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diff --git a/old/69760-0.txt b/old/69760-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index c7aad5b..0000000 --- a/old/69760-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3283 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Brothers and sisters, by Abbie Farwell -Brown - -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: Brothers and sisters - -Author: Abbie Farwell Brown - -Illustrator: Ethel C. Brown - -Release Date: January 10, 2023 [eBook #69760] - -Language: English - -Produced by: David E. Brown and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team - at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images - generously made available by The Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BROTHERS AND SISTERS *** - - - - - -BROTHERS AND SISTERS - - - - -[Illustration: “POOR LITTLE KITTY, HOW COLD SHE MUST BE” (PAGE 6)] - - - - - BROTHERS AND - SISTERS - - BY - ABBIE FARWELL BROWN - - ILLUSTRATED BY - ETHEL C. BROWN - - [Illustration] - - BOSTON AND NEW YORK - HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY - The Riverside Press, Cambridge - 1906 - - - COPYRIGHT 1906 BY ABBIE FARWELL BROWN - - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - - _Published September 1906_ - - - For permission to reprint the several chapters of this volume thanks - are due to _The Churchman_,--“The Garden of Live Flowers,” “April - Fool,” “The Dark Room,” “The Pieced Baby,” “The Alarm;” to _The - Congregationalist_,--“The Japanese Shop,” “Brothers and Sisters;” to - _Good Housekeeping_,--“Buried Treasure;” and to _The Kindergarten - Review_,--“The Christmas Cat.” - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I. The Christmas Cat 1 - - II. The Christmas Cat’s Present 10 - - III. The Japanese Shop 19 - - IV. April Fool’s Night 28 - - V. The April Fool 38 - - VI. The April-Fool Journey 48 - - VII. The Dolls’ May-Party 57 - - VIII. The Dark Room 66 - - IX. The Garden of Live Flowers 86 - - X. Buried Treasure 97 - - XI. The Pieced Baby 106 - - XII. The Alarm 120 - - XIII. Brothers and Sisters 131 - - XIV. Tommy’s Letter 145 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - “Poor little kitty, how cold she must be” (_page 6_) _Frontispiece_ - - “See what Santa has brought the Christmas cat” 16 - - The littlest baby white rabbit 24 - - “I am April Fool” 40 - - Kenneth found that it was a wall of glass 44 - - She lifted poor Matilda and set her up on the window seat 64 - - In tiptoed a little figure 74 - - Living flowers 92 - - The sand stretched out like a great sheet of paper 98 - - Awakened by a little silvery laugh 108 - - They were Tommy and Mary Prout 122 - - What a shriek of joy went up 142 - - - - -BROTHERS AND SISTERS - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE CHRISTMAS CAT - - -It was the day before the day before Christmas, and there came a big -snowstorm, so that Kenneth and Rose were shut up in the house. Now -that was a very hard thing to bear, for as every one knows, the last -two days before Christmas are the longest, slowest days in the whole -year. But if one has to stay in the house and just _think_, it seems as -though the time would never go by. - -If it had been a pleasant day they could have gone out of doors to -skate, or to coast, or to play any number of jolly games which they -now remembered sadly. Perhaps they would have gone to their cousin -Charlie’s house, which was in the next block but one beyond theirs. -Perhaps their papa would have taken them down town for a last look at -the Christmas shops, and the wonderful toys, some of which they hoped -Santa Claus would remember to bring to the Thornton house. There were -ever so many nice things which they could have done to make the time -pass away, if only it had been a pleasant day. But now there seemed -nothing in the world to do. - -Kenneth and Rose wandered dismally about the house. They peeped into -the play-room, where the toys were lying about looking very lonely, as -though they would say,-- - -“O Kenneth! Do come and play with us. Please, Rosie, don’t go away and -leave us all alone!” - -But Kenneth and Rose were tired of all the old toys, they had played -with them so many, many times. They hoped that Santa would bring them -some new ones on Christmas morning, if Christmas morning would ever, -ever come! - -In the dining-room Rose’s old doll, Matilda, was lying face downward on -the sofa, quite heart-broken because she had been so long deserted. -Rose looked at her, then she turned her back sadly. - -“Matilda is growing very ugly,” she said. “No wonder she hides her -face, with only one eye and a broken nose. I still love her very much, -but I do so hope that Santa will not forget how much I need a new -dollie.” - -They went down into the kitchen, with a vague hope that Katie might -find them something to do. But Katie was too busy baking the Christmas -pies and cake to bother with children. She would not even give them a -bit of dough to play with. - -“Whisht!” she cried, flapping a dishcloth at them fiercely, “Rin out o’ -me kitchen, you childer! I can’t have ye fussing about here this day, -niver a bit. Rin off an’ play somewheres else, like a good little lad -and lassie, now.” - -Run off and play! Where should they run, and what should they play? -There was no one to help them. Papa was down town in spite of all -the snow. Kenneth wished that he too was a big man who could go out -of doors in spite of all the snow. Mamma was busy in the library with -secrets of her own, and would not let them in. Rose wished that she too -was a big lady who could have secrets all by herself. Then she would -not mind however hard it might storm outside. - -Kenneth flattened his nose against one dining-room window, and Rose -flattened her nose against the other, and they stared out at the snow -smoothly spreading itself over everything, just as Katie was frosting -the cake downstairs. Big drifts were piling up beyond the curbstones, -and in the doorways opposite. Now and then a sleigh floundered past, -the horses making their way with difficulty. Supposing, oh, supposing -that it should storm for two whole days, and the snow should grow so -deep that even Santa Claus’s reindeer could not get through with the -gifts for their Christmas stockings! - -Suddenly Kenneth jumped right up in the air and cried, “Look, Rose!” -And at the same moment Rose pressed her nose even flatter on the window -and said, “O Kenneth, what is it?” - -Something tiny and black was moving along through the snow on the -sidewalk. It gave little hops, each time sinking down almost out of -sight, stopping to rest between jumps as though it were very tired. The -children watched it breathlessly. - -At last it came to the long flight of steps, which looked like a smooth -toboggan-slide of snow. But the little black creature seemed to know -what was underneath the cold white covering, for it hopped bravely up -on the lowest step, then up and up, step by step, to the landing, where -the snow was not so deep. And now the children could see it plainly. - -“Why, it’s a poor little kitty!” cried Kenneth, almost pushing the -glass out of the window with his small, cold nose, so eager was he to -watch the little stranger. - -“And she has come to our ownty-donty steps!” echoed Rose. “Poor little -kitty, how cold she must be!” - -Just at that moment the wet little black thing looked up at the window -where Rose stood, and just as if she had heard what Rose said, the poor -kitty answered very sadly, “Mi-a-o-ow!” - -All this time it had been snowing harder and harder, and already the -tracks which the kitty had made in the snow were