afternoon flew by as if on wings.
+
+Then Jane came again with the pretty tray of supper, and after that
+Grandma and Marjorie had a nice little twilight talk, and then the
+little girl was tucked up for the night, and soon fell asleep.
+
+When she woke the next morning and lay quietly in bed thinking over of
+the events of the day before, she came to the conclusion that everybody
+had been very kind to her, but that she couldn't expect so much
+attention every day. So she made up her mind that when she had to spend
+hours alone, she would try to be good and patient and not trouble
+Grandma more than she could help.
+
+Then she thought of the written list her mother had given her. She
+smiled to think how easy it was now to keep those commands. "Of
+course," she thought, "I can keep my hands clean and my hair tidy here,
+for Grandma looks after that herself; and, of course, I can't help
+obeying her while I'm here, for she doesn't command me to do anything,
+and I couldn't do it if she did."
+
+Molly came again that morning, and as Grandma had asked her to stay to
+dinner with Marjorie, the girls prepared for a good morning's play.
+
+It was astonishing how many lovely things there were to play, even when
+one of the players couldn't move about.
+
+Molly had brought over her paper-doll's house, and as it was quite
+different from anything Marjorie had ever seen before, she wondered if
+she couldn't make one for herself, and so double the fun of the game.
+
+Grandma was consulted, but it was Uncle Steve who brought them the
+necessary materials to carry out their plan.
+
+A paper-doll's house is quite different from the other kind of a doll's
+house, and Molly's was made of a large blankbook.
+
+So Uncle Steve brought a blankbook almost exactly like it for Marjorie,
+and then he brought her scissors, and paste, and several catalogues
+which had come from the great shops in the city. He brought, too, a
+pile of magazines and papers, which were crammed full of illustrated
+advertisements.
+
+The two little girls set busily to work, and soon they had cut out a
+quantity of chairs, tables, beds, and furniture of all sorts from the
+pictured pages.
+
+These they pasted in the book. Each page was a room, and in the room
+were arranged appropriate furniture and ornaments.
+
+The parlor had beautiful and elaborate furniture, rugs, pictures,
+bric-a-brac, and even lace curtains at the windows. The library had
+beautiful bookcases, writing-desk, reading-table and a lamp,
+easy-chairs, and everything that belongs in a well-ordered library.
+
+The dining-room was fully furnished, and the kitchen contained
+everything necessary to the satisfaction of the most exacting cook.
+
+The bedrooms were beautiful with dainty brass beds, chintz-covered
+furniture, and dressing-tables fitted out with all sorts of toilet
+equipments.
+
+All of these things were found in the catalogues and the magazine
+advertisements; and in addition to the rooms mentioned, there were
+halls, a nursery, playroom, and pleasant verandas fitted up with
+hammocks and porch furniture.
+
+Of course it required some imagination to think that these rooms were
+in the shape of a house, and not just leaves of a book, but both Midge
+and Molly had plenty of imagination, and besides it was very practical
+fun to cut out the things, and arrange them in their places. Sometimes
+it was necessary to use a pencil to draw in any necessary article that
+might be missing; but usually everything desired could be found, from
+potted palms to a baby carriage.
+
+Marjorie grew absorbed in the work, for she dearly loved to make
+things, and her ingenuity suggested many improvements on Molly's
+original house.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+SOME INTERESTING LETTERS
+
+
+The family for the paper-doll house was selected from the catalogues
+that illustrate ready-made clothing. Beautiful gentlemen were cut out,
+dressed in the most approved fashions for men. Charming ladies with
+trailing skirts and elaborate hats were found in plenty. And children
+of all ages were so numerous in the prints that it was almost difficult
+to make a selection. Then, too, extra hats and wraps and parasols were
+cut out, which could be neatly put away in the cupboards and wardrobes
+which were in the house. For Marjorie had discovered that by pasting
+only the edges of the wardrobe and carefully cutting the doors apart,
+they could be made to open and shut beautifully.
+
+Uncle Steve became very much interested in these wonderful houses, and
+ransacked his own library for pictures to be cut up.
+
+Indeed, so elaborate did the houses grow to be, Molly's being greatly
+enlarged and improved, that they could not be finished in one morning.
+
+But Grandma was not willing to let Marjorie work steadily at this
+occupation all day, and after dinner Molly was sent home, and the paper
+dolls put away until the next day.
+
+"But I'm not ill, Grandma," said Marjorie; "just having a sprained
+ankle doesn't make me a really, truly invalid."
+
+"No, but you must rest, or you will get ill. Fever may set in, and if
+you get over-excited with your play, and have no exercise, you may be
+in bed longer than you think for. Besides, I think I remember having
+heard something about implicit obedience, and so I expect it now as
+well as when you're up on your two feet."
+
+"I don't think I can help obeying," said Marjorie, roguishly, "for I
+can't very well do anything else. But I suppose you mean obey without
+fretting; so I will, for you are a dear, good Grandma and awfully kind
+to me."
+
+With a parting pat on her shoulder, Grandma left the little girl for
+her afternoon nap, and Marjorie would have been surprised at herself
+had she known how quickly she fell asleep.
+
+Uncle Steve made it a habit to entertain her during the later hours of
+each afternoon, and, although they were already great chums, his gayety
+and kindness made Marjorie more than ever devoted to her uncle.
+
+This afternoon he came in with a handful of letters.
+
+"These are all for you," he said; "it is astonishing what a large
+correspondence you have."
+
+Marjorie was amazed. She took the budget of letters her uncle handed
+her and counted five. They were all duly stamped, and all were
+postmarked, but the postmarks all read Haslemere.
+
+"How funny!" exclaimed Marjorie; "I didn't know there was a post office
+at Haslemere."
+
+"You didn't!" exclaimed Uncle Steve; "why, there certainly is. Do you
+mean to say that you don't know that there's a little post office in
+the lowest branch of that old maple-tree down by the brook?"
+
+"You mean just where the path turns to go to the garden?"
+
+"That's the very spot. Only this morning I was walking by there, and I
+saw a small post office in the tree. There was a key in the door of it,
+and being curious, I opened it, and looked in. There I saw five letters
+for you, and as you're not walking much this summer, I thought I'd
+bring them to you. I brought the key, too."
+
+As he finished speaking, Uncle Steve drew from his pocket a little
+bright key hung on a blue ribbon, which he gravely presented to
+Marjorie. Her eyes danced as she took it, for she now believed there
+was really a post office there, though it was sometimes difficult to
+distinguish Uncle Steve's nonsense from the truth.
+
+"Now I'm more than ever anxious to get well," she cried, "and go out to
+see that post office."
+
+"Oh, no," said Uncle Steve, shaking his head; "you don't care about
+post offices and walks in the woods, and drives through the country.
+You'd rather slide down an old barn roof, and then lie in bed for a
+week."
+
+"Catch me doing it again," said Marjorie, shaking her head decidedly;
+"and now, Uncle, suppose we open these letters."
+
+"Why, that wouldn't be a bad idea. Here's a paper-cutter. Let's open
+one at a time, they'll last longer. Suppose you read this one first."
+
+Marjorie opened the first letter, and quickly turned the page to see
+the signature.
+
+"Why, Uncle Steve," she cried, "this is signed Ned and Dick! I didn't
+know horses could write letters."
+
+"There are a great many things, my child, that you don't know yet. And
+so Ned and Dick have written to you! Now that's very kind of them. Read
+me what they say."
+
+In great glee, Marjorie read aloud:
+
+    "DEAR MARJORIE:
+     It is too bad
+     For you to act this way;
+     Just think what fun we might have had
+     Out driving every day.
+
+    "We could have gone to Blossom Banks,
+     Or Maple Grove instead;
+     But no, you had to cut up pranks
+     That landed you in bed!
+
+    "We hope you'll soon be well again,
+     And get downstairs right quick;
+     And we will all go driving then.
+     Your true friends,
+
+     NED AND DICK."
+
+"Well, I do declare," said Uncle Steve, "I always said they were
+intelligent horses, but this is the first time I've ever heard of their
+writing a letter. They must be very fond of you, Marjorie."
+
+Marjorie's eyes twinkled. She well knew Uncle Steve had written the
+letter himself, but she was always ready to carry out her part of a
+joke, so she replied:
+
+"Yes, I think they must be fond of me, and I think I know somebody else
+who is, too. But it was nice of Ned and Dick to write and let me know
+that they hadn't forgotten me. And as soon as I can get downstairs, I
+shall be delighted to go driving with them. Where is Blossom Banks,
+Uncle?"
+
+"Oh, it's a lovely place, a sort of picnic ground; there are several
+grassy banks, and blossoms grow all over them. They slope right down to
+the river; but, of course, you wouldn't think them nearly so nice as a
+sloping barn roof."
+
+Marjorie knew she must stand teasing from Uncle Steve, but his smile
+was so good-natured, and he was such a dear old uncle anyway, that she
+didn't mind it very much.
+
+"Suppose I read another letter," she said, quite ready to turn the
+subject.
+
+"Do; open that one with the typewritten address. I wonder who could
+have written that! Perhaps the cow; she's very agile on the typewriter."
+
+The mental picture of the cow using the typewriter produced such
+hilarity that it was a few moments before the letter was opened.
+
+"It IS from the cow!" exclaimed Marjorie, "and she does write
+beautifully on the machine. I don't see a single error."
+
+"Read it out, Midge; I always love to hear letters from cows."
+
+So Marjorie read the cow's note:
+
+    "Mopsy Midge, come out to play;
+     I've waited for you all the day.
+     In the Garden and by the brook,
+     All day for you I vainly look.
+     With anxious brow and gaze intense
+     I lean against the old rail fence,
+     And moo and moo, and moo, and moo,
+     In hopes I may be heard by you.
+     And if I were not so forlorn,
+     I think I'd try to blow my horn.
+     Oh, come back, Midget, come back now,
+     And cheer your lonely, waiting
+
+       Cow."
+
+"Now, that's a first-class letter," declared Uncle Steve. "I always
+thought that cow was a poet. She looks so romantic when she gazes out
+over the bars. You ought to be pleased, Marjorie, that you have such
+loving friends at Haslemere."
+
+"Pleased! I'm tickled to death! I never had letters that I liked so
+well. And just think, I have three left yet that I haven't opened. I
+wonder who they can be from."
+
+"When you wonder a thing like that, it always seems to me a good idea
+to open them and find out."
+
+"I just do believe I will! Why, this one," and Marjorie hastily tore
+open another letter, "this one, Uncle, is from old Bet!"
+
+"Betsy! That old horse! Well, she must have put on her spectacles to
+see to write it. But I suppose when she saw Ned and Dick writing, she
+didn't want them to get ahead of her, so she went to work too. Well, do
+read it, I'm surely interested to hear old Betsy's letter."
+
+"Listen then," said Marjorie:
+
+    "DEAR LITTLE MIDGE:
+
+               I'm lonesome here,
+     Without your merry smiles to cheer.
+     I mope around the livelong day,
+     And scarcely care to munch my hay.
+     I am so doleful and so sad,
+     I really do feel awful bad!
+     Oh hurry, Midge, and come back soon;
+     Perhaps to-morrow afternoon.
+     And then my woe I will forget,
+     And smile again.
+
+     Your lonesome     BET"
+
+"Well, she is an affectionate old thing," said Uncle Steve; "and truly,
+Midget, I thought she was feeling lonesome this morning. She didn't
+seem to care to eat anything, and she never smiled at me at all."
+
+"She's a good old horse, Uncle, but I don't like her as much as I do
+Ned and Dick. But don't ever tell Betsy this, for I wouldn't hurt her
+feelings for anything."
+
+"Oh, yes, just because Ned and Dick are spirited, fast horses you like
+them better than poor, old Betsy, who used to haul you around when you
+were a baby."
+
+"Oh, I like her well enough; and, anyway, I think a heap more of her
+now, since she wrote me such an affectionate letter. Now, Uncle, if
+you'll believe it, this next one is from the chickens! Would you have
+believed that little bits of yellow chickens, in an incubator, could
+write a nice, clear letter like this? I do think it's wonderful! Just
+listen to it:
+
+    "DEAR MOPSY:
+
+     Why
+     Are you away?
+     We weep and cry
+     All through the day.
+
+    "Oh, come back quick,
+     Dear Mopsy Mop!
+     Then each small chick
+     Will gayly hop.
+
+    "We'll chirp with glee,
+     No more we'll weep;
+     Each chickadee
+     Will loudly peep."
+
+"Well, that's certainly fine, Midget, for such little chickens. If it
+were the old hen, now, I wouldn't be so surprised, for I see her
+scratching on the ground every day. I suppose she's practising her
+writing lesson, but I never yet have been able to read the queer marks
+she makes. But these little yellow chickadees write plainly enough, and
+I do think they are wonderfully clever."
+
+"Yes, and isn't it funny that they can rhyme so well, too?"
+
+"It is, indeed. I always said those Plymouth Rocks were the smartest
+chickens of all, but I never suspected they could write poetry."
+
+"And now, Uncle, I've only one left." Marjorie looked regretfully at
+the last letter, wishing there were a dozen more. "But I can keep them
+and read them over and over again, I like them so much. I'd answer
+them, but I don't believe those animals read as well as they write."
+
+"No," said Uncle Steve, wagging his head sagely, "I don't believe they
+do. Well, read your last one, Mops, and let's see who wrote it."
+
+"Why, Uncle, it's from the dogs! It's signed 'Nero and Tray and Rover'!
+Weren't they just darling to write to me! I believe I miss the dogs
+more than anything else, because I can have Puffy up here with me."
+
+Marjorie paused long enough to cuddle the little heap of grey fur that
+lay on the counterpane beside her, and then proceeded to read the
+letter:
+
+    "Dear Mopsy Midget,
+     We're in a fidget,
+     Because we cannot find you;
+     We want to know
+     How you could go
+     And leave your dogs behind you!
+
+    "We bark and howl,
+     And snarl and yowl,
+     And growl the whole day long;
+     You are not here,
+     And, Mopsy dear,
+     We fear there's something wrong!
+
+    "We haven't heard;
+     Oh, send us word
+     Whatever is the matter!
+     Oh, hurry up
+     And cheer each pup
+     With laughter and gay chatter."
+
+"That's a very nice letter," said Marjorie, as she folded it up and
+returned it to its envelope. "And I do think the animals at Haslemere
+are the most intelligent I have ever known. Uncle, I'm going to send
+these letters all down home for King and Kitty to read, and then they
+can send them back to me, for I'm going to keep them all my life."
+
+"I'll tell you a better plan than that, Midget. If you want the
+children to read them, I'll make copies of them for you to send home.
+And then I'll tell you what you might do, if you like. When I go
+downtown I'll buy you a great big scrapbook, and then you can paste
+these letters in, and as the summer goes on, you can paste in all sorts
+of things; pressed leaves or flowers, pictures and letters, and
+souvenirs of all sorts. Won't that be nice?"
+
+"Uncle Steve, it will be perfectly lovely! You do have the splendidest
+ideas! Will you get the book to-morrow?"
+
+"Yes, Miss Impatience, I will."
+
+And that night, Marjorie fell asleep while thinking of all the lovely
+things she could collect to put in the book, which Uncle Steve had told
+her she must call her Memory Book.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+BOO!
+
+
+The days of Marjorie's imprisonment went by pleasantly enough. Every
+morning Molly would come over, and they played with their paper-doll
+houses. These houses continually grew in size and beauty. Each girl
+added a second book, which represented grounds and gardens. There were
+fountains, and flowerbeds and trees and shrubs, which they cut from
+florists' catalogues; other pages were barns and stables, and
+chicken-coops, all filled with most beautiful specimens of the animals
+that belonged in them. There were vegetable gardens and grape arbors
+and greenhouses, for Uncle Steve had become so interested in this game
+that he brought the children wonderful additions to their collections.
+
+It was quite as much fun to arrange the houses and grounds as it was to
+play with them, and each new idea was hailed with shrieks of delight.
+
+Molly often grew so excited that she upset the paste-pot, and her
+scraps and cuttings flew far and wide, but good-natured Jane was always
+ready to clear up after the children. Jane had been with Mrs. Sherwood
+for many years, and Marjorie was her favorite of all the grandchildren,
+and she was never too tired to wait upon her. She, too, hunted up old
+books and papers that might contain some contributions to the
+paper-doll houses. But afternoons were always devoted to rest, until
+four or five o'clock, when Uncle Steve came to pay his daily visit.
+
+One afternoon he came in with a fresh budget of letters.
+
+"Letters!" exclaimed Marjorie. "Goody! I haven't had any letters for
+two days. Please give them to me, Uncle, and please give me a
+paper-cutter."
+
+"Midge," said Uncle Steve, "if you think these are letters, you're very
+much mistaken. They're not."
+
+"What are they, then?" asked Marjorie, greatly mystified, for they
+certainly looked like letters, and were sealed and stamped.
+
+"As I've often told you, it's a good plan to open them and see."
+
+Laughing in anticipation at what she knew must be some new joke of
+Uncle Steve's, Marjorie cut the envelopes open.
+
+The first contained, instead of a sheet of paper, a small slip, on
+which was written:
+
+"If you think this a letter, you're much mistook; It's only a promise
+of a New Book!"
+
+"Well," said Marjorie, "that's just as good as a letter, for if you
+promise me a book, I know I'll get it. Oh, Uncle, you are such a duck!
+Now I'll read the next one."
+
+The next one was a similar slip, and said:
+
+"This isn't a letter, though like one it seems; It's only a promise of
+Chocolate Creams!"
+
+"Oh!" cried Marjorie, ecstatically, "this is just too much fun for
+anything! Do you mean real chocolate creams, Uncle?"
+
+"Oh, these are only promises. Very likely they don't mean anything."
+
+"YOUR promises do; you've never broken one yet. Now I'll read another:
+
+"This isn't a letter, dear Marjorie Mops, It's only a promise of
+Peppermint Drops!"
+
+"Every one is nicer than the last! And now for the very last one of
+all!"
+
+Marjorie cut open the fourth envelope, and read:
+
+"Dear Mopsy Midget, this isn't a letter; It's only a promise of
+something much better!"
+
+"Why, it doesn't say what!" exclaimed Midge, but even as she spoke,
+Jane came into the room bringing a tray.
+
+She set it on the table at Marjorie's bedside, and Marjorie gave a
+scream of delight when she saw a cut-glass bowl heaped high with pink
+ice cream.
+
+"Oh, Uncle Steve!" she cried, "the ice cream is the 'something better,'
+I know it is, and those other parcels are the other three promises! Can
+I open them now?"
+
+Almost without waiting for her question to be answered, Marjorie tore
+off papers and strings, and found, as she fully expected, a box of
+chocolate creams, a box of peppermint drops, and a lovely new story
+book.
+
+Then Grandma came in to their tea party and they all ate the ice cream,
+and Marjorie declared it was the loveliest afternoon tea she had ever
+attended.
+
+Even Puff was allowed to have a small saucer of the ice cream, for she
+was a very dainty kitten, and her table manners were quite those of
+polite society.
+
+But the next afternoon Uncle Steve was obliged to go to town, and
+Marjorie felt quite disconsolate at the loss of the jolly afternoon
+hour.
+
+But kind-hearted Grandma planned a pleasure for her, and told her she
+would invite both Stella Martin and Molly to come to tea with Marjorie
+from four till five.
+
+Marjorie had not seen Stella since the day they came up together on the
+train, and the little girls were glad to meet again. Stella and Molly
+were about as different as two children could be, for while Molly was
+headstrong, energetic, and mischievous, Stella was timid, quiet, and
+demure.
+
+Both Marjorie and Molly were very quick in their actions, but Stella
+was naturally slow and deliberate. When they played games, Stella took
+as long to make her move as Molly and Midge together. This made them a
+little impatient, but Stella only opened her big blue eyes in wonder
+and said, "I can't do things any faster." So they soon tired of playing
+games, and showed Stella their paper-dolls' houses. Here they were the
+surprised ones, for Stella was an adept at paper dolls and knew how to
+draw and cut out lovely dolls, and told Marjorie that if she had a
+paintbox she could paint them.
+
+"I wish you would come over some other day, Stella, and do it," said
+Midge; "for I know Uncle Steve will get me a paint-box if I ask him to,
+and a lot of brushes, and then we can all paint. Oh, we'll have lots of
+fun, won't we?"
+
+"Yes, thank you," said Stella, sedately.
+
+Marjorie giggled outright. "It seems so funny," she said, by way of
+explanation, "to have you say 'yes, thank you' to us children; I only
+say it to grown people; don't you, Molly?"
+
+"I don't say it at all," confessed Molly; "I mean to, but I 'most
+always forget. It's awful hard for me to remember manners. But it seems
+to come natural to Stella."
+
+Stella looked at her, but said nothing. She was a very quiet child, and
+somehow she exasperated Marjorie. Perhaps she would not have done so
+had they all been out of doors, playing together, but she sat on a
+chair by Marjorie's bedside with her hands folded in her lap, and her
+whole attitude so prim that Marjorie couldn't help thinking to herself
+that she'd like to stick a pin in her. Of course she wouldn't have done
+it, really, but Marjorie had a riotous vein of mischief in her, and had
+little use for excessive quietness of demeanor, except when the company
+of grown-ups demanded it.
+
+But Stella seemed not at all conscious that her conduct was different
+from the others, and she smiled mildly at their rollicking fun, and
+agreed quietly to their eager enthusiasms.
+
+At last Jane came in with the tea-tray, and the sight of the crackers
+and milk, the strawberries and little cakes, created a pleasant
+diversion.
+
+Stella sat still in her chair, while Marjorie braced herself up on her
+pillows, and Molly, who was sitting on the bed, bounced up and down
+with glee.
+
+Marjorie was getting much better now, so that she could sit upright and
+preside over the feast. She served the strawberries for her guests, and
+poured milk for them from the glass pitcher.
+
+Molly and Marjorie enjoyed the good things, as they always enjoyed
+everything, but Stella seemed indifferent even to the delights of
+strawberries and cream.
+
+She sat holding a plate in one hand, and a glass of milk in the other,
+and showed about as much animation as a marble statue. Even her glance
+was roving out of the window, and somehow the whole effect of the child
+was too much for Marjorie's spirit of mischief.
+
+Suddenly, and in a loud voice, she said to Stella, "BOO!"
+
+This, in itself, was not frightful, but coming so unexpectedly it
+startled Stella, and she involuntarily jumped, and her glass and plate
+fell to the floor with a crash; and strawberries, cakes, and milk fell
+in a scattered and somewhat unpleasant disarray.
+
+Marjorie was horrified at what she had done, but Stella's face, as she
+viewed the catastrophe, was so comical that Marjorie went off into
+peals of laughter. Molly joined in this, and the two girls laughed
+until the bed shook.
+
+Frightened and nervous at the whole affair, Stella began to cry. And
+curiously enough, Stella's method of weeping was as noisy as her usual
+manner was quiet. She cried with such loud, heart-rending sobs that the
+other girls were frightened into quietness again, until they caught
+sight of Stella's open mouth and tightly-closed but streaming eyes,
+when hilarity overtook them again.
+
+Into this distracting scene, came Grandma. She stood looking in
+amazement at the three children and the debris on the floor.
+
+At first Mrs. Sherwood naturally thought it an accident due to Stella's
+carelessness, but Marjorie instantly confessed.
+
+"It's my fault, Grandma," she said; "I scared Stella, and she couldn't
+help dropping her things."
+
+"You are a naughty girl, Mischief," said Grandma, as she tried to
+comfort the weeping Stella. "I thought you would at least be polite to
+your little guests, or I shouldn't have given you this tea party."
+
+"I'm awfully sorry," said Marjorie, contritely; "please forgive me,
+Stella, but honestly I didn't think it would scare you so. What would
+YOU do, Molly, if I said 'boo' to you?"
+
+"I'd say 'boo yourself'!" returned Molly, promptly.
+
+"I know you would," said Marjorie, "but you see Stella's different, and
+I ought to have remembered the difference. Don't cry, Stella; truly I'm
+sorry! Don't cry, and I'll give you my--my paper-doll's house."
+
+This was generous on Marjorie's part, for just then her paper-doll's
+house was her dearest treasure.
+
+But Stella rose to the occasion.
+
+"I w-wont t-take it," she said, still sobbing, though trying hard to
+control herself; "it wasn't your fault, Marjorie; I oughtn't to have
+been so silly as to be scared b-because you said b-boo!"
+
+By this time Jane had removed all evidences of the accident, and except
+for a few stains on Stella's frock, everything was in order.
+
+But Stella, though she had quite forgiven Marjorie, was upset by the
+whole affair, and wanted to go home.
+
+So Grandma declared she would take the child home herself and apologize
+to Mrs. Martin for Marjorie's rudeness.
+
+"It was rude, Marjorie," she said, as she went away; "and I think Molly
+must go home now, and leave you to do a little thinking about your
+conduct to your other guest."
+
+So Marjorie was left alone to think, and half an hour later Grandma
+returned.
+
+"That was a naughty trick, Marjorie, and I think you ought to be
+punished for it."
+
+"But, Grandma," argued Miss Mischief, "I wasn't disobedient; you never
+told me not to say boo to anybody."
+
+"But I told you, dear, that you must use your common-sense; and you
+must have known that to startle Stella by a sudden scream at her was
+enough to make her drop whatever she was holding."
+
+"Grandma, I 'spect I was mischievous; but truly, she did look so stiff
+and pudgy, I just HAD to make her jump."
+
+"I know what you mean, Midge; and you have a natural love of mischief,
+but you must try to overcome it. I want you to grow up polite and kind,
+and remember those two words mean almost exactly the same thing. You
+knew it wasn't kind to make Stella jump, even if it hadn't caused her
+to upset things."
