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diff --git a/old/69602-0.txt b/old/69602-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index aa4a0c7..0000000 --- a/old/69602-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7235 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Riddle Club through the holidays, -by Alice Dale Hardy - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Riddle Club through the holidays - The club and its doings, how the riddles were solved and what the - snowman revealed - -Author: Alice Dale Hardy - -Illustrator: Walter S. Rogers - -Release Date: December 22, 2022 [eBook #69602] - -Language: English - -Produced by: David Edwards, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was - produced from images made available by the HathiTrust - Digital Library.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RIDDLE CLUB THROUGH THE -HOLIDAYS *** - - -[Illustration: “THIS OUGHT TO SAVE US A MILE,” SAID MR. MARLEY. - -_The Riddle Club Through the Holidays._ _Frontispiece_--(_Page 232_)] - - - - - THE RIDDLE CLUB - THROUGH THE - HOLIDAYS - - The Club and Its Doings - How the Riddles Were Solved - And What the Snowman Revealed - - BY - ALICE DALE HARDY - - AUTHOR OF “THE RIDDLE CLUB AT HOME,” “THE RIDDLE CLUB - IN CAMP,” ETC. - - _ILLUSTRATED BY_ - WALTER S. ROGERS - - NEW YORK - GROSSET & DUNLAP - PUBLISHERS - - Made in the United States of America - - - - -THE RIDDLE CLUB BOOKS - -BY ALICE DALE HARDY - - 12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. - - THE RIDDLE CLUB AT HOME - THE RIDDLE CLUB IN CAMP - THE RIDDLE CLUB THROUGH THE HOLIDAYS - - GROSSET & DUNLAP - Publishers : : New York - - COPYRIGHT, 1924, BY - GROSSET & DUNLAP - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I. LOOKING AHEAD 1 - - II. PARTY PLANS 12 - - III. JESS HAS LUCK 21 - - IV. HALLOWE’EN FUN 31 - - V. TABLES TURNED 44 - - VI. POLLY’S PROBLEM 54 - - VII. A POSTPONEMENT 64 - - VIII. MOVING DAY 74 - - IX. THE SECRET IS OUT 84 - - X. IN CAMP AGAIN 94 - - XI. ARTIE’S ADVENTURE 104 - - XII. THE RIDDLE CLUB MEETS 113 - - XIII. FRED WILLIAMSON, BANKER 122 - - XIV. ON POND’S HILL 132 - - XV. DETECTIVE MARGY 141 - - XVI. RIDDLE CHAP 151 - - XVII. LOST TREASURES 161 - - XVIII. A PRACTICAL JOKE 170 - - XIX. THE SPECIAL MEETING 180 - - XX. MERRY CHRISTMAS 190 - - XXI. ANOTHER RACE 199 - - XXII. CAUGHT IN A STORM 209 - - XXIII. MRS. WICKS 219 - - XXIV. HOME AGAIN 229 - - XXV. THE LAST OF THE SNOWMAN 238 - - - - -THE RIDDLE CLUB THROUGH THE HOLIDAYS - - - - -CHAPTER I - -LOOKING AHEAD - - -“I _did_ have ten cents, but I spent it,” explained Ward Larue -carefully. - -Fred Williamson shook the bank he held in his hand till the contents -rattled. - -“What did you spend it for?” he demanded. - -“A magnifying glass,” admitted Ward. “I needed one.” - -“I never saw such a boy for spending money,” complained Fred. “You will -end up in the poorhouse, see if you don’t!” - -“I guess if I paid ten cents in for Riddle Club dues, it wouldn’t save -me from going to the poorhouse,” objected Ward. - -“No, I don’t think it would, either,” said Jess Larue, Ward’s sister. - -Fred gazed at the circle in despair. - -“You don’t any of you have the right idea about these club dues,” he -informed them. “You seem to think I want the money to go off and spend -on myself. There’s no use in having a treasurer, unless you’re willing -to put something in the treasury.” - -“Oh, but, Fred! we are willing,” protested Polly Marley, president of -the Riddle Club. “Of course we’re willing. The only reason I didn’t pay -to-day was because I didn’t have ten cents.” - -“And why didn’t you?” said Fred, for all the world, Ward thought, like -the orators who spoke in River Bend on the Fourth of July. “Why didn’t -you?” - -Polly was not awed by Fred’s rhetoric. She laughed at him. - -“I didn’t have ten cents,” she giggled, “because I loaned it to some -one.” - -“Artie, I suppose,” grumbled Fred. He considered that his position as -treasurer gave him the right to ask any amount of personal questions -when dues were not forthcoming. - -“No-o, it wasn’t Artie,” said Polly, still smiling. - -“But Artie hasn’t paid his dues, either,” declared Fred, fixing that -small boy with a stern eye. “Where’s your ten cents, Artie?” - -Artie Marley, Polly’s brother, wriggled uneasily. - -“Now----” he stammered, “now, I had ten cents. But I haven’t got it -now. I’ll pay you the next meeting, Fred.” - -“What did you do with the dime you had?” asked Fred. - -“I spent it for ink,” said Artie, solemnly. “If I’m going to write a -book, I have to write it in ink, don’t I?” - -Artie Marley was much given to reading books, and now his modest desire -was to write one. - -“I don’t think you need a whole bottle of ink to write a book with,” -said Fred, judiciously. “You could have borrowed your mother’s ink and -saved the ten cents.” - -Artie gazed at him with respect. He had had the same thought himself, -he declared. - -“But when I took the bottle from Mother’s desk, I spilled most of it on -the stairs,” he confided. “And so I had to take half of the new ink I -bought to fill her bottle up so she wouldn’t miss it.” - -“Well, the next time,” Fred instructed him, “you want to buy something, -you pay your dues first. You ought to have some sense of--of--some -sense of duty!” he concluded magnificently. - -“I paid my dues!” exclaimed Fred’s twin sister, Margy. “Didn’t I, Fred?” - -The air with which Margy Williamson said this was too much for Jess. -In spite of Polly’s warning tug at her dress she spoke “right out in -meeting,” as her grandmother would have said. - -“The reason you paid your dues, Margy Williamson,” said Jess, clearly, -“is because you borrowed the money from Polly. That’s why she couldn’t -pay hers.” - -Margy flushed and Fred frowned. - -“I liked lending it to Margy,” said Polly, hurriedly. “If I’d kept it, -likely as not I would have spent it. Margy’s going to pay me back next -week.” - -“What I don’t understand,” announced Fred, still frowning, “is why this -club is so hard up. We paid dues before we went to camp, and though I -won’t say you fell over yourselves to pay, I didn’t have the trouble -I’m having now.” - -And Fred wiped his forehead with his handkerchief, as though he found -his duties almost too much for him. - -“Well, we didn’t pay dues all summer,” said Polly, slowly, “and I think -we forgot--If you get out of a habit, you know, it’s hard to pick it up -again. Didn’t any one pay this time, Fred?” - -“Only Margy,” said Fred, gloomily, “and she borrowed the money.” - -“Didn’t you?” struck in Artie, quickly. - -“Well,” said Fred, lamely, “I had to contribute to the post-card fund -in school. That took my dime.” - -Ward and Artie fell into each other’s arms and tumbled over on the -floor. It was their way of expressing delight. - -“All the same,” declared Fred, raising his voice above the laughter -that greeted his confession, “the next time this club meets, no one is -going to be allowed to leave this room without paying their dues.” - -Polly Marley was a tactful girl, and she knew when to change a subject. - -“We haven’t decided about Hallowe’en,” she reminded them. - -“That’s so,” agreed Fred, with relief. “Are we going to have a party?” - -“Mother doesn’t want Ward and me to dress up and just go around,” said -Jess. “So I think we’d better have a party--just us, you know. We don’t -need any one else.” - -The six members of the Riddle Club smiled at one another. They had -the best of good times when “just us” and no outsiders were invited. -Weren’t they back from a summer in camp where they proved their theory -once more? Their tanned faces and bright eyes showed what a healthful -summer it had been and their good spirits spoke for their happiness. - -“It’s our turn to have a party,” said Margy Williamson, eagerly. “Polly -and Artie had us Hallowe’en last year. We can have the kitchen at our -house and do anything we please.” - -“I thought you’d come to our house; but it’s all right that way,” said -Polly. “Shall we dress up?” - -“Oh, I don’t think it’s one bit of fun unless we dress up and wear -false-faces,” declared Margy. - -“We’ll know each other--can’t help it, with only six of us,” demurred -Fred. - -“That’s all right--we can pretend to be fooled,” said Jess Larue. - -So it was decided to wear costumes and false-faces. - -“Is the window open?” asked Polly, suddenly, with a shiver. - -“Closed,” reported Fred. “Gee! there is a blast coming from somewhere.” - -“The door’s swung open,” said Artie, rising to close it. - -“I think it’s awfully cold up here,” said Margy, with customary -frankness. - -She wore a sweater, and so did the other girls, but there was no -denying the clubroom in the loft of the barn was chilly. - -“I’ve just thought!” went on Margy. “What shall we do when it’s -winter? We’ll freeze to death up here.” - -Jess looked distressed. The room was in her father’s barn, and she had -never considered the advent of cold weather. The Riddle Club had been -formed in the spring, and the meetings had been held--until the trip to -camp--very comfortably in the little room. - -“That’s so,” said Polly now. “We can’t meet here in winter. I don’t see -what we are going to do.” - -“It won’t be winter for perfect ages,” declared the hopeful Jess. -“To-day is what Dora calls an ‘odd day.’ She was saying this morning -that we’ll probably have warm weather again. There’s Indian summer--we -haven’t had that yet. I don’t think it’s really cold up here--do you?” - -“Not really cold,” answered Polly. “But I’m thinking of December. It -will be cold then.” - -“How did the horses and cows keep warm when they stayed in this barn?” -questioned Artie. “Were they cold, too?” - -“Of course not!” retorted Ward. “Horses and cows are never cold. They -like cold weather.” - -“They keep each other warm,” said Fred, remembering something he had -heard. “The animal heat in their bodies keeps them warm. Besides, -farmers put blankets on their horses in the winter time.” - -“We could wrap up in blankets,” suggested Polly. - -“My mother is very particular about her blankets,” said Margy. “She -won’t let us take them for tents, and she has to have them washed a -certain way. I don’t believe she would ever let us have them out here -in the barn.” - -The other members of the Riddle Club were equally sure that their -mothers would object to lending blankets for club meetings. - -“Well, there ought to be some way,” said Ward, thoughtfully. “Couldn’t -we put in a furnace?” - -“A furnace!” chorused the club. “What kind of a furnace?” - -“Oh, a furnace,” repeated Ward. “A regular furnace, you know. That -would keep us nice and warm.” - -“And where,” asked Fred, in some amazement, “would we get the money to -buy a furnace?” - -“I don’t think they cost much,” said Ward. “Perhaps we have enough in -your bank.” - -Fred groaned in anguish and Polly laughed. - -“That’s it,” said Fred, bitterly. “Never want to pay a cent in, but -always willing to let it all go out. Take the last penny in the -bank--what do you care? Why should dues worry you? They’re only -something to throw away.” - -“Don’t spend your old dues, if you don’t want to,” snapped Ward. “I -don’t care whether you put in a furnace or not; I’m never cold. It’s -the girls who are making a fuss.” - -“A furnace costs a heap of money,” put in Polly, wisely. “We never -could afford that. Besides, Mr. Larue wouldn’t let us. We might set -fire to the barn.” - -“Well, how about that old gasolene stove that Mother threw away last -week?” suggested Artie. “There’s nothing the matter with it, except it -leaks.” - -“How much more do you want the matter with it?” inquired Fred. “No -gasolene stove comes into this clubroom while I’m a member.” - -“Then what shall we have?” asked Jess, sadly. - -“I was just thinking that an electric heater wouldn’t be so bad,” said -Fred. “We could run wires from the pole out in front and connect it -with the heater in here. We could light the barn with the same current, -too, and perhaps have meetings at night. That would be fun, wouldn’t -it?” - -“We could have our Hallowe’en party out here,” cried Polly. “Think of -having it in the barn! Such heaps of fun!” - -“I don’t see where you expect to get the money,” said Ward, coldly. -“If we can’t touch those precious old dues, how are you going to have -electric lights? Mr. Brewer had them put in his barn last week and it -cost more than fifty dollars. He told Daddy so. They didn’t have to run -the wires as far as we shall, either.” - -“Have we fifty dollars in the bank?” asked Jess, curiously. - -“Nowhere near,” Fred informed her. “I guess that knocks out the -electric heater idea. The only thing I can see that we can do is to -bring hot water bottles with us, when it is cold.” - -“We can have an ice hut and crawl inside,” giggled Polly. “The Eskimos -manage somehow, and we will, too, I guess.” - -“Anyway, it isn’t cold yet, not real cold,” argued Jess. “And when it -does snow, it will bank the window and make it warmer. I don’t believe -we’ll need any kind of a heater or furnace.” - -“It’s going to be dark earlier every time, too,” said Margy, who had a -habit of looking ahead. “In December it will be pitch dark long before -five o’clock. There’s Mrs. Pepper feeding her hens now. I don’t believe -it’s much after four.” - -“Here, chick, chick, chick!” they could hear Mrs. Pepper, a neighbor, -calling. “Here, chick, chick, chick!” - -“You never catch Carrie feeding those hens,” said Jess, peering through -the window. “Oh, say, what do you know----” Her voice trailed off -without completing the sentence and her dark eyes began to dance. - -Polly was ready to ask her what she was thinking, but the boys wanted -the meeting adjourned. So in a few minutes they were rushing down the -loft ladder, Ward having first carefully locked the clubroom door. - -“Remember, everybody come over to our house after school to-morrow,” -said Margy, as the group separated at the door, the two Larues to go -into their house to supper and the other four to cross the street to -the Marley and the Williamson houses, which were next door to each -other. “We’ll plan about the Hallowe’en party.” - - - - -CHAPTER II - -PARTY PLANS - - -The Riddle Club were very strict about not using their clubroom for -any purpose other than club meetings. The six members were practically -inseparable, going to school together, playing and working together -most of the time outside of school. But no matter what they did, or -what they wanted to play, unless they had a meeting of their Riddle -Club on hand, the clubroom was left in perfect order and kept locked. - -Perhaps you know all about the Riddle Club, but if you don’t, a few -words will introduce you. It had been Polly Marley’s idea--this -club--and she was the president. Fred Williamson was treasurer. Fred -and Margy were twins, Artie was Polly Marley’s younger brother, and -Ward and Jess Larue were brother and sister. Jess was two years older -than Ward. These children lived in River Bend, a town on the Rocio -River. Mr. Larue was the president of the line of steamboats that went -up and down the river, carrying freight and passengers. - -In the first book of this series, named “The Riddle Club at Home,” it -has been told how the Riddle Club flourished and spurred another group -of boys and girls to form a rival dub. This was known as the Conundrum -Club, and Carrie Pepper was its president. They challenged the members -of the Riddle Club to a memorable riddle contest and the latter came -out victors. - -Of course it was not to be thought of that a summer should separate -such close friends, so what could be more natural than for the whole -six to go camping at Lake Bassing? They took the Riddle Club with them, -by-laws, president, treasurer and all, and what happened to them during -a delightful two months, you may read in the second book of the series, -called “The Riddle Club in Camp.” They camped on an island, and above -them lived a queer old hermit on another island, while below their camp -was another island on which the Conundrum Club established themselves. - -Things were bound to happen with such a lively sextette around, and -no one was disappointed. Artie fell over a bluff. The Conundrum Club -suggested another riddle contest, which proved to be not much more to -their advantage than the first. Then the children were able to solve -the mystery of the kind old hermit. Next, as the season was nearly -over, they won the loving cup in the water carnival. Add to all this -the new friends they made and the out-of-door glad days they had, and -you’ll understand that the summer went too quickly to please them. - -But schools will open in September, and the Riddle Club had to come -back to River Bend. They were unexpectedly glad to get back to their -own homes and to the clubroom in the Larue barn. This room had been -given to them from the first meeting, and to the furniture they had -collected for it, they were able to add several interesting trophies -from their summer in camp. - -There was the beautiful silver loving cup; a sketch of the entire club -membership, made by an artist and framed for them by Mrs. Marley; the -pennant they had flown in camp from their flag pole; not to mention -a gun for which Artie had paid a dollar and which wouldn’t shoot but -which, he thought, gave a distinguished touch to the room. - -Jess mentioned the gun when, the next day, the chums met at the -Williamsons’ house to discuss plans for their Hallowe’en party. - -“I think,” she said soberly, “that we ought to give a play Thanksgiving -and let Artie be a Puritan and carry his gun.” - -“Oh, let’s!” cried Margy, with enthusiasm. “Let’s give a play! Mother -gave me her old black lace dress yesterday! I could wear that.” - -If there was one thing Margy loved to do, it was to “dress up” in grown -people’s finery and sweep about and pretend that she was a princess. - -“Who’ll write the play?” demanded Fred. - -“You and Polly,” said Ward so promptly that Fred couldn’t help laughing. - -“I thought you’d say something like that,” declared Fred. “But you -can change your ideas right away. I know what we’re going to do -Thanksgiving, but it isn’t that.” - -“Fred!” said Polly, in a warning voice. “You told me you’d promised you -wouldn’t tell.” - -“Well, who’s telling?” demanded Fred. “I haven’t said a word.” - -Of course that drove the others frantic with curiosity, but though they -teased and coaxed and, finally, Ward and Artie threw themselves on Fred -and got him down on the rug, not another word could they shake from him. - -“You’ll know all about it in plenty of time,” he kept repeating. - -“Does Polly know?” demanded Jess. - -“No,” replied Fred; “not even Polly knows. No one knows but me.” - -“Not Mother or Dad or Dora or----” Ward was beginning in a sing-song -tone, but Fred put a hand gently over his mouth. - -“Do keep still,” he said good-humoredly. “All the mothers and fathers -know. Now stop asking questions.” - -“You said no one knew except you alone,” Artie protested. - -“I meant no one in the Riddle Club except me,” explained Fred. - -“Well, anyway, we have Hallowe’en to think about,” said Polly, the -tactful. “If we’re going to wear costumes, it’s time we planned ’em.” - -“I had a perfectly wonderful idea,” declared Jess. “But I don’t know -that I’ll tell it now; I can keep secrets, too.” - -“Oh, Jess, darling, this isn’t a secret--it won’t be one very long, -at any rate,” said Polly, softly. “We’ll all know soon, and it is -something we’ll just love to do. I’m sure of that. Tell us your idea, -Jess! Please do.” - -It was impossible to resist Polly when she spoke like that, and Jess -yielded. As a matter of fact, she had kept her wonderful idea to -herself about as long as she cared to. She had reached the point where -she was eager to share it with some one. - -“I think it would be a good idea,” she said proudly, “to come to the -party dressed like animals!” - -They stared at her silently, and she was disappointed. She had the plan -so clearly in her own mind, she thought it must be plain to them all. - -“Yes, animals,” Jess repeated. “You know all the people who go to -Hallowe’en parties dress like clowns and gypsies and dancing girls -and Brownies, and like that. Well, at our party, why couldn’t we come -dressed like--like chickens and pigs and things?” - -A shout of laughter interrupted her. - -“Ward would make a handsome pig,” said Artie, a little unkindly. - -Ward was a very fat boy, with a round, good-natured face that flushed -at the slightest exertion. He couldn’t run two blocks without getting -out of breath. - -“I’ll be a pig,” said Ward now, “if you’ll be the goat.” - -Artie reached for him and they went over on the rug in one of their -friendly tussles. Mrs. Williamson had given them the dining-room to -meet in, and had told them to have “all the fun you want.” - -“I’m going to be a chicken,” announced Jess, fearful that some one else -might want to take her character. “I thought of it yesterday when we -were watching Mrs. Pepper feed her chickens.” - -“Where will you get the feathers?” asked the practical Margy. - -“Oh, there must be feathers somewhere,” said Jess, carelessly. “I’ll -fix that part all right.” - -“It would be kind of fun, wouldn’t it?” Fred decided. “I wonder if we -can get animal false-faces? I’m going to ask Dad to-night.” - -Mr. Williamson kept the department store in River Bend, and he always -carried a stock of false-faces for Hallowe’en. Fred was sure that if -there were such things as “animal faces” his father would have them. - -“Let’s not tell what kind of animals we’re going to be,” suggested -Polly. “I love to be surprised.” - -“You’d better tell your mother, Margy,” said Ward. “If she sees a bunch -of animals coming to her house Hallowe’en night, she may think a circus -broke loose somewhere and not let us in.” - -“You can’t scare my mother,” declared Margy, proudly. “I don’t believe -she’d be afraid of an elephant, if she met him. Not on Hallowe’en, at -any rate.” - -“We’re going to have the house to ourselves--did you know that?” said -Fred. “Everything we need for the party will be all ready in the -kitchen, and Mother is going to leave things to eat in the pantry. She -and Dad are going over to Ward’s house. And Mr. and Mrs. Marley, too.” - -“They’ll have a party of their own, I guess,” said Jess. “I don’t -believe it is much fun for them to duck for apples and do the things -we do. They would rather listen to Mrs. Marley play the piano and my -mother play her violin than fuss around with Hallowe’en games.” - -“They’re going to have the radio set that night, too,” Ward announced. -“Fred said he’d take it down from the clubroom and set it up in the -parlor. There’s a big musical program from some city that night.” - -Fred was the wireless expert of the Riddle Club. He had first put up -the handsome radio set the club had been given for their share in the -capture of some radio thieves, and had taken it down and set it up in -camp that summer as well. Then, when the time came to come home, he had -taken down the tree aerials and had brought the set back to the Larue -barn and set it up again in the clubroom. Now for this special night he -would attach a loud speaker and arrange it in the Larue parlor so that -the listening parents might enjoy the concert. - -But the girls and boys could not talk long of this grown-up affair -when their own thrilling party was yet to be arranged. They were used -to planning their parties, and their mothers thought that in this way -they had twice the usual amount of fun. Nearly every one can go to a -party, if invited, but not every one could plan a party if he had to. -The members of the Riddle Club did do both nicely. - -“We’re going to have all the games we can think of,” said Margy. -“Picking a ring out of a plate of flour; trying to bite a marshmallow -on a string; ducking for apples, of course. What else, Fred?” - -“I know,” cried Artie, before Fred could answer. “Go out in the garden -and pull up a cabbage. I read about it in a book.” - - - - -CHAPTER III - -JESS HAS LUCK - - -All of the other members of the Riddle Club stared at Artie in blank -wonder. - -“Cabbages?” cried Fred. - -“What do we pull up a cabbage for?” Margy demanded, curiously. - -“To see whether you’ll be rich or poor,” said Artie, as though that -settled the matter. - -“How will you know whether you’ll be rich and poor?” Ward demanded. - -“Not rich and poor,” Artie corrected him. “Who ever heard of any one -being rich and poor? Rich _or_ poor, silly.” - -“Well, all right,” agreed Ward, amiably. “Rich or poor then. How’ll we -know we’re going to be rich or poor by looking at a cabbage?” - -Artie perceived that he would have to explain. - -“You tell by the dirt,” he said seriously. - -“The dirt?” echoed Margy. “What dirt?” - -“The dirt on the roots of the cabbage,” said Artie. “If a lot of dirt -sticks, that’s a sign you’re going to be rich; if there isn’t much -dirt, you’re going to be poor.” - -“Oh!” said Margy. - -“I think that will be fun,” said Jess, briskly. - -“I call it a fool stunt, but we’ll try it,” Fred decided. “Know any -more, Artie?” - -Artie thought for a moment. - -“I know about making wishes,” he said, and paused. - -“Well, don’t stop,” Polly urged. “Go on and tell us.” - -Artie was as fond of talking as any of the rest, but he had an odd -habit of stopping suddenly, just when his listeners thought he was well -started. - -“You make a wish,” he began again, “and then you must go upstairs and -down twice, outdoors and all around the house and around the barn--Of -course, Mr. Williamson hasn’t any barn,” Artie interrupted himself to -say; “but the summerhouse will do, I guess. The book said an ‘outdoor -building,’ and a summerhouse must be an outdoor building. Say, Fred, -isn’t a summerhouse an outdoor building?” - -“Oh, of course it is,” the impatient Fred assured him. “Hurry up, -Artie, I’m going to sleep.” - -“Where was I?” asked Artie, calmly. - -“The wishes,” Margy prodded. “We make a wish and walk upstairs and -downstairs twice and around the house----” - -“Oh, yes, I remember,” said Artie. “Well, you walk around the house and -the barn and then you come in again.” - -“Then what happens?” asked Ward. - -“Your wishes come true,” Artie said. - -“Well, I call that too queer for anything,” remarked Jess, and the -others were inclined to agree with her. - -“I don’t see how walking around like that can make wishes come true,” -said Fred. - -“It’s the not speaking,” explained Artie. “That does it.” - -Polly stared at her brother. - -“The--the _what_?” she demanded. - -“Not speaking. You know, even if some one calls to you or asks a -question, you can’t say a word till you’ve been all around and come -back,” said Artie. - -“You never said anything about that,” Margy informed him. “Can’t we -speak while we’re walking around the house?” - -“My, no, not a word,” said Artie, placidly. “After you make the wish, -you can’t say another word till you’ve been up- and downstairs and -around the house and barn.” - -“Let’s do that! It sounds awfully spooky,” declared Margy. - -“Be sure you find out about the false-faces to-night, Fred,” said -Polly. “If your father hasn’t any, we’ll have to make some.” - -Nothing ever daunted Polly. If she could not find what she wanted -ready-made, she made it herself. - -“And another thing,” said Margy. “Being the Riddle Club, why can’t we -ask some riddles? I mean short ones--one apiece.” - -“All right,” agreed Jess. - -“Maybe we can get some about animals,” suggested Artie. - -“Oh, any kind of riddle will do,” declared the president of the club. - -The plans for the party made, the six chums made fudge as a grand -wind-up to the afternoon. They went home to supper, where the candy -apparently made little difference in their hearty appetites. - -Hallowe’en was not far away, and if their animal costumes were to be -made, it was necessary to start work upon them at once. Fred’s father -had almost every kind of false-face manufactured, but he had no animal -ones. Perhaps, as Jess proudly said, they were the first to dress up as -animals for Hallowe’en. Anyway, Polly would have to make the faces. -That was clear. - -There was a great deal of laughing and whispering going on every -afternoon after school in each of the three houses on Elm Road. Artie -and Ward shared some joke together, and they might be heard shouting -and laughing soon after they had turned the key in Ward’s or Artie’s -room door, as the case might be. - -“I think they’re dancing,” Jess confided to Polly. “They shake the -ceiling of the dining-room. Ward’s room is right over the dining-room, -you know.” - -“Artie hates to dance,” Polly returned. “You couldn’t make him. No, -it’s something else. I don’t know what. They shake the house when -they’re over here, too.” - -For not even Polly was to know what animals were represented. Every one -was so determined to keep his or her costume a secret that it had been -decided that “any kind of face” was to be worn. - -“Of course they won’t match,” said Jess. “But that will be even more -fun.” - -Jess was having a thrilling time trying to get her costume together. -She had set her heart on going as a chicken, and every one knows that -if there is one thing a chicken cannot do without, it is feathers. - -“I can manage the wings,” she confided to Dora, the good-natured maid -in her mother’s kitchen, “because I can use those two turkey wings we -had left from last Thanksgiving. But where will I get the rest of the -feathers?” - -Good fortune smiled unexpectedly on Jess. At least, she thought it was -good fortune. Passing Mrs. Pepper’s house one morning on her way to the -store for her mother--it was Saturday--Jess spied a barrel standing at -the edge of the drive. It was filled with soft, fluffy chicken feathers! - -“Oh, Mrs. Pepper, are you throwing those feathers _away_?” asked Jess, -in the tone of one who has found a neighbor tossing out a gold mine. - -Mrs. Pepper was raking leaves from her lawn. Carrie usually stayed in -bed late Saturday mornings, and she was not up yet. - -“Why, yes, Jess, I put that barrel out for the junk man. He comes -through town on Saturdays,” answered Mrs. Pepper. “Those feathers -aren’t good enough to save for pillows, and I don’t like to burn them.” - -“Could--could I have them?” asked Jess, her eyes shining. - -“My lands, child! what do you want with them?” exclaimed Mrs. Pepper. -“Take them and welcome, of course; but I’ll need the barrel back. -Barrels are scarce, and I like to make mine last.” - -“I’ll bring the barrel right back,” promised Jess, joyfully. “Thank you -ever so much, Mrs. Pepper.” - -Mrs. Pepper stared at her as the small girl began to roll the barrel -toward her side lawn. The Pepper property joined Mr. Larue’s, and Jess -had not far to go. The feathers, of course, weighed almost nothing, and -the task was not difficult, but Mrs. Pepper stood racking her brains to -think what use Jess could have for the down and bits of feathers she -had thrown away. She was still standing there ten minutes later when -Carrie came out. - -“Jess Larue took those feathers?” Carrie repeated, when her mother told -her. “I don’t see what on earth she wants them for! Why didn’t you make -her tell you before you gave her the barrel?” - -“I believe in minding my own affairs,” said Mrs. Pepper, tartly. - -She kept a great many chickens and sold them dressed; that is, killed -and with the feathers taken off. Her good feathers she saved for -pillows, but the stuff that filled the barrel was down from young -chickens and broken feathers that were of no use to her. - -Jess rolled her barrel up to the side door of the house and reached -the hall before Dora spied her. - -“Where you going, Jess, with that dirty old barrel?” she asked -suspiciously. - -“I’m taking it up to my room,” replied Jess. - -“What’s in it--let me look,” replied Dora. “Feathers! Jess, for -goodness’ sake, roll that barrel outside, quick! If your mother was -to catch you scattering those nasty little pin feathers all over the -house, she’d tell you a thing or two!” - -“I’m not going to scatter them,” Jess argued. “Help me carry the barrel -up to my room, will you, Dora? I have to take it back.” - -When Dora understood that the barrel was to go back to Mrs. Pepper, she -was more determined than ever that Jess should not take it up to her -room. - -“I know exactly what you’d do, Jess,” Dora said. “You’d dump those -feathers out on your bedroom floor and take the empty barrel back; and -in less than five minutes, every rug and carpet in this house, to say -nothing of the chairs and the sofas, would have pin feathers sticking -in them.” - -“Well, where can I put them?” asked Jess, realizing that unless Dora -was willing to help her she could not hope to get the barrel up the -stairs. “I have to have these feathers for Hallowe’en, Dora.” - -“Take them out in the barn, to be sure,” said Dora. “Why you and -Ward don’t want to play in the barn, beats me. Many a child would be -thankful for such a light, clean place to stay in. You can make all the -noise you want, too, and do as you please out there. And you’re forever -hanging around the house.” - -“It’s cold,” said Jess, absently, but her mind was busy with another -problem. She had remembered that she needed flour paste. - -“If I take the feathers out to the barn, Dora,” she said coaxingly, -“how about some flour paste? Let me make some?” - -“You’re too hard on the flour barrel,” declared Dora, good-naturedly. -“Be off to the barn now and leave your barrel there; then go and get -the soap your mother promised me and I’ll have the paste ready for you -when you come back.” - -Jess was willing, and she rolled the barrel out to the barn. She -was glad that Ward was over with Artie Marley, for it gave her an -opportunity to make her Hallowe’en costume without an audience. She -dumped the feathers on the floor of the barn, not minding in the least -that they flew about and lighted, many of them, in her hair and on -her blouse and skirt, then rolled the empty barrel back to the Pepper -driveway. - -Carrie saw her and called to her to wait, but Jess shouted that she -was going to the store and ran off quickly. It was not part of her plan -to have Carrie’s sharp eyes and Carrie’s quick tongue ferret out her -secret. - -True to her promise, Dora had a generous basin of flour paste ready for -Jess when she came back from the store, and the girl took it gratefully -and went out to the barn. She made several trips to the house for -things she needed, scissors, newspapers, and a paper of pins were among -them, but at last she was evidently equipped, for she stayed in the -barn. - -“Where’s Jess?” asked Polly and Margy, half an hour later, at the Larue -back door. - -“Out in the barn--at least, she was a little while ago,” answered Dora. -“I haven’t heard a word from her since I made her a bowl of flour -paste.” - -Polly and Margy went out to the barn. The sliding door was pushed -half-way open, and there on the barn floor they beheld a remarkable -sight. They stared, wondering what it could be. - -“Jess!” called Polly, uncertainly. “Jess! is that you?” - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -HALLOWE’EN FUN - - -“Come away,” whispered Margy. “That isn’t Jess.” - -But it was Jess. The rolling figure sat up and stared at them with -Jess’s own brown eyes. - -“Hello!” said Jess, none too cordially. - -“What in the world are you