blotted out of sight. -At the same moment Kenneth and Rose made a dash for the front door. “We -mustn’t let the poor kitty stay there,” said Kenneth, “she will be all -drowned in the snow, and frozen, too.” - -“Yes, we must bring her in and make her nice and warm,” said Rose. - -So they opened the front door, and stood at the head of the steps -calling, “Kitty, kitty!” very gently, while the snow whirled in about -their ankles. - -“Mi-a-ow!” answered the black cat, but this time she spoke more -cheerfully. “Thank you!” she seemed to say. “May I really come in?” - -“Come in,” said Kenneth. - -“Poor kitty, do come in!” cried Rose, holding out her hand invitingly. -And the black cat walked in. - -She was very wet and draggly, but Kenneth took her in his arms and -carried her upstairs. Rose ran before, and they knocked on the library -door, where their mamma was hidden with her secrets. - -“Mamma, Mamma! Come here a minute!” they cried. “Come and see what we -have found. Come quick, Mamma!” - -In a minute their mamma came hurrying, and opened the door just a -tiny little crack, through which she peeped at them. But when she saw -what Kenneth had in his arms she came out quickly, shuttling the door -carefully behind her (to keep the Christmas secrets from running away, -I suppose). - -“What have you found, Kenneth?” she cried, holding up her hands. - -“A kitty, a poor kitty, lost in the snow,” said Kenneth. - -“We had to take her in and make her warm and comfy at Christmas time, -didn’t we, Mamma?” said Rose. - -“Please, Mamma, you will let us keep her, won’t you?” they both pleaded. - -Mrs. Thornton hesitated. The cat was very wet and homely. She had meant -to give the children a pretty little kitten some day. But just then the -poor hungry animal looked up and gave a pitiful “Mi-a-ow,” and Mrs. -Thornton remembered how dreadful it was that any living creature should -be miserable and cold and homeless at the happy Christmas time. - -“Yes, you may keep her, children,” she said. “Keep her and make her -have a merry Christmas.” - -Kenneth and Rose took the little cat downstairs and gave her a good -dinner. “But you shall have a better one on Christmas Day,” promised -Kenneth. Rose found a tiny basket and made a bed beside the fire in -the dining-room. And there the black cat slept all the afternoon, she -was so tired, and so glad to rest and to be warm. Rose sat beside -her, stroking her soft fur, and Kenneth sat at the other side of the -fireplace trying to think up a good name for the new kitty, so that the -time went before they knew it, and they had forgotten to wish it were -Christmas day. - -“What have you named the little cat?” asked their papa when the -children showed him their new pet that evening. - -“Oh, Kenneth has thought of the loveliest name!” cried Rose, jumping up -and clapping her hands. “We are going to call her Christine,--because -she is a little Christmas cat. Isn’t that a beautiful name, Papa?” - -And Papa said that he thought it was a very beautiful name indeed. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE CHRISTMAS CAT’S PRESENT - - -The next morning when Kenneth and Rose awoke, it was bright and fair. -The storm had cleared away, and the whole world was white and wonderful -with spangled snow. Now the children could play out of doors as much -as they liked, and the time went so fast that they almost forgot to -wish Christmas would hurry up. Their cousin Charlie came over to play -with them, and they built snow forts and snowballed one another; they -made big statues of snow in the back yard and shoveled the sidewalks -and the front steps nicely. Before they knew it it was evening -again,--Christmas eve, and their mamma was inviting them to come and -see her secret in the library. - -And what do you think the secret was? When the folding doors were -thrown open there was a glare of light and a smell of woodsy green, -and Kenneth and Rose and their cousin Charlie cried “Oh!” they were so -surprised. For there stood a beautiful Christmas tree, glittering with -spangles and icicles and silver balls and tiny candles. - -Kenneth and Rose and Charlie danced around the tree, and they had a -beautiful time finding the little bags of candy which were hidden for -each of them among the green branches. - -“It was a lovely, lovely secret,” whispered Rose in her mamma’s ear. -“And when I grow up I will make one just like it for my dolls.” - -When all the candles had sputtered and gone out, Charlie’s papa came to -take him home. And after that it was time to go to bed. But first they -must hang up their stockings for Santa Claus to fill. They tied them up -over the fireplace in the library,--Kenneth’s long black stocking and -Rose’s shorter brown one. Then Kenneth said,-- - -“Oh, Mamma, we must hang up a stocking for Christine. I am sure Santa -will want to remember the poor little Christmas cat.” - -“I know!” cried Rose. “I will hang up one of my little summer socks. -That will be just right for a little kitty-cat’s Christmas.” - -So she brought one of her short white socks and they hung it up in -the chimney-place right between the other two stockings,--between -Kenneth’s and Rose’s. And Christine looked pleased. Then everybody said -good-night, and the children went to bed. - -It was very, very early in the morning when Kenneth opened his eyes and -said out loud, “It is Christmas Day! Oh, at last it is Christmas Day!” -Then his eyes opened very wide indeed, and he said nothing at all. The -bedposts looked so queer! - -Kenneth scrambled over and examined them. On each post at the foot -of the bed was a big yellow orange. These were the first signs of -Christmas, and they kept Kenneth busy for some minutes. But when he had -eaten one of the oranges he could not wait any longer. - -He ran to Rose’s room and thumped on the door. “Merry Christmas, Rose! -Wake up!” he cried, poking in his head. But already Rose was wide -awake, and was sitting up in bed eating one of the oranges which had -grown on her bedposts, too, during the night. - -“Merry Christmas yourself,” cried Rose, jumping out of bed. “Let us run -and wake up papa and mamma.” - -So they trotted down the hall to mamma’s room and thumped on the door. -“Merry Christmas, Mamma! Merry Christmas, Papa!” they cried. “We are -going down to look at our stockings and see whether or not Santa really -did come last night.” - -Papa and mamma sighed a little, for they were still very sleepy. But -mamma said, “Well, children, you may go down. But first you must put on -your clothes, so that you will not take cold. Papa and I will be there -in a little while.” - -Kenneth was dressed first. He ran downstairs to the library, and sure -enough! there hung the three stockings, bulgy and knobby and queer. He -shouted up the stairs, “Oh, Rose! Hurry, hurry! He really came, Santa -Claus came, and he did not forget even Christine.” - -In a minute down came Rose, with her shoes half buttoned and her curls -all tangled. She could not wait this morning to make everything just -right. - -They seized their stockings and sat down on the floor to pull out the -“plums,” like little Jack Horner. In Kenneth’s stocking he found a big -red apple, and a bag of lovely marbles. Under these was a new game in -a box, and a horn of candy. Kenneth dived down lower and found a toy -cart, and a top, and a baby camera. At last he reached the toe of the -stocking, where there was just one thing left. “I think it is a stick -of candy,” said Kenneth. But when it came out, it was a jack-knife with -four blades. You can imagine how pleased Kenneth was. - -As for Rose, what do you suppose she found in her stocking? She -had a red apple, too, and a horn