+
+"No, I know it wasn't, Grandma, and I'm sorry now. But I'll tell you
+what: whenever Stella comes over here again, I'll try to be SPECIALLY
+kind to her, to make up for saying boo!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+A BOAT-RIDE
+
+
+Great was the rejoicing of the whole household when at last Marjorie
+was able to come downstairs once more.
+
+Uncle Steve assisted her down. He didn't carry her, for he said she was
+far too much of a heavyweight for any such performance as that, but he
+supported her on one side, and with a banister rail on the other she
+managed beautifully.
+
+And, anyway, her ankle was just about as well as ever. The doctor had
+not allowed the active child to come downstairs until there was little
+if any danger that an imprudence on her part might injure her again.
+
+It was Saturday afternoon, and though she could not be allowed to walk
+about the place until the following week, yet Uncle Steve took her for
+a long, lovely drive behind Ned and Dick, and then brought her back to
+another jolly little surprise.
+
+This was found in a certain sheltered corner of one of the long
+verandas. It was so built that it was almost like a cosy, little square
+room; and climbing vines formed a pleasant screen from the bright
+sunlight. To it Uncle Steve had brought a set of wicker furniture: dear
+little chairs and a table and a settee, all painted green. Then there
+was a green-and-white hammock swung at just the right height, and
+containing two or three fat, jolly-looking, green pillows, in the midst
+of which Puff had chosen to curl herself up for a nap.
+
+There was a little bamboo bookcase, with a few books and papers, and a
+large box covered with Japanese matting, which had a hinged lid, and
+was lovely to keep things in. There was a rug on the floor, and
+Japanese lanterns hung from the ceiling, all in tones of green and
+white and silver.
+
+Marjorie unceremoniously dislodged Puff from her comfortable position,
+and flung herself into the hammock instead.
+
+"Uncle Steve!" she exclaimed, grabbing that gentleman tightly round the
+neck as he leaned over her to adjust her pillows, "you are the best man
+in the whole world, and I think you ought to be President! If you do
+any more of these lovely things for me I shall just--just SUFFOCATE
+with joy. What makes you so good to me, anyhow?"
+
+"Oh, because you're such a little saint, and never do anything naughty
+or mischievous!"
+
+"That's a splendid reason," cried Marjorie, quite appreciating the
+joke, "and, truly, Uncle Steve,--don't you tell,--it's a great secret:
+but I AM going to try to be more dignified and solemn."
+
+This seemed to strike Uncle Steve as being very funny, for he sat down
+on the little wicker settee and laughed heartily.
+
+"Well, you may as well begin now, then; and put on your most dignified
+and pompous manner, as you lie there in that hammock, for I'm going to
+read to you until tea-time."
+
+"Goody, goody!" cried Marjorie, bobbing up her curly head, and moving
+about excitedly. "Please, Uncle, read from that new book you brought me
+last night. I'll get it!"
+
+"That's a nice, dignified manner, that is! Your Serene Highness will
+please calm yourself, and stay just where you are. _I_ shall select the
+book to read from, and _I_ shall do the reading. All you have to do is
+to lie still and listen."
+
+So Marjorie obeyed, and, of course, Uncle Steve picked out the very
+book she wanted, and read to her delightfully for an hour or more.
+
+Marjorie's porch, as it came to be called, proved to be a favorite
+resort all summer long for the family and for any guests who came to
+the house. Marjorie herself almost lived in it for the first few days
+after she came downstairs, but at last the doctor pronounced her ankle
+entirely well, and said she might "start out to find some fresh
+mischief."
+
+So the next morning, directly after breakfast, she announced her
+intention of going down to see the boathouse.
+
+"Just think," she exclaimed, "I have never seen it yet, and King told
+me to go down there the very first thing."
+
+"I suppose you'll come back half-drowned," said Grandma, "but as you
+seem unable to learn anything, except by mistakes, go ahead. But,
+Marjorie, do try not to do some absurd thing, and then say that I
+haven't forbidden it! I don't forbid you to go in the boat, if Carter
+goes with you, but I do forbid you to go alone. Will you remember that?"
+
+"Yes, Grandma, truly I will," said Marjorie, with such a seraphic smile
+that her grandmother kissed her at once.
+
+"Then run along and have a good time; and don't jump off the dock or
+anything foolish."
+
+"I won't," cried Marjorie, gayly; and then she went dancing down the
+path to the garden. Carter was in the greenhouse potting some plants.
+
+"Carter," said Marjorie, putting her head in at the door, "are you very
+busy?"
+
+"Busy, indeed! I have enough work here with these pesky plants to keep
+me steady at it till summer after next. Busy, is it? I'm so busy that
+the bees and the ants is idle beside me. Busy? Well, I AM busy!"
+
+But as the good-natured old man watched Marjorie's face, and saw the
+look of disappointment settling upon it, he said: "But what matters
+that? If so be, Miss Midget, I can do anything for you, you've only to
+command."
+
+"Well, Carter, I thought this morning I'd like to go down to see the
+boathouse; and I thought, perhaps,--maybe, if you weren't busy, you
+might take me for a little row in the boat. Just a little row, you
+know--not very far."
+
+It would have taken a harder heart than Carter's to withstand the
+pleading tones and the expectant little face; and the gardener set down
+his flower-pots, and laid down his trowel at once.
+
+"Did your grandmother say you could go, Miss Midget?"
+
+"She said I could go if you went with me."
+
+"Then it's with ye I go, and we'll start at once."
+
+Marjorie danced along by the side of the old man as he walked more
+slowly down the garden path, when suddenly a new idea came into her
+head.
+
+"Oh, Carter," she cried, "have my seeds come up yet? And what are the
+flowers? Let's go and look at them."
+
+"Come up yet, is it? No, indeed, they've scarcely settled themselves
+down in the earth yet."
+
+"I wish they would come up, I want to see what they'll be. Let's go and
+look at the place where we planted them, Carter."
+
+So they turned aside to the flowerbed where the precious seeds had been
+planted, but not even Marjorie's sharp eyes could detect the tiniest
+green sprout. With an impatient little sigh she turned away, and as
+they continued down toward the boathouse, Marjorie heard somebody
+calling, and Molly Moss came flying up to her, all out of breath.
+
+"We were so afraid we wouldn't catch you," she exclaimed, "for your
+Grandma said you had gone out in the boat."
+
+"We haven't yet," answered Marjorie, "but we're just going. Oh, Carter,
+can we take Molly, too?"
+
+"And Stella," added Molly. "She's coming along behind."
+
+Sure enough, Stella was just appearing round the corner of the house,
+and walking as sedately as if on her way to church.
+
+"Hurry up, Stella," called Marjorie. "Can we all go, Carter?"
+
+"Yes, if yees'll set still in the boat and if the other little lady
+gets here before afternoon. She's the nice, quiet child, but you two
+are a pair of rascally babies, and I don't know whether it's safe to go
+on the water with ye. I'm thinkin' I'll take little Miss Stella, and
+leave ye two behind."
+
+"_I_ don't think you will, Carter," said Marjorie, not at all alarmed
+by the old man's threat. "_I_ think you'll take all three of us, and
+we'll sit as still as mice, won't we, Molly?"
+
+"Yes," said Molly; "can we take off our shoes and stockings and hang
+our feet over the sides of the boat?"
+
+"Oh, yes," cried Marjorie, "that will be lots of fun!"
+
+"Indeed you'll do nothing of the sort," and Carter's honest old face
+showed that he felt great anxiety concerning his madcap charges. "Ye
+must promise to sit still, and not move hand or foot, or I'll go back
+to my work and leave yees on shore."
+
+This awful suggestion brought about promises of strictly good behavior,
+and as Stella had arrived, the party proceeded to the boathouse.
+
+Stella was mildly pleased at the prospect of a row, and walked demurely
+by Carter's side, while the other two ran on ahead and reached the
+boathouse first.
+
+As the door was locked, and they could not open it, Marjorie, who was
+all impatience to see the boat, proposed that they climb in the window.
+Molly needed no second invitation, and easily slipped through the
+little square window, and Marjorie, with a trifle more difficulty,
+wriggled her own plump little body through after.
+
+As the window was not on the side of the boathouse toward which Carter
+was approaching, he did not see the performance, and so when he and
+Stella reach the boathouse a few moments later, they could see nothing
+at all of the other two girls.
+
+"Merciful powers!" he exclaimed. "Whatever has become of them two
+witches?"
+
+"Where can they be?" cried Stella, clasping her hands, and opening her
+eyes wide in alarm.
+
+Old Carter was genuinely frightened. "Miss Marjorie!" he called,
+loudly. "Miss Molly! Where be ye?"
+
+Meanwhile, the two girls inside the boathouse had carefully scrambled
+down into the boat and sat quietly on the stern seat. There was a
+strong breeze blowing, and as the boat swayed up and down on the
+rippling water, its keel grating against the post to which it was tied,
+and the doors and windows being tightly shut, they did not hear
+Carter's voice. They really had no intention of frightening the old
+man, and supposed he would open the door in a moment.
+
+But Carter's mind was so filled with the thought that the children had
+fallen into the water that it didn't occur to him to open the
+boathouse. He went to the edge of the pier, which was a narrow affair,
+consisting only of two wooden planks and a single hand rail, and gazed
+anxiously down into the water.
+
+This gave Stella a firm conviction that the girls were drowned, and
+without another word she began to cry in her own noisy and tumultuous
+fashion. Poor Carter, already at his wits' end, had small patience with
+any additional worry.
+
+"Keep still, Miss Stella," he commanded; "it's enough to have two
+children on me hands drowned without another one raising a hullabaloo.
+And it's a queer thing, too, if them wicked little rats is drownded,
+why they don't come up to the surface! My stars! Whatever will the
+Missus say? But, havin' disappeared so mortal quick, there's no place
+they can be but under the water. I'll get a boat-hook, and perhaps I
+can save 'em yet."
+
+Trembling with excitement and bewildered with anxiety, so that he
+scarcely knew what he did, the old man fitted the key in the lock. He
+flung open the boathouse door and faced the two children, who sat
+quietly and with smiling faces in the boat.
+
+"Well, if ye don't beat all! Good land, Miss Marjorie, whatever did ye
+give me such a scare for? Sure I thought ye was drownded, and I was
+jest goin' to fish ye up with a boat-hook! My, but you two are terrors!
+And how did ye get in now? Through the keyhole, I suppose."
+
+"Why, no, Carter," exclaimed Marjorie, who was really surprised at the
+old man's evident excitement; "we were in a hurry, and the door was
+locked, so we just stepped in through the window."
+
+"Stepped in through the window, is it? And if the window had been
+locked ye'd have jest stepped in through the chimley! And if the
+chimley had been locked, ye'd have stepped into the water, and ducked
+under, and come up through the floor! When ye're in a hurry, ye stop
+for nothin', Miss Midget."
+
+The old man's relief at finding the children safe was so great that he
+was really talking a string of nonsense to hide his feelings.
+
+But Stella, though she realized the girls were all right, could not
+control her own emotions so easily, and was still crying vociferously.
+
+"For goodness' sake!" exclaimed Molly, "what IS the matter with Stella?
+Doesn't she want to go boating?"
+
+"Why--yes," sobbed Stella, "b-but I thought you two were drowned."
+
+"Well, we're not!" cried Marjorie, gayly. "So cheer up, Stella, and
+come along."
+
+Leaving the two girls, as they were already seated, in the stern of the
+boat, Carter carefully tucked Stella into the bow seat, and then took
+his own place on the middle thwart. This arrangement enabled him to
+keep his eye on the two mischievous madcaps, and he had no fear that
+Stella would cut up any tricks behind his back.
+
+He could not reprove the mischief-makers, for they had done nothing
+really wrong, but he looked at them grimly as he rowed out into the
+stream.
+
+"Oh," exclaimed Marjorie, "isn't this just too lovely for anything!
+Please, Carter, mayn't we just put our hands in the water if we keep
+our feet in the boat?"
+
+"No," growled Carter; "you'll be wantin' to put your heads in next. Now
+do set still, like the nice young lady behind me."
+
+Anxious to be good, Marjorie gave a little sigh and folded her hands in
+her lap, while Molly did likewise.
+
+Carter's eyes twinkled as he looked at the two little martyrs, and his
+heart relented.
+
+"Ye may just dangle your fingers in the water, if ye want to," he said,
+"but ye must be careful not to wobble the boat."
+
+The children promised, and then gave themselves up to the delight of
+holding their hands in the water and feeling the soft ripples run
+through their fingers.
+
+The row down the river was perfect. The balmy June day, with its clear
+air and blue sky, the swift, steady motion of the boat impelled by
+Carter's long, strong strokes, and the soothing sensation of the
+rushing water subdued even the high spirits of Midge and Molly into a
+sort of gentle, tranquil happiness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+A MEMORY BOOK
+
+
+With a few deft strokes Carter brought the boat to land on a long,
+smooth, shelving beach. A crunch of the keel on the pebbles, and then
+the boat was half its length on shore. Stella, in the bow, grasped the
+sides of the boat tightly with both hands, as if the shore were more
+dangerous than the water. Carter stepped out, and drew the boat well up
+on land, and assisted the girls out.
+
+Stella stepped out gingerly, as if afraid of soiling her dainty boots;
+but Midge and Molly, with a hop, skip, and jump, bounded out on the
+beach and danced round in glee.
+
+"I do believe," cried Marjorie, "that this is Blossom Banks! For there
+are three banks, one after another, just covered with wild flowers. And
+as true as I live there's a scarlet tanager on that bush! Don't startle
+him, Stella."
+
+Molly laughed at the idea of Stella startling anything, and softly the
+girls crept nearer to the beautiful red bird, but in a moment he spread
+his black-tipped wings and flew away.
+
+"It is Blossom Banks, Miss Midge," said Carter, who now came up to the
+girls, and who was carrying a mysterious-looking basket. He had secured
+the boat, and seemed about to climb the banks.
+
+"What's in the basket, Carter?" cried Midge. "Is it a picnic? Is it a
+truly picnic?"
+
+"Well, just a wee bit of a picnic, Miss Midget. Your Grandma said that
+maybe some cookies and apples wouldn't go begging among yees. But ye
+must climb the banks first, so up ye go!"
+
+Gayly the girls scrambled up the bank, and though Stella was not as
+impetuous as the others, she was not far behind. At every step new
+beauties dawned, and Marjorie, who was a nature-lover, drew a long
+breath of delight as she reached the top of the Blossom Banks.
+
+They trotted on, sometimes following Carter's long strides and
+sometimes dancing ahead; now falling back to chatter with Stella and
+now racing each other to the next hillock.
+
+At last they reached the dearest little picnic place, with soft green
+grass for a carpet, and gnarled roots of great trees for rustic seats.
+
+"For a little picnic," said Midge, as she sat with an apple in one hand
+and a cookie in the other, contentedly munching them both alternately,
+"this is the bestest ever. And isn't this a splendiferous place for a
+big picnic!"
+
+"Perhaps your grandma will let you have one this summer," said Stella.
+"She had one for Kingdon last year and we all came to it. It was lovely
+fun."
+
+"Indeed it was," cried Molly; "there were swings on the trees, and we
+played tag, and we had bushels of sandwiches."
+
+"I'm going to ask Grandma as soon as ever I get home," declared Midge,
+"and I 'most know she'll let me have one. But I don't know many
+children around here to ask."
+
+"I'll make up a list for you," volunteered Molly. "Come on, girls,
+let's play tag."
+
+The cookies and apples being all gone and Carter having consented in
+response to their coaxing to stay half an hour longer, they had a
+glorious game of tag.
+
+Stella, though so sedate when walking, could run like a deer, and
+easily caught the others; for Marjorie was too plump to run fast, and
+Molly, though light on her feet, was forever tumbling down.
+
+At last, tired and warm from their racing, they sat down again in the
+little mossy dell and played jackstones until Carter declared they must
+go home.
+
+"All right," said Midge; "but, Carter, row us a little farther down
+stream, won't you, before you turn around?"
+
+"I will, Miss Midge, if ye'll sit still and not be everlastin' makin'
+me heart jump into me throat thinkin' ye'll turn the boat upside down."
+
+"All right," cried Midge, and she jumped into the boat with a spring
+and a bounce that made the other end tip up and splash the water all
+over her.
+
+"There ye go now," grumbled Carter; "my, but it's the rambunctious
+little piece ye are! Now, Miss Molly, for the land's sake, do step in
+with your feet and not with your head! You two'll be the death of me
+yet!"
+
+Carter's bark was worse than his bite, for, although he scolded, he
+helped the children in carefully and gently seated Stella in her place.
+Then he stepped in, and with a mighty shove of the oar pushed the boat
+off the beach, and they were afloat again.
+
+The exhilaration of the occasion had roused Midge and Molly to a high
+state of frolicsomeness, and it did seem impossible for them to keep
+still. They dabbled their hands in the water and surreptitiously
+splashed each other, causing much and tumultuous giggling. This was
+innocent fun in itself, but Carter well knew that a sudden
+unintentional bounce on the part of either might send the other one
+into the water. Regardless of their entreaties he turned around and
+headed the boat for home.
+
+"Ye're too many for me, Miss Midge," he exclaimed; "if I land you safe
+this trip ye can get somebody else to row ye the next time. I'm having
+nervous prostration with your tricks and your didoes. NOW, will ye be
+good?"
+
+This last exasperated question was caused by the fact that a sudden
+bounce of Molly's caused the boat to lurch and Carter's swift-moving
+oar sent a drenching wave all over Midge.
+
+"Pooh, water doesn't hurt!" cried the victim. "I like it. Do it again,
+Molly!"
+
+"Don't you do it, Miss Molly!" roared Carter, bending to his oars and
+pulling fast in an effort to get home before these unmanageable
+children had passed all bounds.
+
+"Girls," piped Stella, plaintively from her end of the boat, "if you
+don't stop carrying on, I shall cry."
+
+This threat had more effect than Carter's reprimands, and, though the
+two madcaps giggled softly, they did sit pretty still for the remainder
+of the trip.
+
+Once more on the dock, Marjorie shook herself like a big dog, and
+declared she wasn't very wet, after all. "And I'm very much obliged to
+you, Carter," she said, smiling at the old man; "you were awful good to
+take us for such a lovely boat-ride, and I'm sorry we carried on so,
+but truly, Carter, it was such a lovely boat that I just couldn't help
+it! And you do row splendid!"
+
+The compliment was sincere, and by no means made with the intention of
+softening Carter's heart, but it had that effect, and he beamed on
+Midget as he replied:
+
+"Ah, that's all right, me little lady. Ye just naturally can't help
+bouncin' about like a rubber ball. Ye have to work off yer animal
+spirits somehow, I s'pose. But if so be that ye could sit a bit
+quieter, I might be injuced to take ye agin some other day. But I'd
+rather yer grandma'd be along."
+
+"Oho!" laughed Marjorie. "It would be funny to have Grandma in a boat!
+She'd sit stiller than Stella, and I don't believe she'd like it,
+either."
+
+With Stella in the middle, the three girls intertwined their arms and
+skipped back to the house. Marjorie and Molly had found that the only
+way to make Stella keep up with them was to urge her along in that
+fashion.
+
+"Good-by," said Marjorie, as the three parted at the gate; "be sure to
+come over to-morrow morning; and, Stella, if you'll bring your
+paintbox, it will be lovely for you to paint those paper dolls."
+
+The three girls had become almost inseparable companions, and though
+Midge and Molly were more congenial spirits, Stella acted as a balance
+wheel to keep them from going too far. She really had a good influence
+over them, though exerted quite unconsciously; and Midge and Molly
+inspired Stella with a little more self-confidence and helped her to
+conquer her timidity.
+
+"Good-by," returned Stella, "and be sure to have a letter in the post
+office by four o'clock, when James goes for the milk."
+
+The post office in the old maple tree had become quite an institution,
+and the girls put letters there for each other nearly every day, and
+sent for them by any one who might happen to be going that way.
+
+Quiet little Stella was especially fond of getting letters and would
+have liked to receive them three times a day.
+
+The elder members of the three families often sent letters or gifts to
+the children, and it was not at all unusual to find picture postcards
+or little boxes of candy, which unmistakably came from the generous
+hand of Uncle Steve.
+
+One delightful afternoon Marjorie sat in her cosy little porch with a
+table full of delightful paraphernalia and a heart full of expectation.
+
+She was waiting for Uncle Steve, who was going to devote that afternoon
+to helping her arrange her Memory Book. Marjorie had collected a
+quantity of souvenirs for the purpose, and Uncle Steve had bought for
+her an enormous scrapbook. When she had exclaimed at its great size, he
+had advised her to wait until it had begun to fill up before she
+criticised it; and when she looked at her pile of treasures already
+accumulated, she wondered herself how they would all get in the book.
+
+At last Uncle Steve came, and sitting down opposite Marjorie at her
+little table, announced himself as ready to begin operations.
+
+"We'll plan it out a little first, Mopsy, and then fasten the things in
+afterward."
+
+Marjorie was quite content to sit and look on, at least until she found
+out how such things were done.
+
+"You see," said her uncle, "we'll take a page for each occasion--more
+or less. For instance, as this book is to represent just this summer it
+ought to begin with your trip up here. Have you anything that reminds
+you of that day?"
+
+"Yes," said Marjorie, looking over her heap of treasures, "here's a
+little kind of a badge that father bought for me at the station as we
+were going to the train."
+
+"Just the thing; now, you see, as this is on a pin itself we'll just
+stick it in this first page. Anything else?"
+
+"Well, here's a pretty picture I cut out of a magazine on the train
+coming up; oh, and here are two postcards that I bought of a boy who
+brought them through the train."
+
+"Fine! Now, you see, we'll paste all these on this page and anything
+more if you have it, and then every time you look at this page you can
+just seem to see that whole trip, can't you?"
+
+"Yes," said Marjorie, who was becoming absorbedly interested in this
+new game; "and here's the time-table, Uncle: but that isn't very pretty
+and it's so big. Oh, and here's the card, the bill of fare, you know,
+that we had in the dining-car. See, it has a picture on it."
+
+"Why, Midget, it isn't considered exactly good form to carry the MENU
+away with you; but it's really no crime, and since you have it, we'll
+put it in. As to the time-table, we'll just cut out this part that
+includes the stations at the beginning and end of your trip. See?"
+
+"Oh, yes, indeed I do! And what a beautiful page!" Marjorie
+breathlessly watched as Uncle Steve arranged the souvenirs harmoniously
+on the big page and pasted them neatly in their places. Then, taking
+from his pocket a box of colored pencils, he printed at the top of the
+page, in ornate letters, the date and the occasion. Uncle Steve was an
+adept at lettering, and the caption was an additional ornament to the
+already attractive page.
+
+Thus they went on through the book. Sometimes a page was devoted to a
+special occasion, and again many scattered mementoes were grouped
+together. It seemed as if every pleasure Marjorie had had since she
+came, had produced something attractive for her book.
+
+A fancy lace paper represented the big box of bonbons that her father
+had sent her when she had her sprained ankle. Many photographs there
+were, for Marjorie had learned to use her camera pretty well, and Uncle
+Steve sometimes took snap-shots of the children with his own larger
+camera. There were several little pictures that Stella had painted for
+her, an old tintype that Grandma had given her, a feather from the tail
+of Marjorie's pet rooster, and many such trifles, each of which brought
+up a host of memories of pleasant or comical situations.
+
+The sprained-ankle episode filled up several pages. For there were the
+letters that Marjorie had received from the animals, and other notes
+and pictures that had been sent to her, and many mementoes of those
+long days she had spent in bed. The beautiful book Uncle Steve had
+brought her at that time was suggested by its title, cut from the paper
+wrapper which had been on the book when it came. Indeed, it seemed that
+there was no end to the ingenious ways of remembering things that
+Marjorie wanted to remember. A tiny, bright bird feather would recall
+the walk she took with Grandma one afternoon; a pressed wild flower was
+an eloquent reminder of Blossom Banks; and a large strawberry hull,
+neatly pasted into place, Marjorie insisted upon to remind her of the
+day when she said "Boo" to Stella.
+
+Several pages were devoted to souvenirs from home, and Rosy Posy's
+illegible scrawls were side by side with neatly-written postcards from
+her parents.
+
+All of these things Uncle Steve arranged with the utmost care and
+taste, and Marjorie soon learned how to do it for herself. Some things,
+such as letters or thin cards, must be pasted in; heavier cards or
+postcards were best arranged by cutting slits for the corners and
+tucking them in; while more bulky objects, such as pebbles, a tiny
+china doll or a wee little Teddy Bear, must be very carefully tied to
+the page by narrow ribbons put through slits from the back.
+
+Marjorie was so impetuous and hasty in her work that it was difficult
+for her to learn to do it patiently and carefully. Her first efforts
+tore the pages and were far from being well done. But, as she saw the
+contrast between her own untidy work and Uncle Steve's neat and careful
+effects, she tried very hard to improve, and as the book went on her
+pages grew every day better and more careful.
+
+At the top of each page Uncle Steve would write the date or the place
+in dainty, graceful letters; and often he would write a name or a
+little joke under the separate souvenirs, until, as time went on, the
+book became one of Marjorie's most valued and valuable possessions.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE FRONT STAIRS
+
+
+Marjorie had been at Grandma Sherwood's about weeks, and as a general
+thing she had been a pretty good little girl. She had tried to obey her
+mother's orders, and though it was not easy to keep her troublesome
+curls always just as they ought to be and her ribbon always in place,
+yet she had accomplished this fairly well, and Grandma said that she
+really deserved credit for it.
+
+But to obey Grandma implicitly was harder still. Not that Marjorie ever
+meant to disobey or ever did it wilfully, but she was very apt to
+forget and, too, it seemed to be natural for her to get into mischief.
+And as it was always some new sort of mischief, which no one could have
+thought of forbidding, and as she was always so sorry for it afterward,
+there was more or less repentance and forgiveness going on all the time.