doing?” asked Margy, more frankly than -politely. - -“I’m busy,” answered Jess. - -“You’re a sight--isn’t she, Polly?” said Margy. - -Polly didn’t wish to agree, but the truth was that Jess was the most -remarkable looking girl she had ever seen. She seemed to be covered -with feathers--her hair and face and hands. They were on her shoes, her -stockings, and parts of her dress. There was almost as much dirt and -dust mixed with the feathers as there was flour paste, and that had -evidently been used in liberal quantities. - -“What _are_ you doing?” asked Polly, helplessly. - -“Well, if you must know,” said Jess, “I’m making my Hallowe’en -costume. Only these mean old feathers aren’t much good,” she added -fretfully. “They won’t stay stuck.” - -She went on to explain that she had cut a chicken out of -newspapers--“both sides and sewed it in the middle”--and had spread the -paste over this. The plan was to roll in the feathers with this on and -in this way the pattern would be covered with feathers which would dry -on. Then, with the addition of the turkey wings, Jess would be ready -for the party. - -“I have a pair of bright yellow stockings I never wore, and I am going -to paint my shoes yellow, too,” she announced, in a burst of confidence. - -Polly wanted to laugh, but she was afraid of hurting Jess’s feelings. - -“It looks pretty messy just now,” said Polly. “But perhaps when it -dries it will be all right. You’re taking a lot of trouble, aren’t you, -Jess?” - -“Well, I like things to be right,” admitted Jess. “I think it will be -fun to have animals at the party. Margy, will you stick a handful of -feathers on that bare place? Here, put some more paste on first.” - -Margy didn’t want to put her hands in the feathers, so Polly had to -come to the rescue. Then she helped Jess take the paper off, which was -difficult, for it was wet and heavy with paste and easily torn. - -“You mustn’t wear it again till the night of the party,” Polly -cautioned the designer. “You’ll wear it out, if you’re not careful.” - -“I won’t touch it till Hallowe’en,” promised Jess. “But now you’ve seen -mine, I think you ought to tell me what you’re going to wear,” she -declared. - -“I’m going to be a leopard,” said Polly, instantly. “It’s because we -had some spotted flannel in the house.” - -“And Mother is going to lend me her old astrakhan coat, so I can be a -lamb,” said Margy. “I think lambs are lovely. I wouldn’t want to be any -kind of homely animal, even for fun.” - -Jess’s dark eyes grew round with curiosity. - -“What do you suppose the boys are going to wear?” she asked. - -But no one knew, and up to the night of the party no one had found out. -It had been agreed among the six friends that each was to go alone to -the Williamson house, so it happened that the three girls and Mr. and -Mrs. Williamson were already in the big, roomy kitchen, where the party -was to be, when some one knocked at the door. - -“That’s Fred! I know it is!” exclaimed Margy. “I just heard him go -down the front stairs and out. He’s come around to the back door.” - -Margy was wearing her mother’s woolly coat, and with her shiny black -shoes and black silk gloves--to represent the forefeet--made a very -cunning and attractive little lamb--till one’s glance reached her face. -Her false-face was that of an old witch, and the contrast between this -grinning old-woman face and the woolly young lamb was too much for Mr. -Williamson. He had gone into fits of laughter as soon as he saw Margy. - -The arrival of Polly, in spotted flannel that covered her hands and -feet much as a sleeping garment would, her face hidden behind a -“Brownie” false-face, made Mr. Williamson laugh, too. But when Jess -arrived, Mrs. Williamson was really alarmed about him. He laughed so -hard he had to take out his handkerchief and wipe his eyes. - -Even Polly and Margy had to laugh at Jess. She wore her feather suit, -as she called the paper and feather costume, and she had rigged up the -turkey wings with string so that they flapped--sometimes--when she -pulled the string. As the nearest thing to a chicken’s head she could -get in a false-face, she had chosen a mask with an extremely long and -hooked nose that, she fondly hoped, looked like a chicken’s beak. She -had taken an old pair of shoes and covered them with bright yellow -paint, buttons and all. - -Mr. and Mrs. Williamson were only waiting to greet the guests before -going over to spend the evening at the Larue house. Answering the knock -at the door, Mr. Williamson opened it and a kangaroo leaped into the -room. For a moment the girls were startled, and then they saw that it -was Fred. - -“I think that’s a fine costume, Fred,” said Polly. “Did you make it?” - -“Mother helped,” replied Fred, hopping around the kitchen the better to -show off his brown flannel suit and long tail. It covered his head and -eyes so that he didn’t need a mask, and when he crouched in a sitting -position, Polly assured him that he looked exactly like the pictures of -kangaroos they had seen in their school geographies. - -Rat-a-tat-tat! went a knock on the door. - -“Bet that’s Artie,” said Fred, confidently. - -“Ward, more likely,” declared Jess. “He was getting ready when I -started to come.” - -Mr. Williamson opened the door, and they all leaned forward to look. - -First a long, long neck stretched itself into the kitchen, then an -ungainly, rather square body, mounted on four legs, followed. This -queer-looking creature was spotted in circles, and had a long, thin -tail. - -“A giraffe!” cried Jess, guessing first. - -“Artie and Ward! Well, what do you know about that!” shouted Fred. “Why -didn’t you tell a fellow?” - -“Wanted to surprise you,” croaked the giraffe. “Guess we did it.” - -And to Fred’s amazement, the long neck twisted several times around his -own neck in what was meant to be an affectionate embrace. - -“Here--let go of me--get out!” cried Fred, trying to back away. “What -kind of a neck have you, a rubber one?” - -The girls giggled and Mr. Williamson untangled the long neck carefully. - -“Don’t let it rip,” begged the giraffe. “If it comes unsewed the whole -thing will be spoiled. That’s the old rubber hose in that neck.” - -“So that’s what you’ve been doing so long,” said Polly. “I see! That’s -why you were shaking the ceiling.” - -[Illustration: “A GIRAFFE!” CRIED JESS, GUESSING FIRST.] - -“Well, if you think it’s easy to walk in this, you ought to try it,” -said Artie’s voice. “Ward had to be the front because he is taller, -and I’m the back legs. At first we walked into each other and couldn’t -turn corners without making a mess of it. But how we do fine.” - -“I don’t know whether it is safe to leave this menagerie or not, -Mother,” said Mr. Williamson, smiling. “But we won’t be so far away -that we can’t get back if we’re needed. Now, youngsters,” he added to -the children, “go as far as you like and have all the fun you want. But -don’t go off the grounds and don’t set the house on fire. Fred, I trust -your good sense to know when to stop.” - -“Good-bye,” cried the animals, crowding to the door. “Good-bye. We’re -going to have a lovely party.” - -Mr. and Mrs. Williamson looked back and laughed. The light from the -kitchen streamed through the doorway and showed a wild-looking group on -the porch. - -“I’m glad they didn’t want any others,” said Mrs. Williamson, as they -reached the Larue house. “They get on so well together that they do not -really need any more to make a party.” - -Left alone, Margy and Fred, as host and hostess, announced that the -games would begin at once. Of course the false-faces had to come off -and the gloves, too, and Fred had to fold back his brown hood, while -Artie and Ward had to step “out of their skin,” as they put it, to duck -for apples. - -This was not Ward’s favorite pastime, for it always made him gasp -dreadfully; but he wouldn’t beg off, and manfully went groping about -under the water till he nearly choked. He never succeeded in getting -hold of an apple, but Fred brought up two and Polly one, while Jess and -Artie each lifted one by the stem, merely to drop it before it reached -the surface. - -Then they tackled the swaying marshmallow on the string, and most of -them were liberally coated with the snowy powder before Margy grasped -the mallow in her strong little white teeth and swallowed it and nearly -swallowed the string, too. - -“Now the plate of flour,” commanded Fred, when the marshmallow was -gone. “Put your hands behind you, every one, and do your best.” - -Ward made a desperate effort, but, unfortunately, opened his eyes when -his face was buried in the flour and coughed and sputtered so much as -he tried to wink them clear again, that Fred pulled him out in great -alarm. - -“Let me try,” begged Artie. - -He took a deep breath, shut his eyes, and ducked into the flour for the -hidden ring. Alas, he had found the ring and was ready to take it in -his teeth when he found he could not hold his breath another minute. -He let it out in one great rush, and the flour flew in all directions, -most of it landing on the interested five standing near. - -“Never mind,” said Margy, kindly, for Artie looked distressed. “We have -plenty more flour, and Mother said she didn’t care how much mess we -made in the kitchen. It’s easy to clean.” - -So the ring was hidden in the flour again, and Jess tried and failed to -find it. Polly was the one who finally brought it to light. - -“And now I guess it is time we had the riddles,” said the president of -the club. “Each girl is to ask a boy a riddle and then each boy is to -do the same thing to a girl. Jess, you can start if you want to.” - -“All right. Artie, what word may be pronounced quicker by adding a -syllable to it?” - -“That’s a real hard one,” grumbled Artie. “Why didn’t you make it -easier?” - -“I know that one,” shouted Ward. - -“Guess, Artie,” said Polly. “Hurry, we don’t want to lose time over the -riddles.” - -“I guess it’s fast, because you add E-R and then it’s faster.” - -“Almost right,” replied Jess. “The word is quick. Add E-R and you have -quicker.” - -“I’ve one for you, Ward,” said Margy. “Why is an egg like a young colt?” - -“Oh, I’ve got you, Margy! The answer is because neither can be used -until broken.” - -“What do you mean--broken?” asked Jess. “I mean of a colt?” - -“Why, a colt is broken to harness,” explained Margy, impatiently. “They -are of no account until they’re broken.” - -“Now it’s my turn,” said Polly. “Fred, here is a real mannish riddle: -What is the best bet made--one covering everything?” - -“Gee, that’s some bet--to cover everything. Must be the heavens.” - -“Is that your guess?” - -“Yes.” - -“Well, you’re wrong. The best bet that covers everything is the -alphabet.” - -“Huh! Why didn’t I think of that?” - -“Now you boys must ask us girls. Fred, go ahead.” - -“I’ll ask you, Polly. Here is a stinger: What’s the difference between -a brand new ten-cent piece and an old-fashion quarter?” - -“The difference is exactly fifteen cents,” replied Polly, placidly. - -“Wow! I guess you read the same riddle book I did.” - -“Here is one for you, Margy,” said Artie. “Why is a lollipop like a -horse?” - -“When he’s the same color,” said Margy, quickly. - -“No, that isn’t the answer. A lollipop is like a horse because the more -you lick it the faster it goes.” - -“Now, Ward, you ask the last riddle,” said Polly. “Then we’ll go on -with our Hallowe’en fun.” - -“Well, Jess, what is the ugliest hood ever brought to light?” - -“Ugly hood? Oh, lots of them are ugly. Sadie Drew has a hood that is a -sickly green and has bright red----” - -“Never mind all that. What is positively the ugliest hood ever thought -of?” - -“I don’t know. What hood is it?” - -“A falsehood,” cried Ward, triumphantly. - -“Oh, well, I guess that’s right.” - -“Now everybody has asked a riddle, let us go on with our Hallowe’en -stunts,” said Polly. “Let us start on the wishes.” - -“Everybody make a wish,” directed Artie. “Then we’ll go upstairs and -down and around the summerhouse and the real house. Remember, nobody is -to say a word.” - -They made their wishes hurriedly and silently, and then, Fred leading -the way, they started. They kept rather close together, for each time -they went up- and downstairs--and they had to do that twice--their -shadows made such queer shapes on the wall that they looked positively -spooky. - -Artie and Ward clumped along in the giraffe suit, and the leopard and -kangaroo looked almost real. Each one wanted to say to some one else, -“Oh, doesn’t it make you feel jumpy?” but that, of course, would have -broken the spell. - -When they had been up and down the stairs twice, Fred led the way -outdoors. Then, indeed, they did keep close together, for the moon was -crossed by scudding clouds and the dry leaves, rattling over the dried -grass, made funny, little scratching noises. Polly said afterward that -she would not have been surprised to have seen a witch come jumping out -at her from behind the summerhouse. - -Around the house they trailed, and around the summerhouse, in perfect -silence. Back to the house they went and into the brightly lighted -kitchen. - -“Well!” said Margy, in great relief. “I guess our wishes are coming -true. No one said a word.” - -“I almost did, though,” declared Jess. “I nearly yelled. Didn’t you see -something back of the summerhouse?” - -“Oh, Jess, you’re getting nervous,” said Fred. “There wasn’t anything -there. We walked all around it.” - -“It was inside,” replied Jess, glancing fearfully over her shoulder. - -“There wasn’t a thing there--not a thing,” insisted Fred. “You imagined -it. Come on now, let’s go pull up the cabbages and see if we’re going -to be rich or poor. Then we’ll have the eats.” - -“Jess,” whispered Polly, as they streamed out again, headed for the -garden patch, “I thought I saw something in the summerhouse, too.” - - - - -CHAPTER V - -TABLES TURNED - - -Jess and Polly looked over their shoulders as they walked to the -garden, which was at one side of the house, but the others marched -briskly along. In the summer Mr. Williamson had a flourishing “truck -patch,” and even now there were some late vegetables still in the -ground. The patch was protected from frost, and Fred sometimes -boasted of getting cabbage or parsnips “from the garden” as late as -Thanksgiving Day. - -“Now, how do we do this stunt, Artie?” asked Fred, when they had -reached the row of cabbages. “You pull one and show us.” - -Artie pulled a fine large cabbage and exhibited its roots to the -interested audience. - -“Lots of dirt on it,” he pointed out--indeed, in his zeal, he had -loosened perhaps half a peck of earth, most of which clung to the -roots--“and that shows I will be very rich some day.” - -“Maybe Fred will,” said Polly, mischievously. “That dirt is from his -father’s garden.” - -“It’s just a sign,” explained Artie, hastily. - -Margy stooped and brought up another cabbage, but as she lifted it she -shook it carefully and nearly all the dirt fell off. - -“There goes your fortune!” cried Jess. “You mustn’t shake it, Margy.” - -“It’s too heavy with all that dirt on it,” Margy complained. - -“Well, if there’s a bag of gold at the bottom of this one, it’s going -to stay right there,” announced Polly, tugging at the nearest cabbage. - -A shriek from Margy startled her. She let go the cabbage in time to -look up and see a tall white figure land in the patch, apparently -from the skies. They all saw it at the same instant, and, cabbages -forgotten, they rushed madly for the house. Margy was crying wildly, -Polly pulled Jess along by the hand, and poor Ward and Artie fell down, -but scrambled up again and managed to get over the ground in spite -of their costume, which was never designed for a running suit. They -reached the back porch, stumbled pell-mell up the steps and into the -kitchen. Margy closed the door with a bang that shook the house. - -“Oh-oo!” she wept, her teeth chattering. “What was it? What was it?” - -“I think--I think it was a ghost,” quavered Jess. - -“It was a million feet high--almost,” said Artie. “Did you see how it -was waving its arms?” - -“There are no such things as ghosts,” declared Polly, firmly. “It -couldn’t have been a ghost, could it----” She had meant to say, “Could -it, Fred?” but at that moment she made an alarming discovery. - -Fred wasn’t in the kitchen with them! - -“Where’s Fred?” asked Polly, anxiously. “Didn’t he come in? Has any one -seen him?” - -“The ghost has carried him off!” cried Margy, in alarm. “He’s gone! Oh, -my, what will Mother say?” - -“It wasn’t a ghost,” said Polly again. “I tell you, there are no -ghosts. And if it was a ghost, it couldn’t carry Fred off--a ghost -can’t carry anything.” - -“You just said there aren’t any ghosts,” objected Margy. - -“Well, I mean if there were ghosts, they couldn’t carry any one off,” -Polly explained. - -“Then where is Fred?” asked Artie, quite as though he thought Polly -would be able to tell him. - -“I don’t know,” Polly admitted. “You don’t suppose he could have fallen -down a hole somewhere, do you? I don’t remember having seen him after -I saw the ghost--and that was just before I started to pull up the -cabbage.” - -No one remembered having seen Fred. - -“But then,” added Ward, “I couldn’t see anything, really. The flannel -slipped down over my eyes and I couldn’t see where I was going, let -alone any one else. I don’t know where Fred went.” - -“I read once about a man who fell down a canyon and was never seen -again,” contributed Artie, helpfully. - -“There isn’t any canyon for Fred to fall down,” declared Jess, with -some scorn. “I think we ought to go over and get Mr. Williamson, -though; perhaps he could find Fred.” - -“But if we go outdoors, that ghost--or whatever it is--will grab us,” -said Margy, fearfully. - -It was what they were all thinking, and no one wanted to be the first -to volunteer to go over to the Larue house and summon aid. - -Ward looked at Artie. They did not think of themselves as brave, but -it really required the strongest kind of courage for them to make the -suggestion that Ward presently offered. - -“We’ll go out and look all over the garden, Artie and I,” he said. -“There’s no use in scaring Mrs. Williamson; we may find Fred and then -everything will be all right.” - -“I can come, too, and hold a lantern for you,” offered Polly, bravely. -“I’d like to do it.” - -“You needn’t come. Girls shouldn’t--shouldn’t--expose themselves to -danger,” said Ward, feeling remarkably like a policeman--or as he -thought a policeman must feel. “But I’d like a lantern. Where is there -one, Margy?” - -“Down cellar,” said Margy, rolling her eyes. - -“I’m afraid to go down cellar,” announced Jess, flatly. “Goodness only -knows what’s down there. It’s as dark as pitch.” - -“We’ll all go down,” suggested Polly. “You can turn on the light at the -head of the stairs, can’t you, Margy?” - -Most of the houses in River Bend were wired for electricity, and there -was a switch at the head of the Williamsons’ cellar stairs. Margy -pressed the button, but even the flood of light which lit the cellar -did not give any of them any great confidence. They went down the steps -slowly, and not for anything in the world would they have looked over -their shoulders. - -Margy found the lantern behind the furnace, and, as they had not -brought matches, there was no reason for staying, since to light it -they would have to go back to the kitchen. Jess led the way upstairs, -and as she gained the top step, she cried out. Fred was just closing -the outside door. - -“Hello!” he said comfortably. “Where’ve you all been?” - -“Where have you been?” Margy countered. “You scared us pretty near into -fits. We thought the ghost had caught you.” - -“Ward and I were coming out to hunt for you,” Artie said, waving the -lantern. “We went down cellar to get this.” - -“Huh, that wasn’t a ghost,” replied Fred. “If you’d hung around a -little, the way I did, you would have found it out pretty quick.” - -Margy switched off the cellar light and shut the door. - -“What was it, if it wasn’t a ghost?” she asked. - -“Joe Anderson,” was Fred’s surprising reply. “He thought he’d be smart. -You haven’t been crying, have you, Margy?” - -“Only a little,” said Margy, hastily. - -“She thought something had happened to you,” said Polly. “What did you -do, Fred? And weren’t you frightened?” - -“I was at first,” acknowledged Fred. “That white thing came up on us -so quietly, it rather took my breath away. But when you all started to -shriek and run, I heard Joe Anderson laugh. I’d know his snicker if I -heard it in China. So I hid behind the pear tree. I thought I’d get a -chance to punch his nose for him.” - -“Did you?” chorused Artie and Ward interestedly. - -“Well, no, I didn’t,” said Fred. “He followed you up to the porch steps -and then came back, but Albert Holmes came out of the summerhouse--he -must have been hiding there with Joe--and they began talking. And -they’re going to try to play another trick on us in a few minutes. I -heard them planning it. They want to wait till we get quieted down -from this scare, and then Joe is going to ring the doorbell. He thinks -whoever comes to the door will have a fit when they see a giant ghost.” - -“A giant ghost?” repeated Polly. - -“Yes, a giant ghost. Albert is going to sit on Joe’s shoulder and that -will make the ghost about eight feet high,” said Fred. “I wish I could -think of something to do that would make them feel cheap.” - -“Let’s go upstairs and pour water out of the window on them when they -ring the bell,” suggested Jess, excitedly. - -Fred shook his head. - -“I wonder----” he said slowly. “Yes, I do believe it will work!” - -“What will work?” demanded Margy, eagerly. “What will work, Fred?” - -“Well, I’ll step into the first half of the giraffe,” explained Fred, -“and Artie can manage the back feet--Ward will get out of breath too -quickly to do what I want done. When the bell rings, we’ll go out the -back door and amble around to the front of the house and just wrap Mr. -Ghost lovingly around with that nice, long, rubber-hose neck. That -ought to give our friends a thrill. They won’t know what has them in -the dark.” - -“Oh, yes,” approved Polly. “I think that’s a fine plan. Hurry, Ward, -and let Fred get into your half; the bell may ring any minute.” - -Ward would have liked to have guided the giraffe’s neck himself, but he -knew as well as Fred that excitement took his breath away as quickly -as running. Fred had the longer arms, too, and would be able to give a -longer reach to the animal’s long neck. - -Fred had hardly slipped into the flannel casing and drawn it tightly -about him and Artie was practicing his best giraffe step, when the -bell over the door leading into the front hall rang sharply. Every one -jumped, though it was a noise they were expecting. - -“Stay right where you are,” Fred directed. “If Joe sees you through the -curtains or the glass door, he’ll be suspicious. Come on, Artie, we’ll -have to hurry.” - -He and Artie loped down the back steps and sped around the side of the -house. A cautious look showed Fred a towering ghost standing on the -front steps, waiting patiently. Tiptoeing, he and Artie stole up to it -and before the ghost knew what was happening, a long slim, tight coil -was fastened about it. - -“Ow! Help! Take it away!” shrieked Joe Anderson’s voice. “Quick, -Albert, take it off! Help! Something’s got me!” - -Albert was sitting on Joe’s shoulders, and in his terror and excitement -he began to kick wildly, hammering the unfortunate Joe on the face and -shoulders unmercifully. Fred couldn’t unwind the length of hose--though -he tried--because the end was pinioned under one of Albert’s arms, and -the more the two boys who formed the ghost struggled, the tighter the -coils seemed to grow. - -“Help! help!” called Joe, beside himself with fear. - -“Ow! Joe! Joe! It’s choking me!” screamed poor Albert, twisting and -turning madly, for his pillow case had slipped too far over his head -and he felt as though he was smothering. - -The other children had rushed to the door when they heard the racket. -Across the street in the Larue house lights were blazing through the -windows as the shades were run up, for the noise had reached the -grown-ups there. - -“Take it off, Fred,” called Artie. “Hurry--take it off! I can’t see a -thing in here.” - -“It--won’t--come--off!” gasped Fred. “Don’t you see me pulling?” - -He took a step backward, his foot caught one of Artie’s, and they went -down together, dragging the kicking ghost on top of them. When Mr. -Williamson and Mr. Larue and Mr. Marley reached the spot a few minutes -later, to their astonishment they saw what looked like a brown and -white animal with spots thrashing about on the ground and apparently -fitted with dozens of legs and arms. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -POLLY’S PROBLEM - - -As this queer animal flopped about, muffled cries and shouts came from -it. Dancing around it were four little figures in the wildest state of -excitement. - -“Here, here, what’s all this?” asked Mr. Williamson. “You’ll have the -whole town here in another minute. What’s that on the ground?” - -“Fred!” said Margy. - -“Artie!” cried Polly. - -“Joe Anderson and Albert Holmes,” piped out Ward. - -“Well, we’ll see if we can sort them out,” said Mr. Williamson, who -seemed to understand. - -He grasped a kicking leg and Mr. Marley caught a waving arm. As for Mr. -Larue, he took a whole handful of spots, and that proved to be most of -Joe Anderson. - -As soon as the boys stopped twisting and turning, they found they were -not so badly mixed as they had thought. They climbed out of their -wrappings, a little the worse for wear, but not much. - -“Think you’re smart, don’t you?” growled Joe Anderson. - -“The hose twisted,” explained Fred, with a grin. “Bet you were scared.” - -“My mother will be as mad--as mad--as anything!” sputtered Albert -Holmes. “She told me not to take her sheets and pillow case, and now -look at them!” - -Alas, for Mrs. Holmes’ good sheet and linen pillow case--they were -covered with dirt and torn in many places. - -“Next time,” said Fred, significantly, “don’t come to a party you’re -not invited to.” - -“I don’t think that’s called for, Fred,” said his father, quietly. “Go -on back into the house and have your fun there. If you think you’ll -be likely to rouse the neighborhood again, one of us will stay, too; -otherwise we’d like to go back and finish our own party.” - -“We’ll be all right,” declared Fred, hastily, and the others echoed his -assurance. - -Mr. Williamson waited till he had seen Joe Anderson and Albert well up -the street on their way home, and then he and the other two fathers -went back to the Larue house. - -“Perhaps,” said Artie, as the girls and boys found themselves in the -kitchen again, “we’d better not try any more stunts outdoors.” - -“Huh, they won’t bother us again--you see if they do!” said Fred, but -Polly and Margy wouldn’t hear of any more trips to the garden. - -“Anyway, it’s time we had the eats,” declared Margy, wisely. - -She knew the boys could never resist that suggestion, and, sure enough, -as she brought out the plates of sandwiches and doughnuts and the -little pumpkin tarts Mrs. Williamson had left for them, no one had to -be dragged to the table. There was milk to drink, and afterward they -popped corn and buttered and ate it. They were surprised when Mr. and -Mrs. Williamson walked in and announced that it was ten o’clock and -time for all parties to be over. - -“I promised your mothers that you’d come home at once,” said Mrs. -Williamson, so there was no excuse for lingering. - -In school the next day, Albert Holmes was not exactly pleasant--his -mother had been much “put out” because of the damage done her linen, -and Albert persisted in blaming the Riddle Club members for this -damage. Joe Anderson spread the report that Fred had nearly broken his -arm. He allowed his listeners to infer that Fred had attacked him, -but most of the boys and girls were too well acquainted with Joe to -believe that all the blame could be on one side. - -“I’ll be glad when it gets real cold,” said Carrie Pepper to her chum, -Mattie Helms. “I hope we have snow up to the windows of the houses and -tons and tons of ice.” - -“Yes,” said Mattie. “I like to go skating, too. But I can’t skate very -well. My ankles are weak.” - -“Who said anything about ice skating?” demanded Carrie. - -“Well, you were talking about ice,” retorted Mattie. - -“I was thinking about the Riddle Club,” said Carrie. “If it will only -get good and cold, they won’t be able to have their silly old meetings.” - -“I don’t see why,” remarked Mattie, wondering what the weather had to -do with club meetings. - -“You would, if you’d do some thinking,” said her chum. “When it gets -too cold to meet in the barn, where’ll they go?” - -“Oh, around to different houses, I suppose,” answered Mattie. “They’ll -do the way we do.” - -“Polly Marley won’t let ’em,” was Carrie’s reply to this. “She doesn’t -like going around to different places to meet. I’ve often heard her say -so. And if they don’t meet in the barn, they won’t meet anywhere. Then, -perhaps, we’ll get a little peace. I do get so sick,” added Carrie, -“of hearing about that old Riddle Club.” - -“So do I,” Mattie responded. “You’d think they had the only club in -River Bend, to hear ’em talk.” - -The question of where they should hold their club meetings in cold -weather was also puzzling Polly. She knew the answer to the puzzle -would have to come from her. Margy would be the first to complain -of the discomfort of the cold barn, but the last to suggest another -meeting place. Jess was hardy and would cheerfully endure a red nose -and cold hands before she would take the trouble to move. As for the -boys, they naturally expected Polly to think things over and work plans -out, and while they would fall in with her suggestions, it was useless -to look to them for ideas. - -November came in cold and gray and the month was not six days old -before the citizens of River Bend looked out one morning to find -feathery flakes floating in the air. Fathers thought of their coal-bins -and children of their sleds, but Polly’s thoughts flew to the clubroom -in the Larue barn. A meeting of the Riddle Club was scheduled for the -next day. - -“Gee, isn’t it cold!” cried Artie as he and Polly started for school. - -They met Jess and Ward and the Williamson twins--as usual--and the -bitter cold wind that stung their faces came straight from the river. - -“I read where a man said this is going to be the coldest winter we’ve -ever had,” related Artie, opening and closing his fingers rapidly in -their woolen gloves to keep the blood circulating. - -“Well, it’s cold enough right now,” declared Ward. “Of course, I like -snow and skating, but I’d rather have the mornings nice and warm.” - -Fred laughed. - -“You’d fix it up so we’d go to school with steam-heated overcoats and -shoes, wouldn’t you, Ward?” he teased. “And then, the moment school -closed, you’d have a nice glassy hill back right up to the door with a -sled on top ready to take you coasting.” - -Ward admitted that he had something like that in mind. - -“What are you thinking about, Polly?” asked Margy, curiously. “You -haven’t said a word for the last five minutes.” - -“I’m wondering what we are going to do about the clubroom,” answered -Polly. “To-morrow it’s going to be as cold as ice in the barn. We -haven’t done a thing about heating it, either, except talk about it.” - -“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t have an oil stove,” declared Fred, -positively. “That won’t cost much, and we can take turns filling it.” - -“Daddy says that we can’t have any kind of a heater in the barn,” said -Jess, mournfully. “He says the most careful children in the world could -burn a barn down without knowing they were doing it.” - -“Well, the only thing I see to do, then,” said Polly, “is to wrap up -extra warm. We can’t freeze solid in an hour or two.” - -“No, but I have a little cold now,” objected Margy, “and I don’t -believe Mother will want me to stay in that cold barn. You can’t be too -careful when you have a little cold.” - -“You say you have a cold,” declared Fred, with brotherly frankness, -“because you want an excuse for borrowing one of Mother’s good -handkerchiefs and putting her new cologne on it.” - -Margy looked at him reproachfully, but forebore to argue. - -All through the morning session Polly studied the problem of a meeting -place. That is, when she was not reciting. She racked her mind to think -of somewhere they could go, but without success. As Carrie Pepper had -shrewdly said, she was not willing to “meet around” at the houses of -the various members. For one thing, Polly knew that this plan usually -meant extra work and trouble for the mothers. - -“We might not always put everything back in place,” reasoned Polly. -“And the boys are _so_ hard on chairs and furniture. They don’t mean to -be, but they can’t help it. With our own furniture, it doesn’t matter, -but just suppose Artie should put his feet on those new satin chairs -Mrs. Larue just had sent home! And if we had anything to eat, I’d want -to run the carpet sweeper over the rug afterward, because I just know -there would be crumbs spilled.” - -Then she was called on to go to the blackboard, and it was twenty -minutes before she had a chance to tackle the problem again. - -“Oh, dear, it is really trying to snow,” said Polly to herself, -glancing from the window as she walked back to her seat. “I hoped maybe -the sun would come out and make it warmer. I don’t see what we’re going -to do with all our lovely things, if we can’t meet in the barn any -longer.” - -Polly meant the treasures the Riddle Club had gathered from various -sources, some by dint of wheedling from parents who had furniture -stored in attics, some from friends made in camp, and some--best of -all--won as trophies. - -“What are you going to do about the Riddle Club?” Carrie Pepper asked -unexpectedly that noon. - -She and Mattie were walking behind Polly and Jess and Margy. - -“Do about it?” repeated Polly, surprised. “What do you mean?” - -“Oh, that barn will be like an icebox now,” said Carrie. “I was just -wondering if you were going to give up having meetings till spring. -It might not be such a bad plan--Miss Elliott said the other day that -nothing ought to be allowed to interfere with our lessons.” - -“The Riddle Club doesn’t interfere with our lessons,” replied Polly, -coldly. “We agreed to stay away from meetings if our marks went below -the average. Mr. Williamson suggested that. But we have good report -cards every time--isn’t that so, Jess?” - -Jess nodded. Carrie always made her feel tongue-tied. - -“Well, our Conundrum Club is going to hold a meeting to-morrow, at Joe -Anderson’s house,” said Carrie. “And his mother is going to give us hot -cocoa and whipped cream and cake. We most always have something to eat -in cold weather.” - -Margy looked at Polly as Carrie turned in at her gate. - -“Whatever we do, we won’t give up our club,” said Margy. - -“Of course we won’t,” promised Polly. - -Artie had an important appointment with Ward before the afternoon -session of school--they each had three cents left over from their hoard -carefully saved for the club dues, which Fred was sure to collect the -next day--and he went back before Polly. When she reached school, -five