of candy. Then there was a cunning -pocket-book, and a little coral necklace in a velvet box. There was a -red rubber ball and a harmonica, and away down in the little brown toe -of her stocking hid a tiny doll’s watch and chain. But the best gift of -all poked its head out of the top of her stocking and smiled at her the -very first thing. It was a lovely little doll, with yellow curls like -Rose’s own, and blue eyes, and a white dress with blue ribbons. - -“Oh, you dear doll!” cried Rose, hugging her tightly. “I knew that -Santa would bring you to me! You are ever so much prettier than -Matilda, and I shall call you Alice.” - -Now Papa and Mamma came down, and they were eager to see what was -in Christine’s stocking. “Let us take it down to the dining-room -where Christine is,” said Mamma. “Katie tells me that there are some -queer-looking bundles there for you, which Santa could not crowd into -your stockings.” - -With a whoop of joy Kenneth ran down the stairs to the dining-room, and -Rose followed as fast as she could, carrying the little white sock with -the presents for the Christmas cat. She went up to the basket beside -the fire, where Christine lay just as they had left her the night -before. - -“Oh, Kitty, see what Santa has brought you,” said Rose, holding out -the little bulgy stocking. Then she stared hard into the basket where -Christine lay. “Oh-h-h! Kenneth!” she cried. “Come here quick! See what -Santa has brought the Christmas cat!” - -For there, cuddled close up against Christine’s black fur, were two -tiny round things mewing with baby voices; one little black kitten, and -one as yellow as Rose’s curls, both with their eyes shut tight. - -“Well, well!” said papa. “Santa could not get those into Kitty’s -stocking, so he brought them here. Isn’t it a lovely present for a -little Christmas cat?” - -[Illustration: “SEE WHAT SANTA HAS BROUGHT THE CHRISTMAS CAT”] - -“Of course they both belong to Christine,” said Kenneth, “but may I -not call one of them mine, and the other one Rose’s?” - -“I want the yellow one,” said Rose. - -“I like the black one best,” said Kenneth, “so that is all right.” -But Christine licked both the kittens with her pink tongue and purred -happily. - -“I like them both best, and they are both mine,” she seemed to say. - -Then the children took out the presents from the little white sock. -There was a pretty collar and a bow of ribbon,--yellow, which was -Christine’s most becoming color. And there was a little bunch of catnip -instead of candy. Santa seemed to know just what a little cat would -best like. But nothing seemed to please Christine so much as the tiny -balls of black and yellow fur in her basket. And the children did not -blame her. For indeed, of all their Christmas gifts,--except Alice, the -new doll, and Kenneth’s jack-knife,--they each liked best the kitten -which they had chosen. - -“I shall call my kitten Buff,” said Rose, touching the little yellow -ball gently. - -“And mine shall be Fluff,” said Kenneth, who liked to make rhymes -sometimes. “Oh, I am so glad that we took Christine in out of the snow, -Rose! For if we hadn’t, perhaps Santa would never have thought of -leaving us these dear little kittens.” - -And I shouldn’t wonder if Kenneth was right. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE JAPANESE SHOP - - -One day, not very long after Christmas, Mrs. Thornton said to Rose,-- - -“Rose, dear, I am going to the Japanese Shop to buy a wedding present, -and I think you would like to go, wouldn’t you?” - -“What is a Japanese Shop?” asked Rose. - -“Oh, it is a very wonderful shop,” said her mamma. “I can’t begin to -tell you about all the curious things which they sell in a Japanese -Shop. You must come and see for yourself.” - -So Rose put on her hat and coat and went with her mother to the -Japanese Shop. What a wonderful place it was, indeed! Rose felt just -as if she were in some strange, new kind of Fairyland, such as she -had never before heard about. Everything was colored so bright and -beautiful! There were such queer-shaped things sitting about on the -floor and standing up in the corners! Curious lanterns swung from the -ceiling, and tall screens of black and gold, with pictures of wonderful -long-legged birds flying across, made dark nooks, in which strange -bronze animals lurked surprisingly. Everything smelt sweet and rich, -too, almost with the Christmas-tree fragrance of mamma’s holiday secret. - -Rose wandered about by herself while her mother was looking at the -funny lamps hiding under colored umbrellas, which she called wedding -presents, though Rose did not understand why. They did not interest -her like Christmas presents, which were very different. But over in a -corner, all by itself, Rose found something which she thought would -make the loveliest Christmas present,--the most wonderful Christmas -present that any little girl could have. And oh! how she wanted it for -her very own! - -It was a toy garden; the kind that is put into the guest-room of a -Japanese house to amuse visitors. - -My! It was a wonderful little garden,--a real, truly live garden, -with growing trees and plants and moss. But it was all so tiny that -it could stand on a little table no wider than Rose’s arm was long. -And though the trees were really, truly grown-up trees, a great deal -older than Rose,--older even than her mamma, whom Rose thought very old -indeed,--they were no taller than Rose’s little hand. - -This is the way the garden looked. First, it was almost square and -there was a little stone wall all around it, about an inch high. In the -middle of the garden was a hill built of rocks, and on the top of the -hill was a lawn of green moss, with a tiny pagoda, or Japanese house, -no bigger than a match-box. The sides of the hill sloped down, very -green and smooth, and at the foot was a little brook of real water, -winding around the whole garden. The tiniest path of sand crept zig-zag -down the hill to a bit of a red bridge that crossed the brook, for the -people in the house at the top of the hill to use. And all along the -brook grew little baby plants, and the wonderful dwarf trees that -I told you about. Pine-trees they were, most of them, and the pine -needles had fallen on the ground and had turned rusty brown, just as -everyday pine needles do. Only these were ten times smaller. Rose -wondered who lived in the little house at the top of the hill, and she -said to herself:-- - -“Oh, how I wish I were little enough to live in that dear little -house, and play in that sweet little garden, and climb up into those -darling little trees! Oh, how I wish I could be littler!” And that was -something which Rose had never before wished. - -Just then Rose heard a cough behind her, and looking around she saw -that the funny Japanese Man who kept the store was standing close at -her elbow. He was smiling very pleasantly, so Rose said to him:-- - -“Oh, Mr. Japanese Man! I think you can tell me who lives in the dear -little house and plays in the dear little garden and paddles in the -dear little brook. Will you, please?” - -The Japanese Man bowed and grinned, and looked at Rose for a minute -without saying anything. Then he went away to the other end of the -store. Presently he came back, and he had something in his hands. He -set a little Somebody down beside the house on the top of the hill; and -it was a tiny little old man made of china-stuff, in a long green gown, -with a knob of hair on the back of his head, like a lady. - -“_He_ live in house, litty ol’ man,” said the Japanese. “And these, his -animals; live in garden.” As he said this the Japanese Man set down on -the bridge the littlest baby white rabbit, and in the brook a tiny-winy -duck, which floated on the water, and under one of the trees a wee-wee -mouse, with pink ears. - -“Oh!” cried Rose, clapping her hands. “Oh! how I wish I could be little -enough to play there with them. Are they alive, Mr. Japanese Man?” - -The Man grinned more than ever. Then he came close up to Rose and -whispered behind his hand, as though it were a great secret:-- - -“No, not alive _now_. But after dark, when moon shines, and store all -empty--all big folks gone away--then all come alive. My--my! Litty ol’ -man walk down hill, go fishy in brook. Duck say ‘_Quack quack!