+
+But, on the whole, she was improving, and Uncle Steve sometimes said
+that he believed she would live to grow up without tumbling off of
+something and breaking her neck, after all.
+
+Grandma Sherwood found it far easier to forgive Marjorie's
+unintentional mischief than her forgetting of explicit commands.
+
+One command in particular had caused trouble all summer. There were two
+front doors to Grandma's house and two halls. One of these halls opened
+into the great drawing-room on one side and a smaller reception room on
+the other, where callers were received. The stairs in this hall were of
+polished wood and were kept in a state of immaculate, mirror-like
+shininess by Jane, who took great pride in this especial piece of work.
+
+The other front door opened into a hall less pretentious. This hall was
+between the drawingroom and the family library, and the stairs here
+were covered with thick, soft carpet.
+
+It was Grandma's wish that the members of the family should usually use
+the carpeted stairs, for she too took great pride in the glossy,
+shining surface of the others. Uncle Steve preferred the carpeted
+stairs, anyway, as they led to the upper hall which opened into his own
+room, and Grandma invariably used them.
+
+As a means of distinction, the wooden stairs were habitually called the
+Front Stairs; and, though they were equally front, the carpeted flight
+was always spoken of as the Other Stairs.
+
+From the first, Marjorie had been explicitly forbidden to go up and
+down the Front Stairs; and from the first Marjorie had found this rule
+most difficult to remember.
+
+Rushing from her play into the house, often with muddy or dusty shoes,
+she would fly into the hall, clatter up the Front Stairs, and, perhaps,
+down again and out, without a thought of her wrongdoing. This would
+leave footprints, and often scratches and heel-marks on the beautiful
+steps, which meant extra work for Jane; and even then the scratches
+were not always effaceable.
+
+Many a serious talk had Grandma and Marjorie had on the subject; many
+times had Marjorie faithfully promised to obey this particular command;
+and, alas! many times had the child thoughtlessly broken her promise.
+
+At last, Grandma said: "I know, my dear, you do not MEAN to forget, but
+you DO forget. Now this forgetting must stop. If you run up those Front
+Stairs again, Marjorie, I'm going to punish you."
+
+"Do, Grandma," said Marjorie, cheerfully; "perhaps that will make me
+stop it. For honest and true I just resolve I won't do it, and then
+before I know it I'm just like Jack and the Beanstalk, 'a-hitchet,
+a-hatchet, a-up I go!' and, though I don't mean to, there I am!"
+
+Grandma felt like smiling at Marjorie's naive confession, but she said
+very seriously: "That's the trouble, dearie, you DO forget and you must
+be made to remember. I hope it won't be necessary, but if it is, you'll
+have to be punished."
+
+"What will the punishment be, Grandma?" asked Marjorie, with great
+interest. She was hanging around Mrs. Sherwood's neck and patting her
+face as she talked. There was great affection between these two, and
+though Marjorie was surprised at the new firmness her grandmother was
+showing, she felt no resentment, but considerable curiosity.
+
+"Never mind; perhaps you'll never deserve punishment and then you will
+never know what it would have been. Indeed, I'm not sure myself, but if
+you don't keep off those Front Stairs we'll both of us find out in
+short order."
+
+Grandma was smiling, but Marjorie knew from her determined tone that
+she was very much in earnest.
+
+For several days after that Marjorie kept carefully away from the Front
+Stairs, except when she was wearing her dainty house slippers. It was
+an understood exception that, when dressed for dinner or on company
+occasions and her feet shod with light, thin-soled shoes, Marjorie
+might walk properly up or down the Front Stairs. The restriction only
+applied to her heavy-soled play shoes or muddied boots.
+
+So all went well, and the question of punishment being unnecessary, it
+was almost forgotten.
+
+One morning, Marjorie was getting ready to go rowing with Carter. Molly
+was to go too, and as the girls had learned to sit moderately still in
+the boat, the good-natured gardener frequently took them on short
+excursions.
+
+It was a perfect summer day, and Marjorie sang a gay little tune as she
+made herself ready for her outing. She tied up her dark curls with a
+pink ribbon, and as a hat was deemed unnecessary by her elders, she was
+glad not to be bothered with one. She wore a fresh, pink gingham dress
+and thick, heavy-soled shoes, lest the boat should be damp. She took
+with her a small trowel, for she was going to dig some ferns to bring
+home; and into her pocket she stuffed a little muslin bag, which she
+always carried, in case she found anything in the way of pebbles or
+shells to bring home for her Memory Book. She danced down the Other
+Stairs, kissed Grandma good-by, and picking up her basket for the
+ferns, ran merrily off.
+
+Molly was waiting for her, and together they trotted down the sandy
+path to the boathouse. It had rained the day before and the path was a
+bit muddy, but with heavy shoes the children did not need rubbers.
+
+"Isn't it warm?" said Molly. "I 'most wish I'd worn a hat, it's so
+sunny."
+
+"I hate a hat," said Marjorie, "but I'll tell you what, Molly, if we
+had my red parasol we could hold it over our heads."
+
+"Just the thing, Mopsy; do skip back and get it. I'll hold your basket,
+and Carter isn't here yet."
+
+Marjorie ran back as fast as she could, pattering along the muddy path
+and thinking only of the red parasol, bounded in at the front door and
+up the Front Stairs!
+
+Grandma was in the upper hall, and her heart sank as she saw the child,
+thoughtlessly unconscious of wrongdoing, clatter up the stairs, her
+heavy boots splashing mud and wet on every polished step.
+
+Her heart sank, not so much because of the mud on the steps as because
+of this new proof of Marjorie's thoughtlessness.
+
+"My dear little girl!" she said, as Marjorie reached the top step, and
+in a flash Marjorie realized what she had done.
+
+Crestfallen and horrified, she threw herself into her grandmother's
+arms.
+
+"I'm sorry, Midget dear, but I cannot break my word. You know what I
+told you."
+
+"Yes, Grandma, and _I_ am so sorry, but please, oh, Grandma
+dear,--can't you just postpone the punishment till to-morrow? 'Cause
+Molly and I are going to Blossom Banks to dig ferns, and it's such a
+BEAUTIFUL day for ferns."
+
+Grandma Sherwood hesitated. It almost broke her heart to deprive the
+child of her holiday, and yet it was for Marjorie's own good that an
+attempt must be made to cure her of her carelessness.
+
+"No, Marjorie; I cannot postpone the punishment until to-morrow. If you
+wanted to go rowing to-day, you should have waited to run up these
+stairs until to-morrow. You didn't postpone your naughtiness, so I
+cannot postpone its punishment."
+
+Marjorie looked dumfounded. She had not intended to be naughty, but
+also she had never supposed her gentle grandma could be so severe. She
+looked utterly disconsolate, and said in despairing tones: "But,
+Grandma, won't you let me go rowing this morning and give me the
+punishment this afternoon? I must go; Molly and Carter are down by the
+boathouse waiting for me! Please, Grandma!"
+
+So difficult was it for Mrs. Sherwood to resist the child's pleading
+tones that her own voice was more stern than she intended to make it,
+lest she reveal her true feeling.
+
+"No, Marjorie; you have been very naughty now, and so you must be
+punished now. Listen to me. I shall send Jane to tell Carter to go back
+to his work and to tell Molly to go home. I'm sorry to spoil your
+pleasure, but remember you have really spoiled it yourself."
+
+Marjorie did not cry, she was not that sort of a child. But she had a
+broken-down, wilted air, the very despondency of which almost made her
+grandmother relent. Had it been a more important occasion she might
+have done so, but the children could go on the river any day, and
+though it was a very real disappointment to Marjorie to stay at home,
+yet discipline required it.
+
+"Now, Marjorie," went on Mrs. Sherwood, after Jane had been despatched
+on her errand, "take off those muddy shoes and set them on the top step
+of the stairs."
+
+Rather wondering at this command, Marjorie sat down on the top step,
+unlaced her shoes, and did with them as she had been bidden.
+
+"Now, this is your punishment, my child; you came up these stairs when
+you had been told not to do so: now you may spend the rest of the day
+on the stairs. You are not to leave them until six o'clock to-night.
+With the muddy steps and your muddy shoes in front of your eyes all day
+long, you may, perhaps, learn to remember better in future."
+
+Marjorie could scarcely believe her ears. To stay on the stairs all day
+long seemed a funny punishment; and except for missing the row on the
+river, it did not seem a very hard one.
+
+"May I have a book, Grandma," she asked, still a little bewildered by
+the outlook.
+
+Grandma considered. "Yes," she said at last; "you may go to your room,
+put on your worsted bedroom slippers, and then you may bring back with
+you any books or toys you care for."
+
+"How many?" asked Marjorie, whose spirits were rising, for her
+punishment seemed to promise a novel experience.
+
+"As many as you can carry at once," replied Grandma, turning aside to
+hide a smile.
+
+In a few minutes Marjorie returned. She had turned up the short, full
+skirt of her pink gingham frock to form a sort of bag, and into it she
+had tumbled, helter-skelter, several books, some paper and pens, her
+paper-doll's house, her paintbox, her kitten, a few odd toys, her
+Memory Book, and her clock. Staggering under the bulging load, but in a
+more cheerful frame of mind, she reached the stairs again.
+
+"I brought my clock," she observed, "because I shall want to know as
+the hours so by; but I'll be careful not to scratch the stairs with it,
+Grandma."
+
+"Your carefulness comes too late, Marjorie. I shall have to send for a
+man from town to repolish the stairs, anyway, for the nails in the
+heels of your heavy boots have entirely ruined them."
+
+"Oh, Grandma, I am so sorry; and if you think a day won't be punishment
+enough, I'll stay for a week. Do I get anything to eat?" she added, as
+a sudden thought of their picnic luncheon occurred to her. "You might
+just send me the picnic basket."
+
+"Jane will bring you your dinner," said her grandmother, shortly, for
+she began to think the punishment she had devised was more like a new
+game.
+
+"Goody!" cried Marjorie. "I do love dinner on a tray. Send plenty of
+strawberries, please; and, Grandma, don't think that I'm not truly
+being punished, for I am. I shall think over my naughtiness a good
+deal, and when I look at those awful shoes, I don't see how I COULD
+have done such a wicked thing. But you know yourself, Grandma, that we
+ought to make the best of everything, and so I'll just get what fun I
+can out of my books and my strawberries."
+
+Mrs. Sherwood went away, uncertain whether she had succeeded in what
+she had intended to do or not. She knew Marjorie would not leave the
+stairs without permission, for the little girl was exceedingly
+conscientious.
+
+Left to herself, Marjorie began to take in the situation.
+
+She carefully unpacked her dressful of things, and arranged them on the
+steps. In this she became greatly interested. It was a novel way of
+living, to go always up and down and never sideways. She planned her
+home for the day with care and thought. She decided to reserve a narrow
+space next the banister to go up and down; and to arrange her
+belongings on the other side of the staircase. She put her clock on the
+top step that she might see it from any point of view; and on the other
+steps she laid neatly her books, her paint-box, her writing things, and
+her toys. She became absorbed in this occupation, and delightedly
+scrambled up and down, arranging and rearranging her shelved properties.
+
+"It's a good deal like my shelf in my own room," she thought, "except
+it's all in little pieces instead of straight ahead. But that doesn't
+really matter, and I'm not sure but I like it better this way. Now, I
+think I'll write a letter to Mother, first, and confess this awful
+thing I've done. I always feel better after I get my confessions off of
+my mind, and when Jane brings my dinner I expect she'll take it to be
+mailed."
+
+Marjorie scrambled up to a step near the top where her little writing
+tablet was. She arranged her paper and took up her pen, only to
+discover that in her haste she had forgotten to bring any ink.
+
+"But it doesn't matter," she thought, cheerfully, "for it would have
+upset in my dress probably, and, anyway, I can just as well use a
+pencil."
+
+But the pencil's point was broken, and, of course, it had not occurred
+to her to bring a knife. She had promised Grandma not to leave the
+stairs without permission, so there was nothing to do but to give up
+the idea of letter-writing, and occupy herself with something else.
+
+"And, anyway," she thought, "it must be nearly dinner time, for I've
+been here now for hours and hours."
+
+She glanced at the clock, and found to her amazement that it was just
+twenty minutes since her grandmother had left her alone.
+
+"The clock must have stopped!" she said, bending her ear to listen.
+
+But it hadn't, and Marjorie suddenly realized that a whole day,
+solitary and alone, is an interminable length of time.
+
+"Oh, dear," she sighed, putting her head down on her arms on the step
+above, "I do wish I had gone up the Other Stairs! This day is going to
+last forever! I just know it is! But if it ever DOES get over, I never
+want to see the Front Stairs again!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+A LONG DAY
+
+
+Marjorie had expected to derive much satisfaction, during her sojourn
+on the stairs, from playing with her kitten. But Puff ran away almost
+immediately, and no amount of calling or coaxing could bring her back.
+
+Sighing deeply, Marjorie tried to amuse herself reading the books she
+had brought. But the light was not very good on the stairs, and
+somehow, too, the books seemed to have lost their interest. Thinking
+over what she could do to make the time pass, she remembered her
+paint-box. She was fond of painting, and concluded she would try to
+paint a little sketch of the stairs to put in her Memory Book to
+represent this dreadful day.
+
+"Not that I need anything to make me remember it," she thought, "for
+I'm sure I can never, never, never forget it." But when she had her
+other materials all prepared she realized she had no glass of water,
+so, of course, her paints were useless.
+
+Even her paper-doll's house seemed to have lost its flavor. She had no
+new things to paste in, nor had she any paste.
+
+She began to learn what a lot of little things make up the comforts of
+life, and, utterly discouraged, she tried to think of something to
+while away the time.
+
+At last she concluded she would start at the top and go down, sitting
+on each step five minutes. "This," she calculated to herself, "will
+fill up a long time. There are seventeen steps, and seventeen times
+five is,--well, I don't know how much it is, exactly, but it must be
+several hours. Perhaps, when I get down to the bottom it will be
+afternoon!"
+
+With a reviving sense of interest in something, she sat on the top step
+and waited for five minutes to pass. Never had a period of time seemed
+so long. It was twice as long as a church service, and a dozen times as
+long as the ride in the cars when she came up to Grandma's. But at last
+the five minutes was up, and with a little jounce Marjorie slid down to
+the next step, and prepared to spend another five. This was longer yet,
+and at the third-step Marjorie gave up this plan, as being the most
+dreadful thing she had ever tried.
+
+She began to feel like crying, but was determined not to do anything so
+foolish.
+
+Slowly and wearily the morning dragged away, and at last, when Marjorie
+had begun to feel that lassitude which comes from utter weariness, Jane
+appeared with a tray of luncheon.
+
+Marjorie brightened up at once. "Oh, Jane," she cried, "I'm SO glad to
+see you! I AM so lonesome!"
+
+"Pore lamb!" said Jane, sympathetically; "I'm thinkin' ye're purty nigh
+dead, be now. But here's the foine lunch for ye. See, darlint, here's
+chicken and strawberries and jelly and all the things ye like best!
+Cheer up, now, and ate yer food."
+
+"Indeed, I will! Oh, Jane, what lovely things! Fresh little cakes, with
+pink icing; and gooseberry jam! But don't go away, Jane."
+
+"I must, Miss Midget. Yer grandma towld me not to shtay wid yez."
+
+"But I'm so lonesome," said Marjorie, who had just seemed to realize
+what the main trouble was.
+
+But Jane dared not disobey orders, and setting the tray on the stairs,
+she went away, with fond backward glances at the forlorn little figure
+sitting there.
+
+However, the lonesomest human heart is bound to cheer up a little under
+the influence of a specially fine feast, and as Marjorie ate her
+luncheon and drank a big glass of milk, the detested stairs began to
+assume a rather more attractive air.
+
+And so, when Jane came to take the tray away she found on it only empty
+dishes, while Marjorie, who was cuddled up in a corner, reading, looked
+at her with a smile.
+
+"The day is half gone!" she announced, triumphantly. "And, Jane, won't
+you ask Grandma if you may bring me a glass of water so I can paint.
+But tell her I don't want it unless she's perfectly willing."
+
+Grandma smiled a little at the stipulation, but sent Marjorie the glass
+of water, and the child filled up half an hour or more painting
+pictures. But the cramped position was very uncomfortable, and Marjorie
+grew restless and longed for exercise. Suddenly an inspiration seized
+her, and she concluded it would be great fun to slide down the
+banister. For a few times this was amusing, but it stung her hands, and
+finally she fell off and bumped her head rather soundly.
+
+"It's lucky I fell on the stair side," she said to herself, rubbing the
+lump on her forehead, "for I promised Grandma not to leave the stairs,
+and if I had fallen off on the other side I should have broken my
+promise!"
+
+The afternoon hours seemed to move rather more slowly than the morning.
+Occasionally, Marjorie's naturally cheerful disposition would assert
+itself and she would bravely endeavor to occupy herself pleasantly in
+some way. But there was so little light, and stairs are uncomfortable
+at best to sit on, and the silence and loneliness were so oppressive,
+that her efforts successively failed.
+
+And, though Marjorie did not realize it, her spirits were depressed
+because of the mere fact that she was undergoing punishment. Had she
+been there of her own free choice she could have played happily on the
+stairs all day long; or had the opportunity been bestowed upon her, as
+a great and special treat, the hours would have flown by.
+
+At last, exhausted, Nature conquered all else, and, seated on one step,
+Marjorie folded her arms on the step above, laid her head down upon
+them, and went to sleep.
+
+And it was thus that Uncle Steve found her when he came home at four
+o'clock.
+
+"Hello, Queen of Mischief!" he cried, gayly. "Wake up here and tell me
+all about it!"
+
+"Oh, Uncle Steve!" cried Marjorie, waking, flushed from her nap, and
+delighted at having some one to speak to; "do you know why I'm here?
+Did Grandma tell you?"
+
+"Yes, she told me; and she told me something else, too. She says that
+if you are properly sorry for what you did,--really, AWFULLY sorry, you
+know,--that you may be excused for the rest of the day and may go out
+driving with me."
+
+"Well, I just rather guess I AM sorry! I'm two sorries. One, because I
+disobeyed Grandma and tracked up her Front Stairs; and another, because
+I've had this terrible, dreadful punishment."
+
+Uncle Steve looked at his niece a little gravely. "Which are you more
+sorry for, Marjorie," he asked: "because you did wrong or because you
+were punished?"
+
+Marjorie considered. "About equal, I think. No, I'm more sorry I did
+wrong, because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have had the punishment; and,
+besides, it hurt Grandma's feelings."
+
+"Which did?"
+
+"Why, my running up the stairs! Of course, the punishment didn't hurt
+her," and Marjorie laughed merrily at the idea.
+
+"I think it hurt her more than it did you," said Uncle Steve, but
+Marjorie only stared, open-eyed, at this nonsense.
+
+"Well, anyway, it's all over now; so bundle your belongings back where
+they belong and get yourself ready for a drive."
+
+Marjorie flew to obey, but meeting Grandma in the hall, she dropped her
+dressful of books and toys, and flung herself into Mrs. Sherwood's
+waiting arms.
+
+"Oh, Grandma!" she cried. "I AM so sorry I slam-banged upstairs, and
+I'll never do it again, and I had a perfectly awful, DREADFUL time, but
+of course you had to punish me for your own good,--I mean for my own
+good,--but now it's all over, and you love me just the same, don't you?"
+
+The ardent embrace in progress left no doubt of the affection still
+existing between the pair, and if Marjorie's hugs were of the lovingly
+boisterous variety, Grandma Sherwood appeared quite willing to submit
+to them.
+
+"I don't know," she thought to herself, after Marjorie had gone for her
+drive, "whether that child is impervious to discipline or whether she
+is unusually capable of receiving and assimilating it."
+
+But at any rate, Marjorie never went up or down the front stairs again,
+except on the occasions when it was distinctly permissible.
+
+The drive with Uncle Steve was a succession of delights. This was
+partly because it was such a sudden and pleasant change from the
+abominable staircase and partly because Uncle Steve was such an amiable
+and entertaining companion.
+
+The two were alone in an old-fashioned, low basket-phaeton; and Uncle
+Steve was willing to stop whenever Marjorie wished, to note an
+especially beautiful bird on a neighboring branch or an extra-fine
+blossom of some wild flower.
+
+Also, Uncle Steve seemed to know the names of all the trees and flowers
+and birds they chanced to see. Greatly interested in these things,
+Marjorie learned much nature-lore, and the lessons were but play. Tying
+the horse to a fence, the two cronies wandered into the wood and found,
+after much careful search, some Indian Pipes of an exquisite
+perfection. These fragile, curious things were Marjorie's great
+delight, and she carried them carefully home for her Memory Book.
+
+"They won't be very satisfactory as mementoes," warned Uncle Steve,
+"for they will turn brown and lose their fair, white beauty."
+
+Marjorie looked regretful, but an inspiration came to her.
+
+"I'll tell you what, Uncle Steve, I'll get Stella to draw them in my
+book and paint them. She's so clever at copying flowers, and I'm sure
+she can do it."
+
+"Let her try it, then, and if she doesn't succeed I'll photograph them
+for you, so you'll have at least a hint of the lovely things."
+
+Hand in hand they walked through the wood, spying new beauties here and
+there. Sometimes they sat on a fallen log to rest a bit or to discuss
+some new marvel in Nature's kingdom.
+
+At last, as the sun was sinking low in the west, they left the wood,
+untied old Betsy, who was patiently waiting for them, and jogged along
+homeward.
+
+"Punishment is a strange thing," said Marjorie to Grandma, as they were
+having their little "twilight talk" that evening, before the child went
+to bed.
+
+"Why?" asked Grandma.
+
+"Because it makes you remember," said Marjorie, slowly; "I don't see
+why I couldn't remember to keep off the Front Stairs, just because you
+told me to, but somehow I couldn't. Now, after to-day, I'm sure I shall
+never forget again."
+
+"That's the difference, my child, between youth and age. You are young
+and careless of other people's wishes. I want you to learn to consider
+others before yourself, and to remember to do so without a dreadful
+punishment to fix it in your memory."
+
+"It's lucky, isn't it, that I don't get punished for all the naughty
+things I do? It would keep me busy being punished most of the time."
+
+"You ARE a mischievous child, Marjorie; but your mischief is always the
+result of carelessness or forgetfulness. I have never known you
+purposely to disobey me or deliberately to cut up some naughty trick."
+
+"No, I don't, Grandma; often I'm being just as good as an angel and as
+quiet as a mouse, when suddenly something pops into my head that would
+be fun to do; and I fly and do it, before I think, and just about every
+time it's something wrong!"
+
+"Then suppose you try to act more slowly. When you think of some piece
+of fun, pause a moment, to make sure that it isn't mischief. There's
+quite enough innocent fun in the world to keep you busy all day, and
+every day."
+
+"I 'spect there is; and truly, Grandma, after this, when I want to cut
+up jinks, I'll wait until I can think it out, whether they're good
+jinks or bad jinks! Will that do?"
+
+"That will do admirably," said Grandma, smiling as she kissed the
+little girl; "if you go through life on that principle and if you have
+judgment enough--and I think you have--to tell 'good jinks' from 'bad
+jinks,' you will probably have plenty of good times without any
+necessity for punishment."
+
+"Then that's all right," said Marjorie, and feeling that her life
+problems were all settled, she dropped off to sleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE DUNNS
+
+
+"Marjorie," said Mrs. Sherwood, one morning, "do you know where Mrs.
+Dunn lives?"
+
+"Yes, Grandma; down the river-road, toward the blacksmith's."
+
+"Yes, that's right; and I wish you would go down there for me and carry
+a small basket. There isn't any one else I can send this morning and I
+have just heard that she is quite ill."
+
+"They're awfully poor people, aren't they? Are you sending them
+something nice?"
+
+"Yes; some food. Mrs. Dunn scalded her hands severely last night, and I
+fear she will not be able to work for several days. So if you will
+carry them these things for their dinner, I will try to get down there
+myself this afternoon."
+
+"Of course I will, Grandma; I'm glad to help the poor people. May I ask
+Molly to go with me?"
+
+"Why, yes; I don't care. If there are two of you, you can carry more
+things. Run over after her, and I'll have the baskets ready by the time
+you get back."
+
+With a hop and a skip, Marjorie took the shortcut across the fields to
+Molly's house. It was a beautiful summer morning, and Marjorie didn't
+stop more than half a dozen times, to watch the crows or the bees or
+the clouds or a hop-toad.
+
+She captured Molly, and after waiting for that dishevelled young person
+to scramble into a clean frock, the two girls hopped and skipped back
+again.
+
+Marjorie was somewhat inexperienced in the practical matters of
+charity, and looked with surprise at the large quantity of substantial
+viands.
+
+"There is a large family of the Dunns," observed Grandma, "and they're
+all blessed with healthy appetites. These things won't go to waste."
+
+"Are there children?" asked Marjorie.
+
+"Yes, indeed, four of them. You must see how Mrs. Dunn is and find out
+if she's badly hurt. Ask her what she wants especially, and tell her I
+am coming this afternoon, and I'll carry it to her."
+
+The girls trotted away with the well-filled baskets, and Grandma
+Sherwood looked after them a little uncertainly, as she saw how
+preoccupied they were in their own conversation, and remembered how
+careless Marjorie was, and how prone to mischief.
+
+"Thim scalawags'll be afther havin' a picnic wid thim baskets,"
+prophesied Eliza, as she too watched the children's departure.
+
+Grandma Sherwood laughed. "I hardly think they'll do that," she said;
+"but they're liable to set down the baskets, and go hunting for wild
+flowers or something, and never think of their errand again."
+
+But, on the contrary, the children were quite interested in their
+mission.
+
+"Your grandma is an awful good woman," observed Molly.