minutes before the one o’clock bell, her eyes were bright with -excitement. - -“Something--nice--to--tell--you,” she whispered across the room to -Margy, as the bell clanged and the pupils took their seats. This year, -much to the three girls’ delight, Margy had her seat in the same room -as Jess and Polly, though they did not recite together in all their -classes. - -All that afternoon Polly fairly glowed. Her eyes twinkled and nothing -could ruffle her good nature, not even missing a fairly easy word in -spelling, which Carrie immediately spelled after her. - -“Get the boys,” she commanded Margy, as they struggled into their coats -in the cloakroom. “I have the best news in the world to tell you!” - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -A POSTPONEMENT - - -Margy caught Ward and Artie at the gate of the school yard and Polly -herself met Fred as he came down the stairs, his mouth puckered to -whistle as soon as he should be safely out of the door. Whistling -inside the building was forbidden. - -“What is it? What is it?” cried Jess, who had caught the excitement -from Margy. “Hurry up, Polly, and tell us.” - -“Well, you know that room at the back of the house we just had finished -this fall?” demanded Polly. - -“The one your mother is going to have as another spare room?” asked -Jess. - -“With painted furniture and a gray and pink rug?” said Margy. - -“Yes. Only there isn’t going to be any gray and pink rug,” answered -Polly. “Mother told me this noon. She has talked it over with Daddy, -and she wants to wait till spring when he goes off to the Hardware -Convention. She’ll go with him and buy the furniture then and get the -latest--she said so. And what do you think?” - -No one thought. They stared at the sparkling Polly. - -“Mother said,” Polly announced with a rush, “that, as long as she -wasn’t going to use the room, we could have it for our clubroom this -winter!” - -“Polly! How perfectly lovely!” squealed Margy, in delight. - -“When did she say so?” asked Artie, this being the first time he had -heard the news. - -“This noon, after you had gone,” Polly told him. “And it’s the nicest -room--three windows and a window seat and as warm as toast. The -radiator is under the window seat. There isn’t a bit of furniture in -it, so we can move our own stuff in. And it’s over the back hall, so it -won’t matter if we do make a little noise. No one will hear us.” - -“I said last night I wished we had a room we could use,” declared Jess. -“But our house is so little we use every single place. In winter Dora -doesn’t go home to sleep, and that takes an extra room.” - -“My goodness, Jess Larue,” said Polly, “don’t you think you’ve done -enough? We’ve had that perfectly fine room in your barn ever since the -club was started. We’ll never have as nice a place as that, and the -minute it is warm we’ll move back. But I certainly am glad we can have -this room.” - -“I am, too,” declared Fred. “I say three cheers for your mother. Do you -suppose we can meet there to-morrow afternoon, Polly?” - -“Well, we can, if you’re willing to help move this afternoon,” said -Polly. “I think, if every one will help, we can get everything done in -time. If there is one thing I will not stand,” she announced firmly, -“it is to meet in the room before we get our stuff moved in. I’d rather -postpone the meeting.” - -“Come on,” was Fred’s reply to this speech. “What are you all standing -here for? We’ve got to move the table and the chairs and all that junk -before supper time.” - -He started to run, and after him ran the other members of the Riddle -Club. The pavements were wet from the stray snow flakes which had -melted as fast as they fell, and Margy slipped once or twice, but she -never complained. She, too, felt that getting to the barn and starting -the moving was the most important thing to be considered. At a time -like this, mere legs and feet were of little consequence. - -They dashed into the three houses, to tell three mothers that they -were home from school, and then dashed out again and made for the barn. -As Ward complained, pantingly climbing the loft ladder, they acted as -though the barn was on fire and they had to save their furniture from -the flames. - -“Well, it gets dark so soon that we have to hurry,” said Fred. “Hurry -up and unlock the door, Ward.” - -“I haven’t the key,” answered Ward. “It’s in my other pocket.” - -“You mean the pocket of your other coat,” Artie corrected him. - -“Well, isn’t that my other pocket?” argued Ward. “How could I have the -same pocket in my other coat that I have in this one?” - -“We don’t care about your other pocket or this pocket or which pocket -is where,” broke in Fred. “Go get the key, Ward. And hurry. It isn’t -going to be so easy taking this stuff down that ladder as it was to -bring it up.” - -Ward went off to get the key for the padlock, and the others sat down -in the old, dry hay to wait for him. - -“Why don’t we lower the table out of the window?” suggested Artie. -“That’s the way they took the new safe into the lodge hall; they -pulled it up to the second story on a rope. If you can take something -in that way, why can’t you take it out?” - -“Window’s too narrow,” Fred objected. - -“If you can let it out of a window, what’s the matter with lowering it -over the loft on a rope?” said Jess, slowly. - -“We could! Good for you, Jess!” cried Fred. “I’m not anxious to go down -that ladder, let me tell you, with one end of the table and some one -else at the other end liable to let the whole thing slip and knock me -off. Let’s get a rope and let the table down.” - -As Margy had once disconsolately remarked, if there was one thing -that was scarce and hard to find in River Bend, it was a good rope. -It was her complaint that there was never anything on hand to serve -as a jumping rope, and the boys were always discovering that they had -no rope to use when they really needed rope. Mothers guarded their -clotheslines jealously, and woe betide the boy or girl who cut it in -two, or even chopped a tiny length off. “You’d think a clothesline was -made of gold,” to quote the exasperated Margy. - -“I’ll go get a rope,” offered Artie. “Dad has some down at the store, -and he said I could have it, if I came after it. I’ll be back in a -jiffy.” - -“I don’t see what Ward calls it, he is doing,” said Jess, presently. -“Even if he had to stop to get his breath, he’s had time to find that -key and be back. Perhaps I’d better go down and see if he needs me to -help him hunt.” - -Fred and Margy and Polly waited in the loft till the shadows deepened -to such a dark gray that they began to think it must be nearly supper -time. - -“I don’t know what you think,” said Fred. “But I know we’ve waited long -enough. I’m going in.” - -Margy and Polly followed him down the ladder. To the natural shadows -of a wintry afternoon, the heavy gray snow clouds had added a deeper -tinge, and though it was only a little past four, a light in the -sewing-room of the Marley house showed that Polly’s mother had found it -necessary to have the help of artificial light in finishing her work. - -“Let’s go over and look at the room,” suggested Polly, and the three -went in the side door and up the back stairs, which brought them to the -room set aside for their use. - -“It’s fine,” commented Fred. “Just fine, Polly. We’re mighty lucky to -have it. There’s room for everything, and that shelf will be just the -place to put the loving cup.” - -Polly was pleased. She had been so delighted to have the room to offer -the Riddle Club that she had taken their pleasure for granted; and now -Ward and Jess and Artie were apparently making no effort to help her -take possession. However, if the critical Fred approved of the room, it -must be all right. - -“Hello!” said Mrs. Marley, passing through the hall and seeing them -sitting on the window seat. “Why, I thought this was the big afternoon! -Where are all the others? And you haven’t moved a thing!” - -“Ward went to get the key and he didn’t come back,” explained Polly, -dully. “And Artie went down to the store to get some rope, and he -hasn’t come back, either. And we waited and waited and waited for them.” - -“Why, Polly dear, didn’t you go after them?” asked Mrs. Marley, in -surprise. “Of course something has happened. You mustn’t be so ready to -believe that it’s their fault. They’re just as much interested in the -Riddle Club as you are, dear.” - -“No, they’re not,” said Polly. “They like it as long as I’ll do all the -work and the planning, but they won’t do a thing to help.” - -“And this isn’t the first time Ward’s gone off and forgotten to come -back,” declared Margy. “He always thinks there is plenty of time for -everything.” - -“There they are now,” said Mrs. Marley, as the doorbell sounded. “I’ll -go down and send them up.” - -Ward and Jess came stamping up the stairs, with Artie following them. -He carried a large coil of rope over his arm. - -“What you doing up here?” asked Ward. “We went up in the loft and you -weren’t there. Then we went to Williamson’s, and you weren’t there, -either.” - -“How are we going to get anything moved, if you don’t do anything?” -said Jess. - -“Do anything!” exploded Margy. “Where’ve you been all this time? Here -it is half-past four, and you talk about us doing something! Where have -you been all this time?” - -“Is it half-past four?” asked Jess. “Why, Dora was baking cookies and -we stayed to watch her a little while. She said we could scrape the -bowl, but we didn’t wait for that. We hurried back as fast as we could.” - -Polly said nothing at all. Fred glanced at her uncertainly. - -“What happened to you, Artie?” he said. - -“Why, nothing,” Artie replied. “I went down to the store and got the -rope; here it is.” - -“Did it take you an hour?” asked Fred. - -“An hour? I wasn’t gone an hour,” Artie protested. “All I did was to -turn the emery wheel for Mr. Kelper a little while; but it wasn’t an -hour.” - -“Come on and let’s do the moving,” urged Ward. “What are you waiting -for? It’s almost dark now.” - -“It’s too dark to begin getting things down from the loft,” said Polly, -quietly. “And, anyway, there’s no hurry; we can’t have a meeting till -after Thanksgiving.” - -“Why, to-morrow!” said Jess. “It’s our day to-morrow, Polly.” - -“But we won’t be moved,” Polly pointed out. “We can’t get our things -in here and in place and have a meeting, too. And if we go over our -regular day we have to wait till the next meeting. I said I won’t hold -a session without everything in order, and I won’t.” - -“Are you mad, Polly?” asked Jess, anxiously. “Perhaps we didn’t hurry -right back, but we meant to.” - -“No, I’m not mad,” said Polly, calmly. “I’m only telling you that there -won’t be any meeting to-morrow. We can move to-morrow, if you want to.” - -“But let’s move now, Polly,” urged Artie. “I have the rope and -everything. There’s lots of time.” - -“We could start, Polly,” said Fred. - -“I think Polly is exactly right,” declared Margy. “It’s almost dark -now, and we couldn’t see to get up and down the loft ladder. Besides, I -nearly froze to death waiting up there for you. It will serve you right -to have to wait till after Thanksgiving.” - -“Well, you’ll have to wait, too,” Jess retorted. - -Polly, usually the gentlest of girls, could, when aroused, be like “a -little cake of cement,” her father said. If she said that no meeting -of the Riddle Club was to be called till after Thanksgiving, the other -members knew that no amount of persuasion could make her change her -mind. Jess was not exactly easy in her conscience, for she had lingered -beyond all reason; and Ward and Artie, too, knew that they had been -thoughtless and selfish to keep the rest waiting. - -“We’ll start to move the first thing after school to-morrow,” said -Jess. “And I’ll bring the key with me, so we’ll be sure we have it.” - -Fred thought wistfully of the lost dues, but he resisted the temptation -to speak of them. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -MOVING DAY - - -As soon as school was out the next day, the Riddle Club members hurried -to the Larue barn. True to her promise, Jess produced the key and there -was no delay about getting into the clubroom. - -“Br-rr!” shivered Margy, as the door was opened. - -They had not dreamed the room could be so cold. With the window and -door both closed, no fresh air could warm the atmosphere, as it did in -the barn below where, even though there was no heat, it usually felt -several degrees warmer than the outside temperature. - -The threatened snowstorm had not come, but the day was raw and cold, -and each of the children found a sweater under his or her coat most -comfortable. Margy, who perhaps felt the cold more than any of the -others, was silently thankful that they would not have to hold another -meeting in the hayloft room. - -“We’d better take the table first, I think,” said Fred. “That’s the -largest piece of furniture, and if any one gets hurt moving that, we -won’t miss him so much with the other things.” - -“Huh?” inquired Ward, anxiously. - -“Well, you know yourself that if the loving cup fell over and sprained -one of your fingers you wouldn’t be any help in moving the table,” -explained Fred. “But if we let the table fall on you, after it’s on the -barn floor, and it breaks your leg, there’ll still be plenty of us left -to lift the loving cup. Don’t you see?” - -Apparently Ward saw, for he asked no further questions, but helped, at -Fred’s direction, tie the rope about the table and knot it securely. - -“Do we have to take it in the second-story window of the house?” asked -Polly, watching the boys as they fastened the rope. - -“Oh, we can get it up the stairs all right,” Fred assured her. “It’s -only because the loft ladder is so rickety that we’re letting it down -this way.” - -When they came to take the table out through the doorway, a new -obstacle arose. The piece of furniture stuck. - -“It _must_ go through,” said Fred, as though that settled it. - -“It came through,” declared Margy, in quite as positive a tone. “I saw -it come through.” - -“Well, it won’t go through now,” said Ward, wiping his red face with -his handkerchief. “Try it yourself, if you don’t believe me.” - -Jess giggled a little. - -“A table couldn’t grow fat, could it?” she suggested. “Maybe that -table’s gained in weight or something, since we moved it in.” - -“No, I know what the trouble is,” said Polly. “When you brought it up -here, it just scraped through the doorway--don’t you remember? The boys -had to be extra careful not to get their fingers caught, the space was -so narrow between the frame and the table.” - -“But it won’t even scrape through now,” Artie objected, frowning. - -“That’s because you have that great rope wrapped around it,” said -Polly. “It hits the sides of the door frame. You’ll have to take it off -and push the table through.” - -Grumbling, the boys set to work to untie the rope. This was not easy, -for Ward and Artie had put their best efforts into those knots, and -they were fearful and wonderful to behold. Then, too, in the pushing -and shoving exerted by the movers, the rope had twisted, so that the -knots were hard to get at. Artie finally succeeded in unloosening one -and Fred unfastened the other, and they pulled the rope out. - -“Now I’ll push and you two pull,” said Fred, who would not allow the -girls to help. - -The table stuck again. Fred gave a violent shove. Artie and Ward felt a -sharp prod in their ribs, and both went over backward. - -“Laugh if you want to,” said the indignant Artie, rising and looking -reproachfully at the girls, who stood behind Fred. “I don’t see -anything funny myself. It’s a wonder that we don’t go through this fool -floor.” - -The floor of the loft was not tight, and in many places the cracks were -wide enough for a very thin person’s foot. Some parts of the floor -were merely of poles laid closely together to hold the hay. When Ward -had been a very little boy, he had once fallen between these poles and -landed on a pile of hay on the main floor, a much frightened lad. - -“We didn’t mean to laugh,” apologized Polly. “But you looked so funny! -You went down together just like two wooden soldiers.” - -With much pushing and pulling and some scolding from Fred, the table -was dragged to the edge of the loft and the rope again tied around it, -ready to be lowered. - -“What do we tie it to?” asked Fred suddenly. “Haven’t got the -confidence in your gun that you have, Artie.” - -Artie grinned. He had fallen over a bluff in camp the past summer, and -a rope tied to his old gun stuck in the ground had proved to be his -ladder to safety. But even Artie could not trust his gun to stand the -weight of the table. - -“We can hold it,” said Ward, confidently. “The three of us can do it -easily.” - -“If the rope gets to going, it will skin our hands,” Fred warned him. - -“Don’t stand too near the edge, or you’ll be dragged over,” said Polly, -who was eager to help in some way. - -“Dump it over,” Artie advised, carelessly. “You can’t hurt a heavy -table like that.” - -“Much you know about it,” said Fred. “One of these legs is likely to -crack off. Well, I suppose, as Ward says, the three of us can hold it.” - -He dragged the table nearer the edge and took up the rope, standing -back about two feet. Ward and Artie, in the order named, took up the -rope, standing about the same distance from each other. - -“I’ll give you the word,” said Fred, beginning to move the table nearer -and nearer, pushing cautiously with his foot. - -Ward felt a stinging sensation in his eye--a grain of dust, most -likely. He rubbed frantically, while a cousin of the same mischievous -dust atom flew on to Artie and caused him to sneeze tremendously. As -every one will tell you, it is quite impossible to keep your mind on -any job and sneeze at the same time. Small wonder that Artie forgot the -rope, as Ward had done. - -The table teetered a minute over the edge of the loft, then dropped. -Fred felt as though his arms were being pulled from the sockets for one -brief moment, and then the strain slackened. He looked back. The three -girls were holding the rope, their feet braced as they pulled. Ward and -Artie stood staring at him. - -“Grab that rope!” shouted Fred. “What are you thinking of? Grab hold! -Do you want the thing to go bang?” - -Ward and Artie “came to” with a jerk and grasped the rope. Fred -continued to lower the table gently, paying out the rope carefully, -until he felt it touch the barn floor. - -“All right!” he said glumly. “And small thanks to you boys. If it -hadn’t been for the girls, we would have had one smashed table.” - -Ward and Artie were eager to make up for their lapse, and they offered -to carry the table into the house alone. - -“We’ll get everything downstairs first,” Fred decreed. “Then all we’ll -have to do will be to carry the stuff in.” - -“Somebody ought to beat the rug,” said Margy. “Mother always beats her -rugs when she moves them, even if it’s only from one room to another.” - -No one seemed very anxious to do any rug-beating, though Ward offered -to “shake it out of the window.” - -“A good housekeeper doesn’t shake rugs out of the window,” said Polly. -“I’ll clean the rug myself.” - -“Well, housework is girls’ work, anyway,” said Ward, placidly. - -“I won’t clean the rug!” retorted Polly. “Mother has a man come and -beat her rugs--so there.” - -“The rug is clean, so stop fussing,” commanded Fred. “We haven’t used -it much. I’ll get a broom and sweep it off and it will be all right.” - -One by one they carried down the treasures from their clubroom--the -silver loving cup; the six chairs; the framed sketch, made by the -artist, Miss Perry; Artie’s gun; and the radio set. This last was to -go in the Larue living-room for the winter. It would not be needed in -the clubroom, for Artie had his own set, as did Fred. They left the -curtains, because Mrs. Marley had all her windows curtained alike, and -the new room already had ruffled white draperies screening the windows -above the window seat. - -“I hope Carrie Pepper knows we have a clubroom,” said Margy, as she -helped Polly take down the pennant tacked in place on the loft-room -wall. - -“She will know it, if she doesn’t now,” declared Jess. “That girl hears -everything, sooner or later.” - -They could hardly blame Carrie if she learned about the new clubroom, -for ten minutes later Mrs. Pepper came out to feed her hens and -discovered something unusual going on in the barn. - -“What are you doing, Fred Williamson?” she asked Fred, seeing him -start, whistling, for the Marley house, two chairs over his back. - -“We’re moving, Mrs. Pepper,” he answered, politely. - -“Moving? Where to? Is Mr. Larue moving?” asked Mrs. Pepper, forgetting -to sprinkle any more corn. - -“No, Mr. Larue isn’t moving. The Riddle Club is,” Fred explained. -“We’re going to hold our meetings at the Marleys’ till warm weather -comes again. You ought to see the dandy room we’re going to have!” - -“I pity Mrs. Marley with a parcel of young ones racketing over her -house,” sighed Mrs. Pepper. “I suppose she thinks she can keep an eye -on you better. But I wouldn’t give much for her furniture by spring -time.” - -“We have our own furniture,” said Jess, indignantly. She had come -up with Fred in time to hear this last remark. “We stay in our own -clubroom for meetings, and we don’t hurt a thing.” - -“Here, chick, chick,” called Mrs. Pepper, remembering her hungry flock. -“No, I don’t suppose you intend to do any damage. But the time Carrie -had the Conundrum Club at our house, it took me a week to get the place -to rights again; and some of the grease spots never did come out of the -rug.” - -Jess opened her mouth to say that the Riddle Club didn’t spill grease -on any one’s carpets, but she thought in time that that might sound as -though she were criticizing the Conundrum Club. - -“What a nice turkey!” she said instead. - -“He will be nice,” admitted Mrs. Pepper, “when I get him fattened up, -if I ever do. I can’t abide a turkey for Thanksgiving that I don’t -fatten myself. I bought this cheap, because he’s so skinny, but I aim -to have him as fat as butter by Thanksgiving morning.” - -Jess went on with the rug she was carrying, but she had to stop on the -side steps of the Marley house, for the three boys were getting the -table up the stairs with much noise and some laughter. - -“What would they do if they had really to move!” said Polly, joining -Jess on the steps. “And to think we’ll have to go through with this -again in the spring. Did you see Mrs. Pepper’s turkey?” - -“Yes, she says she’s getting it fat,” responded Jess, absently. “Say, -Polly, has your mother said anything about Thanksgiving yet?” - -“No, she hasn’t.” Polly’s reply was prompt. “She hasn’t said a word. -And last year by this time we knew where we were going, didn’t we?” - -Unless one of the families was going away over the holiday or had -invited relatives, it was the custom of the Marleys, the Larues, and -the Williamsons to have Thanksgiving dinner together at one of their -homes. - -“I think it’s kind of queer,” said Jess, soberly. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -THE SECRET IS OUT - - -The boys came panting downstairs, having landed the table in its new -home safely. They found Polly and Jess on the steps. - -“We’re coming right up,” said Polly, hastily. “We were just talking -about Thanksgiving.” - -Margy joined them, the loving cup in her arms. - -“What about Thanksgiving?” she asked curiously. - -“Oh, we were saying how queer it is we haven’t heard yet where we’re -going for dinner,” said Polly. - -Margy looked at her brother. - -“Fred knows something about Thanksgiving he won’t tell,” she -complained. “I think he’s awfully mean.” - -“What do you know, Fred?” wheedled Polly. “Tell us--please.” - -Fred’s face turned a little red. - -“I don’t believe he knows a thing that we don’t,” said Ward. - -“I do, too!” cried Fred. Then he stopped. - -“I think you might tell,” said Jess, pensively. - -“I promised I wouldn’t. Now will you be quiet?” said the harassed Fred. - -“Is it about all of us? Are we in it?” asked Margy, quickly. - -“How could you be in a Thanksgiving dinner?” asked Fred. - -“Don’t be silly--you know what I mean. Shall we all know what you know -when we do know?” returned Margy. - -“I don’t know what you’re trying to say, but you won’t get a word out -of me,” announced Fred, firmly. “I happened to overhear some talk I -wasn’t supposed to hear, and then Dad told me all the rest of it and -made me promise not to tell.” - -“Will you tell just one thing?” coaxed Artie. - -Fred had a shrewd suspicion that Artie could find out more, if he -wished, than the rest of the children. - -“Don’t you go asking me questions,” he ordered. “I said I wasn’t going -to tell, and that settles it.” - -“But, Fred, tell us just this one thing,” insisted Artie: “When shall -we know about--about it?” - -“The week before Thanksgiving. Now I hope you’re satisfied,” Fred -retorted. “I don’t see any reason for standing here talking all day; -if we’re going to move, why not move?” - -Acting on this gentle hint, they went to work again, and before dark -the new clubroom was in apple-pie order. Very trim and clean and neat -it looked, too, and very warm and cozy it was. Fond as they all were -of the little loft room in the barn, they could not deny that it was a -bleak place in winter. - -Mrs. Marley had given the key to Polly, and had assured her that not an -outsider would be allowed over the threshold. - -“That means, of course,” she told her daughter, “that you’ll have to -take care of the room. You girls will have to get together and clean it -now and then, but a room that isn’t used regularly will stay clean a -long time. You can dust it thoroughly before each meeting.” - -Polly loyally passed over the key to Ward, because he had always locked -the padlock on the barn-room door. She knew he liked this duty and felt -proud to be intrusted with it. - -It was fortunate that the Riddle Club knew they were to have news the -week before Thanksgiving, because they would have found it hard work -waiting. As it was, each time “Thanksgiving” was mentioned in school or -at home they looked anxious. - -“I do think it is _too_ queer,” said Jess, for the twentieth time, as -she walked home from school with Margy and Polly. “Carrie Pepper’s -mother is going to have six aunts come to their house to dinner. And we -don’t know a thing.” - -As she spoke, they saw Fred come dashing from the house and give the -signal that never failed to produce Artie and Ward if they were within -hearing distance. It was a piercing whistle produced in some mysterious -manner by putting three fingers in one’s mouth. - -Two ear-splitting blasts answered Fred’s whistle, and Artie and Ward -shot out of the Larue barn, where they had been engaged in some -interesting experiment. Artie always had an experiment or two on hand. - -“Hurry up! He wants us,” said Polly, as Fred spied them and waved. - -The three girls ran the rest of the way and reached the Williamson gate -breathless. - -“You know Thanksgiving?” said Fred. - -They nodded, dumbly. - -“Well, we’re going up to Tom’s Island!” said Fred, who certainly did -not believe in wasting words. - -“Tom’s Island!” echoed Polly. “But it’s winter!” - -“All the more fun. Wait till you hear,” said Fred. “We’re going up in -the car Wednesday night and stay over till Sunday. Think of the sport! -If the lake is frozen, we can skate or walk on the ice, and maybe we -can rig up a sail and have ice boating.” - -“I’d rather have it snow,” said Artie, seriously. “Let’s take our -sleds.” - -Margy shivered. - -“It will be awfully cold,” she complained. “There isn’t any heater. -How’ll we keep from freezing?” - -“Oh, we’ll run all day and take a hot brick to bed at night,” said the -practical Jess. - -“I think it will be great! Is that your secret, Fred?” asked Polly. - -“Yes,” admitted Fred. - -“You see,” he went on, “I was back of the sofa, hunting for my cap, -when Mother and Dad came into the parlor and began talking about it. I -heard some before I could wriggle out, and then they told me the rest -and I promised not to tell. They wanted to get all the plans fixed -before they let us know.” - -“And we’re all going? What a lark!” cried Jess. “We never did that -before.” - -“Well, you’re all going,” said Fred. “But Mr. and Mrs. Larue and Mr. -and Mrs. Marley are going to Rye to have dinner with Mr. Field and -his sister and his two cousins--you know, Mr. Kirby and Mr. Adams. Mr. -Kirby planned it. He wrote and asked us all to come, every single one -of us.” - -“My goodness, that would have been--two--six--ten of us; no, twelve,” -said Margy, calculating swiftly. - -“That’s what Mother said--that twelve was too many,” Fred replied. “So -she talked it over with the other mothers, and at first, Mother told -me, they thought they’d all go and leave us at home. Then they decided -that was kind of mean on Thanksgiving, so Mother and Dad offered to -take us all to the island. You know Dad likes to be outdoors. Mr. Kirby -wrote and said that plan was all right, but Dad and Mother must come -to dinner New Year’s. He asked them for Christmas, but of course they -couldn’t go away from home on Christmas.” - -“Of course not,” echoed Polly. “So we’re going with your father and -mother in the car. I’m so excited, I can hardly wait!” - -“I’m glad to know what we’re going to do,” said Margy, sighing as -though a burden had been taken from her shoulders. - -“Now don’t----” Polly instructed her younger brother, “don’t, Artie, -whatever you do, tell any one who belongs to the Conundrum Club where -we’re going. It would be just like them to want to go, too.” - -Artie said he would be careful, but it was lucky he had to memorize a -verse to recite at the Thanksgiving exercises. Artie loved to talk, and -he was apt to talk to any friendly listener. - -It was not till the Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving Day that -Carrie Pepper heard of the plan. School was to close at noon, and Mr. -and Mrs. Larue and Mr. and Mrs. Marley had gone off in the Larue car at -seven o’clock that morning. Rye was over the state line and some two -hundred miles from River Bend. - -“I saw your folks going off,” remarked Carrie, sociably, joining the -six chums as they set off for school at half-past eight. “What are you -going to do for dinner to-morrow?” - -“My mother’s at home,” said Margy, with dignity. “And so is Dad.” - -“Oh! Then are they all coming to your house?” asked Carrie. “My mother -is going to have a lot of company, too. She’s going to kill the turkey -this afternoon. He’s nice and fat, too.” - -“We’re going to carry the turkey with us,” said Artie, innocently. That -was enough for Carrie. - -“Carry it with you?” she asked. “Why, where are you going?” - -“Up to Tom’s Island,” said Fred, darting a severe look at Artie. “We’re -going up in the car and stay till Sunday.” - -“I never heard of going to a summer camp in the winter time,” declared -Carrie. “You’ll probably freeze, and it will serve you right.” - -But the minute she reached school she told Mattie Helms and Joe -Anderson, and in less than an hour every girl and boy in the school -knew where the Riddle Club intended to spend Thanksgiving. - -The six members hurried home as soon as school was dismissed. They were -to leave at half-past three, and there was still some packing to be -done. Mrs. Williamson had set her heart on taking a full Thanksgiving -dinner, and there were enough cooking utensils left at the camp, safely -packed in strong, dry boxes, to cook it properly. The last thing Mr. -Marley had ordered done before leaving the island in the summer, was to -have Mr. Mains bring a load of firewood and stack it under a shelter. -He had foreseen that they might wish to visit the camp in winter. - -Each member of the club was to take a flannel sleeping bag, a hot water -bottle, a pair of blankets, and rubber boots. Even the girls in River -Bend owned rubber boots, for they wore them to school during the winter -storms. Mr. Williamson said they would be taken for gypsies if any one -saw the back of the car, for comfortables and blankets were piled high -around the suitcases and the one sled that Fred had insisted must go. - -“I ought to be thankful, I suppose, that you don’t each clamor to take -a sled,” said Mr. Williamson, good-naturedly. “No, Artie, positively no -ice skates allowed. It won’t be cold enough for that. It may snow, but -even if the lake froze over, it wouldn’t be thick enough to bear you so -early in the season.” - -So the skates were left out, and that gave room enough--so Mrs. -Williamson always declared--to put the six children in. - -Jess and Ward were upstairs, getting into their heavy sweaters, and Mr. -Williamson was backing the heavily loaded car out of the garage, when -they heard Mrs. Pepper shrieking. - -“Catch him! Catch him! There he goes!” they heard her cry. - -Then came the sharp tinkle of broken glass. - -“What’s the matter?” cried Ward, running for the stairs and down them -as fast as he could go, Jess at his heels. - -Mrs. Pepper met him on the lawn. She presented a terrifying sight, for -the shawl, in which she had muffled her head, had slipped over one -ear and gave her a reckless look. In her right hand she carried a -hatchet--a “tomahawk” the excited Ward dubbed it--and this she waved -fiercely. - -“Where’d he go?” she demanded of the frightened children. - -“Where’d what go?” stammered Jess, for Ward, as usual, had lost his -breath. - -“The turkey! I tipped the coop over--I’ve had him shut up for a week to -give him the final fattening--and he was off like a streak. He came in -this direction. I saw him fly over the hedge.” - -“I heard glass breaking,” said Jess, doubtfully, turning to stare at -the house. - -Down the steps of the Marley house came Polly and Artie, and around -from behind the car in front of their house, came Fred and Margy. - -“Most ready?” they called. “Mother’s putting her hat on.” - -“One of the parlor windows is broken,” said Jess, suddenly. “Do you -suppose the turkey did that?” - - - - -CHAPTER X - -IN CAMP AGAIN - - -Though Ward was sure a turkey couldn’t break a window pane and Fred and -Polly and Margy and Artie, who joined them, were doubtful, Mrs. Pepper -said that, for her part, she knew the turkey was in the Larue house. - -“And you’ll just have to help me get him out,” said she. “I have -company coming to-morrow and I have to get that turkey killed and -dressed to-night. Carrie is off with some of her friends--instead of -helping me--and Mr. Pepper won’t be home till the late boat. I’ll pay -for the broken glass, of course; but you’ll have to help me take that -turkey away.” - -A turkey hunt promised some excitement, and the six children went into -the house determined to find the missing bird. Mrs. Pepper implored -them not to chase him, when they found him, “for,” she said, “I’ve been -feeding him on English walnuts and chocolates for a week, and I don’t -want him to lose his fat. A scrawny turkey is something I can’t abide.” - -“I feel as though I was hunting for a burglar,” Polly whispered to -Margy, as they tiptoed through the lower rooms. - -“So do I,” answered Margy. “Oh! What was that?” - -It was nothing but a window shade that had rattled against the pane, -blown by the draft which came through the broken window. Dora, the -Larue maid, had gone to her