_’ Litty -rabbit hop so-so over bridge. Litty mouse cry ‘_Wee, wee!_’ and climb -up pine-tree. My! Litty girl like to see?” - -“Oh! Have _you_ ever seen?” cried Rose with her eyes very wide. - -But just then her mamma came back, with a bundle under her arm, which -was probably a little Wedding Present, though Rose did not care enough -about it to inquire. But she was very sorry when the Japanese Man bowed -politely and walked away to the other end of the store. She had wanted -to ask him a great many more questions. - -“Come, Rose,” said her mother; “we must go home now.” - -[Illustration: THE LITTLEST BABY WHITE RABBIT] - -“O Mamma! I want it!” sighed Rose wistfully. - -“Want what? The garden? Oh, my Dear! I cannot buy you that,” said her -mamma sadly; “it costs dollars and dollars. But maybe I could buy you -the mouse, or the duck, or the rabbit, or the little old gentleman up -there. Would you like one of them, Dear?” - -“Oh, no!” cried Rose. “It would be dreadful to take them away from -their lovely garden. I wouldn’t have one of them for anything. Think -how lonesome he would be when it grew dark and they all came alive!” - -On the way home Rose told her mamma the great secret, which the -Japanese Man had told her. And her mamma thought it was all very -strange indeed, and said she wished that she too was little enough to -play in the wonderful garden with Rose and that interesting family. - -When they reached home Rose told Kenneth all about the toy garden, and -the secret which the Japanese Man had told her. But Kenneth only said, -“Pooh! I don’t believe a word of it,” which was very disappointing. -But, of course, Kenneth had not seen the garden, nor heard the Japanese -Man tell the secret, which made a great difference. - -When it was dark Rose went to bed, and in a little while her mamma came -to kiss her good-night. Rose held her tightly by the hand and made her -sit down on the edge of the bed, where the moonlight shone like silver. - -“O Mamma!” she whispered. “Think of the shop, all dark and empty now, -with just one moonbeam shining on the little garden in the corner. -And the little old man comes alive, _pop_! like that! Now he goes -walking out of his house, down the little path over the hill. And the -bunny-rabbit scampers in front of him, _hoppity-hop_! Can’t you see -him, Mamma? Now they come to the little bridge; the funny duck says -‘_Quack, quack!_’ and swims away round and round the garden. Now the -little old man sits down under one of the tiny pine-trees and begins -to fish in the brook. And the wee-wee mouse runs up and down the tree -and nibbles the cheese which the old man has in his pocket for bait. O -Mamma, I can see it all, just as plainly! I wish I were there.” - -“I can almost see it, too,” said Mamma. - -“O Mamma, I think I could grow little just as easily as they could come -alive. Don’t you?” said Rose. - -Her mother answered, “We-el, perhaps.” - -But she would never take Rose to the Japanese shop after dark, to see -whether or not it could be done. Maybe she was afraid that Rose might -grow little and stay little always--which would have been a dreadful -thing for her mamma. But Rose thinks that she herself would like it -very well indeed,--to live always in that wonderful garden with the -mouse and the duck and the rabbit and the funny little old man,--if -only Kenneth would grow little, too. But Kenneth does not want to grow -little. He is trying just as hard as he can, every day, to grow big. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -APRIL FOOL’S NIGHT - - -On the night of April Fool’s day Kenneth had a strange adventure. It -was Kenneth’s way to direct his dreamland journey toward Fairyland, -where, if he but knows the secret how, a child can have the pleasantest -possible times. On this particular night Kenneth shut his eyes tight -and said the magic words which are the ticket on the Fairy Railroad; -and presto! as usual, he found himself spinning through space into the -realm where he would be. He kept his eyes shut tight, however, for -every wise child knows that he must not peep during that wonderful -journey, nor try to find out how it is done, or he will never be able -to go again. It was only when a soft little jounce told him that the -trip was over that Kenneth opened his eyes and ventured to look around. - -Yes, there he was, sure enough! He remembered the glittering -Christmas-tree avenue which led up from the station. He remembered the -beautiful flower beds on either side of the path--fairy beds where -the flowers could talk prettily, and answer any questions which a -child might ask. He remembered the white marble palace which gleamed -beyond the Christmas trees, a palace full of wonder and delight. He -hastened toward it up the hill. Yes, this was certainly the Fairyland -of his dreams, where he always had such a lovely, lovely time; where -all that he wished came true in the most marvelous way, and where -delightful surprises were continually happening to give him pleasure. -Kenneth smacked his lips already at thought of the goodies he would -have to eat, and his fingers wriggled eagerly, longing to clutch the -wonder-toys which he knew were growing somewhere about for him, when he -had time to look for them. - -Now there was no one to meet him at the station, and Kenneth thought -this strange. For he had expected to find his usual guide, a pretty -little gauze fairy in spangled white, with a wand and crown and all the -dainty ornaments which fairies wear. Kenneth was not greatly troubled, -however, for he had been to Fairyland so often that he knew the country -very well indeed, and he was not at all bashful nor afraid to help -himself if he should see anything which pleased him. - -He began briskly to walk up the avenue, on either side of which the -flowers nodded and smiled at him, saying, “Good evening, Kenneth. How -are you to-night?” - -Kenneth laughed and nodded back, thinking to himself, “How very pretty -they look! I never before saw them so gorgeous and beautiful. They must -be perfumed with extra sweetness; I will go and see.” And, stepping up -to a great bed of lilies, he bent over them, giving a deep, deep sniff; -for Kenneth loved dearly the fragrance of flowers. - -“Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!” Kenneth sneezed, and sneezed again, so that his -head almost fell off. “Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!” He reeled and staggered as -he turned away. And all the flowers laughed so that they nearly snapped -their slender stalks. They seemed to find it a great joke. - -“You dreadful flowers! You are full of snuff! Achoo!” he cried -indignantly. - -“Aha! Aha! You know all about it!” cried the flowers. “The trick is not -new to you; but is it not funny? Aha! Aha!” - -Kenneth did not think it at all funny as he ran on up the pathway, -sneezing painfully at every step. At last he paused to wipe his -eyes. “Achoo! Achoo!” Poor boy! He was fairly weak with his efforts, -and spying a little seat near by under a tree, thought he would sit -down to