+
+"Yes, she is," agreed Marjorie; "it's lovely of her to send all these
+good things to poor people. It must be awful to be so poor that you
+don't have enough to eat!"
+
+"Yes, but it must be lovely when the baskets come in."
+
+"But they don't always come in," said Marjorie.
+
+"They must," declared Molly, with an air of conviction; "if they
+didn't, the poor people would have nothing to eat, and then they would
+die; and you know yourself, we never hear of anybody dying of
+starvation around here."
+
+"No; not around here, maybe. But in China they drop off by millions,
+just from starvation."
+
+"Well, they wouldn't if your grandmother was there. She'd send baskets
+to every one of them."
+
+"I believe she would," said Marjorie, laughing; "she'd manage it
+somehow."
+
+By this time they had reached the Dunns' domain. At least they had come
+to a broken-down gate in a tumble-down fence, which Marjorie knew was
+the portal of their destination. In their endeavors to open the rickety
+gate the girls pushed it over, and nearly fell over, themselves.
+
+But carefully holding their baskets they climbed over the pile of
+fallen pickets and followed the grass-grown path to the house.
+
+And a forlorn enough house it was. Everything about it betokened not
+only poverty but shiftlessness. Marjorie was not experienced enough to
+know how often the former is the result of the latter, and her heart
+was full of pity for people who must live in such comfortless
+surroundings. The little old cottage was unpainted, and the front porch
+was in such a dilapidated condition that one step was entirely missing
+and several floor-boards were gone.
+
+"It's like walking a tight-rope," said Marjorie, as she picked her way
+carefully along what she hoped was a sound plank. "But it's rather
+exciting. I wonder if we can get in."
+
+There was no bell, and she tapped loudly on the door.
+
+Almost instantly it was opened by a child whose appearance almost made
+Marjorie scream out with laughter.
+
+A little girl of about ten, dressed in a bright pink skirt and a bright
+blue waist, stood before them. This startling color combination was
+enhanced by a red sash, which, though faded in streaks, was wide and
+tied at the back in a voluminous bow. The girl's naturally straight
+hair had apparently been urged by artificial means to curl in ringlets,
+but only a part of it had succumbed to the hot iron. The rest fairly
+bristled in its stiff straightness, and the whole mop was tied up with
+a large bow of red ribbon.
+
+This rainbow-hued specimen of humanity opened the door with a flourish
+and bowed to the visitors with an air of extreme elegance.
+
+Marjorie looked at her in astonishment. The gorgeous trappings and the
+formal demeanor of the child made her think she must have mistaken the
+house.
+
+"Is this Mrs. Dunn's house?" she inquired, with some hesitation.
+
+"Yes; I'm Miss Dunn," said the child, with such a ridiculous air of
+affectation that Molly giggled outright.
+
+"Yes," Miss Dunn went on, "I am the eldest daughter. My name is Ella.
+They call me the Elegant Ella, but I don't mind."
+
+"I am Marjorie Maynard and Mrs. Sherwood is my grandmother. She heard
+your mother was ill and she sent her these baskets."
+
+"How kind of her!" exclaimed the Elegant Ella, clasping her hands and
+rolling up her eyes. "Won't you come in?"
+
+As Marjorie and Molly had been with difficulty balancing themselves on
+the broken boards of the porch, they were glad to accept the invitation.
+
+Their first glance at the interior of the cottage showed that the rest
+of the family and the ways of the house did not at all harmonize with
+the manner and appearance of the eldest daughter.
+
+Everything was of the poorest, and there was no attempt at order or
+thrift.
+
+Mrs. Dunn sat in a rockerless rocking-chair, her left hand wrapped in
+bandages and her right hand holding a book which she was reading.
+
+As the girls entered she threw the book on the floor and smiled at them
+pleasantly.
+
+"Walk right in," she said, "and take seats if you can find any. Hoopsy
+Topsy, get off that chair this minute and give it to the ladies! Dibbs,
+you lift Plumpy out of the other one, quick! There! Now you girls set
+down and rest yourselves! Did you bring them baskets for us? Lawsee!
+What a good woman Mis' Sherwood is, to be sure! Now ain't that just
+like her! She's so kind and gen'rous-hearted that she makes it a
+pleasure fer folks to get all scalted with hot water! Ella, you fly
+round and empty them baskets so's the young ladies can take them home
+again. But you set a while, girls, and visit."
+
+"Are you much hurt, Mrs. Dunn?" asked Marjorie. "And how did it happen?"
+
+"Hurt! Land sakes, I guess I am! Why, the hull kittle of boilin' water
+just doused itself on my hand and foot!"
+
+"That's why Ma didn't rise to greet you," explained the Elegant Ella,
+and again Molly had hard work to keep her face straight as she noted
+the girl's comical efforts at etiquette.
+
+"Aw, you keep still, Ella," said her mother; "you ain't got no call to
+talk to the young ladies."
+
+But although Mrs. Dunn apparently tried to subdue her elegant daughter,
+yet it was plain to be seen that she greatly admired the flower of the
+family, and spoke thus merely from a pretended modesty.
+
+"Ella's so fond of dress," said Mrs. Dunn, "that she jest don't hev
+time to bother with housekeepin'. So Hoopsy Topsy does it, and that's
+why we ain't so slick as we might be. But fer a child of eight, I must
+say Hoopsy Topsy does wonderful well."
+
+Mrs. Dunn's pride in her offspring was unmistakable, and Hoopsy Topsy,
+who quite understood she was being complimented, smiled and looked
+happily self-conscious.
+
+The novelty of the scene quite fascinated Marjorie. She had expected
+that abject poverty would leave its victims a despondent, down-hearted
+set of people; and instead of that she found them not only pleasant and
+amiable, but seemingly happy and care-free.
+
+"My grandmother said, Mrs. Dunn," said Marjorie, "that if you would
+tell me of anything you specially want she would come this afternoon
+and bring it to you."
+
+"My! ain't she good!" said Mrs. Dunn. "Well, if she don't mind, I'd
+like some old linen to wrap around the burns. You see, I am scalted
+pretty bad and it'll be a while 'fore I kin get to work again. But, of
+course, the children are right handy, an' ef we jest have a stove an' a
+bed we can scratch along somehow. Ella, she's more hifalutin. She'd
+like red plush sofys and lace curtings. But I say, 'Land, child! What's
+the use of worrying? If you can't have them things, you can't!' So,
+Ella, she makes the best of what she has, and I must say she doos have
+wonderful fine taste."
+
+Marjorie looked at the Elegant Ella, and, though she didn't agree with
+Mrs. Dunn as to Ella's taste, she felt sorry for the poor child, who
+wanted the refinements of life, yet was doomed to live without them.
+
+"It is of no consequence," said Ella, tossing her head; "we are very
+comfortable; and though I should like a piano, I am in no haste to
+procure one."
+
+"Lucky you ain't," observed her mother, "as I don't see none runnin'
+this way. What's the matter, Dibbsy dear?"
+
+Dibbs, who was a baby of four years, was sitting on the floor digging
+both his fists into his eyes. And though not audibly crying, he
+evidently was not entirely happy.
+
+"Wants to know what's in de bastick!" he announced without hesitation.
+
+"So you shall," declared his fond mother. "Hoopsy Topsy, lift Dibbs up
+so he can see what the young ladies brought."
+
+Nothing loath, Hoopsy Topsy lifted up her brother, who at once forgot
+his grief, and, smiling broadly, began to investigate the baskets.
+
+"Land sake, Ella," said Mrs. Dunn, "I told you to empty them baskets
+long ago. Whatever have you been a-doin' all this time?"
+
+"I was retying my sash, Ma," exclaimed Ella, reappearing from the next
+room; "I think it has more of an air tied on the side."
+
+"Ain't she the airy piece!" exclaimed the proud mother, looking at her
+daughter with undisguised admiration.
+
+But it seemed to Molly and Marjorie that, if anything could be funnier
+than the Ella who first met them, it was the Ella of the retied sash!
+
+Having arranged her finery to her satisfaction, Ella proceeded with her
+work of taking the things from the baskets, and, as she lifted out a
+large piece of cold beef, a delicious pie, some tea and sugar, and
+various parcels of bread and butter, and a jar of apple-sauce, the
+little Dunns all gathered round, quite unable to refrain from noisy
+expressions of glee and delight.
+
+"Jiminy Christmas!" cried Hoopsy Topsy, quite upsetting Dibbs as she
+made a rush for the pie. And then Plumpy, the baby, wiggled his fat
+little self across the floor and joined the crowd about the pie, and
+aided by the Elegant Ella, in a few moments there wasn't any pie at all.
+
+"Just look at them," said Mrs. Dunn, placidly; "you'd think they didn't
+have no manners! But they're that fond of pie, you wouldn't believe!
+They don't never get none, you know, and so it's a novelty."
+
+"We'd like it if we had it every day," announced Hoopsy Topsy, with her
+mouth full.
+
+"Pie ev'y day!" agreed Dibbs, as he contentedly munched his piece. The
+whole scene made a great impression on the two visitors, but they were
+affected quite differently. Marjorie felt a strong inclination to get
+away as soon as she could, for, though she felt very sorry for the poor
+people and was glad to give them things, yet the situation was not at
+all attractive, and having done her errand, she was quite ready to go.
+
+Not so Molly. That active and energetic young person was dismayed at
+the untidiness and discomfort all about, and felt a strong desire at
+least to alleviate it.
+
+"Mrs. Dunn," she said, "of course with your injured hand and foot you
+can't sweep. Mayn't I just take a broom and brush up a little? You'd be
+so much more comfortable."
+
+"Land sakes, child, 'taint fer you to be sweepin' our house! Ella here,
+she can sweep; and Hoopsy Topsy's a good fist at it."
+
+"I shall tidy up the room to-morrow," said Ella, with an air of haughty
+apology, "but to-day I have a hat to trim and I can't be bothered with
+household matters."
+
+"Ella's just great on trimmin' hats," observed her mother, "and Mis'
+Green, she giv' her her last year's straw; and Ella, she'll trim it up
+so Mis' Green herself couldn't recognize it!"
+
+Marjorie didn't doubt this in the least, and as Molly's suggestion had
+put an idea into her own head, she began to look upon an acquaintance
+with the Dunns as a new sort of entertainment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE BAZAAR
+
+
+"Mrs. Dunn," Marjorie said, "please let Molly and me fix up this room a
+little bit. Now, I'll tell you what: you and the children take these
+baskets of things out into the kitchen and put them away, or eat them,
+or do what you please. And then you all stay out there until we tell
+you you may come back. Ella can trim her hat if she chooses, and Hoopsy
+Topsy can take care of the children, and you can go on with your
+reading which we interrupted."
+
+"Now, ain't you kind," said Mrs. Dunn; "I do declare that would be jest
+lovely! I ain't had a good rest like that in I don't know when! Hoopsy
+Topsy, you and Ella'll have to shove me out in this here chair. I can
+hobble some, but I can't walk."
+
+With the children's assistance, Mrs. Dunn was transferred to the other
+room, her children followed, and Midge and Molly were left to their own
+devices.
+
+"It's hopeless," said Marjorie, as she looked around at the untidy room.
+
+"Not a bit of it!" declared Molly; "if I only had a decent broom
+instead of this old stub! Now, I'll sweep, Mopsy, and you find
+something that'll do for a duster, and we'll straighten up the place in
+less than no time."
+
+Molly was a brave little housekeeper, and though Marjorie knew less
+about it, she was an apt pupil, and the whole performance seemed great
+fun. In less than an hour the two girls had quite transformed the room.
+Everything was clean and tidy, and Marjorie had scampered out and
+picked a bunch of daisies and clover to decorate the mantel.
+
+"They haven't any pretty things," she said, as she scowled at the
+effect of her bouquet in an old cracked jar. "I'll tell you what,
+Molly, let's come back to-morrow and bring some little traps to
+decorate with. I can spare a number of things out of my own room; and
+Grandma will give me some, I know; and Uncle Steve will give me some,
+too."
+
+"Yes, I can bring a lot," said Molly, with enthusiasm; "let's make this
+family all over. Let's make them be neat and tidy and thrifty."
+
+"Do you suppose we can?" said Marjorie, doubtfully.
+
+"Well, we can try," said Molly. "Now let's call them in, and then let's
+go home. It must be dinner-time, and I'm nearly starved."
+
+They opened the door and found the Dunn family apparently happy and
+contented; and in no wise disturbed by the unusual occupation of their
+visitors.
+
+"Come in," cried Marjorie, "come in all of you, and see how nice your
+room looks!"
+
+"I can't come just now," said Elegant Ella, whose speech was rather
+indistinct by reason of several pins held in her mouth. "I'm trimming
+my hat, and if I leave it now I'll forget how I was going to arrange
+the feather."
+
+"I think I won't move just at present," said Mrs. Dunn. "The gettin'
+out here hurt me more'n I thought it was goin' to, and now I'm landed,
+I guess I'll set a spell. I'm ever so much obliged to you fer all your
+kindness, and now you'd better run along home or your grandma'll be
+worried. You're mighty good children, and I'm glad to have that room
+swep' up; it must be a weight off en Ella's mind."
+
+It did not seem probable that Ella ever had a weight on her mind in the
+way of housekeeping cares, but at the moment she was so absorbed in her
+hat-trimming that she paid no attention to her mother's remark.
+
+It seemed hard that Molly and Midge had no one to appreciate the
+results of their labors, but Hoopsy Topsy was washing the dishes after
+the family meal, Plumpy was asleep on the floor, and Dibbs was playing
+out in the door-yard, with some battered old toys.
+
+So, taking their baskets, Molly and Midge started homeward.
+
+"I thought it would be fun to take things to poor people," said
+Marjorie, with an air of disappointment; "but those people are too
+aggravating for anything. They just accept what you bring and hardly
+thank you for it, and then they seem to want you to go home as fast as
+you can."
+
+"That's so," agreed Molly; "but I don't care whether they like it or
+not. I think we ought to try to do them good. I don't mean only to take
+them things to eat, but try to make them more--more--"
+
+"Respectable," suggested Marjorie. "But I suppose that Ella thinks
+she's more respectable than we are this minute."
+
+"I s'pose she does; but we oughtn't to be discouraged by such things. I
+think mother'll give me some of my last year's dresses to give her, and
+then she won't have to wear that funny-looking rig she had on."
+
+"She likes that," said Marjorie. "I don't believe she'd wear your
+dresses if you took them to her."
+
+By this time the girls had reached the Sherwood house, and Grandma
+invited Molly to stay to dinner, which invitation the little girl
+gladly accepted.
+
+At the dinner-table they told Grandma the whole story of the morning.
+
+Mrs. Sherwood was greatly amused at their description of the Dunn
+family, and greatly surprised to learn of their efforts in the
+house-cleaning line.
+
+"I want you to be charitable," she said, "and generously inclined
+toward the poor and needy. But I don't want you to adopt such unusual
+methods of dispensing your charity. After this, when you feel inclined
+to such energetic measures, come home first and ask permission. Then,
+if the plan seems to me feasible, you can carry it out."
+
+"But, Grandma," said Marjorie, "the Dunns really need help. They can't
+seem to do anything and they haven't anything to do with."
+
+"But you're too young, my child, to know what they do need. You must be
+content to help them under the direction of some one older than
+yourself. Mrs. Dunn, I fear, is not a thrifty or hard-working woman.
+She has not been here long, and I know little about her; but I've been
+told that she quite spoils that oldest child and makes the second one
+do all the work."
+
+"The second one is named Hoopsy Topsy," said Marjorie, laughing; "and
+she's like her name. She's always tumbling down and racing about, with
+her dress torn and her hair in her eyes, like a perfect witch. The
+Elegant Ella is quite different. Truly, Grandma, they're a funny lot,
+and if you go there this afternoon, mayn't we go with you?"
+
+"No," said Mrs. Sherwood, "I shall go by myself, to-day, and
+investigate the case. Perhaps some other time I may take you children."
+
+The girls were disappointed, but when they found they couldn't go, they
+went out to Marjorie's porch to talk it all over.
+
+"I think," said Marjorie, "it's our duty to do something for those
+children. Just think, Molly, we have everything we want, and they have
+nothing."
+
+"I'll tell you what, Mopsy: let's sew and make things for them;
+dresses, you know, and aprons."
+
+"I can't sew fit to be seen, Molly; and 'twould take me all summer to
+get one apron made. I'd rather give them things that we have. Why, I'd
+rather give Ella my best parasol than to try to sew anything for her!"
+
+"Oh, don't give her that lovely parasol! We'll think of something else.
+Suppose we invite them all to dinner; you one day, and I another."
+
+"I don't believe Grandma would like that. And, anyway, that would only
+give them dinner for two days; we couldn't keep it up, you know. But,
+Molly, I'll tell you what! Let's have a fair, or a bazaar or
+something,--and make some money for them that way."
+
+"Just the thing! That would be lovely. Where shall we have it?"
+
+"Right here in this porch. Uncle Steve'll help, I know. And I'm sure
+Grandma won't mind our doing that."
+
+When Marjorie laid the plan before Mrs. Sherwood that lady quite
+approved of it.
+
+"Now, that's something sensible," she said; "it will be very nice for
+you girls to make things, and have a pretty little fair, but don't go
+down there again and sweep rooms for those people. I'm very sorry for
+poor Mrs. Dunn, but in this neighborhood there are not many poor
+people, and as the farmers are all kind-hearted I do not think she will
+suffer for lack of food while her injuries keep her from her work."
+
+"Isn't there any Mr. Dunn?" asked Marjorie.
+
+"No; he died a few months ago. That is why she had to come here and
+live in that forlorn little cottage. She hopes to support herself and
+her children by going out to work each day, but until her burns get
+well of course she can't do that."
+
+"I'm sorry for her," said Marjorie, decidedly, "and I hope we'll make a
+lot at our fair to help her along."
+
+When they told Stella about the plan for the fair, she thought it all
+great fun. She did not seem to care much about the Dunns or their
+needs, and positively refused to visit the little old cottage, but she
+was ready to work for the fair with all her might.
+
+There seemed to be no end to the pretty things Stella knew how to make.
+She was a clever little artist, and she painted cards, pictures, and
+trinkets of all sorts, which Molly and Midge helped to make up into
+various salable fancy articles.
+
+Midge was ingenious, too, and every afternoon the three worked busily,
+making all sorts of things.
+
+Dolls were a specialty; and they made funny Chinese-looking affairs by
+stringing peanuts together, and making queer little costumes out of
+Japanese paper-napkins. They made paper dolls, too, which Stella
+painted prettily, and they dressed some little china dolls and wooden
+Dutch dolls.
+
+Uncle Steve brought them materials to make up; and a letter which
+Marjorie wrote to her mother resulted in the arrival of a big box
+filled with all sorts of pretty and curious things, which would
+doubtless find a ready sale.
+
+Marjorie crocheted mats and strung bead chains, while Molly, whose
+tastes were practical, made sweeping-caps and ironing-holders by the
+dozen.
+
+So enthusiastic did the girls grow over their plan that their elders
+became interested, and soon donations for the fair began to arrive from
+many of the neighbors.
+
+As the day drew near, preparations went on more rapidly, and the affair
+took on larger proportions.
+
+It was arranged that all the toys, dolls, and fancy things for sale
+should be displayed in Marjorie's porch. Carter had put up some long
+tables, which Grandma Sherwood had draped prettily with white and light
+green cheese-cloth.
+
+The other parts of the big veranda were arranged with tables, where
+ices and cakes were to be served; and a pretty booth was devoted to the
+sale of home-made candies.
+
+The verandas and grounds were made gay with flags and Chinese lanterns.
+Uncle Steve superintended these decorations, which insured their being
+beautiful and appropriate. A tent on the lawn sheltered some musicians;
+and in an arbor, lemonade was dispensed.
+
+The day of the bazaar was clear and pleasant, and not too warm. Early
+in the afternoon, Stella and Molly arrived, and the two, with Midge,
+all in their fresh white dresses, flitted about from one booth to
+another, to make sure that everything was in readiness.
+
+Several other girls and boys, and some ladies and gentlemen too, had
+been invited to assist in selling the things and to wait on the guests,
+so that when the bazaar opened at four o'clock in the afternoon a merry
+lot of young people were scattered about the grounds.
+
+Marjorie was in her element. "Oh, Uncle Steve," she cried; "isn't it
+all perfectly lovely! And I think we'll make quite a lot of money,
+don't you?"
+
+"I do, indeed, Mopsy. I'm only afraid, by the way the customers are
+flocking in, that we haven't provided enough refreshment for them."
+
+And sure enough, though the hour was yet early, crowds of people were
+coming in at the gate.
+
+The fame of the little fair had spread among the country people, and
+they all seemed determined to help along the good cause. Molly and
+Marjorie found their stock of wares rapidly fading away, while Stella,
+who was selling lemonade, could scarcely keep enough on hand to supply
+her customers.
+
+"You must put up your prices, Mopsy," said her uncle; "that's the way
+to do when your stock is getting low."
+
+So Marjorie doubled the price of everything she had left for sale, but
+even then the dolls and trinkets were willingly bought.
+
+"What shall we do?" said Grandma, in despair. "It isn't seven o'clock,
+we haven't lighted the lanterns yet for the evening, and the ice cream
+is all gone! I never dreamed we'd have such a crowd."
+
+"We'll light the lanterns, anyway," declared Uncle Steve, "for if the
+ice cream is gone they'll want to buy the lanterns next!"
+
+And sure enough they did. When the people came in the evening and
+learned that everything was sold out but the lanterns, they declared
+they would buy them for souvenirs. So the merry guests walked about the
+grounds, carrying the lighted lanterns they had bought (at astonishing
+prices), and it lent a fantastic effect to the scene to see the
+lanterns bobbing about among the trees and shrubs on the lawn.
+
+Marjorie was so sorry not to have wares to offer her would-be customers
+that she ran up to her room several times, gathering up books,
+pictures, or toys that she thought she could by any possibility spare.
+She would fly with them down to the porch, mark them at exorbitant
+prices, and in a few moments they would be sold to the amiable and
+generous buyers.
+
+It was an unusual experience for a fancy fair, as often there are many
+unsold wares left to be auctioned off or sold at reduced rates.
+
+When it was all over and the last guests had departed, swinging their
+lanterns, Marjorie, very tired but very happy, displayed a well-filled
+cash-box.
+
+"How much do you suppose?" she cried gayly to Uncle Steve.
+
+"Fifty dollars," guessed that jovial gentleman.
+
+"Nonsense," cried Marjorie, "you know there's more than that! But I
+rather think you'll be surprised when I tell you that there's a little
+over two hundred dollars!"
+
+"Fine!" exclaimed Uncle Steve. "That will keep the Elegant Ella in fans
+and sashes for some time!"
+
+"Indeed, it won't be used for that," declared Marjorie. "We're going to
+give it to Grandma and let her use it for the Dunns just as she thinks
+best. Little girls can have a fair and earn the money, but it takes
+older people to manage the rest of it."
+
+"That's true enough, Midge," said Grandma, "but you certainly shall
+have a share in the pleasure of bestowing it upon our poor neighbors."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+A BIRTHDAY
+
+
+"Mopsy," said Uncle Steve one morning, "I understand that next week
+Thursday has the honor of being your birthday."
+
+"Yes, Uncle Steve, and I'll be twelve years old."
+
+"My gracious goodness! What an old lady you are getting to be! Well,
+now for such an occasion as that we must celebrate in some way. So I'm
+going to give you a choice of pleasures. Would you rather have a party,
+a picnic, or a present?"
+
+Marjorie considered. She well knew that a present which would balance
+against a party or a picnic would be a fine present, indeed. And so,
+after a moment's thought, she replied:
+
+"I'll take the present, thank you, Uncle Steve; for somehow I feel sure
+we'll have picnics this summer, as we always do; and I don't care much
+about a party, because I know so few children around here."
+
+"All right, then, Midget; a present it shall be, but with this
+stipulation: you must promise not to go down into the south orchard
+from now until next Thursday."
+
+"Why not?" asked Mopsy, her eyes wide open with astonishment.
+
+"Principally, because I tell you not to, and I want you to obey me; but
+I don't mind explaining that it is because I shall be there, at least
+part of the time, making your present; and as I want it to be a
+surprise, you mustn't come peeping around."
+
+"All right, Uncle Steve, I won't; but why do you make it down there?
+Why not make it up here at the house?"
+
+"Midget, your curiosity will some day get you into trouble. I prefer to
+do the work in the meadow. Perhaps it is sewing, and I shall take my
+work-basket and sit under the big maple-trees to sew."
+
+Marjorie laughed to think of Uncle Steve sewing, but was really burning
+with curiosity to know what he was going to do.
+
+However, she had given her word, and she conscientiously kept it. Not
+once during those intervening days did she so much as look toward the
+south meadow, though if she had done so she would not have been able to
+discover what her birthday surprise was to be.
+
+Every day she discussed the subject with Molly and Stella, and each
+formed an opinion. Stella thought it was a new flower garden that Uncle
+Steve was making for Midge; Molly thought he was having a swing put up,
+because she had seen Carter carrying some long timbers over that way.
+But the girls considered themselves bound by Mopsy's promise to her
+uncle, and conscientiously refrained from going down to the meadow to
+investigate.
+
+Grandma, of course, was in the secret, and as a result she often shut
+herself into her own room, telling Marjorie she must not come in. She
+would stay there for hours at a time, and Mopsy felt sure she was
+sewing on something connected with the birthday surprise, as indeed she
+was.
+
+As the day came nearer, all the members of the household seemed to be
+in a state of great excitement. Carter was running about, bringing
+mysterious-looking parcels from the express office, and taking them to
+the barn to unpack them.
+
+Eliza was concocting delicious-looking creams and jellies, but they,
+Marjorie knew, were for the birthday feast, which would, of course, be
+a hilarious festival, although not a party.