own home to stay over the holiday, and -there was no one but the searchers in the house. - -“Well, he isn’t on the first floor,” said Fred, when all the rooms had -been carefully examined. “Artie and I will go up to the attic and have -a look around there. A turkey might feel more at home in an attic.” - -Mrs. Pepper didn’t seem convinced, but she went on with her hunt -and Fred and Artie went to the attic. The door opening on the steep -stairway was half open, and as Fred jerked it back, something flapped -in his face. - -Fred was no coward, but he jumped back with a startled cry. A large -turkey scuttled up the attic stairs. - -“He’s up here!” shouted Fred. “Come on--we’ll get him! He’s up here!” - -The other children came running, and Mrs. Pepper toiled after them. - -“Don’t chase it,” she kept saying. “Don’t chase it. You’ll run all the -fat off it.” - -“You stay down here, Ward, to head him off,” directed Fred. “We’ll go -up and get him started, and when you hear me telling you to open the -door, you do it slowly. We only want to drive him back to the coop.” - -Ward seemed to understand. He took up his station by the door which -Fred closed as he followed the rest up the attic stairs. - -“There’s Mr. Williamson whistling,” said Ward. “I’ll bet he’s ready to -go. He doesn’t know where we are.” - -“I’ll go and tell him,” promised Mrs. Pepper. “You stay right where you -are, Ward. He’ll wait for you when he knows you’re doing something to -help me. I couldn’t get that turkey out of the attic alone in a month -of Sundays.” - -Mrs. Pepper hurried off. She was short and stout, and Ward had to admit -that she would have found turkey-chasing hard work with no younger feet -and hands to help her. - -Ward, listening at the door, heard the sound of quick footsteps over -his head, a shout from Fred and a burst of laughter from Artie. Then -the footsteps began to run, and Ward guessed correctly that they were -chasing the turkey over the attic floor. Margy gave an excited shriek, -and then an avalanche seemed to be coming down the uncarpeted stairs. - -“Open the door!” called Fred. “Open it, quick!” - -Ward was so excited that he forgot to open the door slowly. He flung it -back with a jerk and an angry and frightened turkey spread its wings -and sailed over his head, while Fred, stumbling, fell over Artie and -the two boys and Jess came down in a heap on the protesting Ward. - -“Catch him!” cried Polly, from the top of the stairs. “He’s going -downstairs again. Catch him!” - -In a moment the three boys and Jess were on their feet, and, joined by -Margy and Polly, they rushed pell-mell down the front stairs. The door -in the hall was open and Mrs. Pepper stood talking to Mr. Williamson on -the porch. The grown-ups caught a glimpse of a flying brown body and -then a colorful flash as six gay-colored sweaters dashed past them. -Then the chase headed for the Pepper yard. - -“Corn!” cried Mrs. Pepper. “Show him some corn and he’ll walk into the -chicken house.” - -Polly dashed around to the chicken house and caught up a measure of -corn lying on a grain bin. She ran out into the yard and shook this -invitingly. Dozens of hens gathered around her, and, sure enough, the -fugitive came, too. - -Careful not to spill a grain, Polly walked backward into the chicken -house, and the moment the gobbler stepped over the sill, she scattered -the corn with a lavish hand. As his long neck bent to eat the grains, -Polly slipped out and bolted the door. - -They were half an hour late in starting, but the richer by an extra -fruit cake Mrs. Pepper pressed upon them. - -The drive to Lake Bassing was made in good time. It was a cold day, but -tucked in the tonneau with the robes, the girls and boys were warm and -comfortable. - -Lake Bassing, in the winter, was a very different town from the one -they had known in the summer season. Some of the houses were closed, -and there was no cheerful Dick Hare and his bus to greet them. Mr. -Williamson did not stop in town, but drove straight to the bridge that -led to Tom’s Island. - -“It feels like snow,” he explained, as he helped them out, “and we want -to get settled in camp before it is pitch dark. What’s the matter, -Polly? Stiff?” - -Polly was a little cramped and cold from sitting still so long, but -as soon as she got down and began to walk, she was all right. They all -helped to carry the things across the bridge, and then Fred and his -father ran the car down to the Meade farm, where they were to keep it -in the farmer’s garage. - -By the time they had walked back to the island, Mrs. Williamson had a -fire built in the kitchen stove and one in the funny little wood stove -that had been set up in the mess-house. The girls were spreading the -blankets on the cots, and Artie and Ward, having brought in wood, were -pumping two pails of fresh water. - -They were all so sleepy that they decided to tumble into bed and -forego the campfire that night. With the hot water bottles, which -Mrs. Williamson filled from the teakettle, and the sleeping bags and -blankets, they were as comfortable as could be, when tucked in, and -were asleep almost before they had finished saying “good-night.” - -Artie was the first to wake in the morning. He opened one eye, glanced -around, trying to remember where he was, and then, happening to see -through the open end of the tent, he shrieked in delight. - -“Fred! Ward! Wake up! It snowed!” he cried. - -That roused the camp, and the six chums dressed in such haste it is -doubtful if they missed the steam heat of their bedrooms at home. The -girls came out of their tent at the same moment the boys stepped from -theirs, and a royal snowball fight was on before breakfast. - -“Could you consider an armistice--for flap-jacks?” called Mr. -Williamson, from the door of the kitchen lean-to. - -Could they? You might have thought they had never had anything to eat -since the summer before, to see them at that breakfast table. Mrs. -Williamson insisted on baking cakes till no one could eat a morsel -more, and then the boys made her sit down, while Polly, under her -directions, mixed more batter and baked a fresh and hot supply for -the jolly cook. The three boys took turns carrying them in, and Mrs. -Williamson said she felt as a queen must feel with some one to wait on -her. - -After breakfast there was the dinner to be considered. Mrs. Williamson -had done nearly everything at home the day before, and after more wood -and water had been brought in and Polly and Margy had set the table -with a clean cloth and the pretty favors Mr. Marley had given them in -a box before he left, the children were told to go off and coast till -they were called. - -“I’ll ring the old cowbell as a signal,” said Mrs. Williamson, -pointing to an old bell that hung on a nail in the kitchen. - -Mr. Williamson stayed with her, and the rest went off with Fred’s sled -to find a good coasting hill. - -“We can’t go off the island, or we won’t hear the bell,” said Polly. - -Artie was for coasting down the bluff he had fallen over. “That,” he -remarked, engagingly, “would be even more exciting.” - -“Yes, and when you landed in that cold water, I guess you’d find it -exciting,” observed Fred. “We couldn’t pull you out with a rope, -either, because you’d drown before we could get a rope.” - -However, it was not necessary to go over the bluff, for they found -that the gradual ascent to it formed a hill that was steep enough -to offer good coasting. Taking turns with the sled, they coasted to -their hearts’ content, and when the cowbell called them to dinner they -brought rosy cheeks and huge appetites to the table. - -The turkey was the brownest, the cranberry jelly the reddest, that -they had ever seen. And they were allowed both kinds of pie--mince and -pumpkin--because Mr. Williamson said that playing outdoors so much -would keep them from getting ill, no matter how much dinner they ate. -Wasn’t that an understanding remark? As Artie said, it just showed you -what kind of a man Mr. Williamson was! - -There was a long hill back of the Meade farmhouse, and here Mr. -Williamson took them all that afternoon. It was the kind of hill that -took your breath away, going down it on a sled, long and steep and with -a dip in the middle that made your heart come up in your mouth, so -Margy said. The girls couldn’t help screaming each time they went down, -but they wouldn’t have stayed away for the world. - -When it was too dark to coast any longer, they went back to camp and -the boys built a huge bonfire. They had cocoa, steaming hot, in their -tin cups and had turkey sandwiches and ate outdoors, grouped around the -fire “just like explorers,” Artie said. - -“The nicest Thanksgiving I ever had,” said Ward, sleepily, getting into -his flannel bag that night. - -And Artie echoed him, more sleepily still. - -Perhaps it was the snow that made Artie dream of Christmas. At any -rate, he sat up in bed the next morning and shouted across to Fred that -he heard sleighbells. - -“Go to sleep,” said Fred, drowsily. “You’re dreaming.” - -“I do, too, hear ’em!” Artie insisted. “There, Fred Williamson! I -guess you’ll believe me now!” - -“Hello! Hello!” bellowed a hearty voice, and sleighbells crashed as the -voice shouted “Whoa!” - -“It isn’t Christmas,” Fred heard Artie mutter to himself, and that sent -the older boy into fits of laughter. - -“You bet it isn’t Christmas,” Fred declared, and not for anything in -the world would he have admitted that the same thought had crossed his -mind--a picture of gay and gallant Santa Claus, clad in a jolly red -suit, driving his reindeer over the snow. - -Ward, who didn’t mind the cold, had hopped out of his cot and was -leaping, like an antelope, toward the tent door, his sleeping bag a -decided handicap. - -“It’s Mr. Meade,” he reported, after a brief look. “He’s got two horses -harnessed to a long bobsled--at least it looks like a bobsled. Mr. -Williamson is down talking to him. Hurry and get dressed!” - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -ARTIE’S ADVENTURE - - -The way those boys shot into their clothes would have been a revelation -to their mothers, who sometimes had to call them three times before -they came down to breakfast on a school morning. In less than five -minutes they were down at the bridge and across it. - -“Morning!” said Mr. Meade, heartily. “Thought you’d be up. I’m going -up in the woods to cut logs, and I says to my wife, ‘If those children -haven’t been up in the woods in a deep snow, they might like the trip.’” - -“They haven’t had breakfast yet,” said Mr. Williamson, smiling. - -“I’ll wait,” returned Mr. Meade. “Winter time we can wait and be -neighborly, but, I declare, in the summer I don’t have a moment to -spare to go to a wedding!” - -He tied his horses and went back to the camp where Mrs. Williamson and -the girls had breakfast ready. They insisted he must eat with them, -and as he had had the first meal by lamp-light, he was able to eat a -second breakfast comfortably. - -“Mother packed us a lunch, so you don’t have to bother,” he told Mrs. -Williamson, and, sure enough, there was a large basket under the seat -of the sleigh. - -What a trip that was--along snow-covered roads, the sleighbells ringing -and the children singing in tune to the bells. They met few teams and -they each took turns driving the steady pair of farm horses whose -flying feet seemed to skim the white roadway. - -“How awfully still it is!” said Margy, when they turned into the narrow -trail that led through the woods. - -It was still and it was beautiful--a mantle of spotless snow over the -ground and every little twig and bush draped in white. There were -the tracks of little wood creatures between some of the trees, and a -squirrel dived into a stump as Fred came suddenly upon it. - -“Are you going to chop Christmas trees?” asked Artie, who couldn’t get -away from the idea of Christmas. - -“No, I’m going to haul down wood to be chopped up. That’s my main -winter work,” Mr. Meade explained. - -The logs had been cut earlier in the year, and the sled had to be -driven slowly through the woods, stopping at each pile of timber which -Mr. Meade loaded on. Fred was allowed to drive and very proud he felt. -He had intended to have a boat on the river when he grew up, but now he -felt that he might like to be a farmer and “get the wood out” in the -depth of winter. - -When the sled was fairly well loaded, Mr. Meade built a fire and they -sat around it to eat their lunch. The horses had feed-bags and ate -placidly, apparently not affected by the cold. - -Lunch over, the fire was carefully put out, every trace of it buried -deep under the snow, and they drove on. They stopped to get two more -piles of logs, and then drove out without turning. - -“It’s a longer way around, but the road’s pretty,” said Mr. Meade, who -seemed to be having as good a time as any of the children. - -The six sat perched up on the logs--having solemnly promised not to -fall off--and pretended they were explorers going through a new country. - -“I wonder if it snowed in River Bend,” said Ward. - -“Probably not,” Mr. Meade answered. “Your town is kind of protected, -and you don’t get near the sweep of weather we do. It’s always from -three to five degrees colder up here at the lake than it is down with -you.” - -Polly looked around suddenly at Ward. - -“I thought Artie was sitting next to you,” she said. - -“He--why, he _was_!” cried Ward. “He must have fallen off! Mr. Meade! -Oh, Mr. Meade!” - -The farmer looked up calmly. He was sitting down under the logs, which -projected beyond his head. - -“Well?” he inquired pleasantly. - -“Artie Marley!” gasped Ward. “He’s fallen off.” - -Mr. Meade reined in his team and stood up, his eyes searching the road -which they had just come over. The children stood up, too, and tried to -see, but there was nothing but an unbroken expanse of whiteness. - -“I don’t see how he could fall off without saying a word,” observed Mr. -Meade. “But if he isn’t here, he must be somewhere else. Hang on now, -because I’m going to make the turn--if I can,” he added. - -He tried, but the long, loaded sled wouldn’t swing easily, and it -couldn’t be backed as a wagon could. Then, too, the farmer was afraid -the load might shift, and he couldn’t risk overturning five children -and having a pile of heavy logs fall on top of them. - -“Can’t make it,” he said, when he had pulled the front runners around -so that the road was blocked. “Some one will have to go back and hunt -for him. I don’t dare leave you alone with the team, or I’d go. I think -you two boys will be the ones. Don’t go off the road, and if you need -help, shout and I’ll hear you.” - -“We’ll all go,” said the anxious Polly. “Perhaps he’s buried in a drift -and can’t get out.” - -“There are no bad drifts,” Mr. Meade assured her. “It snowed nearly all -night, but there wasn’t any wind. I wouldn’t say there was enough snow -to even cover a boy, let alone bury him.” - -The five children set off over the road they had just traveled, to -search for the missing Artie. It seemed a very lonely road, now that -they were walking on it, instead of being mounted high on a pile of -wood. - -“I don’t know what Mother will say if we come back without Artie,” -worried Margy. “I must say, Ward, I think you ought to have been -watching him.” - -“Oh, Margy, Ward isn’t to blame,” protested Polly. “Artie always takes -care of himself. I think a branch of a tree has swept him off. He’s -so thin, and if he happened to be thinking about something else, he’d -forget to hold fast, as Mr. Meade told us to do.” - -Fred looked back. A turn in the road had already hidden the sleigh from -sight. - -“I don’t believe he is hurt a bit,” said Jess stoutly. “Artie doesn’t -get hurt easily. Remember the time he fell off the bluff?” - -“He’s always falling off some place,” declared Fred, gloomily. “I never -saw such a boy for mooning around when he ought to be paying attention.” - -Artie was rather given to meditation at the wrong time, none of them -could deny that. In school he often chose a recitation period in which -to think, and as he seldom thought about the lesson which was being -recited, he had often been marked “zero” for questions to which he -really knew the answers. - -“Well, we just have to find him,” said Polly. “That’s all there is to -that. A boy can’t disappear off the face of the earth.” - -But by the time they had tramped along for the length of another turn, -they began to think that almost anything could happen to a boy. There -was no sign of Artie anywhere, and no trace that might suggest what had -become of him. - -“Listen!” said Fred suddenly, holding up his hand. - -A twig cracked under Ward’s foot and Fred frowned. - -“Do be still, can’t you?” he asked quickly. - -Jess sneezed at this point. Perhaps you’ve noticed that when one is -trying to have perfect silence, a flood of little noises seems to be -let free. - -“Excuse me,” said Jess, politely. “I didn’t mean to.” - -“Oh, for pity’s sake!” cried the exasperated Fred. “Can’t you listen a -minute? I thought I heard something.” - -They listened intently. - -“Hallo! Hal-lo!” came a call. “Come--back. Come--back!” - -“That’s Mr. Meade,” said Fred. “Come on, we have to go back.” - -“But we haven’t found Artie,” protested Polly, ready to cry. - -“Got to go back and see what he says,” said Fred, firmly. “Come on. -Perhaps he has found Artie.” - -Polly didn’t see how this could possibly be, but she followed the rest -as they turned. Fred tried to run a little, but they had walked fast, -and Ward, especially, had no extra breath to expend, even in a dog-trot. - -“How could he find Artie, when he fell off back here somewhere?” asked -Jess of Polly, slipping along the glassy depressions left by sleigh -runners. - -“He couldn’t,” Margy answered before Polly could. “I never heard of -such a silly idea in my life!” she added. - -“All right--silly idea, is it?” said Fred. “Then who’s that?” - -He pointed up the road, and Polly gasped while Ward’s mouth opened and -stayed that way from sheer surprise. - -Coming toward them, waving his hands and evidently most pleased to see -them, was the missing Artie! - -“Artie Marley! where were you?” cried Polly, while he was still two -yards away. - -“Did you think I was lost?” beamed Artie, in reply. - -“We didn’t think anything about it,” said Fred, grimly. “You weren’t on -that load, so we knew you’d fallen off. But where did you tumble?” - -“I didn’t,” said Artie, walking back with them--they had rounded the -second turn by now and could see Mr. Meade waiting with the team. “I -didn’t fall off,” declared Artie, earnestly. - -“Next, I suppose, you’ll say you were sitting next to me all the time,” -said Ward, suspiciously. - -“No, I was down in that hole where the lunch basket is,” explained -Artie. “My feet got cold and I climbed down there and--and I went to -sleep, I guess.” - -And that was all the mystery of his disappearance. He had crawled into -the hole left in the center of the wood pile, made comfortable by heavy -horse blankets, and had promptly gone to sleep. When the sleigh stopped -he had wakened and had amazed the waiting Mr. Meade by crawling out -behind him and asking where the “other children” were. - -The rest of the way home Mr. Meade insisted on turning every few miles -and solemnly counting the boys and girls to make sure there were six of -them. And when he set them down at the island bridge, before he would -let them thank him for the happy day, he carefully counted them and -“added them to make six,” as he said. He didn’t intend to spill any -more of them out or have another one go to sleep and be counted missing. - -The next day the Riddle Club campers went home, to be ready for school -on Monday morning. Ready for something else that was important, too. - -“Our first meeting in the new clubroom,” said Polly, happily. “Monday -afternoon, as soon as school is out! Won’t it be fun!” - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -THE RIDDLE CLUB MEETS - - -Although Polly had been so eager when she spoke of the meeting, she was -the last one to come to the clubroom after school the next afternoon. - -She looked flushed and excited, and, without knowing why, the others -felt a little thrill of excitement, too. - -Polly called the meeting to order and asked for unfinished business. -There was none. - -“New business?” she asked. - -Fred rose, the bank prominently displayed in his hand. - -“The treasurer,” he announced, rattling the “treasure” cheerfully, -“would like to remind you that the dues are due.” - -“Oh, for pity’s sake,” grumbled Ward. “It’s too soon after -Thanksgiving. No one has any money this time of year.” - -Fred gave him an exasperated glance. - -“I only wish,” he said coldly, “that you’d let me know the time of year -you want to pay your dues. In summer you say you need the money for -ice-cream and in winter you need it for--for--icicles, I suppose!” - -Ward giggled and Margy sighed. - -“Now they’ll argue over that for half an hour,” she whispered to Polly. - -But Fred was in no mood for argument. He felt that he had a duty to -perform and he intended to perform it, whether or not his friends -enjoyed the performance. - -“If you think I enjoy prying you loose from ten cents, Ward Larue,” -said Fred, “or you either, Artie Marley, you’re mistaken. But as long -as we have a club and a treasurer and I’m the treasurer, you’re going -to pay your dues and pay ’em at the right time.” - -“I guess you can’t collect the money if I haven’t got it,” retorted -Ward. - -“Then you’ll lose your standing,” said Fred, making a wild guess at the -“by-laws.” The Riddle Club had never bothered much with by-laws. - -But Polly thought it time to interfere. - -“I think you boys are too silly for words,” she pronounced. “Of -course Fred has to collect the dues--that’s his work. But you know, -Fred, that if you didn’t pitch into Ward, he’d hand you the ten cents -without coaxing. Why you want to argue and get cross is more than I can -understand.” - -Ward scowled and Fred laughed good-naturedly. - -“There’s the bank,” he said. “You can put your money in it or leave it -alone. But let me tell you, no club lasts very long without dues.” - -“We haven’t spent a cent yet,” grumbled Ward, but he slipped his dime -into the bank in something like haste. - -The other dimes tinkled merrily after, and the sound was music in -Fred’s ears. Whatever he chose to do, he did with all his might, and -the matter of club dues was a serious matter with him. - -“What are we going to spend the money for?” asked Artie, to whom, like -Ward, the bank seemed to hold a fortune. - -“We’re not going to spend it for anything,” Polly informed him, “till -we need something very much.” - -“We could buy Christmas presents with it,” suggested Artie, wistfully. - -“Artie Marley, I’m surprised!” said Polly. “That money doesn’t belong -to us any more. It is club money, and has to be spent for the good of -the club. Don’t you understand?” - -“Well, I’m glad,” remarked Artie, “that the dues aren’t more than ten -cents.” - -Fred was ready with a retort, but Polly forestalled him. - -“Is there any other business before the club?” she asked quickly. - -Apparently there was not. - -“Let’s begin and ask riddles, then,” said Margy. - -“I have something to tell, first,” announced Polly. “Wait a minute.” - -From her blouse pocket she took six tiny boxes, each wrapped in white -paper and fastened with an elastic band. - -“What in the world----” began Margy, but Jess said: - -“Sh!” - -“There’s one apiece,” said Polly, her voice trembling a little with -eagerness. “Your names are written on the boxes. Here, Margy.” - -She handed Margy one of the boxes and, in rapid succession, Jess, Fred, -Ward and Artie received theirs. One was left for Polly. - -“Do we open them?” asked Jess, and at Polly’s nod six pairs of hands -went to work. - -“Gee!” said Artie simply, when he had opened his box. - -The contents were the same. In each box, on a bed of pink cotton, lay -a shining pin. Dark blue enamel with a tiny “question mark” inlaid -in gold. Margy turned hers over. On the back “Margy Williamson” was -engraved. - -[Illustration: “YOU ARE GOING TO PAY YOUR DUES.”] - -“And our names on the back!” said Jess, in a tone of awe, turning her -pin over. - -“Did Mr. Kirby send them?” asked Fred. - -“He gave them to Mother to bring back with her,” explained Polly. -“Aren’t they lovely? I never saw such a darling pin!” - -“And there isn’t another like it, anywhere!” murmured Margy. “We can -wear them to school to-morrow.” - -“Don’t we have to thank Mr. Kirby, or something?” asked Artie, -seriously, and though they laughed at him, they knew what he meant. - -“I can write a letter,” said Polly, “and we’ll all sign it.” - -And a day or two later a “round robin” letter went to Rye, signed by -each member of the Riddle Club, a letter that left no doubt in Mr. -Kirby’s mind as to the pleasure his pins had given the lucky boys and -girls who received them. - -“Now,” said Polly, when the pins were fastened in a conspicuous place -on each blouse or coat, “we can have our riddles.” - -“I’ve got a riddle for Fred,” announced Ward: “How much money does the -moon represent?” - -“Huh, that’s easy,” retorted Fred, confidently. “Quarters, of course.” - -“That isn’t how much,” said Ward. - -“Well, give me time to think and I’ll tell you,” answered Fred. “The -moon has four quarters--and four quarters--four quarters make a dollar. -Ah-ha, Mr. Larue, the moon represents a dollar.” - -Ward was divided between admiration for Fred’s mathematical abilities -and chagrin that he had solved the riddle. The former won. - -“You did get it,” he said generously. “You certainly are good at -guessing riddles, Fred.” - -Fred was determined to show that he could be generous, too. - -“I took two guesses,” he said, “and that really isn’t fair. I think -only one guess should be allowed.” - -“I think so, too,” decided Polly. “If each one takes two or three -guesses, we use up the afternoon arguing.” - -Artie’s easy giggle hinted that he rather enjoyed the argument, but -Margy and Jess were loudly in favor of the single guess. - -“Your turn now, Margy,” said Polly. - -“Why is your nose in the middle of your face, Ward?” asked Margy, with -startling suddenness. - -Ward had been day-dreaming, and the question caught him unprepared. For -the moment he forgot that they were solving riddles. - -“Where else would my nose be?” he demanded. - -“That’s a riddle,” Margy explained, laughing. “Why is your nose in the -center of your face?” - -Polly choked and turned it into a cough. - -Ward felt of his nose thoughtfully. - -“It’s in the middle of your face,” said Margy, hastily. “Why?” - -“You don’t have to keep telling me,” Ward announced, with dignity. “I -heard you. My nose is in the middle of my face because--because a nose -knows where it ought to be.” - -“Not bad,” said Fred. - -“I told you the answer myself, and Polly nearly gave it away by -laughing,” said Margy. “The reason your nose is in the middle of your -face, Ward, is because it is the scenter.” - -“The center of what?” asked the suspicious Ward. - -“The center is the middle--that’s one kind,” said Margy, patiently. -“And then it’s the scenter--your nose is--because you use it to smell -with.” - -Ward considered this in silence for a few moments. - -“Well, maybe,” he admitted reluctantly. - -“There’s no maybe about it,” said Margy. “Are you going to pay a -forfeit?” - -“I don’t mind,” said Ward. - -“Then I’d like three of the stuffed dates you have in your pocket,” -announced Margy, calmly. - -“Your nose is a good scenter,” Fred told her. “How did you know Ward -had stuffed dates with him?” - -“Because I saw him eating one,” said the calm Margy. - -Ward had the grace to blush a little, and, jerking the box from a -pocket already stuffed to the bursting point, he silently passed it to -Margy. She opened it, took out three dates and gave it back to him. - -“One apiece,” she said, handing a date to Polly, another to Jess, and -popping the third into her own mouth. - -There were three dates left, by good luck, and Ward distributed these -to Artie and Fred and peace reigned again. - -“Your turn, Artie,” said Polly, who wanted to laugh, but decided that -Margy didn’t. - -“Mine’s about a nose, too,” said Artie. “Jess, what have noses but -smell not?” - -“Teapots,” said Jess, with a beaming smile. - -Artie looked disappointed. - -“Bet you can’t guess this, Polly,” said Fred: “What is that which we -often return but never borrow?” - -“Why, Fred Williamson, that’s my own pet riddle,” protested Polly. “I -was saving it up to ask you.” - -“What don’t you borrow?” asked Jess, curiously. - -“Thanks,” said Polly. - -“What for? I didn’t do anything,” replied Jess, bewildered. - -“That’s the answer to the riddle,” said Polly, merrily. - -“I want to ask Margy a riddle,” Jess said. “What word will, if you take -away the first letter, make you sick?” - -“You always pick out riddles with arithmetic in them,” Margy -complained. “And I can’t spell long words, either.” - -“This isn’t a long word,” Jess encouraged her. “It’s a short one.” - -“Wait a minute,” said Polly, rising. “Some one is knocking on the door.” - -“Is it mince pie?” asked Margy, in a desperate effort to give the -answer before she should be interrupted. “Is it mince pie, Jess?” - -“It certainly is not!” said Jess, and at that moment Polly flung the -door open and visitors appeared on the threshold. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -FRED WILLIAMSON, BANKER - - -Mrs. Marley, Mrs. Larue and Mrs. Williamson stood in the doorway. It -was Mrs. Marley who asked: - -“May we come in?” - -Fred and Artie brought chairs and Ward scrambled over on the window -seat, leaving his place vacant. - -“We thought the meeting would be over,” said Mrs. Marley. “And we -wanted to see how you looked in your new quarters. But don’t let us -interrupt. I don’t believe you’ve adjourned.” - -“We have only a couple more riddles to ask,” said Polly. “That won’t -take long.” - -“The meeting would have been over,” Margy explained, “only it took Fred -so long to argue about the dues.” - -Mrs. Marley laughed and glanced at the other two mothers. - -“My sympathy is with Fred,” Mrs. Larue declared. “I’ve been treasurer, -Fred, and I know what it is to have to send bills out three times for -one collection. If I had to go and ask verbally for the money--well, I -don’t believe there would be much money collected in our organization.” - -“Oh, we always pay our dues,” said Ward, easily. - -“Yes, you pay ’em--after I’ve made myself hoarse asking you,” Fred -exploded. - -“Dear me, I think we’d better go on with the meeting,” said Polly, -wishing that Margy had never mentioned the subject of dues. - -“All right--I’m ready,” announced Jess. “I asked Margy a riddle: ‘What -word will, if you take away the first letter, make you sick?’ But Margy -used up her first guess--she thought it was mince pie.” - -“I didn’t really think it was mince pie,” explained Margy, carefully. -“I just said that because I was in a hurry.” - -“Then do you want another guess?” asked Polly. “She may have another -one, Jess, the knocking at the door _did_ hurry her.” - -Jess was willing, so Margy tried again. - -“If I could spell, I wouldn’t mind,” said Margy, after thinking deeply -for a moment. “Is the word pill?” - -Most of the Riddle Club members thought Margy had guessed it. Polly -knew the answer, but the boys were sure Margy had the right word. They -were surprised to see Jess shake her head. - -“But if you’re ill you’re sick,” Margy argued. “Why isn’t that right, -Jess?” - -“Because,” said Jess, “the word is music. Take away the first letter, -and you have U-sick. Don’t you see?” - -“Oh, well, I call that a foolish riddle,” sighed poor Margy. “But I’ll -pay a forfeit. What shall it be, Jess?” - -“You don’t have to pay much of a forfeit,” Jess assured her. “You -almost had the riddle, so I’ll give you an easy one to pay--nothing to -redeem. The red beads, please.” - -Margy and Polly laughed. The string of red beads Margy was wearing -belonged to Jess, and she was merely taking her own property as a -forfeit. - -“Now I’ll ask Artie,” Polly said, when the beads had changed hands. -“Then we can adjourn the meeting.” - -“Artie,” she said quickly, “on what side of the pitcher is the handle?” - -Artie sat in perfect silence for what seemed a long time. No one moved, -so fearful were they of disturbing his train of thought. It must have -been three minutes--and a long three minutes it was--before he spoke. - -“The outside,” said Artie, sweetly. - -He looked around, and his irrepressible grin broke out. In a minute -Ward was on top of him, and they were rolling joyously about on the -window seat. - -“You knew it all the time!” Ward accused his chum. “You sat there like -a chump, just pretending.” - -Artie did not deny the charge. His twinkling blue eyes spoke for him -and he was distinctly pleased with his joke that had kept a roomful of -people silent for three minutes or so. - -“Sit up and behave,” President Polly commanded sternly. “Is there any -other riddle to be asked? No? Some one make the motion to adjourn.” - -Fred made the motion, Jess seconded it, and the meeting was over. - -Mrs. Williamson looked smilingly at Polly. - -“Perhaps I should have spoken of this before your meeting was over,” -she said. “But to tell you the truth, I’ve only just now remembered it. -Mr. Williamson would like to offer another riddle with a prize for the -answer.” - -The Riddle Club had had these prize riddles before. It was always fun -to try to get the answer, and the prize was always worth while. - -“If you’ll write it down, Polly,” suggested Mrs. Williamson, “I’ll -give it to you now. The answers are to be read at your next regular -meeting and the prize will be five dollars.” - -Mrs. Marley whispered to her. - -“Oh, yes, I forgot to say that the prize is to go to the Riddle Club -bank--not to an individual,” said Mrs. Williamson. - -Fred rattled the bank and its contents in delight. - -“Gee,” he said, in heart-felt delight, “that’s great!” - -To be sure, the prizes the various children had won before this had -always gone into the Riddle Club bank, but this was the first time the -prize had been offered directly for the bank. - -“I don’t see what good that money is going to do us,” said Ward now. -“Fred will never let us spend a cent.” - -“If we’d spent it every time you wanted to, there wouldn’t be a cent -left in there to-day,” declared Fred, with truth on his side. - -“Don’t bicker,” Mrs. Marley warned them. “Better take down the riddle, -Polly. And whatever you do, don’t argue over the five dollars before it -is won; none of you may be able to guess Mr. Williamson’s puzzle.” - -Polly took her pencil and paper and Mrs. Williamson pulled a little -book from her knitting bag. - -“This is the riddle, Polly,” she said. “Stop me, if I read too fast.” - -Then slowly and carefully, she read aloud, while Polly wrote it down: - -“Why do pianos bear the noblest characters?” - -“Go on,” said Polly. “I have that.” - -“That’s the entire riddle,” Mrs. Williamson answered. “There is no -more.” - -The members of the Riddle Club stared. The other prize riddles had been -complicated ones, some rhymed, all contained more words. This sounded -so simple that it must be a mistake. - -“But that’s such an easy riddle!” said Ward, unguardedly. “Most any one -can guess that.” - -“Go ahead, Ward,” Mrs. Williamson encouraged him. “Guess it and win the -five dollars for the club.” - -“Pianos bear the noblest characters,” recited Ward, with confidence, -“because--because--because--well, of course, I’d have to think about -it,” he ended lamely. “But I don’t believe it’s hard.” - -Mrs. Williamson laughed. - -“I don’t know the answer myself,” she told them, “but I do know Mr. -Williamson. And something tells me he hasn’t chosen a very easy riddle -for you to guess. However, you may succeed in surprising him.” - -Then Mrs. Larue said she had something to tell. - -“I’ve been admiring your lovely clubroom ever since I came in,” she -said pleasantly, “and I can’t see that you need a single thing more -than you have. But before I came away this afternoon, Mr. Larue gave me -a silver dollar to spend as his contribution for the club. He thought -I would put another dollar with it and buy something nice for your -clubroom.” - -“And I have two silver dollars I was commissioned to spend in the same -way,” added Mrs. Williamson. - -Mrs. Marley said she had the same amount in her purse. - -“Of course, we wouldn’t dream of buying without first coming to see -your clubroom,” she told the children; “and now we’ve seen it, the -problem is worse than ever. You really have as much furniture as would -be comfortable, and your decorations mean far more than any you could -buy.” - -“Don’t you think it would be a good plan,” asked Mrs. Larue, gently, -“to put the six dollars in the bank, along with the club dues? Then, -any time you wished to spend it, it would be waiting for you.” - -The Riddle Club accepted this plan with enthusiasm. They were even able -to understand something of Fred’s pride in the bank as the six shining -round silver dollars slipped into the slip at the side and rang merrily -against the other coins. - -“We’re really getting wealthy,” said Margy, soberly. - -Fred was so proud of the bank and the money in it that he was reluctant -to leave it long enough to go downstairs at Mrs. Marley’s invitation, -where hot chocolate and little sweet cakes were awaiting them as Mrs. -Marley’s treat. - -“Don’t lock the door, Ward,” Fred said, as they went downstairs. “I’ll -come back and get the bank.” - -Fred kept the bank in his own room, and usually he buried it under a -pile of magazines in his clothes closet. - -Margy’s seat in the dining-room was near the window, and, happening to -glance out, she saw something that made her forget even the cake with -the walnut in the center, which she had coveted when they first sat -down. - -“It’s snowing!” she cried. “Look--real snow!” - -It really was snowing. River Bend had not had the snowstorm which -covered Lake Bassing with a white blanket over Thanksgiving Day, and -their schoolmates had listened enviously when they heard of the fun the -Riddle Club had had in camp. The snow now falling was the first of the -winter for the little town. - -“Well, I suppose winter has really set in,” sighed Mrs. Marley. “You -children will be glad to see the snow, but I don’t care for it as much -as I did when I was your age.” - -“I hope it will snow all night,” declared Fred. “We haven’t had any -coasting in an age.” - -But the prospect of coasting to-morrow did not interfere with his -enjoyment of a second cup of the chocolate and another cake when Mrs. -Marley insisted that he have more. - -After the cakes had disappeared, Fred went back to get his bank, and -then, as it was too dark--so the mothers said--to go out and play in -the snow, which by now covered the pavements and lawns with a thin, -white covering, the Larues and the Williamsons went home. - -Mr. Williamson was reading before the living-room fire, and Fred went -in to tell him about the club meeting and to thank him for the prize -riddle offer and the silver dollar he had sent the club fund. - -“By the way, Fred,” Mr. Williamson said presently, “wouldn’t you rather -open an account in the bank in the name of the Riddle Club? That iron -bank of yours must be heavy to carry around, and besides you have too -much money in it now to allow yourself to be careless.” - -“Oh, I like to take care of it, Daddy,” was Fred’s answer. “Nothing -will happen to it; I’m not careless.” - -“Fred, I just found your bank on the hall table,” said his mother, -coming into the room. “That isn’t the place to leave it.” - -Fred looked a little confused. - -“I was on my way upstairs, Mother,” he said, with dignity. “I stopped -to speak to Daddy.” - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -ON POND’S HILL - - -Fred took his bank upstairs and hid it in the usual place. That night -he dreamed he was president of a bank and the members of the Riddle -Club came to him to pay their dues faster than he could take the -money in. There seemed to be a great many more members than six, and -presently Fred discovered the reason--the Conundrum Club members had -joined! - -The shock of this discovery woke him up. It was morning, but so gray -and dull that Fred was ready to turn over and go to sleep. Then he -remembered that it had begun to snow the night before and he hopped out -of bed and pattered to the window. It was still snowing and everything -in sight was well covered. - -Of course there was no sleep for Fred after that, and not much for -the rest of the Williamson family. Usually Fred waited till his -father called him before he started to dress, but this morning he was -downstairs and prancing about on the porch when his father came to look -for him. - -“Here, here, can’t you wait till after breakfast?” asked Mr. -Williamson. “Mother is going to bake hot cakes, and the boy who appears -with his hair combed and his necktie straight is going to have the -first one.” - -Fred dashed back to his room and hastily brushed his hair. He and -Margy felt a deep interest in hot cakes, but it must be confessed they -were also “crazy” about the snow. They could hardly wait to eat their -breakfast, bundle themselves into coats and hats and woolly scarfs, and -plunge into that beautiful whiteness. - -“Hello!” called Artie, from his porch, as he saw the Williamsons about -to start for school. “Wait a minute!” - -The Marley front steps had not been brushed off, and Artie had no idea -of the depth of the snow. He took one step and sank into a feathery, -fluffy bed up to his neck. - -“Gee, I missed that next step,” he said, with perfect good humor, -rising and brushing himself off. “Here comes Polly.” - -Polly and the Larues joined the others, and, running and laughing, they -began the walk to school. The flying flakes stung their eyes and melted -on their faces, and it was fun to make snowballs and hurl them at the -fences and trees they passed and, yes, at each other. - -“We’ll go coasting this afternoon, sure,” said Fred, as they reached -the school-yard gate. - -Home they raced at the close of the afternoon session to get out the -sleds hidden in attic and cellar since the winter before. - -The boys had each a sled, and Polly and Jess had their own, but Margy -preferred to claim a share in Fred’s long racer. She could never be -induced to go down the hill alone, and most of the time she coasted -with Polly. - -“Everybody’s here,” said Ward, cheerfully, when they reached Pond’s -Hill, a beautiful slope on the other side of town. - -It was still snowing fitfully, but the flakes were larger, an -indication that the storm was beginning to let up. Artie and Ward -wished it would snow for a week, but the older folk thought that a day -and a night should satisfy any one. - -“There’s Carrie Pepper,” whispered Polly to Margy. - -“And Mattie Helms,” added Jess. - -“And Joe Anderson,” said Artie. “He has a new sled.” - -Fred heard and turned to look. Sure enough, Joe had a new sled and it -was a beauty, long and low and with the flexible steering gear of the -best make of sled. Harry Worden, a post-graduate student in the high -school, was examining Joe’s possession in evident admiration. - -“Some sled!” was his verdict. - -Then he saw Fred and waved to him. The Riddle Club members knew Harry -Worden very well. The spring before, when he was a high school senior, -he had served as referee at a riddle contest held between their club -and the Conundrum Club. They liked him very much. - -“Hello, Fred,” called Harry. “Come on over here and look at this.” - -Fred went over to the other side of the road, glad of a chance to see -the new sled more closely. - -“It’s a peach!” he told Joe, heartily. “Present?” - -“Got it for my birthday,” Joe answered. “This sled cost a lot, and it’s -better than any one else’s. I’ll bet I can beat any one on the hill -now.” - -“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” drawled Harry Worden, lazily. “It -isn’t always the sled that wins a race. Something depends on the boy -who does the steering.” - -“Bet you I can beat any one on the hill,” Joe boasted. - -Harry only laughed and turned away and Fred went back to his friends. - -“Take Margy down first, Fred,” Polly suggested. “She has more fun -before her feet get cold.” - -Margy was apt to complain, midway in her outdoor sport, that her feet -were “freezing.” - -Fred obligingly took his sister on behind him, but neither one could -be said to enjoy the ride down the hill. Margy shut her eyes tight and -Fred declared she pinched him. - -“I didn’t!” said the indignant Margy. “I had to hang on to something, -didn’t I? Anyway, Fred Williamson, you go too fast.” - -Polly said Margy should coast with her next, and amicable relations -were restored, as Fred shot down the hill alone, deftly curving in and -out to avoid the sleds that were flying down at the same time. - -“I wish I could steer as well as Fred can,” sighed Polly, taking her -place on her own sled with Margy back of her. “It’s because he isn’t -afraid to take a chance. He will go around a sled or almost into the -ditch. But I’m always thinking of a smash-up.” - -Ward and Artie were enjoying themselves in their own way, which was a -peculiar one, to say the least. Ward liked to lie flat on his sled with -Artie perched on top of him, and if one or the other rolled off in the -course of the descent, why, that was nothing at all! Snow, argued Ward -and Artie, was soft and comfortable, and one could always get out of -the way of an approaching sled by tumbling over and over till safe from -the danger of being run down. - -Jess, too, had a method, and she followed it faithfully. Hers was a -sober enjoyment, for she went down the hill on her sled, turned around -and trudged back, to do the same thing again. Left alone, Jess would -coast contentedly a whole morning or afternoon, without mishap or -apparent excitement. - -Polly and Fred liked to try experiments. They tried Polly’s sled with -Fred steering, and Fred’s sled with Polly guiding it. They went down -backward once and landed in the ditch. They tried to see how many -children they could pile on the two sleds, and they raced each other -with enthusiasm. - -It was when they were returning from one of these races that Harry -Worden hailed them. - -“Hey, Fred, want some fun?” he shouted. - -Fred did, and he and Polly ran over to where Harry stood. - -“Joe Anderson wants a race,” said Harry. “He thinks your sled is -probably the fastest on the hill, next to his. Want to try a race?” - -“Sure,” answered Fred, quickly. “I’m willing.” - -The news of the proposed race spread in a moment, and a crowd of boys -and girls gathered around Fred and Joe. - -“Go to it, Fred,” some cried. “You can win.” - -“Joe has the best sled,” others insisted. “No one can win against that -flier. It’s a peach.” - -“Oh, I don’t know--Fred can get a lot of speed out of his old boat,” -said one of the boys. - -Albert Holmes sniffed. - -“Old boat, is right,” he said. “It’s about fifty years old.” - -Fred grinned good-naturedly. His sled wasn’t new, but it wasn’t falling -apart yet, he assured them. - -“I’m going down to the foot of the hill to watch the finish,” announced -Harry Worden. “Billy Pierce will give you the word to start.” - -Jess and Artie and Ward decided to stay at the top of the hill, but -Polly tagged along after Harry, and Margy went with her. As soon as -they reached the foot of the hill, Harry waved his arm as a signal to -Billy Pierce to give the word to the racers. - -“There they go!” cried Polly, as the two black specks at the top of the -hill suddenly shot down. - -The snow had stopped half an hour before, and the hill was well packed -from the sleds and the feet of the coasters. It was cold, but even -Margy forgot that in the excitement of the moment. - -The sleds seemed to be evenly matched half of the distance, then one -pulled slightly ahead. - -“It’s Fred!” said Polly, in a half-whisper. “I know him by his cap.” - -Fred’s sled, if it was Fred’s sled, kept the lead. The other did not -gain. - -“Fred shot around that well in the road, I guess, and Joe must have -gone in and out--that takes time,” said Harry. “But you’re likely to -land in the ditch, going around.” - -The watchers could see now that it was Fred who was ahead. Margy -thought she felt a flake of snow and looked up at the sky, while Harry -allowed his gaze to wander past the racing sleds to the top of the -hill. It was but a moment, but Polly was the only one to see what -happened in that moment. - -“He turned him!” she cried. “I saw him do it! That Joe Anderson would -do anything to win! Don’t let him, Harry. Please, don’t let him!” - -Harry Worden looked at the sleds, now near enough to be plainly -distinguished. Joe Anderson was in the lead, grinning triumphantly, and -Fred was just swinging his sled back on the course. - -“Told you I could do it!” said Joe, as his sled swept past Polly and -Margy and Harry. “Can’t beat this sled!” - -“You cheated!” Polly accused him, almost beside herself with anger. “I -saw you! You put out your hand and shoved Fred over to the left. That -isn’t fair, and don’t you dare----” - -Fred tumbled off his sled and came up to them. He looked angry, but -when he saw Polly he tried to grin. - -“I won!” said Joe Anderson, boastfully. “You did pretty well, Fred. But -of course your steering gear is out of date.” - -“You cheated!” said Polly again. - -Harry Worden looked troubled. - -“Of course, I wasn’t looking,” he said slowly, “and I didn’t see what -happened. But Polly seems to think----” - -Fred turned to Polly and blazed at her, to her utmost astonishment, for -he had never spoken to her like that in his life. - -“You keep still!” he cried angrily. “I lost the race, and that’s all -there is to it.” - -“No, that isn’t all there is to it,” Harry Worden corrected him. “You -race again, and this time I intend to know what is going on.” - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -DETECTIVE MARGY - - -“I promised my mother I’d go home at half-past four,” said Joe, -uneasily. - -“You can stay another ten or fifteen minutes,” Harry informed him. “You -go back and tell Billy Pierce I say this race is to be done over. Tell -him there’s no decision.” - -“I’ll tell him you wouldn’t give a decision,” said Joe, hotly. “I won, -and you’re afraid to say so, just because Polly Marley----” - -“I haven’t much doubt about your cheating, Joe,” said Harry, as coolly -as he usually spoke. “But as I didn’t see what happened with my own -eyes, I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt. You’re lucky, if you’d -only see it the right way.” - -Joe turned sullenly away and began to plod up the hill, dragging his -sled after him. At the top of the hill Billy Pierce held the eager -coasters back, for he could see that some sort of argument was taking -place below. - -“Just a minute, Fred,” said Harry, as Fred turned to go back. “Are you -willing to race again?” - -“Sure,” said Fred, looking everywhere but at Harry or Polly. - -“Were you knocked off the road?” asked Harry, a little hesitantly. - -“I lost the race, and that’s all there is to it,” said Fred, doggedly. - -“All right, go on,” Harry dismissed him. - -“Joe put out his hand and gave him a big push,” said Polly, watching -Fred as he trudged up the hill. “If I was Fred I’d tell him what a -cheat he is. I never could stand that Joe Anderson.” - -“I didn’t see him do anything,” declared Margy, mildly. - -“You never do see anything,” retorted Polly, for, gentle as she was, -any unfairness always roused her, and once “woke up,” as Jess called -it, she was not easily soothed. - -“I’m afraid we were asleep at the switch, Margy,” said Harry Worden -ruefully. “This time I mean to glue my eyes on the road and keep them -there.” - -“But Fred must know he cheated,” argued Polly. - -“Well, you see, Fred’s idea of a good loser is one who doesn’t grunt,” -Harry tried to explain. “He’d rather say nothing than be thought -complaining because he failed to win.” - -Polly was not convinced, but she said nothing more. And she and Harry -and Margy stared at the white road till their eyes ached, waiting for -the two black specks to come toward them. - -It was a long hill, and when the boys reached the top there were -explanations to be made to Billy Pierce and the curious boys and girls -who wanted to know what had happened. Seated at last on their sleds, -Joe made a start before the signal was given and had to be brought -back. The next time he sulked and did not start at all, and it was Fred -who had to turn around. - -At last, though, they got off, and those at the foot of the hill saw -the two dots swooping downward. There was one bad spot in the road--the -depression Harry had mentioned--and Fred grimly swung his sled around, -grazing the deep ditch and even trembling a fraction of a second on -the edge before he threw his weight to the right and shot back to the -center of the road. - -Joe had decided to take the hole, changed his mind too late, and went -into it sideways as a result of his effort to swing to the left as -Fred had done. He almost upset his sled, but righted it in time and -was out of the hole a half yard behind the flying Fred. As the boys -had discovered, it was Fred’s quick judgment and willingness to “take -a chance” that gave him the advantage. He had strong wrists, too, and -could change his course as easily as Joe could change his mind. - -That was Joe’s great drawback--this habit of changing his mind. It -interfered seriously with his steering, for if there is one place where -it is not wise to change your mind, it is on a steep hill. Having once -decided on his course, the wise coaster sticks to it. Joe’s indecision -was reflected in the wobbly movements of his sled, and this time he -came in a yard behind Fred. - -“No doubt about that,” said Harry, with relief. “You win, Fred.” - -“I won the other--only you wouldn’t play fair,” said Joe, hardily. - -“It’s getting dark, but there’s still time for another race if you want -to call it a tie,” declared Harry, swiftly. “Is it a tie, Joe?” - -“Oh, let Fred have it--I don’t care,” Joe mumbled. - -“I’ll race again,” said Fred, after a moment’s silence. - -“No, the others are coasting now,” decided Harry. “We can’t hold them -up any longer, for it’s getting dark. Fred wins, and if I were you, -Joe, I wouldn’t go around making any uncalled-for remarks.” - -Joe took his sled and went back without a word. Harry Worden followed -him to make sure that a truthful report was spread around, and Polly -and Fred ploughed slowly up the road, at one side, pulling Margy on -Fred’s sled. - -“I didn’t mean to snap at you, Polly,” said Fred, a little shyly. “I -guess I sounded pretty cranky.” - -“Oh, that’s all right,” declared Polly, determined not to let him know -he had hurt her feelings. “I didn’t mind that, Fred. But I saw Joe -Anderson push you--I certainly did.” - -“Well, you want to forget that and forget it for good,” said Fred, -stopping in the snow and speaking very earnestly. “I don’t care if he -tipped me off and rode over me. When I lose a race I’m not going to -parade any excuses.” - -“I’ll never say a word about it, Fred, if that’s the way you feel,” -Polly promised. “But I do think boys are too queer for anything.” - -“Of course they are,” observed Margy from her seat of state. “I’ve -always said they were funny, but you would never believe it.” - -For once in their lives, the children in River Bend had enough snow. -After the coasters went home, more snow fell, and it continued to -snow at intervals all night. As a result a whole new world, without a -footprint from the day before left on it, was ready for inspection the -next morning. - -“Tell you what let’s do,” remarked Artie, as they came home from school -at noon. “Build a snowman!” - -“I don’t think that’s so much fun,” Margy maintained. - -“Oh, I don’t mean just a snowman,” explained Artie. “Not one of those -little ones the kids build. I mean a great, big giant of a snowman with -a head higher than a house!” - -“How would we build a snowman as high as that?” demanded Fred. “Get in -a tree and put his head on?” - -“We could use a stepladder,” said Artie. - -Though inclined at first to laugh at this scheme, the more they -discussed it, the better it sounded. - -“They had an enormous snowman over in Stockton,” said Artie, naming -a neighboring town. “Daddy read about it. They built him in the main -square, and every one helped. He had electric lights for eyes and -clothes and everything.” - -“I’ll bet we could build one just as good,” declared Ward. “We’ll make -ours the tallest snowman River Bend ever saw.” - -“Let’s make him a big hat with R.C. on it,” suggested Polly. “Then -every one will know he belongs to the Riddle Club.” - -This idea was pronounced “great,” and the Riddle Club could hardly wait -till school was out to begin their statue. - -A snowball fight was in progress in the school yard when they went back -after lunch, and the battle continued furiously till the one o’clock -bell rang. Flushed and warm, the pupils marched up to their classrooms, -and on the stairs Polly made a distressing discovery. - -Her precious Riddle Club pin was missing! - -These pins had been envied or admired by every pupil in the school, and -there was probably nothing Polly owned which possessed more value in -her eyes. - -She thought the loss warranted writing a note to Margy, though the -teacher severely discouraged this practice. - -“Lost your pin!” Margy’s lips echoed silently, when she had read the -note. “How perfectly awful! Where?” - -Polly shook her head to show she did not know. But she was afraid she -had lost it in the midst of the snowball battle, and the prospects of -recovering it were exceedingly dim. - -Now Margy had sharp eyes when she chose to use them, and she could be -counted on to be interested in what went on outside her books. While -poor Polly was trying to forget her troubles in the writing lesson, -Margy’s dark eyes were roving over the room in search of amusement. - -Carrie Pepper sat near her, over two aisles, and she, too, was -apparently little interested in the lesson. When the teacher’s back was -turned, Carrie swiftly passed something to Mattie Helms, who sat behind -her. - -“I wonder what she has,” thought Margy, idly. - -Mattie’s head bent over something as she examined it, then she dropped -her pencil. It rolled under the desks and Mattie stooped to get it. -As she straightened up, she dropped the something lightly on Joe -Anderson’s writing book. - -Margy could not see, from where she sat, what the something was, but, -like a flash, she guessed. - -“Polly’s pin!” She almost said the words aloud. “Polly’s pin! Carrie -was right behind her coming up the stairs this noon. I’ll bet she found -the pin, and she’s so mean, she won’t give it back.” - -Margy hastily took her pen and attacked the writing lesson. She wanted -to think. Apparently absorbed in the work before her, she was planning -to find out whether Carrie had really found the missing pin. - -“It’s something so small it doesn’t show when she has it in her hand,” -Margy reasoned. “And she is showing it to Mattie and Joe, who aren’t -exactly crazy about Polly or our club. I do believe it is Polly’s pin, -and I intend to find out.” - -Margy’s writing lesson may have left something to be desired that day, -but by three o’clock she had a clever plan worked out to solve the -mystery. - -“Wait a minute,” she said to the impatient five, who waited for her -in the hall. “Yes, I know you want to get to work on the snowman, but -Polly lost her club pin this noon, and I think I’ve found it.” - -“Lost her pin?” echoed Jess. “Where?” - -“You haven’t found it?” gasped Polly. - -“Well, of course I’m not sure,” said Margy, modestly, “but I think I -have. I noticed Carrie walked right behind you this noon, as you were -going upstairs. I didn’t think anything of that till I saw her passing -something around this afternoon. I couldn’t see what it was, but she -showed it to Mattie Helms and to Joe Anderson.” - -“It might be anything,” said Polly, gloomily. - -“If it is the pin, what are you going to do about it?” Fred asked his -sister. “You can’t go up and accuse her of taking Polly’s pin.” - -“I could, but I don’t intend to,” said Margy. “I might ask her and she -would say she ‘found’ it. But I know a better way than that. I’m going -back to our room now and you go out in the yard and wait for me. It -will take me a little while.” - -“Look here, what are you up to?” said Fred, a little quickly. - -“I’m going through Carrie’s desk,” returned Margy, placidly. - -“Oh--suppose some one finds you?” said Jess, with a shiver of fear. - -“They won’t. That’s why you have to wait,” said Margy, who had thought -out her plan carefully. “You see, I figure that if Carrie found the pin -she won’t dare wear it and she won’t take it home to show her mother, -because she would make her give it back. She can’t do a thing with it, -but keep it to plague Polly and show the Conundrum Club. So I think -she’ll leave it in her desk, and I mean to take it out.” - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -RIDDLE CHAP - - -Of course it wasn’t the right thing to do--to go through Carrie’s -desk. Margy herself had the feeling that she was in the wrong, but she -certainly didn’t mean to let Carrie keep Polly’s pin if she had it. -Neither did Margy like the idea of telling the teacher and asking her -to have Carrie search her desk. - -“I’m the one to get that pin back, and I’m going to do it,” thought -Margy, as she marched upstairs, leaving five sober-faced children to -wait for her. - -Luckily, there was no one in the classroom when Margy entered it. She -supposed a burglar must feel as she did when she thrust her right -hand into Carrie’s desk. Two pencils, a box of candy cough drops, a -handkerchief with a gingham border--Margy’s fingers touched the back of -the desk. There, far up in one corner, she felt something that pricked -her. - -“Ouch!” she said, and drew out the pin. - -Waiting only to return the things she had taken out, Margy flew down -the stairs and presented the pin to an astonished and delighted Polly. - -“And don’t lose it again,” she lectured her. “I might not be able to -find it so easily a second time.” - -“I’ll be careful,” promised Polly. - -“Did Carrie really have it in her desk?” asked Jess, round-eyed. - -“She certainly did!” replied Margy, as they started to walk home. “I -was almost sure she’d keep it there.” - -“Say, what will she say when she can’t find it to-morrow morning?” said -Artie. “And if she sees Polly wearing it, what will she think?” - -“I don’t care what she thinks,” broke in Fred. “The point is, she can’t -say anything. She won’t dare go around saying some one went through her -desk, because she’d sound nice saying that some one took a Riddle Club -pin she found on the stairs, wouldn’t she?” - -“Perhaps she wasn’t sure it _was_ my pin,” suggested Polly. - -But the others laughed at this idea. The new pins Mr. Kirby had sent -them were quite unlike any other pins in the town of River Bend and -certainly Carrie knew them as well as the pins of her own Conundrum -Club. Besides, wasn’t Polly’s name on the back? - -“Let’s take our pins off before we begin to build the snowman,” said -Polly, when they came in sight of their homes. “We might easily lose -one in the snow.” - -This was hailed as a wise precaution, and they ran in to put their -individual pins in safe places. - -Fred stopped short in surprise when he saw his room. The rug had been -taken up, the bed was rolled in one corner, and his closet door was -wide open. A row of his shoes stood on a newspaper spread on the window -sill and in the center of his rocking chair sat the precious bank. A -strange woman was down on her hands and knees, mopping the floor with -hot water. - -“I guess you’re Fred,” she said, smilingly. “Your ma set me to cleaning -this room this afternoon. I’ll put things back just the way you had -them.” - -Fred put his pin on the cushion on his bureau--which was covered with a -white towel to protect it from dust--and then glanced at his bank. He -didn’t like to leave it there. - -“I’ll take it over to the clubroom and leave it there, I guess,” he -said to himself. “It won’t hurt to leave it there all night.” - -It had been decided to build the gigantic snowman between the Marley -and the Williamson house, because they had the advantage of two large -yards filled with snow. Fred found that Ward and Artie had already -started to roll a ball for the body of the snowman. - -“I’ve been thinking,” said Fred, joining them: “What shall we make the -letters R.C. of? If we do them in snow they won’t show up very well.” - -“We can get red flannel or something,” said the resourceful Polly. - -“I think red and white would be pretty, because Christmas is coming.” - -“Maybe we can give him a little Christmas tree to hold,” said Jess. -“That would look fine, wouldn’t it? A great, big snowman, holding a -Christmas tree.” - -“There--this is a good place to stand him,” declared Fred. “Don’t roll -the ball any larger. We can begin to build now.” - -They had a fair sized ball of snow rolled, and Fred had chosen a spot -near the walk to have him stand. - -“Get all the snow you can and plaster it against this ball,” directed -Fred. “We’ll have a fat snowman while we’re about it.” - -River Bend was a happy town in which to live, if you happened to be -fond of playing in the snow. There was no limit to the quantities you -could collect, if you were willing to work and the storm had been a -heavy one. Jess and Ward got out the wheel-barrow and trundled loads -of the white stuff from their own lawn. As Ward said, it was a pity to -“let it waste.” - -“Wait a minute,” said Fred, suddenly. “We’re forgetting his legs. If we -build him sitting down, he won’t be nearly tall enough. We must start -two columns, and use them for legs, and then put the ball of snow on -top of them.” - -So they set to work and soon had two large, squatty columns of snow -that looked like the piling in Ward’s father’s wharf. - -“The snow packs fine, doesn’t it?” said Polly to Margy. - -The girls were as busy as the boys, hauling snow and packing it down -firmly, and never a word did Margy say about cold feet. She was far too -interested to pay attention to her feet. - -“Now we’ll have to lift that ball somehow,” said Fred, when the legs -were pronounced finished. “You and Polly get on one side, Margy, and -Ward and Artie get over here. Jess and I’ll take this side.” - -The snow was not very heavy to lift, but it was hard to handle, and so -cold that they felt it through their gloves. With some difficulty, -they finally had it in place, and the statue already looked like a -snowman, Artie declared, stepping back to view their handiwork. - -“Well, we’ve come to the place where we’ll have to have a stepladder,” -said Fred. - -“Why don’t we use the loft ladder?” asked Jess. “That’s light and easy -to carry.” - -“We can’t lean it against the snowman--he’d topple over,” replied Fred. -“We have a stepladder, but I noticed it up in our hall. The cleaning -woman was probably using it.” - -“I’ll get ours,” offered Polly. “I know where it is--on the back porch. -I can bring it.” - -Fred and Artie went with her and brought the ladder back. Then it had -to be set up with care, for every one knows that a stepladder takes -delight in falling over just as you reach the top step. Fred opened it -and fastened the bars and ran lightly up to the top to test it. - -“That’s all right,” he said. “Say, this is fun. We can pretend we’re -brick-layers and bring up hods filled with snow.” - -“We haven’t any hods,” Ward reminded him. - -“That flat board will do,” said Fred. “Here, give it to me; I’ll show -you.” - -He took a flat light board that happened to be on the ground and -scooped two handfuls of snow on it. Then he mounted the ladder, -carrying the board and the snow, and deposited them on the square -little shelf that was under the top step. - -“Here you are, Riddle Chap,” he addressed the snowman’s body. “We are -going to make you the best looking chap for miles around.” - -“Riddle Chap!” cried Artie. “That’s fine, Fred. We’ll call him that. -His initials stand for Riddle Chap, don’t they?” - -“Well, of course, he has to have a name,” Fred chuckled. “If we’re -going to make him as large as life, he’ll need a name so we can -introduce him to our friends.” - -Each of the boys and girls took turns going up and down the ladder -and each added some new beauty to the snowman. He had buttons on his -waistcoat, and arms that crooked at the elbows--that was Polly’s idea. -She had taken two pieces of old rubber hose and bent them to look like -arms. The snow had been carefully packed around and over these. - -Ward and Artie made the neck, and they all shaped the head with its -peaked cap. Margy insisted that the initials were not to go on till the -head was in place, and this proved a wise plan, for they dropped the -head three times and had to do it over before Fred and Artie finally -succeeded in putting it on the neck. - -“Oh, for pity’s sake!” cried Polly, watching from the ground. “You have -it turned all the way around! The poor snowman is looking backward.” - -Slowly and carefully, Fred turned the head till it faced in the right -direction. Then Margy handed up the letters cut from strips of red -flannel, and Fred put them on the visor of the cap. The snowman had -coal black eyes, a mouth like a red pepper, and ears that bore a -resemblance to orange peel. He was very tall indeed--far taller than -any of those who had made him--and when his makers looked at him they -were agreed that he was quite the largest statue they had ever tried to -build. - -“If it’s cold to-night, we can throw water over it and let it freeze,” -said Fred, standing off a little to admire his handiwork. - -“There’s Carrie,” said Jess, in a low tone. “See her coming out? I -guess she is going to the post-office.” - -“What are you doing?” Carrie called, from across the street. “What’s -that funny thing?” - -Before they could answer her, she had crossed over and was staring at -the snowman. - -“Well, of all the queer things to do!” said Carrie. “Regular child -play, I call it, building a snowman.” - -“That’s some snowman you have there!” called a hearty voice, and Harry -Worden crossed from the other side of the street. “I’ll take a picture -of him to-morrow for you, when the sun is out. I don’t think I ever saw -as large a one as that.” - -“Is it as large as the one they had in Stockton last year?” asked -Artie, hopefully. - -“Much taller,” replied Harry. “I’d like to get a snapshot of this one. -Don’t let anything happen to him, and I’ll be around in the afternoon -as soon as school is out.” - -Carrie went on to the post-office. It was nearly dark, and in a few -minutes the five o’clock whistle would sound. - -“Gee, it will be nice to have a picture of our snowman,” said Artie. -“We can frame it and have it in our clubroom.” - -Fred looked a little startled. - -“Speaking of the clubroom reminds me of something,” he said hurriedly. -“Mind if I go over to your house, Artie?” - -“Sure, come on,” replied Artie, hospitably. “Want that book I said I’d -lend you?” - -“I want to go up to the clubroom a minute,” explained Fred. - -But when he went upstairs with Artie, the clubroom door was locked. -Ward had the key as usual. - -“I started to bring the bank over here this afternoon,” said Fred, a -little worried frown between his eyes. “I thought I did it. But if I -didn’t, what _did_ I do with the bank?” - -“Maybe you left it in your own room,” said Artie, comfortably. - -“I’m sure I didn’t,” Fred answered. “But it won’t hurt to go and look. -I might have put it down again without thinking.” - -“Lots of times I think I’ve done a thing and haven’t,” observed Artie, -trotting beside Fred, as he went back to the Williamson house. “And -sometimes I think I didn’t do a thing and it turns out that I did.” - -But neither of these “thinks” proved of much help to Fred. The bank was -not in his room, now in perfect, shining order with his things in their -accustomed places. It was not on the hall table where he had once left -it. In fact, the sad fact dawned on Fred, slowly and unhappily, that he -had lost the bank and its precious contents. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -LOST TREASURES - - -“Let’s go out and look in the snow,” suggested Artie. “You must have -dropped it between your house and ours.” - -As the two boys opened the front door a whirl of snow flew in their -faces. In the brief time they had been within doors a new snowstorm had -gained headway. - -“Who’s that?” called Fred, suddenly. - -“Who’s that yourself?” Carrie Pepper’s voice retorted. “Your old -snowman is enough to scare any one going by--they’ll think it is a -giant.” - -Carrie hurried across the street with the mail, and Fred tried not to -think she might have been hunting around the snowman. - -“She _was_ stooped over,” he said to himself. “But she may have dropped -a letter. Anyway, I don’t suppose she would take the bank if she found -it.” - -Then he remembered Polly’s pin. - -“She might think it would plague me,” he thought. And he had to admit -that if that was Carrie’s plan--always provided she had found the -bank--she could not think of a better plan for teasing him. - -“Well, it isn’t here, that’s all,” declared Artie, brushing the snow -off his gloves after an unsuccessful grubbing about in the snow. “I -don’t see what you could have done with it, Fred.” - -“Oh, Fred!” Jess’s voice came to them out of the storm. “Is that you? I -came back to look for my glove. I don’t suppose you’ve seen it?” - -“Your glove?” repeated Fred. “Is that lost?” - -“Yes, it is, and it’s a brand new one,” returned Jess, ready to cry. -“Mother got them for me when she went to the city. They’re brushed -wool, and they’re gauntlets, and they cost six dollars!” - -“Gee, that’s tough luck,” said Artie, sympathetically. “But I don’t -believe you lost it around here, Jess. I’ve been all around the snowman -on my hands and knees, and I would have found it if it had been -anywhere around.” - -“Did you lose something, too?” asked Jess, surprised. - -Fred was in no mood to hide his troubles. - -“I’ve lost the bank,” he said abruptly. “And all the club money in it. -I had it before we started to build the snowman, and now I can’t find -it.” - -“Isn’t it in your house?” asked Jess. - -Fred explained where he and Artie had looked. - -“Well, I never heard of such a thing!” said Jess. “My good glove and -your bank gone! Somebody must have picked them up--that’s all.” - -“Carrie Pepper was out here when we started to look,” Artie announced. - -“Then she found it!” cried Jess. “I’m going right over now to her house -and ask her to give me back my glove. You come along, Fred, and make -her give you the bank. That’s the same as stealing, to take things like -that.” - -“It isn’t stealing to take one glove,” protested Artie. - -“’Tis, too,” insisted Jess. “What good is one glove? No good at all! -Carrie Pepper knows those gloves are new. She has to give it back to -me, that’s all there is to it.” - -“Well, you take my advice and go mighty slow about accusing any one of -taking your glove,” said Fred, earnestly. “I’d no more go to her and -ask her for the bank than I’d fly. I might as well come right out and -say she stole it.” - -“She took Polly’s pin, didn’t she?” Jess demanded. - -“That’s different. Lots of people might take a pin, and they wouldn’t -take money. Besides, how do we know Carrie didn’t intend to give the -pin back to Polly? Margy didn’t give her a chance to return it.” - -“Jess! Jessie! Come in right away!” called Mrs. Larue. - -Jess had to go in to supper without her glove, and Artie went home, -too. Fred looked around in the snow for a few minutes longer, but the -storm was increasing and he finally gave up. He could hardly touch his -supper, and afterward he told his father what had happened. - -“I’m sorry I didn’t put the money in the bank, as you said,” poor Fred -concluded his story. “But I never thought I could lose a thing like a -bank.” - -“Well, Fred, it seems as though it must turn up,” Mr. Williamson said, -trying to speak cheerfully. “I don’t see, myself, how a bank and its -money contents could disappear, unless some one has stolen it. And we -won’t think that.” - -“Try to remember where you had it last, Fred,” his mother suggested. - -“Why, I _thought_ I took it over to the Marleys’ to leave in the -clubroom,” said Fred. “I can’t remember letting it out of my hand. But -the room was locked and Ward hadn’t been near it.” - -“Perhaps you left it somewhere else in the Marleys’,” said Mrs. -Williamson, “and you were in such a hurry to get out and build the -snowman, you did not notice. If Artie or Polly find it, they’ll be over -to tell you.” - -But neither Polly nor Artie found the bank. Fred went over there -before going to bed--and had to plough through several inches of fresh -snow--but none of the Marley family had seen the bank. - -In the morning the window sills were banked high with snow and there -were no foot prints around the snowman, who stood tall and strong, a -handsome guard for the street. - -“We’ll give him a tree to hold before Harry Worden comes to take his -picture,” said Ward, eagerly. - -But Fred felt little interest in the snowman. He could think of nothing -but the missing bank. - -“I’ll resign as treasurer,” he said to Polly, on their way to school. - -The sun was out and the snow had stopped. A white world, brilliant and -beautiful, was spread before their eyes. - -“I’ll resign,” said Fred. “I’m not fit to be treasurer and take care of -other people’s money. I’m too careless. And I’ll save every cent of my -allowance and pay all the money back to the club.” - -“Don’t be silly, Fred,” Polly told him loyally. “We don’t want you to -resign. No one will be as good a treasurer as you are.” - -“I’m no good at all,” said Fred, bitterly. - -“Yes, you are, too!” flashed Polly. “You’re fine. It isn’t exactly your -fault that the bank is lost. Every one is likely to lose things. You -don’t have to have to make the money up, either. If one of us had lost -it, you wouldn’t make him pay the money back. Besides, Mother says she -is sure the bank will be found.” - -“Did she say that?” asked Fred, hopefully. “Daddy thought so, too. I -wish it would be found, but I feel it is gone for good. And the worst -of it is, I can’t remember putting it down anywhere.” - -“What do you suppose Carrie Pepper will say when she sees me wearing my -pin?” said Polly, hoping to take Fred’s mind off his troubles. - -Instead, she only succeeded in starting his thoughts on another tack. -Had Carrie Pepper found anything in the snow the night before? Or was -she merely feeling around for a letter or parcel she might have dropped? - -“I hate these ugly old mittens,” Jess was complaining to Margy. -“They’re not a bit pretty, and they’re not nearly as warm as my lovely -gloves. Mother says maybe she’ll get me a new pair for my birthday in -February, but I’ll have to wear these horrid old things till then, -because I’m so careless.” - -Margy, not having lost any treasure, felt free to keep an eye on -Carrie and observe the effect of Polly’s pin on her. Polly had the pin -in its usual place--above the pocket of her middy blouse, and Carrie -apparently did not notice it until Polly went to the board during the -arithmetic lesson. - -“There--she’s seen it,” said Margy to herself, as Carrie stared. - -Then, heedless of the lesson, Carrie began to rummage through her desk. -She pulled out the box of cough drops, the pencils, the handkerchief, -and an apple she had brought for recess. Then, keeping her eye on the -board as though she were following the example, her hands began to -explore the desk. She was feeling for the pin. - -Perhaps the intensity of Margy’s gaze made her glance over her -shoulder. Margy’s eyes were dancing. A sudden, deep flush spread over -Carrie’s face. - -“Now she knows,” said Margy to herself. “And the next time she finds -anything that doesn’t belong to her, I hope she’ll give it up.” - -Harry Worden came that afternoon and took a picture of “Riddle Chap,” -but Fred could think only of his bank and Jess was looking for her -glove all the time the snapshots were being taken. It was lucky that -something happened to distract their attention and, in the case of -Fred, it was doubly welcome. He felt so bad to think he had lost the -money belonging to the club that his mother was afraid he would worry -himself sick. - -“You try to get the prize riddle, Fred,” Mrs. Williamson told him. -“That will give the treasury a good start again.” - -Fred said he would try, but that noon he came home from school, excited -and eager. - -“The principal was telling us this morning in assembly, Mother,” said -Fred, “that there is a family in River Bend who is just about starving -to death. The town is going to take care of them, but there are six -children in the family and they want to give them a real Christmas. The -day before school closes they’re going to take up a collection.” - -“And I suppose you want me to tell you and Margy how to earn some -money,” said Mrs. Williamson, smiling. - -“No, I have a new scheme,” said Fred. “We’re going to have a session of -the Riddle Club before Christmas. I haven’t had a chance to talk this -over with Polly yet, but I thought it would be fine if we had an open -meeting and asked the fathers and mothers to come. The way you did in -camp this summer, you know.” - -“I don’t see what that has to do with the Christmas collection,” said -Margy, who was listening. - -“It has a lot to do with it,” Fred retorted. “I thought that, instead -of paying forfeits when Mother and the others missed a riddle, they -could pay money, and we could give the money to the poor children. And -if we missed riddles, we’d pay, too.” - -“Why, Fred, I like that plan very much,” said his mother. “I’m sure -Polly will like it, too. Tell her as soon as you can, so you’ll all -have time to study up hard riddles.” - -“You won’t mind not being able to guess them, will you, Mother?” -laughed Margy. “You like to help people along.” - -When Mr. Williamson heard of this plan, he was even more enthusiastic -than his wife. He said he had a plan of his own, but that he would keep -it a secret till the meeting. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -A PRACTICAL JOKE - - -Polly approved of Fred’s plan the moment she heard it; and the -Riddle Club members fell upon the riddle books--well-worn by this -time--old scrap books, and clippings and even went about among their -acquaintances, collecting difficult riddles. - -“For we must make them as hard as we can,” said Polly, earnestly. “Then -no one will be able to guess them and we’ll have heaps of money to take -to school for the collection.” - -But, of course, they couldn’t think of riddles every hour in the day, -no matter how interested they were in the coming meeting. There was, as -Artie observed, “a good deal of weather going on,” and it alternately -rained and snowed for three days. This added to the beauty of the -snowman, for he grew a little icicle beard, and he wore earrings, too, -formed of the melted and frozen snow. - -“I think we ought to break those off,” said Ward, much scandalized. “I -never saw a man wear earrings.” - -“Don’t touch that snowman,” ordered Fred. “If he wants to wear -earrings, let him! Every one says he is the biggest snow statue we ever -had in River Bend, and we’re not going to spoil him picking on him.” - -The pictures Harry Worden had taken turned out beautifully, and he -had had an enlargement made for the Riddle Club clubroom. Mrs. Marley -cleverly framed it in an old frame that fitted exactly, and the snowman -hung on the wall of the pretty clubroom and was much admired. - -Though Fred had searched diligently for his bank and never ceased to -mourn it, he could not find it, nor even a trace of where it might have -been. Jess sympathized with him deeply--as indeed they all did, for -Fred had been so very proud of the money saved. - -“I’d give anything, if I could find that bank,” said Fred, twenty times -a day. “I don’t see what I could have done with it. And why can’t I -remember where I put it down or where I had it last?” - -“I don’t know,” Jess would sigh. “I don’t see, myself, how you could -lose a whole bank. But then, I lost my lovely glove, and the one that’s -left isn’t a bit of good. And they cost six dollars--they were real -brushed wool. Oh, dear, it’s awful to lose things, isn’t it?” - -“I wouldn’t care if I’d lost a glove,” said Fred. “I wouldn’t mind -losing anything of mine, even my new stickpin Aunt Katherine sent me. -Because that would be mine and it wouldn’t affect any one else. But -here I’ve gone and lost all the money that belongs to the Riddle Club! -I’m saving my allowance, but it will be a million years before I get -enough saved to make up for what I lost. What’s a glove, compared to a -bank?” - -Along about this time of year school began to be what Jess called -“exciting.” The classes stayed after school several afternoons to make -decorations for the auditorium, where a Christmas party was always -held. This year Polly had learned how to make pretty red flowers, and -Miss Elliott, her teacher, suggested that if long wreaths were braided -of crêpe paper strands and these flowers placed at intervals, the -effect would be very pretty. - -“It’s a good deal of work,” Miss Elliott said; “but the festoons will -stay up till we come back to school after the holidays. There’ll be a -good many visitors at the school, just before Christmas, and we’d like -the auditorium to look its best. If you’ll make the flowers, Polly, -we’ll all help braid.” - -Polly was glad to make the flowers, and she stayed after school for an -hour or two every afternoon, cutting and pasting. - -“I’m so sick of braiding this silly old paper,” Carrie Pepper -complained to Mattie Helms. “I think it’s mean we never have any of -the fun. All Polly Marley has to do is to sit there and make flowers. -Any one can make flowers, and it’s interesting. Not like braiding this -stuff.” - -“I don’t think her flowers are much,” commented Mattie. “Do you?” - -“No, nothing extra,” said Carrie. “There goes Fred Williamson. He looks -at me so funny, every time he sees me.” - -Carrie did not know it, but Fred was almost sure she had taken his -bank. He could not see her without wondering if she really would do a -thing like that. He did not believe, for an instant, that she would -take the bank and use the money, for that would be stealing; but he -thought she might keep it, as she had Polly’s pin, to torment him. He -tried to imagine what she would say if he should walk up to her some -day and ask her to hand back the bank. But he never did ask her, for -his common sense told him he had nothing to uphold his suspicions and -that it would be rather foolish to accuse Carrie of taking anything -when he had no proof. - -Polly worked on the flowers one afternoon till she had two dozen ready, -all but the long green stems. - -“I think I’ll take these home,” she said to Miss Elliott. “I can wrap -the wire there and finish them easily.” - -“That’s a good plan,” Miss Elliott replied. “Here’s a pasteboard box to -carry them in. But don’t try to do them all to-night, Polly--you ought -to play outdoors an hour before you have supper. It’s a shame to miss -all this good coasting.” - -Polly put her flowers and the things she would need to finish them into -the box her teacher gave her. She had just reached the steps when some -one hailed her. - -“Hey, Polly!” her brother shouted. “Come on over here! We’re firing at -targets!” - -Polly looked. The boys had tacked up an empty tin can on one of the -trees in the school yard and they were firing snowballs into it--that -is, if a snowball went into it, it counted a bull’s-eye. - -“You watch me, Polly!” cried Artie, as Polly put her box down on the -step and came running across the yard. “Bet you I hit it this time!” - -He packed a firm, damp snowball, took careful aim, and fired. - -“Did it!” he shrieked. “Told you so!” - -Fred laughed and handed a ready-made ball to Polly. - -“You try,” he said. - -Polly stepped back a few feet, shut her eyes, and threw the ball. It -struck the tree a few feet above the tin can. - -“Don’t shut your eyes,” instructed Fred. “You want to aim. Here, try -again,” and he gave her a second ball. - -This time Polly hit the tree below the can. But her third trial was -more successful, and the snowball went neatly into the can, scoring -what Artie enthusiastically informed her was “a peach of a bull’s-eye.” - -“I can’t stay another minute,” said Polly, when they asked her to try -again. “Where’s Jess and Margy? I have to go on home and finish some -more flowers.” - -“Jess had to go to the dentist and Margy went to take a music lesson,” -Fred recited. - -“Oh, of course--yes, I remember,” said Polly. “Margy is coming over -to-night to practice our duet.” - -Polly and Margy were to play a duet at the Christmas party in school. - -Picking up the box she had left on the steps, Polly hurried off home, -while the boys continued to hurl snowballs at the tomato can with -varying success but unwaning enthusiasm. - -“I wouldn’t work on those flowers now, Polly,” said Mrs. Marley, when -she saw her daughter. “You’ve been indoors all day, and you’ll feel -much better if you take your sled and have a coast or two before it’s -dark. I’ll help you with the flowers after supper and we’ll get them -done in less than an hour.” - -So Polly went out again and met Margy, now through with her lesson, and -they had four trips down the hill and back with their sleds before the -five o’clock whistle sounded. - -When Polly came in, she went upstairs to brush her hair. She had left -the box of flowers on the bed in her room, and she was surprised to -find a dark stain spreading over the counterpane. - -“What in the world is that?” she said, in astonishment. - -She lifted the box hastily. It was heavy with water, and it was water -that had seeped through the pasteboard and made the stain. - -Polly tore off the lid--melted snow! - -“Some one put it there!” she cried. “But where are my flowers? I had -them in the box--I never took them out--I don’t see----” - -She called her mother, and together they puzzled over it as they -changed the bed clothes, for even the blankets were soaked through -from the water. - -“Some one has played a trick on you,” said Mrs. Marley, spreading clean -sheets. “The paper flowers were light, so they could substitute snow -without making a difference in weight. Where did you leave the box?” - -“I didn’t leave it----” Polly began. - -Then she remembered. - -“I put it down on the school steps while I tried to throw a snowball -into the tomato can,” she said. “But there was no one in the school -yard, except the boys, Mother.” - -“Nevertheless, that is when the trick was done,” declared Mrs. Marley. -“Some one took out the flowers and the paper and wires and filled the -box with snow. It’s a mean thing to do, I’ll admit; but I don’t suppose -they thought you’d put the box on the bed. They must have counted on -your opening the box as soon as you reached home.” - -“But I promised Miss Elliott to bring her the flowers in the morning,” -said poor Polly, looking very much as though she might cry. “She wants -them to put in the new rope that’s already braided.” - -“Don’t cry, Polly,” said her mother. “You’ll have the flowers. I have -always said that the best way to pay a practical joker back, is not -to let him know his joke has been a success. We’ll get Artie and Jess -and Ward and Fred and Margy to come and help, and, working together, -we can make and finish two dozen flowers this evening. Then, when you -take them to school, don’t say a word about the missing ones. Whoever -played the trick will be waiting to hear you complain, and if you act -as though nothing had happened they’ll be more surprised than you were -when you opened this box.” - -When the others heard what had happened, they were eager to help. -Fortunately, Polly had the materials for making the flowers on hand, -and as soon as supper was over the six chums set busily to work. Polly -and her mother cut the flower patterns and helped start them, but the -others soon learned how to fold and paste, and they refused to stop and -rest until the full two dozen flowers were finished and neatly packed -in another box. - -“And here’s a little ice-cream,” said Mr. Marley, coming in as the -scissors were being put away. “I thought the least I could do for such -an industrious circle was to get them a little refreshment, since I -have no talent for making paper flowers.” - -The next morning Carrie Pepper and Mattie Helms watched to see what -Polly would say when Miss Elliott came. To their intense surprise, -Polly marched up to the desk and put down a pasteboard box. - -“I finished the flowers, Miss Elliott,” she said clearly. - -Carrie looked at Mattie. They both felt a little foolish. And though -neither would admit it, they admired Polly, who, instead of complaining -and “fussing,” had evidently managed in some mysterious way to get her -flowers finished on time. - -“Thank goodness, that’s done,” said Polly, with a sigh of relief, as -she went back to her seat. “Now we can have the Riddle Club meeting -to-night and enjoy ourselves.” - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -THE SPECIAL MEETING - - -That night it began to snow again, the fine, steady snow that always -promises a real storm. When Mr. Marley came home to supper, his -overcoat was covered with the white flakes. - -“It’s lucky that every one lives near,” said Mrs. Marley, lighting -another electric lamp to make the dining-room more cheerful. “No one -would want to go very far on a night like this.” - -“Oh, they would, Mother, if they were going to the Riddle Club,” Artie -assured her. “I’d go anywhere to a Riddle Club meeting.” - -Mrs. Marley laughed and said she was thankful she didn’t have to tramp -through a snowstorm to reach the meeting. - -“Isn’t it lovely to have this room?” said Polly to Artie, when, a -little later, they went upstairs to the warm, well-lighted, pretty -clubroom. Artie had borrowed the key from Ward, because they wanted to -make sure the heat was turned on before the guests arrived. - -“Think how it would be out in the barn on a night like this,” remarked -Artie, breathing on the window panes so that he could see out. “Gee, -Polly, it’s snowing yet.” - -A stamping and scuffling on the porch announced that the members and -guests of the Riddle Club had arrived. The Williamsons, of course, -had come from no further away than the next house and the Larues from -across the street, but they were covered with the snow. They took -off their coats and shook them on the porch, and even then, when Mr. -Williamson took off his hat inside the house, a powdery shower of white -fell to the rug. - -Polly glanced at her mother as though to remind her of something. - -“You’ll want to have a business meeting before we come upstairs,” said -Mrs. Marley, pleasantly. “So run on up, children, and when you are -ready for us, let Artie call.” - -Polly led the way up to the clubroom and called the meeting to order -promptly. - -“This is to be a short business meeting,” she said gravely. “We have no -unfinished business to consider and so there is only one thing to do.” - -“What’s that?” asked the unsuspecting Fred. - -“Collect the dues,” said Polly, holding out a new copper bank to the -club treasurer. - -Margy declared afterward that she thought Fred was going to cry. His -face got very red, and for a moment he did not say anything. - -“You want me to collect the dues?” he asked, when he did speak. “Dues -from you, after I lost all the club money?” - -“Don’t be silly,” said Jess, from her corner. “Everybody knows you -didn’t lose the bank purposely. We’ve all brought our money, and it’s -up to you to collect it.” - -And Jess walked over and put a shining new dime in the slit in the -bank. Artie followed her. - -Never had Fred, in his experience as treasurer, found it so easy to -collect dues from the entire membership. Even Ward did not argue, but -insisted on paying his dime. And none of them would hear of Fred giving -the bank to any one else to take care of, or leaving it in the clubroom. - -“You’re the treasurer, and you take care of it,” said Polly. “You suit -us, and if we don’t fuss about the money that’s lost I don’t see why -you should. Artie, go call the folks to come up.” - -The grown-ups came in and sat down in the chairs provided for them. -Polly, who was now used to talking “standing up,” as she said, thought -it best to explain the purpose of the meeting again. - -“This is a special kind of session of the Riddle Club,” she said -earnestly. “Instead of forfeits, the ones who fail to guess a riddle -must pay money, and the money collected is going to school, to be used -for a poor family. But don’t try flunking the riddles, because that -isn’t fair.” - -“You’d rather have good sportsmanship than a tray full of money, -Polly?” asked Mr. Williamson, smiling. - -Polly nodded. - -“If we win the prize riddle to-night, we’re going to give that to the -collection, too,” she said. - -“That reminds me of something I have to say,” Mr. Williamson declared. -“I said I had a secret for you, and this is it: I’ll pay ten cents to -the school collection for every riddle that is guessed correctly here -to-night and an extra five dollars if the prize riddle is solved, the -extra money to go in the club bank.” - -Polly saw that Mr. Williamson had chosen that way of helping Fred make -up the money lost, and she thought it was a most generous way. She -didn’t say so, but she smiled at Mr. Williamson and he knew that she -understood what he was trying to do. - -“I thought we’d open the answers to the prize riddle first,” said Polly. - -Choosing from the six folded papers on the table before her, she opened -one and read it aloud. - -“The riddle was, ‘Why do pianos bear the noblest characters?’ And this -answer says, ‘Because they’re always cheerful.’” - -“They’re not,” said Margy, positively. “I guess I ought to know.” - -“No piano is cheerful when you’re practicing your music lesson on it,” -agreed Mrs. Williamson, smiling. - -“The second answer reads, ‘Because they keep in tune,’” read Polly. - -“Not so bad,” said Mr. Williamson. “But it doesn’t happen to be the one -we’re after.” - -Polly picked up a third paper. - -“This one says, ‘Because pianos are expensive.’” She tried not to laugh -when she read this. She recognized the writing as Artie’s. - -“Here’s another,” she said hurriedly. “‘Pianos bear the noblest -characters because they are grand, upright, and square.’ Why, that must -be right!” added Polly, in surprise. - -“Correct!” said Mr. Williamson. “See if that last paper has solved it, -too. No? Well, then, will the prize winner please step forward and -receive the prize?” - -To the utter astonishment of the roomful, Margy came forward. - -“Margy Williamson, you never guessed a riddle, did you?” gasped her -mother. - -If it had been Fred, no one would have wondered. But Margy! She who -always complained that every riddle was too hard, that she couldn’t -spell the words in them or do the arithmetic they demanded of her. -Margy! - -“It isn’t very complimentary to be so upset, Margy,” said her daddy, -putting a little white box in her hand; “but I must say you are the -last member of the Riddle Club I thought would solve a prize riddle.” - -Margy grinned and opened her box. In it were two beautiful five dollar -gold pieces. - -“One goes in the bank,” she said, slipping it in as she spoke, “and -the other goes on the tray for the school collection,” and she put the -gold piece on the silver tray Mrs. Marley had loaned for this special -occasion. - -“How did you ever guess it?” Ward asked respectfully. - -It was a question that each one had wanted to ask. - -“Well, you see,” Margy explained, “I can’t guess riddles unless I have -time to think about ’em. I thought and thought and _thought_ about this -one. Every time I sat down to practice, I thought some more. Then I -heard Miss Elliott talking to the music supervisor one day, and she -said something about our school piano being out of date. - -“‘No school uses the old square pianos if they can get uprights,’ she -said. - -“I looked ‘upright’ up in the dictionary,” Margy went on, “and I found -there was more than one meaning and one meant ‘honest and square’; so -I guessed both words could count. And Mattie Helms told me one day in -school that she was going to take music lessons as soon as her mother -bought a grand piano--and there I had another word to use. They all -fitted in, so I just used them.” - -“Good for you, Margy!” cried Mr. Larue, clapping his hands. “You -deserve to win the prize.” - -They all clapped Margy, and she settled down happily again on the -window seat, between Artie and Jess. - -“Now we’ll ask the riddle,” said Polly. “Margy, you begin, because you -won.” - -“Daddy Williamson,” said Margy, seriously, “What is that which by -losing an eye has nothing left but a nose?” - -“A one-eyed man?” guessed Mr. Williamson. - -“Forfeit!” cried Ward, so excited that he couldn’t keep still. “It’s -noise.” - -“Well, let Margy tell her own answers to her own riddles, Ward,” -reproved Polly. - -“How much is the forfeit to be?” asked Mr. Williamson. - -“I don’t think you ought to pay any,” said Polly. “You gave us ten -dollars, and that’s enough.” - -“Oh, I want to pay a forfeit,” Mr. Williamson insisted. “Like my -daughter, I don’t seem to be able to spell without thinking. Suppose we -pay ten cents for the riddles we miss?” - -The others were willing, so Mr. Williamson put ten cents on the silver -tray. - -“Mother,” said Ward, at a sign from Polly, “What is the difference -between a schoolmaster and an engineer?” - -“One trains the mind, the other minds the train,” answered Mrs. Larue, -with a smile. “That was a pet riddle of mine years ago, Ward.” - -“I guess you told it to me,” admitted Ward, “but I forgot.” - -“Ten cents for the collection,” said Mr. Williamson, putting down a -dime on the tray. - -It was Jess’s turn to ask her father. - -“What is that which never asks questions, yet requires many answers?” -asked Jess, eagerly. - -“I should say a-a-a- oh, Jess, I’ll pay ten cents gladly for the -answer,” said Mr. Larue, placing two nickels with the other change. - -“It’s a doorbell,” said Jess. - -“Artie,” nodded Polly. “Your turn.” - -“What mechanic never turns to the left, Mother?” he asked hopefully. - -“The bricklayer?” she suggested. - -“Forfeit!” cried Artie. “It’s the wheelwright.” - -Mrs. Marley paid her money and explained to Ward what a wheelwright -was, and then Fred was ready to tackle his mother. - -“Bet you can’t guess this, Mother,” he said. “Of what trade were all -the presidents of the United States?” - -“Why, Fred, cabinet makers, of course,” replied Mrs. Williamson. - -“Here’s the ten cents for you, Mother,” said Mr. Williamson, gleefully. -“I’m glad one of us solved a riddle.” - -“Polly’s last,” said Ward. “Go on, Polly, ask your dad.” - -“Why is an egg lightly boiled like one boiled too much, Daddy?” asked -Polly, smiling. - -“I know nothing about cooking,” said Mr. Marley, pretending to frown. -“Is it because you can’t eat it?” - -“Forfeit, Daddy!” cried Artie. “He’s wrong, isn’t he, Polly?” - -“The answer is, ‘Because it is hardly done,’” said Polly, holding out -her hand for the ten cents. - -They had planned to ask each other riddles, but when Mrs. Marley -suggested they all go down to the kitchen and make molasses candy and -cool it in the snow, the members of the Riddle Club decided that they -had had enough riddles. - -“We put our five dollars into the collection, so we are not being -selfish,” said Polly, soberly. “How much money have we for the poor -family, Fred?” - -“Counting the five dollars, we have five dollars and sixty cents,” said -Fred. - -“That’s fine!” said Polly and Jess together, and Mr. Larue added forty -cents more to make the fund six dollars. - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -MERRY CHRISTMAS - - -The molasses candy was a great success and so was the school collection -the next day. When Polly told Miss Elliott how they had collected the -six dollars, the teacher thought it was such an interesting story that -she asked Polly to tell it before the assembly. Polly was too shy, but -Fred was persuaded, and when he had finished speaking, the principal -had a few words to say. - -“I’d like the Riddle Club to know,” he said, “that we all admire their -energy and generosity. They could have asked their parents for the -money, but instead they held this novel meeting. And the girl who won -the prize for the riddle could have kept the money for something else, -but she chose to send it to girls who have nothing. To-day is the first -time I have heard in detail of the Riddle Club, but I shall always -remember it after this morning.” - -Dear, dear, wasn’t the Riddle Club pleased and embarrassed and proud, -all at once! - -“Carrie Pepper looked as though she could cheerfully bite you, Polly,” -said Jess, at recess. “I don’t believe she liked to hear us talked -about that way.” - -“Oh, she’s all right,” said Polly. “If you don’t look out, Jess, you’ll -be like Fred. He can’t say one good thing about Carrie. I don’t believe -he even speaks to her now.” - -School closed two days before Christmas, and the party, which the -entire school attended, was one long two hours of fun and laughter. -Margy and Polly played their duet and there were recitations. A huge -Christmas tree was trimmed entirely with things to eat. Popcorn and -peanuts and strings of cranberries and doughnuts tied on with red -ribbons, cookies strung together like necklaces, red apples, oranges -cut in fancy shapes, net bags of candy, bars of chocolate done up to -look like presents--that tree looked as any Christmas tree