rest a minute and get his breath before going on his way. -It was a funny little seat, like a great toadstool, and it looked -very comfortable. But no sooner had Kenneth seated himself, than the -wretched thing sank down into the ground, leaving him with a bump on -the gravel of the avenue. - -“Aha! Aha!” cried the flowers, tittering foolishly when they saw -Kenneth sprawling. “Oh, how funny you do look! What a good joke! How -clever! We shall die laughing!” - -“You are very silly flowers,” said Kenneth, pouting. “You laugh at -nothing at all. I never knew you to be so disagreeable.” And, trying -to look very dignified in spite of his dusty jacket, he jumped up and -strode down the avenue. The inviting little round seats seemed to have -sprung up everywhere like mushrooms since his last visit, but he was -too cautious to sit down again, although he was very tired. - -Kenneth walked so fast to escape the mortifying laughter which rang -from the flower-bells, that he had almost passed the last Christmas -tree before he remembered the magic fruit which they always bore for -him. - -“Hello!” he cried. “I meant to look for a new jack-knife. I always -find just what I want on these trees. Why, yes--there is one now, -right over my head. Oh, what a beauty!” He reached up to grasp it as it -swung about a foot above his nose. But at the very moment when Kenneth -stretched out his hand, the tree gave a sudden jerk and up flew the -knife quite out of reach. - -“Oh!” cried Kenneth, stamping his foot angrily. “What made it do that?” - -“Ha, ha!” snickered the flowers, who had been peeping at him from a -distance. “What a joke! Try again, Kenneth.” And Kenneth tried again -and again, jumping after the knife more frantically each time. But it -was of no use. A malicious breeze, or some other cause, seemed to bend -the tree away from him whenever he reached toward it. And at last he -gave up in disgust. - -“I wanted a fountain pen, too,” he said to himself. “There ought to be -one on another tree. Yes, here it is.” And once more Kenneth reached -eagerly for the shining black thing that dangled close by his hand. - -Pop! Kenneth was half blinded by a stream of water that spurted into -his eye. It was no fountain pen, but a fountain pop-gun that had gone -off when he touched it. - -“Ha, ha!” shrieked the flowers, in a perfect madness of delight. -Kenneth sat down on the grass to wipe his eyes and dry the little river -that was running most uncomfortably up his coat sleeve. But my! How -quickly he sprang up again! The grass that looked so tempting and soft -was a cruel snare. For some one had wickedly planted it with pins or -needles. Poor Kenneth! This was too much. - -It is no fun to find one’s self a human pincushion. He began to cry, -and even then he heard the voices of the flowers sounding faintly, and -they were laughing still. He glanced toward them angrily, then tucked -his hands into his pockets and resolved not to let them see him cry. He -marched away up the avenue without a glance into the Christmas trees, -although they dangled the most interesting bundles before his face and -seemed trying to tempt him to pluck their magic fruit. He also kept off -the grass more carefully than if there had been a staring signboard to -warn him. - -Now just outside the palace grew a thicket of magic nut bushes. Here -Kenneth always stopped on his way to the greater wonders inside, to -crack a nut and to have a pleasant surprise. Yes, there at the foot -of the marble steps was the thicket, green as usual, and full of -brown nuts, mysteriously knobby and promising. Kenneth picked one and -knelt down on the gravel to crack it with a stone. But instead of the -beautiful velvet cloak, magically folded into a tiny parcel, or a dwarf -pony which would quickly grow full-sized, or a picture-book with moving -figures on its pages, such as he had found at other times, the nut was -stuffed with dusty cobwebs, which were of no use to any one, least of -all to Kenneth. - -“Oh!” said Kenneth, in disappointment, and then he distinctly heard a -queer voice cry, “April Fool!” He looked up and around, but there was -no one to be seen. - -“April Fool!” cried the voice again. “Ha, ha! Kenneth has _such_ a -sense of fun! He is a great joker himself; ha, ha!” Kenneth thought -it must be one of the flowers, though the voice sounded different. He -wished the good Fairy would come to him. His chin began to quiver, -when he heard the same queer voice tittering behind the thicket of -nut bushes. There was a little summer-house close by, and into this -Kenneth ran to hide the tears which would come into his eyes. What a -disagreeable country it was, this Fairyland which he had loved so well! -He came here to be happy; but all these ugly tricks fairly spoiled the -pretty place. He said to himself that he would never come again. Just -then he spied a large, square envelope fastened to the side of the -summer-house by a thorn. It was addressed, “For Kenneth.” - -“Why, that means me,” he cried, very much surprised. “Perhaps it is a -letter from my good Fairy to explain why she has not come to meet me.” -And he tore it open eagerly. - -It was a fat, bulky letter of several sheets. This was very exciting, -for Kenneth had not received many letters in his short life. He -unfolded the first sheet. From the middle of the page stared at him -these words printed in huge red letters:-- - - APRIL FOOL! - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE APRIL FOOL - - -Kenneth looked at it angrily, then turned over the other pages. They -were just the same as the first one. He tore up the sheets and threw -them on the ground. It was only an April Fool letter, after all! - -“April Fool!” cried a voice, echoing the same hateful words. “April -Fool! Ha! ha! What a joke!” It was a funny little voice, louder than -those of the flowers, and, instead of being silvery sweet like theirs, -it was harsh and disagreeable. Kenneth glanced up, and there, perched -on the railing of the summer-house, was the queerest little fellow, -making the most horrible faces. With a bound the figure sprang inside, -and Kenneth saw him more clearly. He was certainly a fairy, for he -had wings, gauzy and beautiful, growing from his shoulders. But his -dress was unlike that of any fairy whom Kenneth had met. It reminded -him, however, of pictures that he had sometimes seen in books. This -fairy wore a suit half of red and half of yellow; one leg and one shoe -were red and the other yellow. His doublet was divided likewise, and -likewise the funny hood which he wore about his shoulders. The borders -of his costume were cut into points, and from every point hung a little -bell that jingled and jangled mischievously whenever the imp moved -about--which was continually. His cap had two long pointed ears, and in -his hand he carried a wand, on the end of which was a copy of himself -dressed in red and yellow, and tinkly with many bells. He was a very -funny figure, and his mouth stretched from ear to ear in a grin which -made Kenneth laugh, too. But Kenneth soon stopped laughing; for there -was something about the imp’s smile that was not kindly, and that made -one half afraid. - -“Who are you?” asked Kenneth, trying to seem very bold. “And what are -you laughing at? I don’t see anything so very funny at this moment.” - -“Oh, don’t you?” grinned the imp. “April Fool! I do. I am April Fool. -Why, don’t you know me?” And turning around he showed Kenneth a large -placard, such as he had himself often made, pinned to one of the -points of the imp’s doublet. “APRIL FOOL!” it read. Kenneth began to -understand. - -“Oh, you are April Fool, are you?” he said. “I never saw you