+
+At last Thursday morning came, and Marjorie awoke bright and early; and
+very soon, arrayed in a fresh, pink gingham frock, went dancing
+downstairs.
+
+So early was she that the others had not yet come down, and she went
+out into the kitchen to talk to Eliza.
+
+"Oh, me!" she sighed. "I wish Uncle Steve would hurry. It just seems as
+if I couldn't wait any longer to know what my birthday surprise is
+going to be. Do you know, Eliza?"
+
+"Faix, an' I do, Miss Midge, an' it's a foine gift yer uncle has for
+ye!"
+
+"Don't tell me, Eliza, because Uncle Steve said I mustn't ask questions
+about it; but do you think I'll like it?"
+
+"'Like it,' is it? 'Deed an' you will thin! Ye'll go crazy as a
+loonytic wid joy and delight! An' I'm thinkin' you and Miss Molly will
+be after breaking your necks in it, but the little lady Stella,--I'm
+feared she won't get in it at all, at all; she'll be too sheared."
+
+"Then it IS a swing," exclaimed Midget, and she felt a little
+disappointment, for though a swing was lovely to have, yet she had one
+at home, so it was no especial novelty; and, too, she hadn't thought
+Uncle Steve would make such a fuss about having a swing built.
+
+"I'm not sayin' it isn't a swing," said Eliza, "and I'm not sayin' it
+is. And I'm not sayin' it isn't a merry-go-around-about, or whativer ye
+call thim noisy things that they do be havin' down by the circus tent,
+and I'm not sayin' it is."
+
+"Don't say any more about what it is or isn't, or I'll guess."
+
+"Indeed you wouldn't, Miss Mopsy, if ye guessed from now until ye're
+gray-headed."
+
+This made Midget think that the gift was not a swing, as she had
+already guessed that,--and then she heard Uncle Steve's voice calling
+her, and she ran gayly back to the dining-room.
+
+The birthday breakfast was a festival indeed. Marjorie's place was
+decorated with flowers, and even the back of her chair was garlanded
+with wreaths.
+
+At her plate lay such a huge pile of parcels, tied up in bewitching
+white papers and gay ribbons, that it seemed as if it would take all
+day to examine them.
+
+"Goodness me!" exclaimed Midget. "Did anybody ever have so many
+birthday gifts? Are they all for me?"
+
+"Any that you don't want," said Uncle Steve, "you may hand over to me.
+I haven't had a birthday for several years now, and I'd be thankful for
+one small gift."
+
+"You shall have the nicest one here," declared Marjorie, "and I don't
+care what it is, or who sent it."
+
+"The nicest one isn't here," observed Grandma, with a merry twinkle in
+her eye, and Marjorie knew that she was thinking of the surprise in the
+orchard.
+
+"Of course, I mean except the swing," said Marjorie, looking roguishly
+at Uncle Steve to see if she had guessed right.
+
+"You've been peeping!" he exclaimed, in mock reproach, and then
+Marjorie knew that whatever it was, it wasn't a swing.
+
+"You know I haven't--you know I wouldn't," she declared, and then she
+began to open the lovely-looking bundles.
+
+It did seem as if everybody that Marjorie knew had remembered her
+birthday. There were gifts from everybody at home, to begin with. Mrs.
+Maynard had sent the sweetest blue-silk sash, and Mr. Maynard a
+beautiful book. The children all sent toys or games or trinkets, and
+every one seemed to Marjorie to be just what she had wanted.
+
+There was a cup and saucer from Eliza, and small tokens from Carter and
+Jane. For Marjorie was a great pet with the servants, and they all
+adored her.
+
+But among all the bundles there was no gift from Grandma or Uncle
+Steve, and Marjorie wondered what had become of the mysterious work
+which Grandma had been doing all shut up in her own room.
+
+But even as she was thinking about it, Grandma explained:
+
+"Our gifts will come later," she said. "When Uncle Steve gives you his
+birthday surprise, I will add my contribution."
+
+Just after the last parcel had been untied, Molly and Stella came
+flying in. That is, Molly came flying, while serious little Stella
+walked at her usual sedate pace.
+
+"Many happy returns of the day!" cried Molly, "and here's my gift." She
+had in her arms a large and rather ungainly bundle, loosely wrapped in
+white tissue paper.
+
+Together she and Marjorie hastily pulled off the papers, and there was
+a beautiful cat-basket trimmed with blue ribbons and lined with soft
+cushions for Puff to sleep in.
+
+"Oh!" cried Marjorie, flinging her arms around Molly's neck, "that's
+just what I've been wanting ever since I've had that kitten." And
+grabbing up Puff, who was never very far away, she laid her in the
+basket.
+
+Puff seemed delighted with her new bed, and, after curiously sniffing
+and poking into all the nooks and corners of it, she curled up and
+began to purr herself to sleep.
+
+Stella's gift was a dainty, little white-silk parasol, with a frill
+around it, which seemed to Marjorie the loveliest thing she had ever
+seen.
+
+"It's beautiful, Stella!" she exclaimed. "And I shall always carry it
+whenever I'm dressed up enough. I hope you girls will have your
+birthdays soon, so I can give you some lovely things, too."
+
+"Have you had your surprise yet?" asked impatient Molly, who, according
+to her usual fashion, was prancing about the room on one foot; while
+Stella sat demurely in a chair, her hands quietly folded in her lap,
+though her eyes seemed to make the same inquiry.
+
+"No, not yet," answered Uncle Steve for his niece, "but I think it's
+about time for us to see if we can find it."
+
+"All right," cried Marjorie, "let's all go to the orchard!"
+
+"I don't see, Midget," said her uncle, "why you think the surprise is
+down at the orchard, just because I told you I was making it down
+there. In fact I have my birthday gift for you right here in my pocket."
+
+Marjorie looked rather blank. She knew Uncle Steve loved to tease her,
+but she had certainly expected some out-of-door gift, and to receive a
+little trinket that could be carried in a pocket was a surprise indeed.
+
+In proof of his words Uncle Steve drew a neatly-tied parcel from a
+pocket of his morning coat and handed it to Marjorie. It was about the
+size of a one-pound box of candy, and sure enough, when Marjorie
+eagerly pulled off the paper, the gilt letters on the cover proclaimed
+it a candy-box. Marjorie felt positive that her uncle would not offer
+her candy as a birthday gift, for he often brought her that on any
+ordinary day of the year. But she was mystified, and she took off the
+cover, not knowing herself what she expected to see. To her surprise,
+inside the box was another parcel, a trifle smaller, and on the paper
+which wrapped it was written:
+
+"I am not candy as you thought, I bring you joys that can't be bought."
+
+Marjorie began to understand that it was one of Uncle Steve's elaborate
+jokes, and she didn't know whether further search would reveal a
+valuable, though tiny gift, or some absurd hoax.
+
+She took out the second box and tore off the wrappings. Molly eagerly
+helped her pull off the ribbon and paper, and though Stella sat quietly
+by, she, too, almost held her breath to see what would happen next.
+
+Marjorie opened the second box, and this time was not so much surprised
+to see that it contained another wrapped and tied box. On this one was
+written:
+
+"Oho, Miss Mopsy, fooled again! Suppose you keep on trying, then."
+
+"Indeed, I will," cried Mopsy; "I expect there are a thousand boxes,
+each smaller than the other, and when I get to the end I'll find a
+bright penny, or something like that!"
+
+"If you think that," said Uncle Steve, "I'll offer you two cents for
+the bundle as it is now; and then, you see, you'll double your money!"
+
+"No siree!" cried Marjorie, "for, you see, I don't know. It MAY be a
+diamond ring, but that wouldn't do me much good, as I couldn't wear it
+until I'm grown up."
+
+"Hurry up," cried Molly, who was dancing about, both helping and
+hindering Marjorie, "let's see what the next box says."
+
+On the next box was written:
+
+"Just a hint I'll give to you; I'm of metal, tied with blue."
+
+"Metal, tied with blue!" screamed Molly, "What can that be? A hoe,
+perhaps, tied up with a blue ribbon."
+
+"What kind of a hoe could you get in such a little box?" said Stella.
+
+"_I_ think it's a locket," said Marjorie, "on a blue ribbon to hang
+round your neck."
+
+The next box said:
+
+"Very seldom you will use me, But you'd cry if you should lose me."
+
+"Ho!" said Marjorie, "if I'm going to use this thing so seldom I don't
+think I'd cry if I should lose it."
+
+"Perhaps it's a something for Sunday," suggested Molly, "then you'd use
+it only once a week, you know."
+
+"Oh, what a funny verse this is," said Marjorie, as she read:
+
+"I'm nothing to eat, I'm nothing to wear; You can only use me high up
+in the air."
+
+"I know what it is," said Stella, with her funny little air of
+decision; "it's a kite! You could only use that high in the air, you
+know; and it's that Japanese sort that squeezes all up to nothing and
+then spreads out when you open it."
+
+"I believe it is," said Midge, "only you know it said it was made of
+metal. But just listen to this next verse!
+
+"I am not pretty, I am not gay, But you'll enjoy me every day."
+
+The boxes were getting very small now, and Marjorie felt sure that the
+one she held in her hand must be the last one, unless, indeed, the gift
+was a cherry stone. The verse read:
+
+"At last, Dear Mopsy, you've come to me! Behold your birthday gift!
+only a--"
+
+As Marjorie read the last words she opened the box, and when she saw
+the contents she finished the rhyme herself by exclaiming, "key!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+"BREEZY INN"
+
+
+Sure enough, the tiny box contained a small key tied with a bit of blue
+ribbon. Marjorie looked at it in bewilderment.
+
+"It must unlock something!" cried Molly.
+
+"Molly Moss," exclaimed Uncle Steve, "you have a wonderfully clever
+head for your years! How did you ever guess that a key would unlock
+something? You must have seen keys before!"
+
+"But she never saw this one," cried Midge. "Oh, Uncle Steve, what is it
+for?"
+
+"You've been in suspense quite long enough, and now we'll try to find a
+lock for that key to fit. Grandma and I will go first, and if you three
+young ladies will follow us, we will go and hunt for a keyhole."
+
+Full of delightful anticipation, the three girls followed their older
+leaders. Marjorie was in the middle, her arms twined about Molly and
+Stella on either side, and their arms around her. Molly and Midge
+wanted to skip, but Stella never skipped, so the result was a somewhat
+joggly gait as they went down the path to the orchard.
+
+The south meadow was a wide expanse of humpy grass-land, with only a
+few trees here and there.
+
+Especially fine trees were two that were usually called the twin
+maples. These two very old trees grew side by side, their great trunks
+not more than four feet apart and their branches so intermingled that
+they were practically one tree in two parts. The delightful shade of
+this double tree afforded a favorite playground for the children, and
+they had missed it during the past week when they were forbidden to go
+into the meadow.
+
+As they neared the meadow, Marjorie grew more and more amazed. There
+was nothing unusual in sight: no swing, no merry-go-round, and
+certainly nothing that a key could unlock. They reached the twin
+maples, and then Uncle Steve said: "If you'll all step around to the
+other side of this tree I think we may discover that missing keyhole."
+
+The girls scampered around, and, looking up into the tree, they saw
+such an astonishing sight that the three simply sat down on the ground
+and stared at it. It was nothing more nor less than a house, a real
+little house high above the ground and nestled into the branches of the
+trees, just as a bird's nest might be.
+
+The house, which was big enough for the girls to have gone into if they
+could have reached it, had a front door and a window on either side.
+There was a veranda on which stood three small rustic benches, quite
+strong enough to have held the three girls had they had wings to fly up
+there. The veranda had a railing around it, above which hung two
+hanging-baskets filled with bright flowers.
+
+The door was shut and a keyhole could be distinctly seen.
+
+"There's the keyhole, Mopsy, which I have reason to think will fit your
+key," said Uncle Steve.
+
+"But I can't reach up to it," said Marjorie, looking very puzzled.
+"What's the house for? Is it for birds?"
+
+"Yes, for three birds that I know of, who wear gingham dresses and hair
+ribbons."
+
+"But we don't wear wings," interrupted Marjorie. "Oh, Uncle Steve, do
+tell me what that house is for!"
+
+"It's for you, chickabiddy, and if you'd like to go up there I'll show
+you a way."
+
+Uncle Steve stepped over to the double trunk, and reaching up pulled
+down something, which proved to be a weight hung on the end of a long
+cord. The cord reached up to the veranda of the little house.
+
+"Here," said Uncle Steve, as he put the weight into Marjorie's hand,
+"this is perhaps as useful a birthday gift as the key I gave you. Pull
+hard, and see what happens."
+
+Marjorie pulled hard, and as she pulled, a rope ladder came tumbling
+down from the edge of the little porch. It was a queer-looking ladder,
+the sides being of rope and the rounds of wood, while the top seemed to
+be securely fastened to the veranda floor.
+
+"There you are," said Uncle Steve; "there's your birthday gift, and all
+you have to do is to skip up there, unlock the door, and take
+possession."
+
+But instead of doing this, Marjorie, with a squeal of delight, threw
+her arms around Uncle Steve's neck.
+
+"You dear, old, blessed uncle!" she cried. "I understand it all now;
+but truly I couldn't think how we were ever going to get up there. It's
+a lovely surprise, the best I ever had! You are SO good to me, and
+Grandma, too!"
+
+Having nearly squeezed the breath out of Uncle Steve, Marjorie left
+him, and flying over to Grandma, treated her to a similar
+demonstration. And then, with her precious key tightly clasped in her
+hand, she started to climb the rather wabbly ladder. Impetuous Molly
+was crazy to follow, but Uncle Steve declared that it was the law of
+the house that there must never be more than one on the ladder at a
+time.
+
+Though Marjorie became accustomed to it afterward, it was not an easy
+matter to climb the rope ladder for the first time; but under Uncle
+Steve's direction she began to learn the trick of it, and safely
+reached the top. Agile Molly scrambled up as if she had been used to
+rope ladders all her life; but to timid Stella the climbing seemed an
+impossible feat. But Uncle Steve held the ladder firmly at the bottom,
+and Marjorie encouraged her from the top, while Molly threw herself
+flat on the porch and reached down a helping hand.
+
+At last the three girls were safely on the little veranda, and the
+sensation was as delightful as it was strange. To sit on the little
+benches, high above the ground, and look out straight across the
+meadow; and then, turning to either side, to see the great limbs and
+branches of the old maple-trees, was indeed a fairy-tale experience.
+
+Over the door swung a quaint little old-fashioned signboard, on which
+in gilt letters were the words "Breezy Inn."
+
+With bewildering anticipations of further delight, Marjorie took her
+little key and unlocked the door.
+
+Grandma and Uncle Steve, watching from below, heard shouts of joy as
+the girls disappeared through the doorway.
+
+But in a moment they reappeared at the windows, and their beaming faces
+told the tale of their happiness.
+
+"Good-by," called Uncle Steve, "the presentation is over and 'Breezy
+Inn' is yours. I've fastened the ladder firmly, so you can go up and
+down as you choose. The furnishings are your birthday present from
+Grandma, but we're going back now to a house that we can get into; and
+you children had better show up there about dinner-time. Meanwhile,
+have all the fun you can."
+
+Grandma and Uncle Steve went away, leaving the children to explore and
+make acquaintance of "Breezy Inn."
+
+It was a fairy house, indeed; and yet, though tiny, everything seemed
+to be just large enough.
+
+The interior of the house was one large room; and a smaller room, like
+an ell, at the back. The large room contained the front door and two
+front windows, also a window at each end. The smaller room had no outer
+exit, but three windows gave ample light and air.
+
+The front room, or living-room, as Marjorie termed it, was pleasantly
+furnished. On the floor was a rug of grass-matting and the furniture
+was of light wicker. The sofa, chairs, and tables were not of a size
+for grown people, but were just right for twelve-year-old little girls.
+At one end were a few built-in bookshelves; at the other a wardrobe or
+cupboard, most convenient to keep things in.
+
+Grandma's handiwork was shown in some dear little sofa-pillows and
+chair-cushions, in dainty, draped curtains and table covers.
+
+The room at the back, Marjorie declared was a workroom. In the middle
+was a large table, just splendid to work at when making paper-dolls'
+houses or anything like that; and round the room were shelves and
+cupboards to hold materials.
+
+"It just takes my breath away!" said Marjorie, as she sank down on the
+settee in the living-room; "I never saw anything like it! Can't we have
+just the best fun here all summer!"
+
+"I should say we could!" declared Molly. "It seems almost as if it must
+be our birthdays too. We'll have just as much fun here as you will,
+Midge."
+
+"Why, I couldn't have any fun at all without you two; at least, it
+would be very lonesome fun."
+
+"I don't see how they ever built it," said Molly, who, by way of
+finding out, was hanging out of a window as far as she could and
+investigating the building.
+
+"I know," said the wise Stella; "I read about one once; they nail the
+beams and things to the trunks of the trees and then they nail boards
+across, and then they build the house. But the one I read about wasn't
+as nice as this."
+
+"I don't think there could be one as nice as this," declared Marjorie;
+"and we can fix it up a lot yet, you know. I shall bring some things
+down from my room, some of my favorite books for the book-shelves, and
+things like that."
+
+"Do you suppose it will rain in, ever?" asked the practical Stella.
+
+"No, of course not," said Molly, who was still examining the carpenter
+work. "See, these windows slide shut sideways, and then if you shut the
+door tight the rain couldn't get in, unless the roof leaks."
+
+"Of course it doesn't!" declared Midget; "Uncle Steve wouldn't build me
+a house with a leaky roof. Did you ever see such cunning window
+curtains! Of course we don't need blinds, for the tree keeps the sun
+out. It does seem so queer to look out of the window and see only a
+tree."
+
+"Look out of the front door," said Molly, "and you won't see a tree
+then. You'll just see grass and sky and cows. But what's this thing at
+the back, Mopsy? It looks like a pair of well-buckets."
+
+"I don't know. What can it be?" said Mopsy, running to look.
+
+There was a queer contraption that seemed to be something like a
+windlass and something like a dumbwaiter. It was at the very end of the
+veranda around the corner of the house.
+
+"I know," said Stella quietly; "it's a kind of an elevator thing to
+pull up things when you want to."
+
+"Why, so it is!" cried Marjorie. "This is the way it works." And
+releasing a big wooden button, she let the whole affair slide to the
+ground, and, then, grasping the handle of a crank, she began to draw it
+up again.
+
+"Well, if that isn't great!" cried Molly. "We can boost up all sorts of
+things!"
+
+"Here's something to boost up now," said Marjorie, who had spied Jane
+coming across the fields, with what was undoubtedly a tray of
+refreshment.
+
+And sure enough, Grandma had sent some ginger-snaps and lemonade to
+furnish the first feast at "Breezy Inn."
+
+"Your grandma wouldn't send much," explained Jane, "for she says you
+must all come back to the house at one o'clock for the birthday dinner,
+and it's well after eleven now. She sent your clock, Miss Midget, so
+you'll know when to come."
+
+Apparently Jane knew more about the ways and means of "Breezy Inn" than
+the children did; for she directed them explicitly how to let down the
+dumbwaiter, and, then, after having carefully placed on it the tray of
+good things and the clock, she advised them about drawing it up. It
+worked almost like a well-bucket and was quite easy to manage. The tray
+reached the top in safety, and, in great glee, the girls arranged the
+little feast on the table in the living-room, and sat down to play
+tea-party.
+
+"Isn't this lovely!" exclaimed Molly, as she took her seventh
+ginger-snap from the plate. "I don't see how your grandma knew that we
+were beginning to get hungry."
+
+"Grandma always seems to know everything that's nice," said Marjorie.
+"Some day, girls, let's come out here and spend the whole day. We'll
+bring a lot of lunch, you know, and it will be just as if we lived
+here."
+
+"Goody!" said Molly. "That will be heaps of fun. We'll all bring
+things; I know Mother will give me a pie."
+
+"I'll like it," said Stella, with an expression of great satisfaction;
+"because up here you girls can't romp around so and run as you do down
+on the ground. When we come for a whole day let's bring a book of fairy
+stories and take turns reading aloud."
+
+"All right," said Midge; "let's have it for a sort of a club, and meet
+here one day every week."
+
+"Clubs ought to do something," observed Molly. "Charity, you know, or
+something like that."
+
+"All right," said Midge; "let's make things and then sell them and get
+some money for the Dunns."
+
+"What could we do?" asked Molly. "We couldn't have another bazaar, and,
+besides, I think the Dunns have enough money for the present."
+
+"Don't let's work," said Stella, who was not very enterprising; "at
+least, not when we're up here. Let's just read or play paper dolls. If
+you want to work and make things, do them at home."
+
+"I feel that way, too," said Midget; "let's just keep this for a
+playhouse. But maybe it isn't right; maybe we ought to do things for
+charity."
+
+"Ask your grandma," said Molly; "she'll know what's right. But I expect
+they gave you this house to have fun in."
+
+"I think they did, too," said Marjorie; "and, anyway, Molly, we could
+do both. We had lots of fun getting ready for the bazaar, and we did
+the charity besides."
+
+"Well, let's read part of the time, anyway," said Stella; "I do love to
+read or to be read to."
+
+"We will," agreed Marjorie, amiably, and Molly agreed, too.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE BROKEN LADDER
+
+
+As the days went on, "Breezy Inn" became more and more a delight to the
+children. They never grew tired of it, but, on the contrary, new
+attractions connected with it were forever developing. Many additions
+had been made to the furnishings, each of the three girls having
+brought over treasures from her own store.
+
+They had reading days, and paper-doll days, and game-playing days, and
+feast days, and days when they did nothing but sit on the little
+veranda and make plans. Often their plans were not carried out, and
+often they were, but nobody cared much which way it happened. Sometimes
+Stella sat alone on the little porch, reading. This would usually be
+when Molly and Midge were climbing high up into the branches of the old
+maple-trees. It was very delightful to be able to step off of one's own
+veranda onto the branch of a tree and then climb on up and up toward
+the blue sky. And especially, there being two girls to climb, it was
+very useful to have two trees.
+
+But not every day did the girls spend in "Breezy Inn." Sometimes they
+roamed in the woods, or went rowing on the river, and sometimes they
+visited at each other's houses.
+
+One pleasant afternoon in late July, Marjorie asked Grandma if she
+mightn't go to spend the afternoon at Stella's.
+
+Mrs. Sherwood liked to have her go to Stella's, as the influence of the
+quiet little girl helped to subdue Marjorie's more excitable
+disposition, and about three o'clock Marjorie started off.
+
+Grandma Sherwood looked after the child, as she walked away, with
+admiring eyes. Marjorie wore a dainty frock of white dimity, scattered
+with tiny pink flowers. A pink sash and hair-ribbons were fresh and
+crisply tied, and she carried the pretty parasol Stella had given her
+on her birthday.
+
+With Marjorie, to be freshly dressed always made her walk decorously,
+and Grandma smiled as she saw the little girl pick her way daintily
+down the walk to the front gate, and along the road to Stella's, which,
+though only next door, was several hundred yards away.
+
+As Marjorie passed out of sight, Grandma sighed a little to think how
+quickly the summer was flying by, for she dearly loved to have her
+grandchildren with her, and though, perhaps, not to be called favorite,
+yet Marjorie was the oldest and possessed a very big share of her
+grandmother's affection.
+
+Soon after she reached Stella's, Molly came flying over. Molly, too,
+had on a clean afternoon dress, but that never endowed her with a sense
+of decorum, as it did Marjorie.
+
+"Hello, girls," she cried, as she climbed over the veranda-railing and
+plumped herself down in the hammock. "What are we going to do this
+afternoon?"
+
+"Let's read," said Stella, promptly.
+
+"Read, read, read!" said Molly. "I'm tired of your everlasting reading.
+Let's play tennis."
+
+"It's too hot for tennis," said Stella, "and, besides, you girls
+haven't tennis shoes on and you'd spoil your shoes and the court, too."
+
+"Oh, what do you think," said Mopsy, suddenly; "I have the loveliest
+idea! Only we can't do it this afternoon, because we're all too much
+dressed up. But I'll tell you about it, and we can begin to-morrow
+morning."
+
+"What's your idea?" said Molly, rousing herself in the hammock and
+sitting with her chin in both hands as she listened.
+
+"Why, I read it in the paper," said Marjorie, "and it's this. And it's
+a lovely way to make money; we could make quite a lot for the Dunns. It
+will be some trouble, but it would be a lot of fun, too."
+
+"Yes, but what is it," said Stella, in her quietly patient way.
+
+"You go out into the field," began Marjorie, "and you gather heaps and
+heaps of pennyroyal,--you take baskets, you know, and gather just pecks
+of it. Then you take it home and you put it in pails or tubs or
+anything with a lot of water. And then you leave it about two days, and
+then you drain it off, and then it's pennyroyal extract."
+
+Marjorie announced the last words with a triumphant air, but her
+hearers did not seem very much impressed.
+
+"What then?" asked Molly, evidently awaiting something more startling.
+
+"Why, then, you put it in bottles, and paste labels on, and take it all
+around and sell it to people. They love to have it, you know, for
+mosquitoes or burns or something, and they pay you quite a lot, and
+then you have the money for charity."
+
+The artistic possibilities began to dawn upon Stella.
+
+"Yes," she said, "and I could make lovely labels, with fancy letters;
+and you and Molly could paste them on, and we could tie the corks in
+with little blue ribbons, like perfumery bottles."
+
+"And we'll each bring bottles," cried Molly, becoming interested; "we
+have lots at our house. Let's start out now to gather the pennyroyal.
+We're not so awfully dressed up. This frock will wash, anyway."
+
+"So will mine," said Marjorie, but she spoke with hesitation. She knew
+that Grandma would not like to have her wear that dainty fresh frock
+out into the fields.