would look -trimmed for a party, but there wasn’t a single decoration on it that -couldn’t be eaten. - -The children ate everything on it, too, before going home, and then it -was carried out in the school yard and planted in the snow to serve as -a dinner table for the birds. The older boys climbed it and fastened -bits of suet to the highest branches, and Christmas morning those who -passed the yard saw flocks of hungry birds enjoying a holiday feast. - -“We must fix Riddle Chap up for Christmas,” suggested Polly, as they -walked home after the party. - -Riddle Chap had had his tree to hold long ago, but as Polly pointed -out, there was nothing on it. - -“He needs a cheerful necktie,” Fred declared. “I’ll get him that red -one with purple spots that Daddy never wears.” - -“We’ll put suet in the tree for the birds,” said Jess. “They’ll like -that. And we can hang a wreath around his neck.” - -“We’ll trim him all over!” cried Polly, joyously. “Give him a wreath -and wind ground pine around his body and stick a holly spray in his -hat.” - -They were as good as their word, and Riddle Chap, on Christmas Eve, was -as gay as any snowman who ever had Christmas dreams. He wore a wreath -about his throat, a fearfully bright necktie under his chin, holly in -his hat, and his arms and legs were wound with ropes of ground pine. - -Polly and Margy liked to consider themselves almost grown up--at -times--and Fred was sure he was much older than Ward and Artie. Jess, -who was a year older than Margy, liked to romp too well to desire -“grown-upness,” as she called it. But when Christmas Eve came, each -member of the Riddle Club discovered that hanging up one’s stocking was -half the fun of Christmas, and Polly and Margy and Fred were just as -eager as Artie and Jess and Ward. - -“Come over early,” they told each other when they said good-night, -after the snowman was arrayed. “Come over early and see our things.” - -Artie may have started for Ward’s house--at least, that is what he -always said he was doing, though his mother declared he must have -been dreaming. Anyway, long before daylight, the Marley household was -awakened by a tremendous crash. - -Mr. and Mrs. Marley rushed out from their room, meeting Polly in the -hall. - -“Where’s Artie?” she gasped. - -“Here he is,” called Artie, sweetly. “I guess I kind of fell -downstairs. The globe fell off the lamp on the newel post.” - -Artie wasn’t hurt--though it was a wonder, for the broken glass from -the globe was strewn all around him--and he did not seem to be sleepy -at all. Perhaps the fall had awakened him. However, his father said -that no one was to think of opening Christmas presents at half-past -three in the morning, and Artie had to go back to bed and wait till -daylight for further excitement. - -Just as soon as it was light, Artie and Polly were downstairs to -examine their stockings. Whoever had filled them, knew exactly how the -job should be done and Ward and Jess, and Margy and Fred, had the same -report to make. - -There were the red beads Polly wanted in the toe of hers; packed in -among the candy and nuts in his, Artie found the jackknife he had -long coveted; Ward, who had once said he never had enough to eat, was -delighted with a stocking stuffed from toe to top with nothing but food -of one sort or another; Jess found a new pair of gloves rolled up in -hers, to take the place of the missing one. Margy had beads, too, only -hers were blue; and Fred had a fountain pen with his initials on it in -gold. - -After the stockings came breakfast, and then it was time to see the -larger presents. Later, Polly and Artie went to the Williamsons and -helped Fred and Margy try on their new skates, then the four went to -the Larues to help Jess and Ward admire the two new sleds, and then -they all went back to the Marley house where Polly and Artie displayed -a jumble of new skates, sweaters and muff and games and books that made -one wonder what these children would have left to wish for another -Christmas. - -“We’ll all go to the post-office,” said Polly. “The mail is in now.” - -And it was, a delightfully exciting mail which held cards and letters -and packages for every one in the three families, from cousins and -aunts and uncles who lived far away. - -“Oh, my!” gasped Artie, when the packages were sorted out and he had -his in his arms. “Look! Here’s something from Mr. Kirby!” - -Well, there was a package for each member of the Riddle Club from Mr. -Kirby. They knew he had sent them, for his name and address were on the -outside wrapper. Each box was exactly alike in shape and size. What -_could_ be in them? - -“Let’s open them,” said Artie, sensibly. - -There were a number of wrappers, and from the last one tumbled a small -white box and a card that read, “With best Christmas wishes to Artie -Marley, from his friends, Tony Kirby and Will Adams.” - -Each card said the same thing, substituting the various names of the -Riddle Club members. - -“Oh! Oh! Oh!” cried Polly, the moment she had opened her box. “How -perfectly lovely!” - -The little box was lined with blue velvet, and on the blue velvet lay -a gold signet ring. There were two letters engraved on the face. They -were R.C. Polly lifted out the ring and turned it over. Inside it was -engraved with her name and the date. - -“And they fit!” said Margy, in surprise, as six rings were slipped on -six fingers. “He must have asked our mothers what size we wear!” - -And that was exactly what Mr. Kirby had done. He had written to find -out what ring sizes to order, and the three mothers had kept his secret -carefully. - -“He gave us our lovely club pins, and now we have club rings,” said -Polly. “I never knew any one so nice!” - -“Let’s hurry and write him a letter right away, and Mrs. Williamson can -take it to-morrow,” suggested Artie. - -Mr. and Mrs. Williamson were supposed to spend New Year’s with the -Kirbys in Rye, because they had not gone at Thanksgiving time. But Mrs. -Williamson had discovered that she couldn’t go away from home for New -Year’s Day, and now they were to leave the next day and have a little -visit during holiday week. Fred and Margy were to stay with the Marleys -while their parents were away. - -The next morning, when Mr. and Mrs. Williamson set off for Rye, they -carried a letter signed by all the Riddle Club members, thanking Mr. -Kirby and Mr. Adams for their gifts and telling them how much happiness -they had given. - -“Gee, isn’t it cold,” said Fred, as the Williamson automobile -disappeared around the turn in Elm Road. “I’ll bet you it is thirty -degrees below zero.” - -Mr. Larue overheard him and laughed. - -“You wouldn’t be standing there so complacently, Fred, if it were as -cold as that,” he said. “This is just good skating weather.” - -It was so cold and clear that Jess declared she saw “miles and miles” -when she looked across the river, now frozen over. The ground was -covered with snow, of course, and at every step this crunched under -foot. When a wagon went past the wheels screeched, a sure sign of a -cold day. - -“Isn’t it great!” bubbled Ward. “We have new skates and there’ll be -skating as soon as they get the river swept off; there isn’t any -school, so we can have all the fun we want; and there’s good coasting, -too, and some of us have new sleds. And I haven’t eaten all my candy -up, either,” he added. - -“You’re one satisfied person,” commented Fred, blinking, for the sun -on the snow was dazzling. “Let’s go down and watch them sweep off the -river. Maybe they won’t let us on yet.” - -But “they” were willing for River Bend folk to go skating, for the -ice was firm and thick. Later it would be cut to fill ice-houses, but -as a rule the children could count on good skating through January. A -group of men were busily at work this morning, with brooms, brushes and -horse-drawn scrapers, taking the snow off the ice and getting it ready -for the skaters. The sun was helping, too, and the Riddle Club members -decided that by noon the river would be in fine condition. - -“We’re going up to the pond, Mother,” said Polly, at the lunch table. -“No, we’ll not be cold. You never get cold skating.” - -“Don’t be late for supper,” cautioned Mrs. Marley. “And be sure you are -dressed warmly. It will be much colder toward night.” - -“It’s cold enough now,” grumbled Margy, who would have liked to go -skating in July, if that had been possible. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -ANOTHER RACE - - -Although Margy refused to be enthusiastic about cold weather, nothing -would induce her to miss a skating party. She could skate well, as -indeed could nearly every child in River Bend. With a river at hand, -it would have been strange if they had failed to learn as soon as they -could buckle on their skates. The Riddle Club members could hardly -remember the time when they had not gone skating. - -“Wouldn’t it have been a shame,” said Fred, striking off up the ice -with long, even swings, “if the first skating of the year had come -while we had to go to school?” - -“Yes, it would,” agreed Ward. “I think they ought to cut out school in -the winter, anyway. I don’t mind it so much in March, because half the -time it rains and you can’t have much fun in the rain; but winter is -the best time of year to be outdoors.” - -Ward looked as though he was thoroughly enjoying himself. He was -puffing slightly--he couldn’t help getting out of breath when he -exercised--but his eyes were beaming and he showed his even, white -teeth in a delighted grin. - -“I don’t think it’s as cold as it was,” said Jess to Polly. - -“That’s because you’ve warmed up,” declared Polly wisely. “I’m never -cold when I’m skating.” - -“Just the same, it is warmer,” insisted Jess. - -“Sure it is,” Fred flung over his shoulder. “It’s turned warmer since -we came out.” - -Though Polly had announced that they were going up to the pond, they -did not start right away. The river was fairly well covered with -skaters by this time, and presently a string of skaters appeared, seven -boys and seven girls, each wearing a white woolly sweater with a large -“C.C.” stitched across the front. - -“Look at the Conundrum Club!” cried Polly. “They have sweaters just -alike. Do you suppose they’re Christmas presents?” - -The sweaters were Christmas gifts. Carrie herself told Polly, when she -skated up a few minutes later and asked to see the Riddle Club rings. - -“How did you know we had rings?” Polly asked, surprised. - -“Oh, some girl told me,” said Carrie. “I suppose they’re plated. But -the monogram is kind of nice, only I think signet rings are rather old -fashioned, don’t you?” - -Polly wanted to laugh, for Carrie was trying the ring on as she spoke. -Carrie seldom praised another’s possessions, but it was easy to see -that she admired the new ring. - -“I say, Fred,” called Joe Anderson, skating up, “let’s have a race. Bet -you I can beat you to the bend and back.” - -Margy pulled violently on Fred’s sweater. - -“Don’t do it,” she whispered. “He cheats! Remember the time you -coasted?” - -Fred did remember, but a challenge was a challenge. - -“All right, I’ll race you,” he said shortly. - -“Why don’t we all race?” asked Carrie, shrilly. “Let’s make it a -Conundrum Club against the Riddle Club race.” - -“Go on--that will be fun!” cried some of the other boys and girls -skating about the circle. “And the winners have to race again.” - -That was the way it was finally decided--that six of the Conundrum Club -members should race the members of the Riddle Club. Joe Anderson chose -the ones he wanted to represent the Conundrum Club--besides himself and -Carrie, there were Mattie Helms, Albert Holmes, Ben Asher and Stella -Dorman. - -“We’ll line up and start when Edith counts three,” said Joe, who, -having planned the race, did not seem to think he was obliged, as a -matter of courtesy, to consult the wishes of any one else. - -Edith Spencer was a member of the Conundrum Club. She was a girl who -easily became excited, and the first time she tried to count three she -stuttered so badly that no one could tell what she was trying to say. -The second time she did better and at the word “Three!” the skaters -dashed off, Joe Anderson in the lead. - -“I wish I was bigger!” thought Artie, skating bravely. “I’d like to -win--but just the same if I can’t beat that Albert Holmes, I’d like to -know the reason!” - -The bend in the river had been designated as the turning point, and Joe -Anderson reached it first, with Fred close behind him. Fred was saving -his speed for the spurt he wanted to make on the return way. Polly was -ahead of Carrie and Mattie had just passed Margy when Jess stumbled and -fell. - -“Don’t stop!” she cried, as Ward and Artie came up with her. “Go on! -Hurry!” - -But Ward and Artie pulled her to her feet, and then the three tried -desperately to regain the ground lost. It was too much of a handicap, -however, and Albert Holmes and Ben Asher both came in ahead of Artie, -who had set his heart on beating Albert. - -It was almost a tie between Fred and Joe, and Polly was a half yard -ahead of Carrie, so another race was planned between these four. - -Fred had a plan all his own which he hoped would work. He had carefully -refrained from fast skating in the first race, being contented to keep -up with Joe. He knew that the second race would be harder, because he -would not be as fresh. This time he was determined to skate at top -speed. - -At the signal they started, Polly in the lead. A flash passed her; it -was Fred, head bent, eyes on his skates. Try as he would, Joe could not -pass him, and Fred held his lead to the bend and back to the starting -point, winning by a good yard. - -“Well, anyway, Carrie beat Polly,” said Stella Dorman, as Carrie shot -in ahead of Polly, who had lost time in making the turn. “No one can -say the Riddle Club skaters are better than we are.” - -Fred was satisfied to have it that way. - -“Come on, we’re going somewhere,” he said, beckoning to his chums. -“Race you again some time, Joe.” - -The Riddle Club waved good-bye and went on up the river. They skated -more slowly now, for they were just a little tired from the excitement -and the fast skating. Polly’s cheeks were crimson and Ward was panting. - -“Let’s sit down a minute,” suggested Jess. “I want to see if I skinned -my knee when I fell down.” - -They skated into the shore and sat down on the bank. Jess discovered -that her knee was not badly hurt, after all, and Ward was grateful for -the rest. - -“Looks like more snow,” said Fred, pointing to the sky, now gray and -overcast. - -“Why can’t you be cheerful?” scolded Margy. “We’ve had all the snow we -want for a long time. It’s going to be clear weather--the paper said -so,” and Margy looked triumphantly at her brother. - -“You have to take the kind of weather you get,” said Artie, sagely. “It -doesn’t make any difference what you want.” - -“Well, I don’t think it’s going to snow,” announced Polly, rising. -“Come on--if we’re going to Jackson’s Pond, we’d better get there. We -haven’t reached the fork, yet.” - -[Illustration: FRED HELD HIS LEAD, WINNING BY A YARD.] - -To reach the pond, it was necessary to skate to a point where the -river forked. Two miles up this arm, one came to Jackson’s Pond, a -place much used for picnics in summer and the scene of evening skating -parties in the winter. It had long been an ambition of Fred’s to skate -all the way to this pond, because he had always gone by automobile -before. - -The children skated steadily and soon reached the fork where they -turned into the narrow “arm” that lay through a rather desolate -country. There were no houses to be seen, but here and there smoke -drifted from a chimney and indicated the presence of a farm. - -“I wouldn’t like to live up here, would you?” said Artie. - -“No, River Bend is much nicer,” agreed Jess. - -“Still, we could skate to school if we lived here,” suggested Polly. -“That must be the schoolhouse over there.” - -She pointed to a small building set in a fenced yard. There was a flag -pole, but no flag was flying. - -“Closed for the holidays,” commented Fred. “There! Who said it wasn’t -going to snow?” he added triumphantly. - -A stinging wet flake struck Margy’s upturned face. - -“It’s just a flurry,” she said comfortably. - -“Perhaps we’d better turn around and go back,” said Polly. “We’ll be -skating against the wind, anyway, and it will take us longer to get -home than it has to come.” - -“Oh, come on, we want to be able to say we’ve skated as far as the -pond,” urged Fred. “You’re not afraid of a little snow, are you, Polly?” - -“No, I’m not, but I don’t want to be caught in a big storm, miles away -from any house,” said Polly, sensibly. - -“This won’t be a big storm,” declared Artie. - -But the snow continued to come faster and the wind rose, growling. - -“I wonder if it’s late?” said Margy, suddenly. - -“No, it can’t be,” answered Fred. “We started right after lunch, and it -was only half-past twelve.” - -A sudden gust of wind struck Margy sharply in the face. - -“It’s so dark!” she gasped, swallowing a mouthful of snow. - -And it was dark. The clouds were heavy and they seemed so near that -Jess was sure she could touch them. The wind had risen steadily, and -as the six children rounded a bend in the stream, it caught them full -force. - -“I can’t breathe!” screamed Jess, in a sudden panic. - -“Turn around!” shouted Fred. - -They turned their backs to the storm and waited a moment. - -“There’s no use trying to go back,” cried Fred to Polly, as another -gust of wind swooped upon them. “It’s blowing from all directions at -once. We’d better try to get in somewhere.” - -“Is it a blizzard?” asked Jess. - -“It’s a storm,” said Fred, trying to speak cheerfully. “Come on, we’ll -take off our skates and walk. There’s no use trying to skate in a wind -like this.” - -They managed to get their skates off, and then climbed the low bank. - -“We’ll follow the river,” Fred decided, “because if we get back in the -country we might get lost.” - -Fred was a very comforting person to have around when things didn’t -go right, Polly thought, trudging after him. He could always think of -something to do, and his plans were usually good. Instead of being -undecided, or standing around in the teeth of the wind while he thought -of what they should do, he kept them moving, and moving was so much -better than standing still. You felt as though you were going toward -help, at least. - -“Do you see anything over there, Ward?” Fred shouted, suddenly, -breaking in on Polly’s thoughts. - -“Where?” cried Ward, peering through the whirling film of snow. - -“There--across the river,” answered Fred, pointing. - -Ward stared. Yes, the dim outlines of a building certainly could be -seen. - -“It’s a house!” shouted Fred. “We’ll have to cross over.” - -“I hope they have some kind of a fire. I’m almost frozen stiff!” -muttered Margy. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -CAUGHT IN A STORM - - -The boys helped the three girls down the bank and, slipping and -sliding, they made their way across the river to the other side. -Scrambling up this bank, they found the building was further back than -they had supposed. - -“I’m so co-old!” shivered Margy. “I don’t see any smoke coming out of a -chimney. I don’t believe any one lives there.” - -“I don’t see any chimney,” declared Ward, trying to brush the snow away -from before his face so that he could see clearly--a hopeless task. - -“Well, some one must live there,” said Fred, impatiently. “Hurry up, or -we’ll freeze standing here.” - -It was dark now, and they were stiff and tired. Their clothes were damp -and their gloves soaked through. Worse still, they were hungry, and -Artie, who had often sighed to be an explorer, began to wonder whether -he was going to starve to death in the snow. - -Fred led the way toward the building and the others followed him, -longing for the sight of a bright fire and a lighted lamp. The ground -was humpy, and Margy began to cry when she fell down. - -“I’m so tired,” she sniffed, as Polly pulled her up. “If any one lives -in that house they’re not at home, because it’s dark.” - -“Perhaps there’s a light at the back,” said Fred. “Maybe they only have -a light in the kitchen.” - -“Do you know what I think, Fred?” called Polly, raising her voice above -the wind which still buffeted them unmercifully. “I think that is a -barn! It doesn’t look like a house to me.” - -“If it’s a barn, that means there’s a house near here,” shouted Fred. -“That’s good luck.” - -But when they had reached the barn--for it was a barn, after -all--another disappointment awaited them. The building was open on both -sides, and the wind swept through the wide doorways and hurled the snow -into the corners, where it lay in heaps. - -The barn was an old one, evidently abandoned years before! - -“Come on in,” said Fred, refusing to be discouraged. “It can’t be as -cold as it is outside. And because the barn isn’t used is no sign -there isn’t a house near. There must be a house!” - -The six forlorn chums stepped inside the dark doorway and found -themselves in a cavern, or so it seemed to them. - -“Be careful,” warned Polly. “Some of the boards may be rotten and we -might step through them, or fall into a hole.” - -They felt their way carefully, following the wall, till they were well -back from the doorway through which they had entered. Protected in a -measure from the wind, they felt warmer at once. - -“You stand still,” commanded Fred. “I’m going over to that other -doorway and look out.” - -He felt his way around slowly, and when he felt the wind blow full in -his face he knew he had reached the other doorway. - -“Say, I see a light!” he called to the others. “A little light, and -that must be in a house. It looks a mile away, but I’ll bet you it is a -house.” - -“I won’t go another step,” declared Margy, sitting down on the floor. -“Not another step. I’m too tired to move.” - -“But you’ll freeze here,” said Polly. “Won’t she, Fred?” - -“I’d just as lief freeze as to break my leg walking over that humpy -ground again,” retorted Margy, bitterly. - -“Well, I’d rather stay here, too,” announced Jess. “You don’t know -positively that that light is in a house. And if it is in a house, it -may be miles and miles away. I’d rather stay here till morning.” - -They were all so tired and cold that a quarrel might easily have -developed, had not Polly proposed a plan. - -“I tell you what let’s do,” she said good-temperedly. “Let Jess and -Margy stay here and Ward and Artie take care of them; then I’ll go with -you, Fred, and we’ll see if that light is in a house. Perhaps we’ll -find the house that goes with this barn first, and that will be nearer.” - -Ward and Artie wanted to go with Polly and Fred, but were finally -persuaded to remain with the two girls. - -“Don’t stay all night,” begged Artie, as Polly whispered to him to be -good and not let Margy get frightened. - -“Say, Polly, you’re all right,” Fred told her, striking off in the -direction of the twinkling light. “I know you’re dead tired and cold, -too, but you don’t grunt. Uh!” and Fred gave a grunt himself. - -“What’s the matter?” cried Polly, anxiously. “What is it, Fred?” - -“I walked into something,” said Fred. “Nearly knocked my teeth out. -Don’t know what it is, but it feels like a tower of some sort.” - -“I know,” cried Polly, feeling the “tower.” “It’s one of the brick -foundations of a porch, Fred. Feel the loose bricks under the snow? -This is probably where the house that goes with that old barn stood, -and it either burned down or fell down.” - -“I guess you’re right,” said Fred. “See, here’s the cellar. I won’t -grumble because I walked into that column of bricks--if I hadn’t we -might have both stepped into that cellar, and that wouldn’t have been -any fun.” - -Carefully and feeling each step of the way, they skirted the open -cellar. The wind and the snow made going very slow, and the twinkling -light seemed to come no nearer. - -“Want to stop and get your breath, Polly?” asked Fred, a little -anxiously, when they had been walking some minutes in silence. - -“I’m--all--right,” gasped Polly. “But I’ve got my scarf tied over my -mouth to keep the wind out. I can’t talk.” - -They plodded on after that, and to Fred’s delight the light came nearer -and nearer at last. Soon they could see that it shone from the window -of a house and streamed feebly out on a broken picket fence. - -“At least they’re at home,” said Fred, thankfully. “You can stay and -get warm, Polly, and I’ll go back and get the others.” - -He was sure their troubles were over, and he rapped loudly on the door -with visions of a hot supper dancing before his eyes. - -No one answered his knock, and he rapped again. Still silence. - -“We’ll both knock,” said Polly, and the two of them beat a tattoo on -the door. - -“Some one’s coming,” whispered Polly. “Hark!” - -They heard a bolt drawn back and a key in the lock turned. Then the -door opened slowly and an old woman peered out. - -“Who’s there?” she asked. “What do you want?” - -“Please, we’re caught in the storm,” said Polly. “May we come in and -get warm?” - -“Why, you’re children!” said the old woman, in astonishment. “Come -in--come in. Though you can’t get warm, I’m thinking. I got out of bed -to answer your knock, and there’s no wood in the house to make a fire.” - -She opened the door wider and beckoned them to come in. They saw a -square room, neatly furnished and evidently used as a combination -sitting room and kitchen. - -“You must be chilled through,” said the old woman. “I can fix a fire -for you, if this boy will go out to the woodshed and get some wood; -there’s plenty cut there, but I couldn’t go out in the storm. My -rheumatism took me this afternoon, and I had to go to bed.” - -“There are four more of us, waiting in a barn,” explained Polly, as -Fred went out to find the woodshed, carrying a lantern the old woman -gave him. “We were out skating this afternoon and lost our way.” - -“Dear, dear, you must be hungry, too! Now, if you could cook, there’s -eggs in that bowl on the shelf and bread and butter and jam a-plenty. I -have cold baked beans left over, too.” - -The old woman could hardly walk, and Polly said at once that she would -cook the eggs. - -“Then let your brother build up a good fire and put a kettle of water -on to heat, and you set the table and get the supper ready. I’ll tell -you where to find things. I declare, I feel better already, having some -one to talk to. And that fire feels good, too. I won’t be caught this -way again; I’ll fill up my woodbox when I have a chance, and then when -I’m flat on my back I won’t have to worry.” - -Fred built a roaring fire in the stove, filled the woodbox, and then, -not stopping to dry his gloves--to say nothing of his shoes, which -were soaked through--he set off to the barn to bring the rest back with -him. - -While he was gone, Polly first made some tea and boiled an egg -for their kind hostess. Then she set the table at the old woman’s -directions, told her who they were and explained about the Riddle Club -and that Fred was not her brother. She cut the bread and scrambled -the eggs, and when Fred and the others returned they found a cheerful -picture awaiting them--a warm kitchen and a table set with six bowls -of milk and a mound of bread already buttered, not to mention a pan -of baked beans, the reddest of red currant jam, and the yellowest of -golden eggs sizzling in a pan on the stove. - -“Take off your wet things,” ordered the old woman. “I guess I have -enough bedroom slippers to go round. I have ten nieces, and every -blessed one of them has, at some time or other, knit me a pair of -bedroom slippers. They don’t seem to think I wear anything else.” - -The girls and boys laughed, but when they had taken off their heavy, -wet shoes, the red and pink and blue and purple wool knitted slippers -felt very cozy and warm to their tired feet. Their gloves and mittens -were hung on a line behind the stove and the shoes arranged in a row on -the hearth, and then they sat down to enjoy their belated supper. - -“I suppose your folks will be worried to death about you, but we can’t -help it,” said the old woman. Her name, she told them, was Mrs. Wicks. -“There’s a telephone in a house about half a mile away, but a storm -like this always breaks down the wires, even if you were fit to go out -again to-night, which you’re not. I never saw a storm come up quicker -than this one did, and it’s lucky for me you came along. I haven’t a -fancy to have a rheumatic attack and no wood for a fire in the house.” - -Artie and Ward went to sleep at the table, and that brought up the -question of where they were to sleep. - -“I’ve got two bedrooms, besides mine,” said Mrs. Wicks. “But they -haven’t been used this winter. I’m afraid they’re damp.” - -“That will be all right,” said Polly, politely. - -“No, it won’t be all right,” declared Mrs. Wicks, with vigor. “I don’t -aim to have you take cold, sleeping in damp sheets. I can’t get the -things out, but you go in and bring the sheets and blankets off those -two beds and hang ’em on chairs before the fire; that will dry them. -You can put the two little fellows on my bed till theirs is ready.” - -But neither Polly nor Fred would hear to this, so Artie and Ward were -finally shaken awake and set to work carrying out blankets while the -girls washed the dishes. Mrs. Wicks had had a nap before their arrival, -and she was enjoying herself, but Polly and Margy confided to each -other that never, never, never had they been half so tired and sleepy. - -Finally the blankets and sheets were pronounced dry, the beds made up -again, and, leaning on Fred and Polly, Mrs. Wicks hobbled to her own -room. In two minutes after they had lain down, the six members of the -Riddle Club were fast asleep, and though the wind howled all night and -shook the windows and rattled loose shutters, not a sound did they -hear. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -MRS. WICKS - - -Polly was the first to wake in the morning. She opened one eye -sleepily, saw her dress hanging over a chair back, caught a glimpse of -unfamiliar wall paper on the side of the room, and sat up with a jerk. - -“What’s the matter?” asked Jess, drowsily. - -“Oh!” said Polly. “I remember now. We’re here. Say, Jess, it must be -late; the sun is shining.” - -“Then it’s stopped snowing,” said Jess. “We can go home. Let’s get -dressed in a jiffy.” - -Margy woke up, and it did not take the three girls long to dress, for -they had slept in their underclothes, having removed only their dresses -and stockings. - -Polly peeped out into the kitchen and saw Fred pumping water at the -sink. - -“Want to wash your face?” he whispered. “Here’s a towel. It’s stopped -snowing, but you ought to see the snow!” - -Polly stood on tiptoe to glance out of the window over the sink. The -sun was dazzling, and trees and fences and outbuildings were plastered -with drifts of snow, flung against them by the wind. - -“Isn’t it pretty!” cried Polly, in delight. - -“It won’t be so pretty to walk home,” said Ward, who joined them. - -“Are you children up?” called Mrs. Wicks. “I wish one of you girls -would help me get dressed. My knee isn’t any worse, but then it isn’t -any better.” - -“I’ll help her,” offered Margy, hastily. “You build the fire, Fred, -because it’s freezing cold in this kitchen.” - -Fred and Artie went out to get more wood, for Fred suggested that they -leave the woodbox untouched, and Margy went to help the old woman get -dressed. - -By the time she was ready, the kitchen was warm and Polly and Jess set -the breakfast table, while Mrs. Wicks stirred up griddle cakes and -showed them how to make oatmeal. - -“The man on the next farm always brings me milk,” the old lady -explained, “and it shows how deep the snow must be, if he can’t get -here. It’s lucky I have some milk left from yesterday.” - -They had a cheerful breakfast, and when it was over Polly asked if -there wasn’t something they could do to help. - -“We can’t walk home through the snow while it is as deep as this,” she -said sensibly, “and perhaps we can help you, if you’ll tell us how. -What would you do if you weren’t lame this morning?” - -“I’d feed my chickens and shovel some paths around the house and down -to the mail-box,” said Mrs. Wicks, promptly. “Then I’d sit down and -sew.” - -Fred and Artie and Ward said they could do the outdoor work, and they -went at it with a will. Though before that they found that their shoes -were so stiff it wasn’t easy to get them on. But Mrs. Wicks brought -out some grease and showed them how to rub it in, and that made the -leather pliable again. Fred did the girls’ shoes for them, and Margy -was especially grateful, for she loved to be comfortable and she had -been dreading to put on her stiffened shoes. - -The three girls washed and dried the dishes, swept and straightened up -the kitchen, made the beds and watered the geranium that Mrs. Wicks -said couldn’t be killed, for no matter how cold the kitchen was, it -lived, winter after winter, if protected by a paper at night. - -“I wish you’d come and live with me all winter,” the old lady said, -when Ward brought in six eggs he had found in the henhouse and Fred and -Artie reported that a path had been swept out to the mail-box. “I like -company. One of my nieces comes to stay with me part of the time, and -she’s coming the day after New Year’s. But she isn’t young like you.” - -Fred asked about the barn in which they had stayed, and Mrs. Wicks told -them that the place had once been a prosperous farm. - -“The house burned down one summer, and the people farmed it for a time, -living in the barn and using it as a house,” she said. “Then they sold -the place and moved away, and the new owner never did anything with it. -One by one the outbuildings fell to pieces, and they say one good wind -will blow the barn over, if it gets it in the right corner.” - -“There’s rats in it!” shuddered Margy. “I was sitting on the floor last -night, waiting for Fred to come back, and a horrid rat ran right across -my lap!” - -“She let out a yell that could be heard in River Bend,” said Ward, -grinning. “And then she rushed outdoors and wouldn’t come back. Fred -found her standing in the snow, crying.” - -“Well, I’d cry, too, if a rat ran over me,” said Jess, stoutly. “Ugly, -horrid things!” - -Mrs. Wicks got out her box of patchwork and showed the gay-colored -patches to her visitors. Like many lonely old ladies, she was fond of -telling stories about her girlhood, and with a brand new audience the -temptation was too great to be resisted. - -“You girls don’t sew patchwork nowadays, do you?” she asked, smiling. - -“We can knit,” offered Polly, apologetically. “But none of us ever made -a quilt. My grandmother did, when she was a little girl, though.” - -“Ward speaking of the rat that frightened Margy, reminded me of a scare -I had when I was a little girl,” said Mrs. Wicks. - -“I had gone to visit my Aunt Deborah, of whom I was very fond. Aunt had -a son, about sixteen--I was then eleven--and, dear me, what a tease -Coburn was! He called me ‘Miss Prim’ and pulled my hair whenever he had -a chance. I was supposed to sew on my patchwork every afternoon, even -when visiting, and Coburn thought that a girl cousin who spent hours -sewing wasn’t much fun to have around. He would have liked me to be a -boy cousin and climb trees with him.” - -“But