before.” - -“Ho! You never _saw_ me? No, but you have used my name often enough. -You remember April Fool’s day every year? Aha! Those were good tricks -you played, though to be sure most of them were old enough--old as I -am, and that _is_ old indeed, I can tell you, my little joker. But they -are good jokes, are they not? One never tires of them, does one?” And -again he grinned at Kenneth maliciously. - -[Illustration: “I AM APRIL FOOL”] - -“N-no,” said Kenneth, doubtfully, looking again at the pieces of the -torn April Fool letter and rubbing his eyes, which still smarted from -the snuff. “But I think jokes are funnier when one looks on, don’t you?” - -“Ha! ha!” laughed the imp. “That is the best joke of all. Why, some -folk seem to think as you do. But not I! Now I love a good joke for its -own sake better than anything else in the world. I am always in it, for -_I am_ the joke itself. Ha, ha!” - -“Then it is you who have made all these things happen to me,” said -Kenneth angrily. “What do you mean by it?” - -“Ha! ha! Don’t you know what night it is? To-morrow is the first of -April! What can you expect in Fairyland except the very biggest of -jokes? This is my night. But come, now, don’t be sulky. It is only a -joke after all, and you are such a joker yourself that you ought to -take these little matters very cheerfully. Come with me.” - -“I don’t want to come with you,” said Kenneth, hanging back. “I want -to go home.” - -“Nonsense, you cannot go home yet,” answered the imp. “It is not nearly -morning. Now that you have come you must stay here until the time is -up.” - -“Then I want my good Fairy guide,” said Kenneth. - -“Ho!” cried the other in scorn. “She is too silly-kind, too -goody-goody. She has no real sense of fun, poor thing.” - -“I like her fun best,” insisted Kenneth. “Please take me to her.” - -“Oh, very well,” said April Fool carelessly. “If you insist I will -bring you to her. But first you must have something to eat, for it is a -long journey. Are you not hungry, poor boy?” - -Kenneth confessed that he was very hungry. “Then we will go to the -kitchen garden,” replied the imp; “and there you can feast as much as -you like.” - -“Oh, yes! I have been to the kitchen garden,” cried Kenneth, -brightening. “The good Fairy took me there; it is a lovely place!” - -He followed April Fool out of the summer-house into a narrow path -leading on and on and on between green hedgerows full of blossoms. -Overhead the birds sang sweetly, and the sky was blue. Kenneth began -to feel very happy. At last, in the distance, he caught sight of the -kitchen garden, as he well remembered it, with its tall pie-fruit -trees, its cooky bushes, its eclair plants, and its ice-cream -fountains. The glimpse made him so hungry that he could hardly wait to -be there, and he ran ahead, outstripping April Fool himself. - -“That is right! Hurry, my boy!” cried the imp heartily. And Kenneth -skipped on happily. But suddenly _bump_! went his head and his knee -against something hard, and he came to a dizzy stop, hardly knowing -what had happened. There lay the kitchen garden just beyond, but -something had stopped him and would not let him pass, something which -he could not see. - -“Ha! ha! April Fool again!” laughed the imp, holding his sides for -merriment. “Don’t you see through this joke? Why, it is perfectly -transparent.” - -Sure enough! Kenneth put out his hand, and found that it was a wall of -glass, which stretched across the path from hedge to hedge; a gateless -wall which he could by no means climb over, but through which he could -plainly see all the dainties on the other side. Kenneth groaned. “Oh, I -am so hungry! What a cruel, cruel joke!” - -“Jokes do seem cruel sometimes,” admitted April Fool; “but they are -_such_ fun! Oh, my, oh, my! How queer you did look when you bumped -against that wall!” and he burst out laughing once more. - -“Well, are you going to let me in?” asked Kenneth, trying to keep his -temper, though he thought the joke in very poor taste, like most of -April Fool’s tricks. - -[Illustration: KENNETH FOUND THAT IT WAS A WALL OF GLASS] - -“Oh, no, we cannot enter here,” said the imp. “This is only an -impracticable window. We shall have to go around by another way, a -détour of some miles. But this time I really promise to take you to the -kitchen garden.” - -Kenneth was very angry, but he began to suspect that he must let April -Fool have his own way on this night. They turned back down the narrow -path and began a long, tiresome journey round about and round about to -the garden which they had already seen so near. - -And what a journey that was! beset by so many surprises, shocks, and -practical jokes that Kenneth was nearly frantic before they had seen -the end. They were crossing a bridge over a pretty little stream, when -in the middle--_crash_! The whole structure gave way, and down they -fell, with a sickening sinking feeling--fully three feet! Then the -bridge came to rest on the magic springs which were made to complete -this jouncy joke. After this their way led through a pitch-black -cavern, which was so silent that Kenneth could hear his heart beat as -he felt his way along. Suddenly there was an awful roar, like the growl -of hundreds of wild beasts let loose. Kenneth screamed with fright, but -the imp cried out, “April Fool!” And immediately the cave was filled -with light, showing only an innocent sound-machine which had made all -this commotion. - -They came within sight of a broad brook, which the imp said they must -cross. Kenneth took off his shoes and stockings to wade and stepped -down to the margin. But what was his anger to find that it was only -a wide mirror over which they were able to pass dry-shod. That was a -famous joke, to judge by the imp’s shrieks of laughter when he saw -Kenneth put out his foot to wade into the glassy stream. But Kenneth -had become so tired of such fun that he did not even smile. - -Kenneth grew thirsty, and they stopped to drink at a fountain which -gushed clear and sparkling by the wayside. But at the first draught -Kenneth found his mouth full of horrid, briny water, such as one -swallows by mistake when one is bathing in the sea. Poor boy! This made -him all the thirstier, but he was resolved not to show April Fool how -wretched and unhappy he really was. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE APRIL-FOOL JOURNEY - - -At last, however, when Kenneth was so tired and faint that he could -hardly walk another step, they came to the kitchen garden. There were -the pie trees and the raspberry shrubs, the caramel plants and the -bonbon hedge, brown with luscious chocolates. - -“Now, help yourself,” said the imp cordially. And without further -invitation Kenneth fell to. A fine cream pie lay under one of the -trees, from which it had just fallen. Kenneth cut a wedge out of it -with the knife which was sticking conveniently in the tree-trunk, and -began to eat it ravenously. But faugh! What dreadful stuff! It was -frosted with soapsuds instead of whipped cream! - -“April Fool!” cried the imp, dancing up and down, for this was the best -joke of all. - -“Oh!” whimpered Kenneth, “I hope they are not all April-Fool goodies.” -And he ran to the next tree. But a bite was all he needed to prove that -he must not trust his eyes this April Fool’s night. The mince pies were -made of sand and sawdust, with pebbles for plums. The sponge cake was -indeed a real sponge. The doughnuts were of India rubber; they might -be fine for a teething baby to bite, but they were a poor lunch for a -hungry boy. The griddle-cakes were rounds of leather, nicely browned -on both sides. The salad was made of tissue paper; the chocolates were -stuffed with cotton wool and other horrid stuff; while the maple sugar, -upon which Kenneth was perfectly sure he could rely, turned out to be -yellow soap--clean, but not appetizing. - -Even the eggs, growing innocently white upon the egg-plant, turned out -to be hollow mockeries; some humorous little boy seemed to have blown -their insides away, as a great joke. Once Kenneth would have thought -that a very funny idea. But now he sat down and cried and cried, he -was so disappointed and so hungry. - -“Boo hoo! Boo hoo!” sobbed Kenneth. “I want to go home. I don’t like -Fairyland one bit!” - -“Ha! ha!” laughed the imp. “April Fool! This isn’t Fairyland at all; -this is April Fool Land, and you are _It_. But come, I really think you -have had enough of it. I will take you to the true Fairyland, and give -you over to your kind, good, serious Fairy guide. Shall we go? _One, -two, three--out goes he!