+
+But, for some reason, Stella, too, was inclined to go, and with the
+trio, two against one always carried the day; and linking arms, in half
+a minute the three were skipping away toward the field. They had not
+asked permission, because the fields were part of Mr. Martin's
+property, and Stella was practically on her own home ground, though at
+a good distance from the house.
+
+Enthusiastic over their new plan, the girls worked with a will, and,
+having carelessly gone off without any basket, they found themselves
+obliged to hold up the skirts of their dresses to carry their harvest.
+
+"I should think we had enough to sell to everybody in Morristown,"
+declared Molly, as, tired and flushed, she surveyed the great heap she
+had piled into her dress skirt.
+
+"So should I," agreed Midget, gathering up more and more of her pretty
+dimity, now, alas! rumpled and stained almost beyond recognition.
+
+Stella had a good share, though not so much as the others, and she
+stood calmly inquiring what they were going to do with it.
+
+"There's no use taking it to my house," she declared, "for mother would
+only tell me to throw it away,--I know she would."
+
+"Wouldn't she let us make the extract?" asked Marjorie.
+
+"She wouldn't care how much we made it, but she wouldn't let me make it
+at home, I know, because she hates a mess."
+
+"I don't believe Grandma would like it either," said Marjorie, with a
+sudden conviction; "it is awful messy, and it smells pretty strong. But
+I'll tell you what, girls: let's take it all right to 'Breezy Inn.'
+Then we can put it to soak right away. We can get water from the brook,
+and there are plenty of pails and things there to make the extract in."
+
+"We can call it The Breezy Extract," said Stella; "that'll look pretty
+painted on the labels."
+
+"Breezy Extract is silly," said Molly; "Breezy-Inn Extract is prettier."
+
+"All right," said Stella, good-naturedly. "Come on, I'm in a hurry to
+begin. I'll paint the labels, while you girls make the stuff."
+
+So they trudged across the field to Breezy Inn, dumped their heaps of
+pennyroyal into the dumb-waiter, and themselves scrambled gayly up the
+rope ladder.
+
+Almost before Molly and Midge had pulled up their somewhat odorous
+burden, Stella had seated herself at the table to work at the labels.
+The child was devoted to work of this sort, and was soon absorbed in
+designing artistic letters to adorn the bottles.
+
+Midge and Molly worked away with a will. Unheeding their pretty summer
+frocks, and, indeed, there was little use now for care in that
+direction, they brought water from the brook, hauled it up the
+dumbwaiter, and filled several good-sized receptacles with steeping
+pennyroyal flowers.
+
+Their work finished, they were anxious to start for home at once and
+begin a search for the bottles, but Stella begged them to stay a little
+longer until she should have finished the design she was making.
+
+So Midge and Molly wandered out on the veranda, and amused themselves
+by jerking the rope ladder up and down. By a clever mechanical
+contrivance the ladder went up and down something on the principle of
+an automatic shade roller. It was great fun to roll it up and feel a
+certain security in the thought that nobody could get into "Breezy Inn"
+unless they saw fit to let down the ladder. Not that anybody ever
+wanted to, but it was fun to think so, and, moreover, the rolling
+ladder was most useful in the playing of certain games, where an
+unlucky princess was imprisoned in a castle tower.
+
+But somehow, as they were idly jerking the ladder up and down, an
+accident happened. Something snapped at the top, and with a little
+cracking sound, the whole ladder broke loose from its fastenings and
+fell to the ground.
+
+"Oh, Midget!" cried Molly, aghast, "whatever shall we do now? We can't
+get down, and we'll have to stay here until somebody happens to come by
+this way."
+
+"That may not be for several days," said Midget, cheerfully. "Carter
+never hardly comes down into this meadow. Pooh, Molly, we can get down
+some way."
+
+"Yes; but how?" insisted Molly, who realized the situation more truly
+than Marjorie.
+
+"Oh, I don't know," responded Midge, carelessly. "We might go down in
+the dumb-waiter."
+
+"No; your uncle said, positively, we must never go down on that. It
+isn't strong enough to hold even one of us at a time."
+
+"I guess I could jump."
+
+"I guess you couldn't! You'd sprain your ankles and break your collar
+bones."
+
+"Oh, pshaw, Molly, there must be some way down. Let's ask Stella. She
+can always think of something."
+
+"No; don't tell Stella. She can't think of any way, and it would scare
+her to pieces. I tell you, Mops, there ISN'T any way down. It's too
+high to jump and we can't climb. We could climb UP the tree, but not
+DOWN."
+
+At last Marjorie began to realize that they were in a difficulty. She
+looked all around the house, and there really was no way by which the
+girls could get down. They went into the living-room, where Stella sat
+at the table, drawing.
+
+"I'm ready to go home," she said, looking up as they entered. "This is
+finished, and, anyway, it's getting so dark I can't see any more."
+
+"Dark!" exclaimed Marjorie. "Why, it isn't five o'clock yet."
+
+"I don't care what time it is," said Stella; "it's getting awfully
+dark, just the same."
+
+And sure enough it was, and a few glances at the sky showed the reason.
+What was undoubtedly a severe thunderstorm was rapidly approaching, and
+dark masses of cloud began to roll over each other and pile up higher
+and higher toward the zenith.
+
+"It's a thunder shower, that's what it is," declared Stella; "let's
+scramble down the ladder quick, and run for home. Let's all run to your
+house, Marjorie, it's nearer."
+
+Midge and Molly looked at each other.
+
+There was no help for it, so Marjorie said: "We can't go down the
+ladder, Stella, because it's broken down."
+
+"What! Who broke it?"
+
+"We did," said Molly; "that is, we were playing with it and somehow it
+broke itself. Of course, we didn't do it on purpose."
+
+Stella's face turned white. "How shall we get down?" she said.
+
+"We CAN'T get down," said Midge, cheerfully; "we'll have to stay up.
+But the roof doesn't leak; I asked Uncle, and he said it was perfectly
+watertight."
+
+"But I don't want to stay up here in a storm," said Stella, and her
+lips began to quiver.
+
+"Now, don't you cry, Stella!" said Molly, who, if truth be told, was on
+the verge of tears herself.
+
+Meantime, the darkness was rapidly increasing. It was one of those
+sudden showers where a black pall of cloud seems to envelop the whole
+universe, and the very air takes on a chill that strikes a terror of
+its own, even to a stout heart.
+
+The three little girls sat looking at each other in despair.
+
+Each was very much frightened, but each was trying to be brave. It had
+all happened so suddenly that they had even yet scarcely realized that
+they were in real danger, when suddenly a terrible clap of thunder
+burst directly above their heads, accompanied by a blinding flash of
+lightning.
+
+Stella screamed and then burst into wild crying; Molly turned white and
+gritted her teeth in a determination not to cry; while Marjorie, with
+big tears rolling down her cheeks, put her arms around Stella in a vain
+endeavor to comfort her.
+
+Molly crept up to the other two, and intertwining their arms, the three
+huddled together, shivering with fear and dismay.
+
+One after another, the terrible thunderbolts crashed and rolled, and
+the fearful lightning glared at intervals.
+
+Then, with a swish and a splash, the rain began. It came down in gusty
+torrents, and dashed in at the open windows like a spray.
+
+Molly and Marjorie jumped up and flew to shut the windows, but Stella
+remained crouched in a pathetic little heap.
+
+"Somebody will come to get us," whispered Molly, trying to be hopeful
+and to cheer the others.
+
+"No, they won't," said Marjorie, despairingly; "for Grandma thinks I'm
+over at Stella's, and your mother thinks you're there, too."
+
+"Yes, but Stella's mother will hunt us up; somebody is SURE to come,"
+persisted Molly.
+
+"No, she won't," said a weak little voice; "for I told Mother that we
+might stay home this afternoon, and we might go over to Molly's. And
+she'll think we're over there."
+
+"It wouldn't matter if the ladder WAS up," said Molly, "for we couldn't
+go out in this pouring rain, and we might get struck by lightning, too."
+
+"Under a tree is the very worst place to be in a thunderstorm," said
+Stella, lifting her white, little face, and staring at the girls with
+big, scared eyes.
+
+Just then another terrible crash and flash made them all grasp each
+other again, and then, without further restraint, they all cried
+together.
+
+The storm increased. The winds simply raged, and though the old
+maple-trees were too sturdy to shake much, yet the little house swayed
+some, and all about could be heard the cracking and snapping of
+branches.
+
+"I think--" began Molly, but even as she spoke there came the loudest
+crash of all. It was the splitting of the heavens, and with it came a
+fierce, sudden flash of flame that blinded them all.
+
+The girls fell apart from one another through the mere shock, and when
+Molly and Midge dazedly opened their eyes, they saw Stella crumpled in
+a little heap on the floor.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+FIRECRACKERS
+
+
+"Is she dead?" screamed Molly. "Oh, Marjorie, is she dead?"
+
+"I don't know," said Marjorie, whose face was almost as white as
+Stella's, as she leaned over the unconscious little girl.
+
+Although they tried, they couldn't quite manage to lift Stella up on
+the couch, so Marjorie sat down on the floor and took the poor child's
+head on her knee, while Molly ran for water.
+
+"I'm sure it's right to douse people with water when they faint," said
+Molly, as she sprinkled Stella's face liberally; "and she is only in a
+faint, isn't she, Marjorie? Because if people are really struck by
+lightning they burn up, don't they, Marjorie?"
+
+While she talked, Molly was excitedly pouring water promiscuously over
+Stella, until the child looked as if she had been out in the storm.
+
+Marjorie was patting Stella's cheek and rubbing her hands, but it all
+seemed of no avail; and, though Stella was breathing softly, they could
+not restore her to consciousness.
+
+"It's dreadful," said Marjorie, turning to Molly with a look of utter
+despair, "and we MUST do something! It isn't RIGHT for us two little
+girls to try to take care of Stella. We MUST get Grandma here, somehow."
+
+"But how CAN we?" said Molly. "The ladder is down, you know, and we
+can't possibly get down from the house. I'd try to jump, but it's
+fifteen feet, and I'd be sure to break some bones, and we'd be worse
+off than ever."
+
+The two girls were too frightened to cry; they were simply appalled by
+the awful situation and at their wits' end to know what to do.
+
+"It was bad enough," wailed Marjorie, "when we were all wide awake and
+could be frightened together; but with Stella asleep, or whatever she
+is, it's perfectly horrible."
+
+"She isn't asleep," said Molly, scrutinizing the pale little face, "but
+she's stunned with the shock, and I'm sure I don't know what to do. We
+ought to have smelling-salts, or something, to bring her to."
+
+"We ought to have somebody that knows something to look after her.
+Molly, we MUST get Grandma here. I believe I'll try to jump myself, but
+I suppose I'd just sprain my ankle and lie there in the storm till I
+was all washed away. What CAN we do?"
+
+"We could holler, but nobody could hear us, it's raining so hard. The
+thunder and lightning aren't so bad now, but the rain and wind are
+fearful."
+
+Molly was flying about the room, peeping out at one window after
+another, and then flying back to look at Stella, who still lay
+unconscious.
+
+"If we only had a megaphone," said Marjorie, "though I don't believe we
+could scream loud enough through that even, to make Carter hear. What
+do people do when they're shipwrecked?"
+
+"They send up rockets," said Molly, wisely.
+
+"We haven't any rockets; but, oh, Molly! we have some firecrackers.
+They've been here ever since Fourth of July; those big cannon crackers,
+you know! Do you suppose we could fire off some of those, and Carter
+would hear them?"
+
+"The very thing! But how can we fire them in this awful rain? It would
+put them right out."
+
+"We MUST do it! It's our only chance!"
+
+Carefully putting a pillow under Stella's head, they left her lying on
+the floor, while they ran for the firecrackers.
+
+Sure enough they were big ones, and there were plenty of them. It would
+be difficult to fire them in the rain, but, as Marjorie said, it MUST
+be done. Keeping them carefully in a covered box, the girls went out on
+the little veranda, closing the door behind them. A wooden box, turned
+up on its side, formed sufficient protection from the rain to get a
+cracker lighted, and Marjorie bravely held it until it was almost ready
+to explode, and then flung it out into the storm. It went off, but to
+the anxious girls the noise seemed muffled by the rain.
+
+They tried another and another, but with little hope that Carter would
+hear them.
+
+"Let's put them all in a tin pan," said Marjorie, "and put the box on
+top of them to keep them dry, and then set them all off at once."
+
+"All right," said Molly, "but I'm afraid Carter will think it's
+thunder."
+
+However, it seemed the best plan, and after lighting the end of the
+twisted string, the girls ran into the house and shut the door.
+
+Such a racket as followed! The crackers went off all at once. The box
+flew off, and the tin pan tumbled down, and the little veranda was a
+sight to behold!
+
+It sounded like Fourth of July, but to the two girls, watching from the
+window, there was no effect of celebration.
+
+But their desperate plan succeeded. Carter heard the racket, and did
+not mistake it for thunder; but, strangely enough, realized at once
+what it was.
+
+"It's them crazy children in their tree-house," he exclaimed; "but what
+the mischief do they be settin' off firecrackers for, in the pouring
+rain? Howsomever I'll just go and see what's up, for like as not
+they've burned their fingers, if so be that they haven't put their eyes
+out."
+
+As Carter started from the greenhouse, where he had been working, the
+torrents of rain that beat in his face almost made him change his mind,
+but he felt a sense of uneasiness about Marjorie, and something
+prompted him to go on. In a stout raincoat, and under a big umbrella,
+he made his way across the field through the storm toward "Breezy Inn."
+
+"My land!" he exclaimed, "if that ladder ain't disappeared. What will
+them youngsters be up to next?"
+
+But even as he noticed the broken ladder, the door flew open, and
+Marjorie and Molly popped their heads out.
+
+"Oh, Carter!" Marjorie screamed; "do get a ladder, and hurry up! Ours
+is broken down, and Stella is struck by lightning, and, oh, Carter, do
+help us!"
+
+Carter took in the situation at a glance. He said nothing, for it was
+no time for words. He saw the broken ladder could not be repaired in a
+minute; and, turning, he ran swiftly back to the barn for another
+ladder. A long one was necessary, and with Moses to help him they
+hurried the ladder across the field and raised it.
+
+Another fortunate effect of the firecracker explosion had been to rouse
+Stella. Partly owing to the noise of the explosion, and partly because
+the effect of the shock was wearing away, Stella had opened her eyes
+and, realizing what had happened, promptly made up for lost time by
+beginning to cry violently. Also, the reaction at finding Stella
+herself again, and the relief caused by the appearance of Carter, made
+Molly and Marjorie also break down, and when Carter came bounding up
+the ladder he found three girls, soaking wet as to raiment, and
+diligently adding to the general dampness by fast-flowing tears.
+
+"What is it, now?" he inquired, and if his tone sounded impatient, it
+was scarcely to be wondered at. For the battle-scarred veranda and the
+drenched condition of the room, together with a broken ladder, surely
+betokened mischief of some sort.
+
+"Oh, Carter," cried Marjorie, "never mind us, but can't you take Stella
+to the house somehow? She was struck by lightning, and she's been dead
+for hours! She only just waked up when she heard the firecrackers! Did
+you hear them, Carter?"
+
+"Did I hear them! I did that--not being deef. Faith, I thought it was
+the last trump! You're a caution, Miss Midget!" But even as Carter
+spoke he began to realize that the situation was more serious than a
+mere childish scrape. He had picked up little Stella, who was very limp
+and white, and who was still sobbing hysterically.
+
+"Struck by lightning, is it? There, there, little girl, never mind now,
+I'll take care of ye."
+
+Holding Stella gently in his arms, Carter looked out of the window and
+considered.
+
+"I could take her down the ladder, Miss Midget, but it's raining so
+hard she'd be drenched before we could reach the house. Not that she
+could be much wetter than she is. Was she out in the rain?"
+
+"No, that's where we threw water on her to make her unfaint herself.
+Can't we all go home, Carter? Truly we can't get any wetter, and we'll
+all catch cold if we don't."
+
+"That's true," agreed Carter, as he deliberated what was best to do.
+
+Though not a large man, Carter seemed to fill the little room with his
+grown-up presence, and the children were glad to shift their
+responsibility on to him.
+
+"The thunder is melting away," he said at last, "and the lightning is
+nothin' to speak of; and a drop more of wet won't hurt you, so I think
+I'd better take ye all to your grandma's as soon as possible. I'll
+carry little Miss Stella, and do ye other two climb down the ladder
+mighty careful and don't add no broken necks to your distresses."
+
+So down the ladder, which Moses on the ground was holding firmly,
+Carter carried Stella, who, though fully conscious, was nervous and
+shaken, and clung tightly around Carter's neck.
+
+Midge and Molly followed, and then the procession struck out across the
+field for home.
+
+"I s'pose," whispered Midget to Molly, "it's perfectly awful; but now
+that Stella's all right, I can't help thinking this is sort of fun, to
+be walking out in the storm, without any umbrella, and soaking wet from
+head to foot!"
+
+Molly squeezed her friend's hand. "I think so, too," she whispered.
+"The thunder and lightning were terrible, and I was almost scared to
+death; but now that everything's all right, I can't help feeling gay
+and glad!"
+
+And so these two reprehensible young madcaps smiled at each other, and
+trudged merrily along across soaking fields, in a drenching rain, and
+rescued from what had been a very real danger indeed.
+
+During all this, Grandma Sherwood had been sitting placidly in her
+room, assuming that Marjorie was safely under shelter next door.
+Molly's mother had, of course, thought the same, and Stella's mother,
+finding the girls nowhere about, had concluded they were either at
+Molly's or Marjorie's.
+
+Owing to the condition of the party he was bringing, Carter deemed it
+best to make an entrance by the kitchen door.
+
+"There!" he said, as he landed the dripping Stella on a wooden chair,
+"for mercy's sake, Eliza, get the little lady into dry clothes as quick
+as you can!"
+
+"The saints presarve us!" exclaimed Eliza, for before she had time to
+realize Stella's presence, Midge and Molly bounded in, scattering spray
+all over the kitchen and dripping little pools of water from their wet
+dresses.
+
+Stella had ceased crying, but looked weak and ill. The other two, on
+the contrary, were capering about, unable to repress their enjoyment of
+this novel game.
+
+Hearing the commotion, Grandma Sherwood came to the kitchen, and not
+unnaturally supposed it all the result of some new prank.
+
+"What HAVE you been doing?" she exclaimed. "Why didn't you stay at
+Stella's and not try to come home through this rain?"
+
+Marjorie, drenched as she was, threw herself into her grandmother's
+arms.
+
+"Oh, if you only knew!" she cried; "you came near not having your bad
+little Mopsy any more! And Stella's mother came nearer yet! Why,
+Grandma, we were in the tree-house, and it was struck by lightning, and
+Stella was killed, at least for a little while, and the ladder broke
+down, and we couldn't get down ourselves, and so we sent off rockets of
+distress, I mean firecrackers, and then Carter came and rescued us all!"
+
+As Marjorie went on with her narrative, Grandma Sherwood began to
+understand that the children had been in real danger, and she clasped
+her little grandchild closer until her own dress was nearly as wet as
+the rest of them.
+
+"And so you see, Grandma," she proceeded, somewhat triumphantly, "it
+wasn't mischief a bit! It was a--an accident that might have happened
+to anybody; and, oh, Grandma dear, wasn't it a narrow squeak for
+Stella!"
+
+"Howly saints!" ejaculated Eliza; "to think of them dear childer bein'
+shtruck be thunder, an' mighty near killed! Och, but ye're the chrazy
+wans! Whyever did ye go to yer tree-top shanty in such a shtorm? Bad
+luck to the botherin' little house!"
+
+"Of course it didn't rain when we went there," said Marjorie, who was
+now dancing around Eliza, and flirting her wet ruffles at her, in an
+endeavor to tease the good-natured cook.
+
+But even as they talked, Mrs. Sherwood and Eliza were taking
+precautions against ill effects of the storm.
+
+Mrs. Sherwood devoted her attention to Stella, as the one needing it
+most, while Eliza looked after the other two.
+
+The three children were treated to a hot bath and vigorous rubbings,
+and dry clothes, and in a short time, attired in various kimonos and
+dressing-gowns from Marjorie's wardrobe, the three victims sat in front
+of the kitchen range, drinking hot lemonade and eating ginger cookies.
+
+As Marjorie had said, there had been no wrongdoing; not even a
+mischievous prank, except, perhaps, the breaking down of the ladder,
+and yet it seemed a pity that Stella should have suffered the most,
+when she never would have dreamed of staying at the tree-house after it
+began to look like rain, had it not been for the others.
+
+However, there was certainly no scolding or punishment merited by any
+one; and Grandma Sherwood was truly thankful that the three were safe
+under her roof.
+
+After the storm had entirely cleared away, Carter carried Stella home,
+and Mrs. Sherwood went with them to explain matters. Molly went
+skipping home, rather pleased than otherwise, to have such an exciting
+adventure to relate to her mother.
+
+When Uncle Steve came home he was greatly interested in Midget's tale
+of the tragedy, and greatly pleased that small heroine of the occasion
+by complimenting her on her ingenuity in using the firecrackers. The
+breaking of the ladder, he declared, was an accident, and said a new
+and stronger one should be put up. Furthermore, he decreed that a
+telephone connection should be established between "Breezy Inn" and
+Grandma's house, so that victims of any disaster could more easily
+summon aid.
+
+"That will be lovely," said Marjorie, "but they say telephones are
+dangerous in thunderstorms; so, perhaps, it's just as well that we
+didn't have one there to-day."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+PENNYROYAL
+
+
+It was several days before the children went to "Breezy Inn" again, but
+one pleasant sunshiny morning found them climbing the new ladder as
+gayly as if no unpleasant experience were connected with its memory.
+
+Carter had cleaned up the veranda, though powder marks still showed in
+some places.
+
+"Why, girls," exclaimed Marjorie, "here's our pennyroyal extract! I had
+forgotten every single thing about it. The high old time we had that
+day swept it all out of my head."
+
+"I remembered it," said Molly, "but I thought it had to extract itself
+for a week."
+
+"No, four days is enough. It must be done now; it smells so, anyway."
+
+The girls all sniffed at the pails of spicy-smelling water, and, after
+wisely dipping their fingers in it and sniffing at them, they concluded
+it was done.
+
+"It's beautiful," said Marjorie; "I think it's a specially fine
+extract, and we'll have no trouble in selling heaps of it. Don't let's
+tell anybody until we've made a whole lot of money; and then we'll tell
+Grandma it's for the Dunns, and she'll be so surprised to think we
+could do it."
+
+"Where are the bottles?" asked Stella. "I can finish up the labels,
+while you girls are filling the bottles and tying the corks in."
+
+"Let's tie kid over the top," suggested Molly, "like perfume bottles,
+you know. You just take the wrists of old kid gloves and tie them on
+with a little ribbon, and then snip the edges all around like they snip
+the edges of a pie."
+
+"Lovely!" cried Midget, "and now I'll tell you what: let's all go home
+and get a lot of bottles and corks and old kid gloves and ribbons and
+everything, and then come back here and fix the bottles up right now."
+
+"You two go," said Stella, who was already absorbed in the work of
+making labels; "that will give me time to do these things. They're
+going to be awfully pretty."
+
+So Midge and Molly scampered off to their homes, and rummaged about for
+the materials they wanted.
+
+They had no trouble in finding them, for the elder people in both
+houses were accustomed to odd demands from the children, and in less
+than half an hour the girls were back again, each with a basket full of
+bottles, old gloves, and bits of ribbon.
+
+"Did your mother ask you what you wanted them for?" said Mops to Molly.
+
+"No; she just told me where they were, in a cupboard in the attic; and
+told me to get what I wanted and not bother her, because she was making
+jelly."
+
+"I got mine from Eliza, so Grandma doesn't know anything about it; and
+now we can keep it secret, and have a lovely surprise."
+
+What might have seemed work, had they been doing it for some one else,
+was play to the children then; and Midge and Molly carefully strained
+their precious extract from the leaves and bottled it and corked it
+with care. They tied neatly the bits of old gloves over the corks,
+though it was not an easy task, and when finished did not present quite
+the appearance of daintily-topped perfume bottles.
+
+And Stella's labels, though really good work for a little girl of
+eleven, were rather amateurish. But the three business partners
+considered the labels admirable works of art, and pasted them on the
+bottles with undisguised pride. Though pennyroyal was spelled with one
+n, they didn't notice it, and the finished wares seemed to them a
+perfect result of skilled labor.
+
+"Now," said Marjorie, as she sat with her chin in her hands, gazing
+proudly at the tableful of bottles, "it's dinner-time. Let's all go
+home, and then this afternoon, after we're dressed, let's come here and
+get the bottles, and each take a basketful, and go and sell them."
+
+"We'll all go together, won't we?" asked Stella, whose shyness stood
+sadly in the way of her being a successful saleswoman.
+
+"Yes, if you like," said Marjorie; "we'd get along faster by going
+separately; but it will be more fun to go together, so that's what
+we'll do."
+
+About two o'clock, the three met again at "Breezy Inn." Each was
+freshly attired in a spick-and-span clean gingham, and they wore large
+shade hats.
+
+"I thought Grandma would suspect something when I put my hat on," said
+Marjorie, "because I always race out here without any, but, by good
+luck, she didn't see me."
+
+"Mother asked me where I was going," said Molly, "and I told her to
+'Breezy Inn.' It almost seemed deceitful, but I think, as we're working
+for charity, it's all right. You know you mustn't let your left hand
+know what your right hand is up to."
+
+"That isn't what that means," said Stella, who was a conscientious
+little girl; and, indeed, they all were, for though inclined to
+mischief, Midge and Molly never told stories, even by implication.