we girls climb trees!” put in Jess. But Mrs. Wicks paid no -attention to the remark, and went on with her story. - -“Well, I was sitting quietly with my little sewing basket one -afternoon, in the parlor window. Aunt Deborah kept the parlor tightly -closed most of the time, and there must have been some special reason -why I was allowed to sit there and sew, but I don’t recall it. Perhaps -because I was company. The parlor window overlooked the road, and, -girl-like, I was interested in the various teams that drove past. I -liked to see what people were doing as much as any one. Coburn wasn’t -anywhere around, and Aunt Deborah was still upstairs finishing her nap. - -“A spic and span, shiny new buggy went past with a girl dressed in -white driving, and I leaned forward to look, at the same time putting -out my hand to take a spool of thread from the basket. I felt something -move under my hand, but I thought it was the spool of thread rolling -from my fingers. Unconsciously I took a firmer clutch, and something -squeaked. I had picked up a little white mouse!” - -“Ugh! How awful! Didn’t you scream?” asked Margy. - -“Scream! I should think I did!” returned Mrs. Wicks, smiling at the -recollection. “To my startled eyes that basket seemed alive with white -mice, and I threw it across the room in one direction and my patchwork -and thimble in another. Then I fled, still screaming. - -“Aunt Deborah came downstairs on the run, and Coburn mysteriously -appeared from some secret place. He caught me as I came rushing out of -the door and, with some difficulty, calmed me. I think he was a little -frightened, for I couldn’t stop crying at first and nothing would -induce me to go into the parlor or touch my work basket again. Aunt -Deborah made Coburn pick up the scattered spools and put the basket -in order. As for his three pet mice, no one ever knew what became of -them--they may have run off to live with their relations. Anyway, they -never came back and Aunt Deborah declared it served Coburn right for -playing such a trick.” - -Margy said that she thought mice were the worst animals that ever -lived, except rats, while Fred contended that mice were all right when -you knew them. This started an argument that lasted till Mrs. Wicks -suggested they go down to the mail-box and see if the postman had got -through the drifts. - -“If we’d only brought our sleds, instead of the skates, we could get -home,” said Ward. - -“But it wasn’t snowing when we left,” said Polly. “Oh, dear, I do hope -the folks aren’t worrying about us.” - -“If we had some snowshoes, we could walk home, on top of the snow,” -said Artie. “Why couldn’t we make some?” - -“Out of what?” asked Fred, promptly. - -“Barrel staves,” replied Artie. - -“I think stilts would be better,” declared Ward. “Stilts would hold us -up, out of the drifts.” - -“Snowshoes are what we need,” decreed Fred. “Perhaps we could make them -out of barrels. Let’s see if Mrs. Wicks has any barrels she doesn’t -want.” - -“Barrels?” said Mrs. Wicks, when they asked her. “Oh, my, yes! plenty -of barrels out in the woodshed. Do anything you like with them.” - -With the three girls as interested, if not hopeful, spectators (Polly -was sure she couldn’t walk on snowshoes after they were made and -Margy said frankly she didn’t think they would ever be made) the boys -ripped two barrels apart and sandpapered the staves. The sandpaper was -worn pretty smooth--it was all Mrs. Wicks had--and the staves were -remarkably rough, but they did the best they could. - -“You try them first, Fred,” suggested Artie. “How are you going to keep -these snowshoes on?” - -“Skate straps,” said Fred, briefly. - -He managed to strap a stave to each of his feet, using his skate -straps, and then, slowly and gingerly, stepped out of the woodshed. - -“The way to walk on snowshoes,” he announced, “is not to lift your feet -and put ’em down again. You glide along.” - -“All right, let’s see you glide,” said Artie, eagerly. - -Fred struck out with what he fondly believed to be a gliding motion. He -sunk one foot deeply into the snow, balanced there a precarious moment -with his other foot waving wildly in the air and then crashed over into -a handy drift. - -“Of course there’s a knack in getting used to them,” he gasped, as the -others pulled him out. “I’ll get it after a while.” - -“Well, if I have to walk on those things to get home, I’m going to stay -here,” said Jess. - -“There’s the postman!” cried Margy. “Look, he’s putting something in -the box!” - -They ran down the path they had shoveled, Fred discarding his -“snowshoes” as hindrances, and found the postman to be a jolly person -wrapped in many mufflers and driving a large white horse harnessed to -an old-fashioned sleigh. - -“Say, there’s some one looking for you kids,” he said, as soon as -he saw the children. “I met a team about a mile back, two men in a -sleigh. They asked me if I’d seen anything of three boys and three -girls. And then I hadn’t, and told them so.” - -“Daddy!” cried Polly. “It must be Daddy and Mr. Larue. Whereabouts did -you see them?” - -“They were following this road,” said the postman. “Looks like them -coming now. I’ve had to make so many stops I guess they’ve caught up -with me. Yes, they’re waving to you. See ’em?” - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV - -HOME AGAIN - - -The children needed no snowshoes to lend them speed as they ran down -the road. Driving toward them were Mr. Marley and Mr. Larue in a sleigh -drawn by a horse Fred recognized as “Old Tom,” one of Mr. Davis’s -horses. - -“Well, you certainly have upset the family,” said Mr. Marley, as Artie -hurled himself into his lap and the others tried to find a place on the -runners. - -“Did Mother worry?” asked Polly, anxiously. “We were all right, only we -couldn’t get home.” - -“Of course we worried,” answered Mr. Marley. “I don’t think any one has -had a wink of sleep all night. We went up the river as far as Jackson’s -Pond, hunting for you, but the wind forced us to give up there.” - -“Where did you spend the night?” asked Mr. Larue, his arm around Jess. - -“Oh, we stayed at Mrs. Wicks’ house,” said Ward, cheerfully. - -“And who is Mrs. Wicks?” asked Mr. Larue, in surprise. - -“She’s an old lady--she lives there,” said Polly, pointing to the -house. “She had rheumatism in her knee, but she told us what to do and -we had good things to eat and everything was lovely.” - -“Except staying in the barn,” amended Margy. “A rat ran over me, Mr. -Marley.” - -“We’ll drive on to Mrs. Wicks’ house,” said Mr. Marley, “and thank her -for her kindness. I don’t suppose she has a telephone, and if she had, -the wires would probably be down. I’d like to tell the worried mothers -that we have found you, safe and sound.” - -Mrs. Wicks hobbled to the door to greet her visitors. She seemed -delighted to have more company, and she would not hear of their -starting back before she had cooked dinner for them. - -Mr. Marley and Mr. Larue knew that she spoke wisely. The roads were -badly drifted and, in spite of the sunshine, it was bitingly cold. -If they had dinner before they started, the ride would be much more -comfortable for them all. - -So they said they would stay, and Mrs. Wicks hobbled about, delighted -to have what she called “a full table.” - -“It’s something like!” she said, when they sat down three-quarters of -an hour later to a steaming hot dinner. “Something like, to have nine -at the table.” - -While the girls helped her with the dishes--for anxious as the fathers -were to start home they would not leave the old lady with all the extra -work to do alone--the boys carried in a great pile of wood, filling the -woodbox to overflowing and stacking the sticks on the floor beside it. -They fed and watered the chickens, so that a trip out to the henhouse -that night would be unnecessary, saw that the lamps were filled, -went down to the road to get the milk the neighboring farmer finally -brought, and so left Mrs. Wicks assured of a comfortable night. - -“We could have brought her home with us, I suppose,” said Mr. Marley, -as he tucked the children in under the heavy robes, “but she wouldn’t -be happy away from her own home. And she says her niece is coming in a -few days to stay with her for the rest of the winter. But we mustn’t -forget her. We’ll have to come and see her, often.” - -“She isn’t poor, is she, Daddy?” asked Polly, thoughtfully, cuddling up -to the heated brick Mrs. Wicks had given her. - -The old lady had filled the bottom of the sleigh with hot bricks, -wrapped in burlap. They were as good as stoves, the children declared. - -“No, Mrs. Wicks isn’t poor--not what we call poor,” answered Mr. -Marley, who was driving. “She has money enough to live on and owns -her house, she tells me. But she is lonely, and sometimes people need -friends more than they need money.” - -The dazzling sunshine made the fields and laden trees very beautiful -to see, but there was a cold wind, and the snow seemed to have melted -very little. For some distance the traveling was fairly good, for the -postman’s sleigh had broken the road, but when they turned into another -road, unbroken drifts confronted them. - -“This ought to save us a mile, so I think it’s worth trying,” said -Mr. Marley, as the horse began to flounder. “The way we came was the -longer, but we were following the river to find the children.” - -Old Tom didn’t care if the road was a shorter one. He didn’t like the -big drifts, and he saw no reason why he should pretend he did. He shook -his head and snorted and finally stood still. - -“We’ll have to get out and encourage him,” said Mr. Larue, cheerfully. -“You stay in, Marley, and the boys and I will show old Tom how easy it -is to wade through snow, if you make up your mind it can be done.” - -Mr. Larue got out and the six chums tumbled after him. The girls begged -to help, too, for they were cramped from sitting under the robes. The -sleigh was pretty well filled when they were all in it. - -“Gee, it is deep, isn’t it!” exclaimed Artie, as he went in to his -waist. “But look at that bare spot, over there on the field!” - -“That’s what the wind did,” Mr. Larue explained. “It blew all the -drifts over into this road and left the fields lightly covered.” - -“Why don’t we drive over the fields then?” asked Fred. - -“That isn’t such a bad idea, Fred,” called Mr. Marley, who had -overheard. “I’ll see if I can turn old Tom and get through the ditch.” - -“Easy on the turn,” cautioned Mr. Larue. “The deepest snow is there in -the ditch.” - -“You’ll tip over!” cried Margy, in alarm. “Do be careful, Mr. Marley!” - -Mr. Marley laughed and promised not to tip the sleigh over. He turned -the horse’s head toward the ditch and called to him encouragingly. Old -Tom merely shook his ears. - -“Doesn’t want to try it,” said Mr. Larue. “I’ll see if I can lead him. -Here, boy, you’re all right. Come on, that’s a good fellow.” - -Talking soothingly to the horse, Mr. Larue took hold of the bridle and -pulled gently. The horse pulled also, but the other way. - -“He won’t go. Try taking him straight ahead,” Mr. Marley advised. “Look -out, Polly--you’re standing in the way.” - -Polly took a step backward, lost her balance, and went over full-length -into a beautiful snow bank. Her feet, coming up with such startling -suddenness were too much for old Tom. With a wild snort he started -forward, nearly pulling Mr. Marley from the seat. Plunging and panting, -the horse plowed ahead, and in a few minutes had worked his way out of -the worst of the drifts. - -“Polly! are you all right?” cried Margy, rushing to her chum’s rescue. - -“I guess so,” said Polly, a little uncertainly. “Where’s the horse and -sleigh?” she asked, in surprise, as Fred and Margy pulled her out and -set her on her feet. - -“All right, Polly?” asked Mr. Larue, hurrying up. “Yes, you seem to be. -Well, that certainly was a novel way to persuade a horse, but it seems -to have given us results.” - -Polly had to laugh when she heard that her tumble had made old Tom -change his mind. She said she wasn’t willing to fall over all the rest -of the way home, though; but her father said he didn’t think it would -be necessary. - -They climbed into the sleigh again, warm and rosy from their tramping -in the drifts, and old Tom started off as though he had made up his -mind to do his best without further protest. - -This time Mr. Larue drove, for Mr. Marley’s hands were stiff from the -cold. Though old Tom was willing, they could not drive fast, and before -they reached the stretch of state road that would take them to River -Bend, the heat had gone from the bricks provided by Mrs. Wicks and -Margy was crying with cold. Polly and Jess were far from comfortable, -but they and the boys were determined to “stick it out.” - -“Say, Larue, these youngsters are purple with cold,” said Mr. Marley, -suddenly. “We’ll have to stop for a moment and give them some exercise.” - -Margy didn’t want to move, but Mr. Marley lifted her out and put her -down in the road. The rest followed, and Mr. Larue tied old Tom to a -tree. - -“Now we have to run,” said Mr. Marley. “From the sleigh to that big -maple tree and back, six times. No one can beg off, and the sooner you -get through with it, the quicker we’ll be home.” - -Margy’s feet were like lead and Polly was sure she had no feet at all. -The tree was some distance from the sleigh, and the prospect of running -there and back six times loomed like an impossible task. However, Mr. -Marley started off, and they could do no less than follow. - -“I know my feet are broken off!” thought Polly, limping along. “I won’t -look, but I know they’re gone. My mother will be sorry if I come home -without any feet.” - -Behind her, Margy was still crying, wiping her eyes on her glove as she -tried to run. The boys kept at it doggedly, their eyes on the ground. - -When she had touched the tree three times, Polly made an interesting -discovery--her feet were where they ought to be, right in her shoes. -Better, they felt comfortable, and even warm. - -By the time they had completed the six trips, every one was in a -glow--even Margy was smiling. - -“Now another hour, and we’ll be home,” said Mr. Marley. “Tumble in, -children, and we’ll be home before you know it.” - -The state road provided much easier going. There had been more travel -over it since the storm, and occasionally they passed a sleigh or a -motor truck. But the horse was sadly tired before they came to River -Bend, and they found it easy to believe when reports came in from the -surrounding country that the storm had been the worst, from the point -of view of blocking traffic, that the country had experienced in years. - -“Are you frozen? Are you hungry? Where on earth did you stay all night? -Are you sure you haven’t frozen your ears or your toes?” cried the two -mothers together, flying down the steps as the sleigh at last drew up -before the Marley house. - -And even after they had heard the story and assured themselves that -none of the six had suffered from hunger or exposure, the mothers -couldn’t rest. They heard the story over and over again, and Mrs. -Marley made her husband promise to take her to see Mrs. Wicks as soon -as the roads were fairly open. Mrs. Larue said she would go, too, and -long after the children were in bed they sat up planning the kind of -box they would pack and what they would put in it to please the old -lady. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV - -THE LAST OF THE SNOWMAN - - -It seemed like another Christmas to the members of the Riddle Club, the -day after their experience in getting home. Every one was so glad to -see them that they were allowed to please themselves pretty much, till -Ward made himself sick with too much candy and Margy and Fred quarreled -because they wanted to go skating and coasting at the same time; that -is, each wanted the other to do his or her way. - -“Say, it’s beginning to melt,” Fred reported, coming into the house for -lunch. “Hear it drip!” - -Mrs. Marley had invited Jess and Ward, and the six chums were together -at the table. - -“Thawing!” cried Polly. “It will spoil the skating.” - -“But it will take a lot to spoil the coasting,” said Artie. “Let’s go -this afternoon.” - -Mr. and Mrs. Williamson were expected back on New Year’s Day, early in -the morning, so Fred and Margy were still staying with the Marleys. - -As soon as lunch was over, they got the sleds out and set off for the -hill. - -“Gee, when it begins to melt, it sure does start!” observed Ward. - -Little rivers of water were running off the roofs and householders were -out opening the gutters. - -“It’s the January thaw,” said Margy, wisely. - -“It isn’t January till to-morrow,” retorted Jess. - -“Does it always thaw in January?” asked Artie, athirst for information. - -“Yes, of course,” said Margy. “Some time in January it will thaw. -Always. Mattie Helms told me.” - -“Well, I guess it thaws some time in every month,” declared Fred. -“Every winter month, that is,” he added, remembering the changing -seasons. - -“Well, this is the January thaw,” insisted Margy. “It will be January -to-morrow, and so it is really time.” - -When they reached the hill, they found a number of coasters, though it -was more slush than snow. The runners sent up fine streams of water as -the sleds raced down, and in the ditches on either side of the road a -rushing stream of snow water was pouring. - -“Maybe it’s spring,” gasped Jess, as a splash of water struck her in -the face. - -“No, we’ll have lots more snow and ice yet,” said Fred. “But I don’t -call this much fun, do you? Let’s go home and go up in the clubroom.” - -They were half-soaked already, and no one made any objections to -returning home. Mrs. Marley made them take off their wet shoes and -put on dry ones, and then they went upstairs to play parcheesi in the -clubroom. - -“There won’t be much left of Riddle Chap after this,” remarked Polly, -happening to glance from the window while waiting her turn to play. - -“Say, he has gone down, hasn’t he?” said Jess, in surprise. - -“He’s wasting away,” giggled Polly. “Poor old Riddle Chap! But he’s had -a pretty long life for a snowman.” - -The poor snowman was visibly melting. Trickles of water ran over him -and he seemed to be sinking into the ground. - -“I’ll be glad when he’s gone,” said Jess. “He brought me bad luck--made -me lose my glove.” - -“There’s no such thing as good luck or bad luck,” declared Fred. “You -lost your glove because you didn’t take care of it. Don’t blame that -on poor old Riddle Chap.” - -“Don’t you call it bad luck that you lost the bank?” asked Jess, -heedless of Polly’s warning frown. - -“No, of course that wasn’t bad luck,” said Fred, stoutly. “That was my -own fault. I put it down somewhere, but I’ll never tell you where. And -Dad wanted me to open a savings-bank account with it, too. I ought to -have taken his advice.” - -“You haven’t lost the new bank,” said Artie, who meant to be comforting. - -“No, I haven’t,” agreed Fred. “And that isn’t good luck, either. It’s -good care. I look at the bank first thing every night and morning, to -make sure it is in the right place.” - -“Perhaps some one took the other bank,” suggested Margy. - -Fred glanced at her sharply. She was watching the board and apparently -had just said that without thinking. - -“I don’t see how any one could have taken it,” said Fred, and then it -was his turn to play. - -He still thought, now and then, that Carrie Pepper knew more about the -bank than she cared to tell. But Fred had made up his mind not to -say anything until he had more than suspicions to back him, and he -resolutely refused to put his thought into words. - -That night it turned a little colder, as it usually does, and the -melting snow froze in little lace ruffles on the edges of the roofs. -Riddle Chap had an icicle on what was left of his nose, and Polly was -hopeful that he would stay as he was and not shrink any more. Alas! -New Year’s Day dawned with a burst of sunlight that started the little -streams running again, turned the coasting hill to a sea of slush, and -hastened the sure disappearance of the once handsome Riddle Chap. - -“It’s a good thing we have his picture,” said Polly, mournfully, at -breakfast. - -“You can build another snowman, when another snow comes,” said Mr. -Marley, cheerfully. - -But Polly said it wouldn’t be Riddle Chap, and of course no one could -deny that. - -However, it was impossible to feel sober on such a bright morning, and -“Happy New Year!” sounded up and down Elm Road as the children greeted -each other. School would open the day after to-morrow, and they were -determined to have as much fun as possible before the holidays were -definitely over. - -Breakfast was barely finished when the Williamson car came down the -road, bringing Mr. and Mrs. Williamson back to their home. They had -much to tell about their visit in Rye and messages from “the old -hermit,” as the youngsters still called Mr. Field, as well as from his -sister, whom they had never seen, but who knew them quite well through -Mr. Kirby’s and Mr. Adams’ descriptions. The two cousins had sent a -large box of chocolates to be shared by the six chums. - -“Mother thinks,” said Mr. Williamson, watching Artie trying to swallow -a chocolate covered cherry that threatened to drown him in syrup, -“that, since it is so warm to-day, we might drive out and see Mrs. -Wicks.” - -“Come on! Let’s go!” cried Fred. “We’ll take her some of the -chocolates--maybe she likes candy.” - -Mr. Williamson laughed. - -“I don’t doubt it,” he said. “But, Fred, stop and consider the car a -moment. It is a seven-passenger, but how am I going to pack twelve into -the space reserved for seven?” - -“It would be kind of crowded,” admitted Fred. “I’m willing to stay at -home, Dad. Let the others go.” - -“Suppose we arrange it this way,” said Mrs. Williamson: “You children -all stay at home this time--you’ll find plenty to do to amuse -yourselves. We won’t go till after lunch and we’ll be back in time for -supper. We feel that we’d like to visit with Mrs. Wicks and take her a -little something, and it really wouldn’t be very interesting for you. -Then next time Daddy will take the whole Riddle Club, and we grown-ups -will stay at home.” - -So that was the way the plan was finally made, and after an early lunch -the fathers and mothers drove off with baskets and boxes of goodies for -Mrs. Wicks, including some of the delicious chocolates the children had -insisted on sending her. - -“Let’s tip old Riddle Chap over,” proposed Artie, aching for a little -exercise. “There’s no use in waiting for him to melt away. Doesn’t he -look seedy, though?” - -In truth, the old snowman did look seedy. He had long ago lost his hat -and his pine tree lay on the ground at his feet. Gone were the letters, -R.C. In fact, he looked like a regular tramp of a snowman. - -“One, two, three!” called Fred, as the boys leaned against the rapidly -melting wreck. - -At “three!” they gave a mighty push. Over went the ball that had formed -the snowman’s body. - -“Look how soft it is!” cried Polly, poking it with her toe. “It’s -nothing but slush and water.” - -“What’s that?” Jess’s sharp eyes had caught a glimpse of something dark. - -She swooped down upon the pile of soft snow and seized the something. A -sharp tug, and she had pulled out--her missing glove! - -“Look! Look!” she shouted. “Look! Here’s the glove I lost! It was in -the snowman all the time!” - -The same thought came to Polly and Fred, and they leaped for the fallen -snowman’s body. - -Fred reached it first, and his shoe hit something that gave back a -metallic sound. - -He stooped and cleared away some of the slush. Slowly he straightened -up, something in his hands. - -“It’s the bank!” screamed Margy. “Fred found the bank! Look! Polly! -Jess! Ward! Artie! Look! Fred’s found the bank!” - -Her excited clamor brought Carrie Pepper from her house. As they -crowded around him, Fred saw Carrie come running through the snow. - -“So she didn’t know a thing about it,” he thought. “I’m glad I didn’t -say anything.” - -“Is the money there?” Ward kept asking. “Are the dues inside, Fred?” - -Well, the money was safe enough, Fred soon discovered. And Jess’s -glove, dried carefully behind the kitchen range, was pronounced as good -as new. - -While Fred wouldn’t say that good luck had brought the bank back, he -said he was willing Jess should say good luck brought back her glove. - -When the grown-ups came home at dusk, they were astonished to have the -car surrounded by six dancing Indians who came tumbling out of the -Marley house without hats or coats. These Indians danced madly around -the car, singing a chorus that at first could not be understood. - -“The bank! The bank!” warbled the singers. “Fred found the bank! And -Jess’s glove--that’s found, too! And the money is all right! And the -glove is dry and it isn’t hurt a bit!” - -But when they finally understood, the fathers and mothers were almost -as excited as the members of the Riddle Club. - -The next morning Mr. Williamson took Fred and the recovered bank and -the other five members of the club down to the bank, where an account -was opened in the name of the Riddle Club. - -“And wait!” said Fred, when he was the proud custodian of the -green-covered bankbook. “Wait till the Conundrum Club hears of this!” - - -THE END - - - - -SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES - -By LAURA LEE HOPE - -Author of The Bobbsey Twins Books, The Bunny Brown Series, The -Make-Believe Series, Etc. - - =Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding.= - =Every Volume Complete in Itself.= - -Delightful stories for little boys and girls which sprung into -immediate popularity. To know the six little Bunkers is to take them -at once to your heart, they are so intensely human, so full of fun and -cute sayings. Each story has a little plot of its own--one that can be -easily followed--and all are written in Miss Hope’s most entertaining -manner. Clean, wholesome volumes which ought to be on the bookshelf of -every child in the land. - - SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDMA BELL’S - SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT AUNT JO’S - SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COUSIN TOM’S - SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDPA FORD’S - SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT UNCLE FRED’S - SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT CAPTAIN BEN’S - SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COWBOY JACK’S - SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT MAMMY JUNE’S - SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT FARMER JOEL’S - SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT MILLER NED’S - - GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK - - - - -THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES - -By LAURA LEE HOPE - -Author of the Popular “Bobbsey Twins” Books, Etc. - - =Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding.= - =Every Volume Complete in Itself.= - -These stories by the author of the “Bobbsey Twins” Books are eagerly -welcomed by the little folks from about five to ten years of age. Their -eyes fairly dance with delight at the lively doings of inquisitive -little Bunny Brown and his cunning, trustful sister Sue. - - BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE - BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON GRANDPA’S FARM - BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE PLAYING CIRCUS - BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CAMP REST-A-WHILE - BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU’S CITY HOME - BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE BIG WOODS - BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON AN AUTO TOUR - BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR SHETLAND PONY - BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE GIVING A SHOW - BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CHRISTMAS TREE COVE - BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE SUNNY SOUTH - BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE KEEPING STORE - BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR TRICK DOG - BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT A SUGAR CAMP - - GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK - - - - -THE BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS - -For Little Men and Women - -By LAURA LEE HOPE - -Author of “The Bunny Brown Series,” Etc. - - =Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding.= - =Every Volume Complete in Itself.= - -These books for boys and girls between the ages of three and ten stands -among children and their parents of this generation where the books of -Louisa May Alcott stood in former days. The haps and mishaps of this -inimitable pair of twins, their many adventures and experiences are a -source of keen delight to imaginative children everywhere. - - THE BOBBSEY TWINS - THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY - THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE - THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL - THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE - THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT - THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK - THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME - THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN A GREAT CITY - THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON BLUEBERRY ISLAND - THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA - THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE GREAT WEST - THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT CEDAR CAMP - THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE COUNTY FAIR - THE BOBBSEY TWINS CAMPING OUT - THE BOBBSEY TWINS AND BABY MAY - - GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK - - - - -THE MAKE-BELIEVE STORIES - -(Trademark Registered.) - -By LAURA LEE HOPE - -Author of THE BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS, ETC. - -Colored Wrappers and Illustrations by HARRY L. SMITH - -In this fascinating line of books Miss Hope has the various toys come -to life “when nobody is looking” and she puts them through a series of -adventures as interesting as can possibly be imagined. - -THE STORY OF A SAWDUST DOLL - - How the toys held a party at the Toy Counter; how the Sawdust Doll - was taken to the home of a nice little girl, and what happened to her - there. - -THE STORY OF A WHITE ROCKING HORSE - - He was a bold charger and a man purchased him for his son’s birthday. - Once the Horse had to go to the Toy Hospital, and my! what sights he - saw there. - -THE STORY OF A LAMB ON WHEELS - - She was a dainty creature and a sailor bought her and took her to a - little girl relative and she had a great time. - -THE STORY OF A BOLD TIN SOLDIER - - He was Captain of the Company and marched up and down in the store at - night. Then he went to live with a little boy and had the time of his - life. - -THE STORY OF A CANDY RABBIT - - He was continually in danger of losing his life by being eaten up. - But he had plenty of fun, and often saw his many friends from the Toy - Counter. - -THE STORY OF A MONKEY ON A STICK - - He was mighty lively and could do many tricks. The boy who owned him - gave a show, and many of the Monkey’s friends were among the actors. - -THE STORY OF A CALICO CLOWN - - He was a truly comical chap and all the other toys loved him greatly. - -THE STORY OF A NODDING DONKEY - - He made happy the life of a little lame boy and did lots of other - good deeds. - -THE STORY OF A CHINA CAT - - The China Cat had many adventures, but enjoyed herself most of the - time. - -THE STORY OF A PLUSH BEAR - - This fellow came from the North Pole, stopped for a while at the toy - store, and was then taken to the seashore by his little master. - -THE STORY OF A STUFFED ELEPHANT - - He was a wise looking animal and had a great variety of adventures. - - GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK - - - - -LITTLE JOURNEYS TO HAPPYLAND - -(Trademark Registered) - -By DAVID CORY - -Individual Colored Wrappers. Profusely Illustrated - -=Printed in large type--easy to read. For children from 4 to 8 years.= - -A new series of exciting adventures by the author of LITTLE JACK RABBIT -books. - - The Happyland is reached by various routes: If you should happen to - miss the Iceberg Express maybe you can take the Magic Soap Bubble, or - in case that has already left, the Noah’s Ark may be waiting for you. - - This series is unique in that it deals with unusual and exciting - adventures on land and sea and in the air. - -=The Cruise of the Noah’s Ark= - - This is a good rainy day story. On just such a day Mr. Noah invites - Marjorie to go for a trip in the Noah’s Ark. She gets aboard just in - time and away it floats out into the big wide world. - -=The Magic Soap Bobble= - - The king of the gnomes has a magic pipe with which he blows a - wonderful bubble and taking Ed. with him they both have a delightful - time in Gnomeland. - -=The Iceberg Express= - - The Mermaid’s magic comb changes little Mary Louise into a mermaid. - The Polar Bear Porter on the iceberg Express invites her to take a - trip with him and away they go on a little journey to Happyland. - - GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK - - - - -LITTLE JACK RABBIT BOOKS - -(Trademark Registered) - -By DAVID CORY - -Author of LITTLE JOURNEYS TO HAPPYLAND - -=Colored Wrappers With Text Illustrations= - -A new and unique series about the furred and feathered little people of -the wood and meadow. - -Children will eagerly follow the doings of little Jack Rabbit, who, -every morning as soon as he has polished the front door knob and fed -the canary, sets out from his little house in the bramble patch to meet -his friends in the Shady Forest and Sunny Meadow. And the clever way he -escapes from his three enemies, Danny Fox, Mr. Wicked Weasel and Hungry -Hawk will delight the youngsters. - - LITTLE JACK RABBIT’S ADVENTURES - LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND DANNY FOX - LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE SQUIRREL BROTHERS - LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND CHIPPY CHIPMUNK - LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE BIG BROWN BEAR - LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND UNCLE JOHN HARE - LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND PROFESSOR CROW - LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND OLD MAN WEASEL - LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND MR. WICKED WOLF - LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND HUNGRY HAWK - - GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK - - - - -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: - - - Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. - - Emboldened text is surrounded by equals signs: =bold=. - - Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. - - Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized. - - Archaic or variant spelling has been retained. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RIDDLE CLUB THROUGH THE -HOLIDAYS *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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