_” And with a snap of his fingers, Kenneth -found himself outside the tantalizing kitchen garden, walking toward -his good Fairy’s real, truly palace, which gleamed comfortingly through -the trees. - -At first he dared not think that it was really so; he suspected another -joke of April Fool’s. But at last he spied the good Fairy herself, -standing at the top of the long flight of marble steps which led up to -the palace. Kenneth ran forward and waved his hand eagerly, he was so -anxious to exchange guides and to be rid of the hateful imp. But the -Fairy did not seem to see him. She was shading her eyes with her hand -and looking off over the Christmas trees, appearing troubled. - -“Humph!” growled the imp. “There she is, looking for you. And how eager -you are to leave me, now that you have enjoyed all the jokes I had to -play. Well, good-by! You have only to walk up the staircase to your -goody-goody Fairy, and you will be safe from me. I cannot pass into -that palace, where the fun is of a different kind from mine.” - -“It is a great deal nicer than yours, for it is always kind,” retorted -Kenneth, “and yet it is just as funny.” - -“Very well, go and look for it, then,” cried the imp, and without -another word he disappeared. - -Kenneth was much relieved to see him go. He set his foot on the lowest -stair and eagerly began the ascent of the marble flight. But no sooner -had he lifted his foot to the second step than the staircase itself -began to move under him, so that he had to step quickly to keep from -falling. Horrible! What did this mean? “April Fool!” cried a voice -behind him. “Ha! ha! It is my last joke, and it is a rare good one. You -are on a treadmill staircase, Kenneth. You must climb fast or you will -fall down and be ground up inside the machine. Hurrah! Step lively, -please! Quicker, quicker! Maybe you will reach the top by to-morrow -morning.” - -Kenneth had to work his little legs faster and faster and faster, -as the great staircase revolved under him. Yet however he strove he -reached never a step nearer the top, but remained always in the same -spot. And the Fairy still looked away over the tops of the Christmas -trees, without seeing him. - -“Ha! ha!” laughed the imp; but his voice was fainter than it had been, -and Kenneth hoped it was fading away. The poor boy was so exhausted -that he felt he could not keep up for long. His legs ached and -his head ached dizzily, and his poor back, bent over the whirling -staircase, ached most of all. “I cannot bear it,” he said to himself, -panting and out of breath. “I cannot move my legs any faster. I cannot -breathe. I must sit down, even if I do go under to be ground into -little pieces.” - -Without more ado Kenneth sat down on the staircase, closing his eyes -and shuddering with fear of what might happen next. But what happened? -The staircase merely stopped with a jerk--and stood still. - -“April Fool!” cried the far-off voice of the imp. “You might have done -it long ago. April Fool--Fool--Fool!” and the voice faded away into a -mere sigh of the breeze. - -At the same moment Kenneth heard a sweet call from the top of the -staircase. “Kenneth, Kenneth!” it said, in silvery tones quite unlike -the imp’s harsh ones. And, looking up, he saw his good Fairy coming -swiftly down the staircase toward him. - -“Oh, good Fairy,” sobbed Kenneth, “I have had such a dreadful time -looking for you! Please stay by me, and do not let that bad, bad April -Fool find me again.” - -The good Fairy leaned over Kenneth and put her hand on his head. “Poor -boy!” she said. “Has April Fool been playing his tricks on you? This -was his night, you know. He said you were a friend of his, so we had -to let him have his joke with you. He is indeed a horrid fellow, and I -hope he is no longer your friend.” - -“No, he will never be my friend again,” cried Kenneth. - -“I like my own kind of jokes a great deal better,” said the Fairy: -“pleasant surprises, unexpected kindnesses, pain turned into pleasure, -and disappointment into joy. One can play those jokes all through the -year. But it is too late for any of them to-night. You must go back -home now, Kenneth.” - -“I am quite ready to go,” said Kenneth wearily, for even a pleasant -joke had no charms for him now, he was so tired. The Fairy took him -by the hand and led him back to the station. They passed the magic -nut bushes, but Kenneth did not pause. They walked under the tempting -Christmas trees, but he did not look up. They went between the rows of -flowers, gently tittering on either side, but Kenneth did not so much -as glance at them. The kind Fairy held his hand, and April Fool could -play no tricks upon him now. - -At the station the Fairy guide kissed Kenneth sweetly, and closed his -eyes with her wand. “Come again to-morrow night,” she murmured, “and -naughty April Fool will be gone for another year. Then you shall come -into my palace and we will play some happy tricks.” - -Then she spoke the magic words of his return ticket, and Kenneth, -with his eyes closed, felt a spring, a rush, and a whirling about his -head. But he never peeped until he felt once more the gentle jounce -that told him the end of his journey had come. Then with his fists -he rubbed his eyes and, winking sleepily, opened them to find himself -snugly lying in bed, with the morning sun shining into his window. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -THE DOLLS’ MAY-PARTY - - -Alice had never gone to a party before. Of course Rose, who was almost -six years old, had gone to a great many. But Alice, who was her newest -doll, was very young. She had come, you remember, on Christmas day, at -the same time with Buff and Fluff; and the kittens had never yet been -to a party either. - -Matilda, who was Rose’s old doll, had been to almost as many parties -as Rose herself. But Matilda was not invited to this party. Only the -youngest and prettiest dolls were invited to this party, for it was to -be a May-Party, where every one has to look as beautiful as possible. -Poor Matilda had only one eye and a broken nose. - -Ernestine, who was Lilian’s doll and who lived in the next block to -Rose and Alice, sent out the invitations to ten dolls and their little -mammas. They were to come at two o’clock in the afternoon of May Day -for a picnic at her house. And every one was to bring a luncheon in a -little basket, just as if it were a really truly picnic in the summer -woods, instead of a cold city May. - -Rose dressed Alice in her prettiest white muslin gown, with a blue sash -and the dear little watch which had come in the Christmas stocking. -Alice’s yellow hair was curled and tied with a blue bow, and she looked -so much like her little mother that Mrs. Thornton could not help -laughing when