+
+"But I think it's all right," went on Stella, earnestly, "because it's
+a surprise. You know Christmas or Valentine's day, it's all right to
+surprise people, even if you have to 'most nearly deceive them."
+
+And so with no qualms of their honest little hearts, the three started
+off gayly to peddle their dainty wares for the cause of charity.
+
+"Let's go straight down to the village," suggested Molly, "and let's
+stop at every house on the way,--there aren't very many,--and then when
+we get where the houses are thicker we can go separately if we want to."
+
+"I don't want to," insisted Stella; "I'll stay with one of you, anyway."
+
+"All right," said Midget, "and we'll take turns in doing the talking.
+This is Mrs. Clarke's house; shall I talk here?"
+
+"Yes," said Molly, "and I'll help you; and if Stella doesn't want to
+say anything, she needn't."
+
+The three girls with their baskets skipped along the flower-bordered
+walk to Mrs. Clarke's front door and rang the bell. The white-capped
+maid, who answered the door, listened to their inquiries for Mrs.
+Clarke, looked curiously at the bottles, and then said: "Mrs. Clarke is
+not at home."
+
+"Are you sure?" said Marjorie, in a despairing voice. It seemed
+dreadful to lose a sale because the lady chanced to be out.
+
+"Yes," said the maid shortly, and closed the door in the very faces of
+the disappointed children.
+
+Troubled, but not disheartened, the girls walked back along the path, a
+little less gayly, and trudged on to the next house.
+
+Here the lady herself opened the door.
+
+"Do you want to buy some pennyroyal extract?" began Marjorie, a little
+timidly, for the expression on the lady's face was not at all cordial.
+
+"It's fine," broke in Molly, who saw that Midge needed her support;
+"it's lovely for mosquito bites, you just rub it on and they're all
+gone!"
+
+The lady seemed to look a little interested, and Stella being honestly
+anxious to do her share, so far conquered her timidity as to say in a
+faint little voice, "We made it ourselves."
+
+"Made it yourselves?" exclaimed the lady. "No, indeed, I don't want
+any!" And again the cruel door was closed upon the little saleswomen.
+
+"It was my fault," wailed Stella, as they went away with a crestfallen
+air; "if I hadn't said we made it ourselves, she would have bought it.
+Oh, girls, let me go home and make labels. I don't like this selling,
+much."
+
+Midge and Molly both felt sure that it was Stella's speech that had
+stopped the sale, but they were too polite to say so, and Midge
+answered:
+
+"Never mind, Stella dear, I don't think she was very anxious for it,
+anyway, but, perhaps, at the next house you needn't say anything. You
+don't mind, do you?"
+
+"Mind! No, indeed! I only said that to help along, and it didn't help."
+
+So, at the next house, Stella was glad to stand demurely in the
+background, and this time Molly took her turn at introducing the
+subject.
+
+A young lady was in a hammock on the veranda, and as they went up the
+steps she rose to greet them.
+
+"What in the world have you there?" she said, gayly, flinging down the
+book she was reading and looking at the children with interest.
+
+"Pennyroyal extract," said Molly, "perfectly fine for mosquito bites,
+bruises, cuts, scarlet fever, colds, coughs, or measles."
+
+The young lady seemed to think it very amusing, and sitting down on the
+top step, began to laugh.
+
+"It must be, indeed, handy to have in the house," she said; "where did
+you get it?"
+
+The girls were dismayed. If they said they made it themselves, probably
+she wouldn't buy any. They looked at each other uncertainly, and said
+nothing.
+
+"I hope you came by it honestly," went on the young lady, looking at
+them in surprise; "you couldn't have--of course, you didn't--"
+
+"Of course we didn't steal it!" cried Molly, indignantly, "if that's
+what you mean. It's ours, our very own, every drop of it! But--we don't
+want to tell you where we got it."
+
+"It sounds delightfully mysterious," said the young lady, still smiling
+very much, "and I don't really care where you did get it. Of course I
+want some, as it seems to be a very useful article, and I'm quite
+liable to attacks of--measles."
+
+Marjorie looked up quickly to see if this very pretty young lady was
+not making fun of them, but she seemed to be very much in earnest, and,
+indeed, was already selecting a bottle from each of the three baskets.
+
+"I'll take these three," she said; "how much are they?"
+
+The girls looked at each other. Not once had it occurred to them to
+consider what price they were to ask, and what to say they did not know.
+
+"Why," began Marjorie, "I should think--"
+
+"Twenty-five cents apiece," said Molly, decidedly. She knew it was a
+large price, considering that the extract cost nothing, but she wanted
+to swell the charity funds.
+
+"Well, that's very reasonable," said the young lady, who still seemed
+very much amused; "I will give you the money at once," and she took
+some change from a little gold purse which hung at her belt. "But if I
+may advise you," she went on, "you'd better raise your price. That's
+really too cheap for this most useful article."
+
+The children were so astonished at this speech that they made no reply,
+except to thank the kind young lady, and bid her good-by.
+
+"Now, THAT'S something like!" exclaimed Marjorie, as they reached the
+road again. "Wasn't she lovely? And to think, she said we ought to ask
+more money for the extract! This is a splendid business."
+
+"Fine!" agreed Molly; "we'll sell off all this to-day, and to-morrow
+we'll make another lot and sell that. We'll get lots of money for the
+Dunns."
+
+"We'll make more next time," said Midge, "and I'll get Carter to drive
+us round so we won't have to carry it; for we may sell two or three
+hundred bottles every day."
+
+"But I can't make so many labels," said Stella, aghast at the outlook.
+
+"Of course you can't," said Molly; "but I'll tell you what! We'll ask
+them to give the bottles back as soon as they've emptied them, and then
+we can use them over again, you know."
+
+Midge was a little dubious about asking for the bottles back, but just
+then they turned into the next house.
+
+It was Marjorie's turn to speak, and greatly encouraged by their late
+success, she began: "Would you like to buy some pennyroyal extract? For
+mosquitoes, burns, and bruises. It's only fifty cents a bottle, and
+we'll take the bottles back."
+
+The lady, who had opened the door, looked at the children as if they
+were escaped lunatics.
+
+"Don't come around here playing your tricks on me," she exclaimed; "I
+won't stand it. Take your bottles and be off!"
+
+She did not shut the door upon them, but so irate was her expression
+that the girls were glad to go away.
+
+"Wasn't she awful!" exclaimed Stella, with a troubled face. "Truly,
+girls, I don't like this. I'm going home."
+
+"No, you're not, either!" said Marjorie. "Of course, it isn't all
+pleasant, but when you're working for charity, you mustn't mind that.
+And, besides, like as not the people at the next house will be lovely."
+
+But they weren't; and one after another the people, to whom they
+offered their wares, refused even to look at them.
+
+At last, when they were well-nigh discouraged, a kind lady, to whom
+they offered the extract, seemed a little more interested than the
+others.
+
+"Why," she said, looking at Stella, "aren't you Guy Martin's little
+girl?"
+
+"Yes'm," said Stella, meekly, wondering if this fact would interfere
+with the sale of the goods.
+
+"Well, then, I must surely buy some," said the lady, smiling; "how much
+is it?"
+
+"Fifty cents a bottle, if you give the bottle back," said Stella, who
+felt that the lady's friendliness toward her demanded that she should
+answer?
+
+"Fifty cents a bottle!" exclaimed the lady. "Surely you can't mean
+that! Why, pennyroyal extract isn't worth a cent a quart!"
+
+The girls looked genuinely disturbed. This was a different opinion,
+indeed, from that advanced by the pretty lady who had bought three
+bottles!
+
+Marjorie suddenly began to feel as if she were doing something very
+foolish, and something which she ought not to have undertaken without
+Grandma's advice.
+
+"Is that all it's worth, truly?" she asked, looking straightforwardly
+into the lady's eyes.
+
+"Why, yes, my dear,--I'm sure it could not have a higher market value."
+
+"Then we don't want to sell you any," said Marjorie, whose sense of
+honesty was aroused; and picking up her basket from the porch, she
+turned toward the street, walking fast, and holding her head high in
+the air, while her cheeks grew very red.
+
+Molly followed her, uncertain as to what to do next, and Stella trailed
+along behind, a dejected little figure, indeed, with her heavy basket
+on her arm.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+WELCOME GIFTS
+
+
+"It's all wrong!" declared Marjorie. "I didn't see it before, but I do
+now. That lady was right, and we oughtn't to try to sell anything
+that's worth less than a cent for fifty cents, or twenty-five either."
+
+"Shall we go home?" asked Molly, who always submitted to Marjorie's
+decisions.
+
+"_I_ don't think it's wrong," began Stella. "Of course the pennyroyal
+isn't worth much, but we worked to get it, and to make it, and to fix
+it up and all; and, besides, people always pay more than things are
+worth when they're for charity."
+
+Marjorie's opinion veered around again. The three were sitting on a
+large stepping-stone under some shady trees, and Marjorie was thinking
+out the matter to her own satisfaction before they should proceed.
+
+"Stella, I believe you're right, after all," she said. "Now I'll tell
+you what we'll do: we'll go to one more place, and if it's a nice lady,
+we'll ask her what she thinks about it, for I'd like the advice of a
+grown-up."
+
+This seemed a fair proposition, and the three wandered in at the very
+place where they had been sitting on the stone.
+
+With renewed courage, they rang the door bell. It was Marjorie's turn
+to speak, and the words were on the tip of her tongue. Being somewhat
+excited, she began her speech as the door began to open.
+
+"Don't you want to buy some pennyroyal extract?" she said rapidly;
+"it's perfectly fine for mosquitoes, measles, and burns, and scarlet
+fever! It isn't worth a cent a quart, but we sell it for fifty cents a
+bottle, if you give the bottles back. But if you don't think it's right
+for us to sell it, we won't."
+
+Marjorie would not have been quite so mixed up in her speech but for
+the fact that after she was fairly started upon it, she raised her eyes
+to the person she was addressing, and instead of a kind and sweet-faced
+lady she beheld a very large, burly, and red-faced gentleman.
+
+Not wishing to appear embarrassed, she floundered on with her speech,
+though in reality she hardly knew what she was saying.
+
+"Well, upon my soul!" exclaimed the red-faced gentleman, in a loud,
+deep voice, "here's a pretty kettle of fish. Young ladies peddling
+extract at decent people's houses!" He glared at the girls with a
+ferocious expression, and then went on, in even louder tones: "What do
+you MEAN by such doings? Have you a license? Don't you know that people
+who sell goods without a license must be arrested? I've a notion to
+clap every one of you in jail!"
+
+As might have been expected, Stella began to cry, while Midge and Molly
+gazed at the red-faced old man as if fascinated. They wanted to run
+away, but something in his look held them there; and, anyway, they
+couldn't go and leave Stella, who had dropped in a little heap on the
+floor of the piazza and hidden her face in her arms, while convulsive
+sobs shook her slender little frame.
+
+At sight of Stella's tears, a sudden and wonderful change seemed to
+come over the old gentleman. His ferocious expression gave way to an
+anxious smile, and, stooping, he picked Stella up in his arms, saying:
+"There, there, baby! don't be frightened; that was only my joking. Why,
+bless your heart, I wasn't a mite in earnest. There, there, now, don't
+cry; I'll buy all your extract,--every single drop,--and pay any price
+you want; and I'll give you back all the bottles, and all the baskets,
+and all the extract, too, if you want it, and some lovely peaches into
+the bargain! There, brace up now, and forgive your old Uncle Bill for
+teasing you so! Jail, indeed! I'll take you into the house instead, and
+find some plum-cake for you!"
+
+Carrying Stella in his big, strong arms, the strange old gentleman
+ushered Midge and Molly into the house and made straight for the
+dining-room.
+
+"Folks all gone away," he went on, still in his gruff, deep tones, but
+somehow they now sounded very kind; "gone away for an all-day picnic,
+and left me alone to shift for myself. Jolly glad to have
+company--jolly glad to entertain you. Here's peaches, here's cake. Have
+a glass of milk?"
+
+The old man bustled around and seemed so anxious to dispel the
+unpleasant impression he had made at first that Molly and Midge met him
+halfway, and beamed happily as they accepted the pleasant refreshments
+he set out.
+
+"Fall to, fall to," he said, rubbing his big hands together, as he
+watched the children do justice to the feast.
+
+The girls suddenly discovered that they were both tired and hungry, and
+the old gentleman's hospitality put them in a much pleasanter frame of
+mind.
+
+"Now, what's all this about pineapple extract?" he inquired. "I didn't
+half get the hang of it, and I was only joking you when you all seemed
+to get scared to death."
+
+So Marjorie told him the whole story from the beginning and asked his
+opinion as to the wisdom of the plan.
+
+The old man's eyes twinkled. "I've nothing to say about that," he
+replied, "but I'll tell you what I'll do: I'll buy your whole stock of
+pennyroyal tea,--or whatever it is,--and I'll pay you ten dollars for
+the lot. It isn't a question of what the stuff is worth in itself, but
+a question of its value to me; and I'll rate that at ten dollars, and
+here's your money. You can spend it yourselves, or give it to your poor
+people, whichever you like."
+
+"Of course we'll give it to the Dunns," declared Marjorie, "that is, if
+we take it, but I'm not sure that we ought to take it."
+
+"Go 'long," cried the old man; "take it? Of course you'll take it! and
+give those children a feast or something. I know you, little Miss Curly
+Head, you're Steve Sherwood's niece, aren't you?"
+
+"Yes," said Marjorie; "do you know Uncle Steve?"
+
+"Know him? I should say I did! You just tell your Uncle Steve that old
+Bill Wallingford wanted to make a contribution to charity and he took
+this way! Now, little ladies, if you think you've enough for one day,
+nothing will give me greater pleasure than to hitch up and take you
+home."
+
+The girls were glad to accept this invitation, for they had walked
+nearly three miles in all, with their heavy baskets; and much of the
+time with heavy hearts, which are a great hindrance to pedestrians.
+
+So old Uncle Bill, as he instructed the children to call him, harnessed
+a pair of horses and drove the three young business women back to their
+respective homes.
+
+"Well, Marjorie Maynard, where HAVE you been?" exclaimed Grandma, as
+Midge made her appearance.
+
+And, then, without further delay, Marjorie told the whole story.
+
+Uncle Steve lay back in his chair and roared with laughter, but Grandma
+Sherwood was not entirely amused.
+
+"What WILL you do next, Marjorie?" she cried. "Didn't you know, child,
+that it is not becoming for a Maynard to go around the streets peddling
+things?"
+
+"Why not, Grandma?" asked Marjorie, to whom it had never occurred there
+could be any objection to the occupation. Her only doubt had been as to
+the price they ought to ask for their goods.
+
+"I'm not sure that I can make you understand," said Grandma, "and it
+isn't really necessary that you should, at present. But never again
+must you go out selling things to strangers."
+
+"But we sold things for the Dunns at the bazaar," argued Marjorie.
+
+"You can't understand the difference, my dear, so don't try. Just obey
+Grandma and don't ever undertake such a big enterprise as that without
+asking me beforehand. Why, I'm ASHAMED that you should have gone to the
+Clarkes' and the Fosters' and the Eliots' on such an errand! Really,
+Marjorie, you ought to have known better."
+
+"But, Grandma, I thought you would be pleased, and it would make you a
+happy surprise."
+
+"I am surprised, but not at all pleased. However, Mopsy, it wasn't
+wilful wrong on your part; it was only one of those absurd mistakes
+that you seem to be continually making."
+
+"You showed a pretty good business instinct, Midget," said her uncle;
+"if you were a boy I'd expect you to grow up to be one of the Kings of
+Finance. But, after this, when you're inclined to start a large
+business enterprise, invite me to go in with you as partner."
+
+"I will, Uncle Steve; but, anyway, we have ten dollars and seventy-five
+cents from our extract, and I don't think that's so bad."
+
+"Indeed, it isn't," said Uncle Steve, his eyes twinkling; "whoever can
+get money for charity out of old Bill Wallingford is, indeed, pretty
+clever! I think, Grandma, that since Midge has earned this herself, she
+and the other girls ought to have the pleasure of spending it for the
+Dunns, in any way they choose."
+
+Grandma agreed with Uncle Steve in this matter, and the result was that
+the next day he took the three girls to town to spend their hard-earned
+money.
+
+It was always fun to go anywhere with Uncle Steve, and this occasion
+was a particularly joyful one, for it combined the elements of a
+charitable excursion and a holiday beside.
+
+They drove first to a large shop, where they bought some clothes for
+the Dunns.
+
+The girls thought that a few pretty garments, as well as useful ones,
+would be the nicest way to use their money. So they bought pretty straw
+hats and cambric dresses for the children, and a blue worsted shawl for
+Mrs. Dunn, and a little white cap for the baby.
+
+"I don't suppose these things are so awful necessary," Midget confided
+to Uncle Steve, "but it will be such fun to see how glad they'll be to
+get them." Molly, who was more practical, advised some aprons and shoes
+and stockings, while Stella's preference was for toys.
+
+"They don't need so many clothes in summer time," she said, "and
+something to amuse them will make them forget how hot it is."
+
+It was wonderful how long that ten dollars lasted, and how many things
+it bought! Marjorie lost count of their expenditures, but every time
+she asked Uncle Steve if there was any money left, he answered, "Oh,
+yes, quite a bit more," and so they bought and bought, until the
+carriage was overflowing with bundles.
+
+At last, Marjorie said: "Now, I'm sure the money is all gone, and I do
+believe. Uncle Steve, you've been adding some to it; but there are two
+more things I do want to buy most awfully--and they're both pink."
+
+"I'd hate to have two pink things left out," declared Uncle Steve, "and
+I'm sure there's just money enough left for the two. What are they,
+Mopsy?"
+
+"Well, one is a pink parasol for that Elegant Ella. Not a silk one, you
+know, Uncle, but a sateen one, with a little ruffle around it, and a
+white handle. She'd be so delighted, she'd just go crazy!"
+
+"Let's send her crazy, then, by all means. Where do you purchase these
+sateen affairs?"
+
+"Oh, at any dry-goods shop. We'll pick one out."
+
+Into a large department store the girls went, and soon found a parasol,
+which, though inexpensive, was as dainty and pretty as the
+higher-priced silk ones. They already had a gayly-dressed doll for
+Hoopy Topsy, and toys for the little children.
+
+"Now, what's the other pink thing, Midget?" asked Uncle Steve, as they
+all piled into the carriage again.
+
+"Don't laugh, Uncle, but you see, it's such an awfully hot day and I
+really think it would comfort them to have--"
+
+"A pink fan apiece, all 'round?"
+
+"No, Uncle, not that at all; something much cooler than that. A can of
+pink ice cream!"
+
+"Just the thing, Mops! How did you ever come to think of it? We'll take
+it right along with us, and after we've bestowed all this load of
+luggage on the unsuspecting Dunns, we'll come back here and get another
+can of ice cream for ourselves; and we'll take it home to a nice,
+little green porch I know of, and there we'll all rest after our
+labors, and regale ourselves."
+
+This plan met with great favor in the eyes of the three young people
+most concerned, and Uncle Steve drove to the caterer's, where he bought
+a good-sized can of the cold comfort to add to their charitable load.
+
+And maybe the Dunns weren't pleased with their gifts!
+
+The tears stood in Mrs. Dunn's eyes as she thanked Marjorie and the
+other girls over and over for their thoughtful kindness. The Dunns were
+often accounted shiftless, but the poor woman found it difficult to
+take care of her growing family and by her industry provide for their
+support.
+
+Nor had she much help from the oldest daughter. The Elegant Ella was,
+by nature, self-centred and vain; and though a good-natured little
+girl, she was not very dependable in the household.
+
+But she was enormously pleased with her pink parasol, and after
+enthusiastic thanks to the donors, she raised it, and holding it over
+her head at a coquettish angle, she walked away to a broken-down rustic
+seat under a tree, and, posing herself in what she felt sure was a
+graceful attitude, proceeded to sit there and enjoy her welcome gift.
+
+But when, last of all, the can of ice cream was presented, the joy of
+the Dunn children found vociferous expression. Hoopsy Topsy turned
+somersaults to show her delight, while Dibbs yelled for very glee.
+Carefully putting down her parasol, and laying it aside, the Elegant
+Ella sauntered over to where the family were gathered round the
+wonderful can. "Don't be in such haste," she said, reprovingly, to the
+boisterous children, "sit down quietly, and I will arrange that the ice
+cream shall be served properly."
+
+This was too much for the amused observers in the carriage, and,
+picking up the reins, Uncle Steve, with a hasty good-by, drove away.
+
+The girls leaned out of the carriage to get a last glimpse of the
+Elegant Ella, and saw her still trying to quell the noisy impatience of
+the smaller children, but apparently with little success.
+
+"Now our duty's done, and well done," said Uncle Steve, gayly; "and now
+we'll go for our justly-earned reward. You chickadees may each select
+your favorite flavor of ice cream and then we'll get a goodly portion
+of each, with a fair share thrown in for Grandma and myself."
+
+The result was a very large-sized wooden tub, which they managed to
+stow away in the carriage somehow, and then they drove rapidly homeward
+that they might enjoy their little feast in Marjorie's porch.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE OLD WELL
+
+
+During August the weather became excessively hot. Grandma Sherwood
+managed to keep the house cool by careful adjustment of awnings,
+blinds, and screens, but out-of-doors it was stifling.
+
+Midge and Molly did not mind the heat much, and played out of doors all
+day, but Stella wilted under the sun's direct rays, and usually her
+mother kept her indoors until the late afternoon.
+
+But one day the intense heat became almost too much even for the other
+two little girls. They had been romping in the barn, and finally sat
+down in the hay, very red-faced and warm.
+
+"What can we do," said Molly, "to get cooler?"
+
+"Let's go down by the river," said Marjorie; "it must be cooler by the
+water."
+
+"Not a bit of it. The sun's too bright down there. Let's walk in the
+woods."
+
+"The woods are so hot; there isn't a bit of breeze in there."
+
+In sheer idleness of spirit the girls got up and wandered aimlessly
+about. Going down through the garden and across the chicken-yard, they
+paused a moment by the old well to get a drink.
+
+As they turned the windlass and drew up a full bucket of water, while
+the empty one went down, Molly was seized with an inspiration.
+
+"Mopsy Midget!" she exclaimed. "I'll tell you the very thing! Let's go
+down the well, and get cooled off!"
+
+"How can we?" said Marjorie, who was quite ready to go, but couldn't
+see her way clear as to the means of transportation.
+
+"Why, as easy as anything! You go down in one bucket, and I'll go down
+in the other."
+
+"We can't get in these buckets."
+
+"Of course not, goosey; but we can get our feet in, and then stand up,
+and hold on by the chain."
+
+"We can't get our feet in flat, the buckets aren't wide enough." As she
+spoke, Marjorie stood on one foot and examined the sole of her other
+shoe, which was certainly longer than the diameter of the bucket.
+
+"Oh, don't fuss so! We can stand on our toes a little bit. Come
+on--I'll go first."
+
+"All right," and Marjorie began to enter into the spirit of the thing;
+"there can't be any danger, because Carter said the water was low in
+the well."
+
+"Yes, all the wells are low just now--it's such dry weather. But,
+anyway, we won't go down as far as the water. Now listen: I'll get in
+this bucket and start down. You pull the other one up, and when you get
+it up here, pour out the water and get in yourself, and then come on
+down. But don't let my bucket go all the way down, because I don't want
+to go into the water. Put a stick through the chain when I holler up
+for you to do so."
+
+"All right; hop in, it will be lots of fun, and we'll surely get cooled
+off."
+
+So, while the bucket stood on the flat stones of the well-curb, Molly
+stepped in and wound her thin little arms around the chain.
+
+"Push me off," she said to Marjorie, "and hang on to the other side of
+the chain so I won't go too fast."
+
+"Yes, but who's going to push me off when I go down?"
+
+"Oh, you can wriggle yourself off. Here, don't push me, I'll push off
+myself and show you how."
+
+Grasping the other chain and partly supporting herself by that means,
+Molly, with her feet in the bucket, wriggled and pushed until the
+bucket went off the edge of the curb and began to slide down the well.
+The other bucket came up from under the water with a splash, and as
+both girls held the upcoming chain, Molly did not go down too fast.
+
+"It's great!" she exclaimed, as she went slowly down. "It's perfectly
+lovely! It's as cold as an ice-box and the stones are all green and
+mossy. Look out now, Mops, I'm coming to the other bucket."
+
+The two buckets bumped together, and Molly grabbed at the other one as
+it passed.
+
+"Now, look out, Mopsy," she said, "I'm going to let go of this other
+bucket and then I'll only have my own chain to hang on to, so you
+manage it right and stick the stick through the chain when I tell you
+to."
+
+The plan worked pretty well, except that it was not easy for Marjorie
+to keep the water-filled bucket back to balance Molly's weight. It
+required all her strength to pull on the upcoming chain, and she was
+glad, indeed, when Molly told her to push the stick in.
+
+A stout stick pushed through a link of chain held the windlass firmly,
+and as Marjorie lifted the bucket full of water up on to the curb, rash
+little Molly swung daringly deep in the well below.
+
+"It's awfully queer," she called up, "and I don't like it very much so
+low down. Gracious, Marjorie, you spilled that water all over me!"
+
+For Marjorie had thoughtlessly emptied the water from the bucket back
+into the well instead of pouring it out on the ground, and though
+Molly's bucket swung to one side of the well, yet the child was pretty
+well splashed with the falling water.
+
+But undaunted by trifles of that sort, Molly proceeded gayly to give
+her orders. "Now, Midget," she went on, "if your bucket's empty, set it
+near the edge, and get in and come on down."
+
+Though not as absolutely reckless as Molly, Midget was daring enough,
+and, placing the empty bucket on the very edge of the curb, she put her
+feet in, and, standing on her toes with her heels against the side of
+the bucket, she wound her arms about the chain as Molly had done, and
+twisted about until the bucket fell off the edge.
+
+Had the girls been more nearly of equal weight, their plan would have
+worked better; but as Marjorie was so much heavier than Molly, the laws
+of gravitation claimed her, and she went swiftly down.
+
+The instant that she started, Molly realized this, and her quick wits
+told her that, unless stopped, Marjorie's bucket would dive deep into
+the water.
+
+It was a critical situation, and had it not been for Molly's presence
+of mind a tragedy might have resulted. As it was, she bravely grasped
+at Marjorie as she passed her; and with a sudden bump, as the two
+buckets hit together and then fell apart, Molly clutched at Marjorie,
+and the buckets paused side by side, while the girls shivered and
+shook, partly with fear and partly with fun.
+
+"What are we going to do?" said Molly. "If I let go of you, you'll go
+smash into the water, and I'll fly up to the top!"
+
+"Keep hold of me, then," replied Midget, who had a wonderful power of
+adapting herself to a situation.
+
+And so the two girls, each with one hand grasping a bucket chain and
+their other hands tightly clasped, stood face to face half-way down the
+old well.
+
+"I don't think this is such an awfully nice place," said Marjorie,
+looking round at the slimy green walls which shone wet in the
+semi-darkness.
+
+"Well, it's cool," retorted Molly, who was shivering in her wet
+clothing.
+
+"Of course it's cool, but my feet ache, standing on my toes so long. I
+wonder if I couldn't sit down on the side of the bucket."
+
+"Don't try!" exclaimed Molly, in alarm. "You'll keel over and upset us
+both into the water!"
+
+"You said the water wasn't deep; perhaps it's only up to our knees;
+that wouldn't hurt us."
+
+"Yes, and perhaps it's over our heads! I don't know how deep it is, I'm
+sure; but I must say it looks deep."
+
+The girls peered downward and saw only a black, shining surface, with a
+shadowy reflection of themselves.
+
+"Well, I've had enough of it," said Marjorie; "now, how are we going to
+get back again?"
+
+"I don't know," said Molly, slowly, as if the idea had just occurred to
+her; "honest, Marjorie, I DON'T know."
+
+Marjorie looked dismayed, and, indeed, so did Molly herself.
+
+"You see," Molly went on, feeling as if she were responsible for the
+situation, "I forgot you're so much heavier than I am. You know the two
+buckets balance each other."
+
+"Not when one is full and one is empty."
+
+"No; but THEN there is somebody at the top to pull them up. If Carter
+or anybody was up there, he could pull one of us up."
+
+"Yes, and let the other one go down in the water!"
+
+"No; when one of us was nearly up, he could put the stick in the chain,
+like you did."
+
+"Well, Carter isn't up there; I wish he was. We might scream for him,
+but, of course, he couldn't hear us from way down here."
+
+"Let's try, anyway."
+
+Both the girls screamed with all their might, separately and together,
+but they soon realized that their muffled voices scarcely reached the
+top of the well, let alone sounding across the fields to Carter.
+
+"This is mischief, for sure," said Marjorie; "and Grandma won't like it
+a bit. I promised her faithfully I would try to keep out of mischief."
+The little girl's face was very troubled, for she had truly meant to be
+good and not indulge in naughty pranks.
+
+"You didn't mean it for mischief," said Molly, consolingly; "I'm sure
+_I_ didn't."
+
+"Of course I didn't; but somehow I never seem to know what IS mischief
+until I get into it. But, oh, Molly, I can't stand on my toes any
+longer. If my feet were a little shorter, or the bucket a little wider,
+I could stand down flat."
+
+"I don't seem to mind tiptoeing," said Molly; "can't you take off your
+shoes? Then, perhaps, you could stand flat."
+
+"Perhaps I could," said Marjorie, doubtfully, "but I know I'll upset
+doing it."
+
+But with Molly's help, and both holding carefully by the chains,
+Marjorie managed to get her shoes off, and tied them to the handle of
+the bucket by their strings.
+
+"Well, that's a comfort," she exclaimed, as she stood firmly on the
+soles of her stockinged feet.
+
+But as the minutes passed away, the girls rapidly became aware of the
+discomforts of their position. Their hands became bruised with the
+chains, their bodies grew stiff and cramped, and the damp, cold
+atmosphere seemed almost to stop the blood in their veins.
+
+The two little white faces looked at each other in the glimmering
+twilight of the well, and all the fun faded out of the escapade, and
+despair gradually crept over them.
+
+Two big tears rolled down Marjorie's cheeks as she said:
+
+"I'm not going to cry, Molly, because there's no use of it; but, oh,
+Molly, what ARE we going to do?"
+
+"I don't know, Mops. There isn't a thing to do but to stay here until
+Carter or somebody happens to come to draw water. You won't faint or
+anything, will you?"
+
+"I don't know," said Marjorie, almost smiling at Molly's alarmed
+expression; "I don't believe I will, because I don't know how to faint.
+If I knew how I s'pose I would, for I don't think I can stay like this
+much longer."
+
+Marjorie's head began to sway back and forth, and Molly, thoroughly
+frightened, seized her by the shoulder and shook her vigorously.
+
+"Marjorie Maynard!" she exclaimed. "If you faint and tumble out of this
+bucket, I'll never speak to you again as long as I live!"
+
+Her excited tones roused Marjorie from the faintness that was beginning
+to steal over her.
+
+"I don't want to fall into the water," she said, shuddering.
+
+"Well, then, brace up and behave yourself! Stand up straight in your
+bucket and hang on to the chains. Don't look down; that was what made
+you feel faint. We're here and we must make the best of it. We can't
+get out until somebody comes, so let's be plucky and do the best we
+can."
+
+"Pooh! Molly Moss! I guess I can be as brave as you can! I'm not going
+to faint, or tumble into the water, or do anything silly! Now that I
+don't have to stand on tiptoe, I could stand here all day,--and
+Carter's bound to come for water for the cows."
+
+Then what did those two ridiculous girls do but bravely try to outdo
+each other in their exhibition of pluck!
+
+Neither complained again of weariness or cramped muscles, and finally
+Marjorie proposed that they tell each other stories to make the time
+pass, pleasantly. The stories were not very interesting affairs, for
+both speaker and listener were really suffering from pain and chill.
+
+At last Molly said: "Suppose we scream some more. If Carter should be
+passing by, you know, he might hear us."
+
+Marjorie was quite willing to adopt this plan, and after that they
+screamed at intervals on the chance of being heard.
+
+Two mortal hours the girls hung in the well before help came, and then
+Carter, passing near the well, heard what seemed to him like a faint
+and muffled cry.
+
+Scarcely thinking it could be the children, he paused and listened.
+
+Again he heard a vague sound, which seemed as if it might be his own
+name called in despairing tones.
+
+Guided more by instinct than reason, he went and looked over the
+well-curb, and was greeted with two jubilant voices, which called up to
+him:
+
+"Oh, Carter, Carter, pull us up! We're down the well, and we're nearly
+dead!"
+
+"Oh, my! oh, my!" groaned Carter. "Are ye drowned?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+AN EVENTFUL DAY
+
+
+"Not a bit," chirped Midget, who was determined to be plucky to the
+last; "we just came down here to get cooled off, and somehow we can't
+get up."
+
+"Well, if ye aren't a team of Terrors!" exclaimed the exasperated
+Carter. "I've a good mind to let ye stay down there and GET cooled off!"
+
+Carter was really frightened, but Marjorie's voice was so reassuring
+that his mood turned to anger at the children's foolishness. As he
+looked into the situation, however, and saw the girls clasping each
+other as they hung half-way down the well, his alarm returned.
+
+"How CAN I get ye up, ye bad babies! Whichever one I pull up, the other
+one must go down and drown!"
+
+The reaction was beginning to tell upon Molly, and her bravery was
+oozing out at her fingerends.
+
+"Let me down," she wailed, brokenly; "it was all my fault. Save
+Marjorie and let me go!"
+
+"No, indeed," cried Marjorie, gripping Molly closer; "I'm the heaviest.
+Let me go down and pull Molly up, Carter."
+
+"Quit your nonsense, Miss Midget, and let me think a minute. For the
+life of me I don't know how to get ye out of this scrape, but I must
+manage it somehow."
+
+"It's easy enough, Carter," cried Marjorie, whose gayety had returned
+now that a rescue seemed probable. "You pull me up first and let Molly
+go down, but not as far as the water,--and when I get nearly up,
+there's a stick through the chain that will stop me. Then I'll get out,
+and you can pull Molly up after."
+
+But Molly's nerve was almost gone. "Don't leave me," she cried,
+clutching frantically at Midge. "Don't send me down alone, I'm so
+frightened!"
+
+"But, Molly dear, it's the only way! I'd just as leave let you go up
+first, but I'm so heavy I'd drop ker-splash! and you'd go flying up!"
+But Molly wouldn't agree to go down, and she began to cry hysterically.
+So Carter settled the question.
+
+"It's no use, Miss Midget," he called down, in a stern voice, "to try
+to send Miss Molly down. She's in no state to take care of herself, and
+you are. Now be a brave little lady and obey my word and I'll save you
+both; but if you don't mind me exactly, ye'll be drowned for sure!"
+
+Marjorie was pretty well scared at Molly's collapse, and she agreed to
+do whatever Carter commanded.
+
+"All right, then," said Carter. "Do you two let go of each other and
+each hang tightly to her own chain, and push your buckets apart as far
+as you can, but don't hit the sides of the well."
+
+Somewhat inspirited at the thought of rescue, Molly took a firm hold of
+her chain and pushed herself loose from Marjorie. Marjorie had faith in
+Carter's promises, but she felt a sinking at her heart as she began to
+descend the dark well and came nearer and nearer to the black water.
+
+With great care, Carter drew up the bucketful of Molly, and when
+Midge's bucket was still at a safe distance above the water, he stayed
+the chain with a stick, and pulled Molly the rest of the way up merely
+by his own strong muscles.
+
+He safely landed the bucket on the curb, and picking the exhausted
+child out, laid her on the grass, without a word.
+
+He then went back to the well and spoke very decidedly to Marjorie.
+
+"Miss Midget," he said, "now I'll pull ye up, but ye must do your share
+of helpin'. When ye reach the other bucket, shove it aside, that it
+doesn't hit ye. Stand straight and hold tight, now!"
+
+Marjorie did as she was told, and, slowly but steadily, Carter pulled
+her up. At last she, too, was once again out in the sunlight, and she
+and Molly sat on the grass and looked at each other, uncertain whether
+to laugh or cry.
+
+"It was a narrow escape," said Carter, shaking his head at them, "and
+what puts such wicked mischief into your heads, I don't know. But it's
+not for me to be reprovin' ye. March into the house now, and tell your
+Grandma about it, and see what she says."
+
+"I'll go in," said Marjorie, "but if you'd rather, Molly, you can go
+home. I'll tell Grandma about it, myself."
+
+"No," said Molly, "it was my fault. I coaxed you into it, and I'm going
+to tell your grandma about it."
+
+"I was just as much to blame as you, for I didn't have to go down the
+well just because you coaxed me. But I'll be glad if you will come with
+me, for, of course, we can explain it better together."
+
+Hand in hand the two culprits walked into the room where Mrs. Sherwood
+sat sewing.
+
+They were a sorry-looking pair, indeed! Their pretty gingham frocks
+were limp and stringy with dampness, and soiled and stained from
+contact with the buckets and the moss-grown sides of the well.
+
+Marjorie had been unable to get her shoes on over her damp, torn
+stockings, and as Molly's head had been drenched with water, she
+presented a forlorn appearance.
+
+Grandma Sherwood looked at them with an expression, not so much of
+surprise, as amused exasperation.
+
+"I'm glad you weren't killed," she said, "but you look as if you had
+come very near it. What have you been up to now?"
+
+"We haven't been up at all, Grandma," said Marjorie, cheerfully, "we've
+been down--in the well."
+
+"In the well!" exclaimed Mrs. Sherwood, her face blank with surprise.
+"Marjorie, what can I do with you? I shall have to send you home before
+your vacation is over, unless you stop getting into mischief! Did you
+fall down?"
+
+"It was my fault, Mrs. Sherwood," said Molly; "truly, I didn't mean
+mischief, but it was such a hot day and I thought it would be cool down
+the well--"
+
+"And it was," interrupted Marjorie; "and we had a pretty good
+time,--only I was too heavy and I went down whizz--zip! And Molly came
+flying up, and if we hadn't caught each other, I s'pect we'd both have
+been drowned!"
+
+Grandma Sherwood began to realize that there had been not only mischief
+but real danger in this latest escapade.
+
+"Molly," she said, "you may go home, and tell your mother about it, and
+I will talk it over with Marjorie. I think you were equally to blame,
+for, though Molly proposed the plan, Marjorie ought not to have
+consented."
+
+So Molly went home and Mrs. Sherwood had a long and serious talk with
+her little granddaughter. She did not scold,--Grandma Sherwood never
+scolded,--but she explained to Marjorie that, unless she curbed her
+impulsive inclinations to do reckless things, she would certainly make
+serious trouble for herself and her friends.
+
+"It doesn't matter at all," she said, "who proposes the mischief. You
+do just as wrong in consenting to take part, as if you invented the
+plan yourself."
+
+"But, Grandma, truly I didn't see any harm in going down the well to
+get cooled off. The buckets are big and the chains are very strong, and
+I thought we would just go down slowly and swing around awhile and pull
+ourselves up again."
+
+"Oh, Midget, will you never learn commonsense? I know you're only
+twelve, but it seems as if you ought to know better than to do such
+absurd things."
+
+"It does seem so, Grandma, and I'll try to learn. Perhaps if you punish
+me for this I'll grow better. Punishment most always does me good."
+
+Grandma Sherwood suppressed a smile.
+
+"I always punish you, Midget, when you do wrong through forgetfulness,
+because I think punishment helps your memory. But I don't think you'll
+ever FORGET that you're not to go down the well again. But next time it
+will be some other dreadful thing; something totally different, and
+something that it would never occur to me to warn you against. However,
+I do want you to remember not to do things that endanger your life, so
+I think I shall punish you for this morning's performance. You may
+remain in your own room all the afternoon,--at least, until Uncle Steve
+comes home."
+
+Grandma's command was not so much for the sake of punishing Marjorie as
+the thought that the child really needed a quiet afternoon of rest
+after her experience of the morning.
+
+Marjorie sighed a little, but accepted her fate, and after dinner went
+to her room to spend the afternoon. It was not a great hardship, for
+there was plenty of entertainment there, and had it been a rainy day,
+she could have occupied herself happily. But the knowledge that she was
+there as a punishment weighed on her mind, and depressed her spirits;
+and she wandered idly about the room, unable to take an interest in her
+books or toys.
+
+Grandma looked in from time to time and gave her an encouraging smile
+and a few words of comfort; for, though intending to be strict with
+Midget, like all other grandmas, Mrs. Sherwood greatly preferred to be
+indulgent.
+
+After a while Molly came over, and, as she seemed so penitent and full
+of remorse, Mrs. Sherwood told her that, if she chose, she might go up
+to Marjorie's room and share her imprisonment.
+
+Nothing loath, Molly trotted upstairs, and the lonesome Marjorie was
+glad, indeed, to see her. After a short discussion of the affair of the
+morning, Marjorie said, with her usual inclination to keep away from
+disagreeable subjects: "Don't let's talk about it any more. Let's have
+some good fun up here. I'm so glad Grandma let you come up."
+
+"All right," said Molly, "what shall we do?"
+
+"Let's make paper dresses. Here's a stack of newspapers Grandma was
+going to throw away, and I saved them."
+
+"Goody! What fun! Shall we pin or sew?"
+
+"We'll pin till the pins give out, and then we'll sew."
+
+"Paper dresses" was a favorite pastime with the children. Usually
+Stella was with them, and they depended a good deal on her taste and
+skill. But to-day they had to manage without her, and so the dresses,
+though fairly well made, were not the fashionable garments Stella
+turned out.
+
+A whole double sheet of newspaper was long enough for a skirt, which,
+in a paper dress, was always down to the floor, like grown-up gowns,
+and usually had a long train. Sometimes they pasted the papers
+together, and sometimes pinned or sewed them, as the mood served.
+
+The waists were often quite elaborate with surplice folds, and puffy
+sleeves, and wide, crushed belts.
+
+So absorbed did they grow in their costumes that the time passed
+rapidly. At last they stood, admiring each other, in their finished
+paper gowns, with paper accessories of fans, hats, and even parasols,
+which were considered great works of art.
+
+"Let's play we're going riding in an automobile," said Molly.
+
+"All right; what shall be the automobile--the bed?"
+
+"No, that isn't high enough. I don't mean a private automobile, I mean
+one of those big touring things where you sit 'way up high."
+
+"Let's get up on top of the wardrobe."
+
+"No, that's too high, and the bureau isn't high enough. Let's get out
+on the roof and hang our feet over."
+
+"No," said Marjorie, decidedly; "that would be getting into mischief;
+and besides, I promised Grandma I wouldn't leave the room. Come on,
+Molly, let's climb up on the wardrobe. There can't be any harm in that,
+and 'twill be lots of fun."
+
+"How can we get up?"
+
+Marjorie looked at the wardrobe and meditated. "Easy enough," she said
+after a moment: "we'll just put a chair on the table and climb up as
+nice as pie!"
+
+The girls worked energetically, yet careful not to tear their paper
+costumes; and removing the things from a strong square table, they
+pushed it up to the wardrobe. On this they set a chair, and Marjorie
+volunteered to go up first, saying that, if it didn't break down with
+her, it surely wouldn't with Molly.
+
+So Molly held the table firmly, while Marjorie climbed up and, though
+it required some scrambling, she finally reached the top of the heavy
+wardrobe, without more than a dozen tears in her paper dress.
+
+"Bring up my parasol, Molly," she said, "I forgot it; and bring some
+papers and the scissors, and we'll make some automobile goggles."
+
+Laden with these things, Molly briskly started to climb up. The light,
+wiry child sprang easily on to the table, and then on to the chair.
+Marjorie lent a helping hand, but just as Molly crawled up to the top
+of the wardrobe, her flying foot kicked the chair over, which in turn
+upset the table.
+
+"Now, you HAVE done it!" said Marjorie. "How are we going to get down?"
+
+"It seems to me," said Molly, grimly, "that we're always getting into
+places where we can't get down, or can't get up, or something."
+
+"Never mind; Jane or somebody will come along soon and set the table up
+again for us."
+
+It really was great fun to play they were on a high motor car seeing
+New York. But after a while the game palled, and their paper dresses
+became torn, and the girls wanted to get down and play something else.
+
+But neither Jane nor any one else happened to come along, and though
+Marjorie called a few times, nobody seemed to be within hearing.
+
+"I should think we could find some way to get down," said Molly. "Can't
+you think of any way, Mops?"
+
+Marjorie considered. To jump was out of the question, as it would
+probably mean a sprained ankle.
+
+"I wish we had a rope ladder," she said, "and, Molly, I do believe we
+can make one. Not a ladder, exactly, but don't you know how people
+sometimes escape from prisons by tying sheets together and letting
+themselves down?"
+
+"Yes, but we haven't any sheets."
+
+"I know it, but we can take our dress skirts. Not the paper ones, but
+our own gingham ones. They're strong, thick stuff, and we can tie them
+together somehow and let ourselves down that way."
+
+Although obliged to work in somewhat cramped quarters, the girls
+managed to take off their dress skirts, and, as they were very full,
+one of them was really sufficient to reach far enough down the side of
+the wardrobe to make a jump possible.
+
+"I'll tell you what," said Marjorie: "let's tie the two together at the
+corners like this, and then put it right across the top of the
+wardrobe, and each of us slide down on opposite sides."
+
+When the full skirts were stretched out to their greatest width and
+tied together by their hems, at what Marjorie called a corner, the
+girls flung the whole affair across the top of the wardrobe, and sure
+enough, the skirts hung down on either side to within four or five feet
+of the floor, which was quite near enough to jump.
+
+So thick and strong was the material, there was really no danger of
+tearing it, and in great glee the girls grasped their life-line and
+half slid, half clambered down.
+
+They came down on the floor with a sudden thump, but in safety. All
+would have been well had they had sense enough to let go of their
+gingham skirts, but, doubled up with laughter, they clung to them, with
+the result that a sudden and unintentional jerk forward brought the
+whole wardrobe over on its face, and it fell crashing to the floor.
+
+Such a racket as it made! It fell upon a small table, whose load of
+vases and bric-a-brac was totally wrecked. It also smashed a chair and
+very nearly hit the bird-cage.
+
+And just at this moment, of all times, Uncle Steve appeared at the door!
+
+Although dismayed at the catastrophe, Uncle Steve couldn't help
+laughing at the astonished faces of the two girls. For, jubilant at the
+success of their descent, the accompanying disaster had been thrust on
+them so suddenly that they scarcely knew what it all meant. And
+costumed as they were, in their little ruffled white petticoats, with
+hats and bodices made of newspaper, the sight was a comical one indeed.
+
+"Marjorie Maynard!" exclaimed Uncle Steve, "you certainly DO beat the
+Dutch, and Molly lends you valuable aid. Would you mind telling me WHY
+you prefer the wardrobe flat on its face instead of in an upright
+position?"
+
+"Oh, Uncle Steve it upset itself, and I'm so sorry!"
+
+"Oh, well, if it upset itself I suppose it did so because it prefers to
+lie that way. Probably it was tired and wanted to rest. Wardrobes are a
+lazy lot, anyway. But do you know, I was stupid enough to think that
+you girls had something to do with its downfall."
+
+"Oh, we did, Uncle Steve," declared Marjorie, and as by this time her
+uncle's arm was around her, and she realized his sympathetic attitude
+in the matter, she rapidly began to tell him all about it.
+
+"We were playing automobile, you see--"
+
+"Oh, well, if it was an automobile accident, it's not at all
+surprising. Was it reckless driving, or did you collide with something?"
+
+"We collided with the table," said Marjorie, laughing; but just then
+Grandma Sherwood appeared, and somehow the look of consternation on her
+face seemed to take all the fun out of the whole affair.
+
+But Uncle Steve stood between Marjorie and a reprimand, and in
+consequence of his comical explanation of the disaster, Mrs. Sherwood
+fell to laughing, and the tragedy became a comedy.
+
+And then, at Uncle Steve's orders, the girls were made tidy, and he
+took them out for a drive, while the long-suffering Carter was called
+in to remove all evidences of the dreadful automobile accident.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+A FAREWELL TEA-PARTY
+
+
+The summer, as all summers will do, came to an end, and at last it was
+the very day before Marjorie was to leave Haslemere and go back to her
+own home.
+
+The three friends were having a farewell tea-party at "Breezy Inn," and
+very sad were the three little faces at the thought of parting.
+
+"And the worst of it is," said Midget, "I can't come again for four
+years, and then I'll be sixteen years old, just think of that!"
+
+"So will I," said Molly; "we'll be almost young ladies. Isn't it
+horrid?"
+
+"At least we won't get into such mischief," said Marjorie, laughing as
+she remembered the scrapes they had been in all summer. "And next year
+it's Kitty's turn to come, and you'll have fun with her here in "Breezy
+Inn," and I won't be here."
+
+At this pathetic announcement, Stella began to cry in earnest, and
+merry Molly tried to cheer the others up.
+
+"Well, we can't help it," she said, "and I suppose, Marjorie, you'll be
+having a good time somewhere else."
+
+"I s'pose so. They were all at the seashore this summer, and Kitty
+wrote to me that she had had a lovely time."
+
+"Maybe she'll trade off with you," said Stella, "and let you come up
+here next summer, while she goes to the seashore again."
+
+"Maybe she will," said Midget, brightening up; "I'd like that, but I
+don't believe Mother will let us. You see, we take regular turns
+spending the summer with Grandma. Baby Rosamond never has been yet, but
+when it's her turn again, she'll be old enough, and so that puts me off
+for four years."
+
+"Don't let's talk about it," said Molly, as she took her eleventh
+ginger-snap from the plate; "we can't help it, and we may as well look
+on the bright side. Let's write letters to each other this winter;
+shall we?"
+
+"Yes, indeed," said Stella; "I'll write you every week, Marjorie, and
+you must write to me, and we'll all send each other Christmas presents,
+and, of course 'Breezy Inn' will be shut up for the winter anyway, I
+suppose."
+
+"I suppose it will," said Marjorie, "and I s'pose it's time for us to
+go now; it's six o'clock."
+
+There was a little choke in her voice as she said this, and a little
+mist in her eyes as she looked for the last time at the familiar
+treasures of "Breezy Inn."
+
+Stella was weeping undisguisedly, and with her wet little mop of a
+handkerchief pressed into her eyes, she could scarcely see her way down
+the ladder.
+
+But Uncle Steve, who came across the fields to meet them, promptly put
+a stop to this state of things.
+
+"That's enough," he said, "of weeps and wails! Away with your
+handkerchiefs and out with your smiles, every one of you! Suppose
+Marjorie IS going away to-morrow, she's going off in a blaze of glory
+and amid shouts of laughter, and she's not going to leave behind any
+such doleful-looking creatures as you two tearful maidens."
+
+Uncle Steve's manner was infectiously cheery, and the girls obeyed him
+in spite of themselves.
+
+And so, when the next morning Uncle Steve drove Marjorie to the
+station, the girls were not allowed to go with her, but were commanded
+to wave gay and laughing good-bys after her until she was out of sight.
+
+And so, all through the winter Marjorie's last recollection of
+Haslemere was of Molly and Stella standing on her own little porch
+waving two handkerchiefs apiece and smiling gayly as they called out:
+
+"Good-by, Marjorie! Good-by, Mopsy Midget! Good-by!"
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Marjorie's Vacation, by Carolyn Wells
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