they started for the picnic together. But Rose did not -see anything very funny about it. Every one said that she looked like -her own mother, and why should not Alice look like Rose? - -At the very last moment, when they were starting for the party, Rose -ran back upstairs to the play-room, where the old Matilda sat in her -little chair by the fireplace. - -“You poor dear old thing,” said Rose, hugging her tight, “I never -before went to a party without you, and it seems very cruel to leave -you all alone. But please remember that I still love you dearly, though -you have only one eye, and your nose is broken, and you aren’t pretty -like Alice. I can’t take you to parties any more, because people would -laugh at you. But you have had a great many good times, haven’t you, -Matilda? while Alice hasn’t been yet to a single party. I must make -Alice have a good time now, for she is my youngest child. Good-by, -Matilda dear, and don’t you be lonesome while we are gone.” - -Then Rose kissed the poor old doll and set her back in the little chair -beside the fireplace. But Matilda looked very sad when the little -mother went out of the door with the new doll in her arms, and it -almost looked as if there was a real tear on her faded cheek under the -one remaining eye. - -When the front door banged behind them, Matilda fell forward onto the -carpet and lay there face downwards all the while that Rose and Alice -were at the May-Party. - -The party was held in Lilian’s dining-room. The floor was covered with -a green rug which had flowers on it, and which looked like the real -grassy out-doors of the country. In the middle of the room, instead of -a dining-table, was a little May-pole, as tall as Rose’s head, with a -wreath of flowers at the top and pretty colored ribbons hanging down -all around it. - -On one side was a throne with three little steps leading up to it, for -the May Queen to sit on. And on top of the throne lay a beautiful crown -of real flowers for the Queen to wear. - -First of all, the dolls were stood up in a long row, so that the -prettiest one might be chosen. There was Ernestine herself, the -hostess, who was a fat wax doll as big as a real baby, with flaxen hair -and four white teeth. Ernestine was very accomplished, for she could -say “Papa” and “Mamma,” but she was not nice and huggable and pretty -like Alice. (At least, that was what Rose thought.) - -Then there was Marjorie, who had black hair, and -Helen-Grace-Antoinette, who wore a real satin dress that came from -Paris; and Bébé, who was in long clothes and who was thought by all -the little mothers, except her own, too babyish for a May-Party. There -was Yo-San, who was a lovely Japanese lady; and Toto, a little boy -sailor doll, the only gentleman present,--and of course _he_ couldn’t -be the May Queen! Then there were Blanche, and Beatrice, and Dinah who -was black,--everybody wondered why she came to the party. Last of all, -there was Alice. She was smaller than Blanche and Beatrice, but she -wore a watch tucked into her sash. No other doll had a watch. - -Each little girl wrote on a piece of paper the name of the doll which, -next to her own, she thought prettiest. No one could vote for her own -doll, for of course each little mother would think her own child the -best, and there would have to be ten queens. - -Lilian’s mamma counted the votes. And what do you suppose? Alice was -elected to be May Queen! It was all on account of the watch. You can -imagine how proud Rose was. - -They set Alice on the throne and put the crown of real flowers on her -yellow curls, and she looked so pretty that Rose had to rush up and -kiss her the very first thing. And all the other little girls wanted to -kiss her, too. - -Then the dolls danced around the May-pole, each one holding the end of -one of the colored ribbons, till the pole was twisted all the way down -and looked like a big stick of striped candy. The dolls seemed to enjoy -it very much, but their mammas were a bit dizzy afterwards. - -Then it was time for the picnic. Everybody sat down cross-legged on the -green grass rug and opened the little lunch-baskets. First they spread -a napkin on the grass, just as one does at a real picnic, and set all -the cakes and cookies and sandwiches on it, where every one could reach -for herself. And they ate without any plates or knives or forks, which -was great fun. But there were no ants to come and eat up the crumbs. - -There were little cunning cakes, and figs and dates, grapes and apples, -and some molasses candy. And there was lemonade to drink,--just like a -grown-up picnic. - -After they had eaten everything they played games around the May-pole -until it was almost dark, and then it was time to go home. But before -they went Ernestine, who gave the party, carried up to the throne a -big tissue-paper basket full of flowers, and gave it to the May Queen, -kneeling down before Alice on the lowest step of the throne, just as -they do in plays. And Rose was so proud that her face turned as pink as -one of the roses in the May Queen’s lovely basket. Each doll had a dear -little nosegay to take home, but only the Queen had a whole basket full -of flowers. - -“You dear, lovely Queen Alice!” cried Rose, as she hugged her dollie -tight on the way home. “I am so proud of you, and I love you better -than anything in the world except Papa and Mamma and Kenneth and Cousin -Charlie,--oh, yes, and Matilda. I had almost forgotten poor Matilda.” - -Rose was quiet for a minute, and then she whispered to Alice, “Don’t -you think you ought to give some of these lovely flowers to poor -Matilda, who didn’t go to the party and who isn’t pretty any more?” - -Alice was a sweet little doll, and was quite willing to share her -flowers. So as soon as the front door was opened Rose ran upstairs to -the play-room with the May Queen on one arm and the basket of flowers -on the other. There she found poor Matilda lying face downward on the -carpet. - -[Illustration: SHE LIFTED POOR MATILDA AND SET HER UP ON THE WINDOW -SEAT] - -“Oh, you poor, poor dollie!” cried Rose. “Did you feel so badly as -that? Well, don’t cry any more. Here is your dear little sister, the -May Queen, who has come to share her lovely flowers with you. We -both love you so much that we are going to make you our Play-Room -Queen. See!” - -Then she lifted poor Matilda and set her up on the window seat, as if -she were on a throne. And she took the beautiful flowers out of Alice’s -basket and made a wreath which she placed on the old doll’s scraggly -hair. And she pinned a lovely rose on Matilda’s dress. - -“Now you look very nice and dear,” said Rose, as she kissed her on her -battered cheek. “Good-night, Queen Matilda of the play-room. Isn’t this -almost as good as being May Queen?” - -And Matilda looked as if she thought it was. She seemed to be smiling -with her ugly mouth. And when Rose softly shut the door of the -play-room the old doll looked almost pretty,--in spite of her one eye -and broken nose,--sitting there on the window seat, with Alice, the -beautiful May Queen, at her feet. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE DARK ROOM - - -In the middle of June Kenneth came down with the scarlet fever. This -was very unpleasant for Kenneth, and for Kenneth’s papa and mamma, who -were just making ready to move the family down to the Island for the -summer. It was very hard for Rose, too; for of course she could not -play with Kenneth nor even see him for fear lest she too should catch -the fever. It was a terrible thing for Rose not to see Kenneth for days -and weeks. - -They decided to send her away into the country, to the farm where Aunt -Mary and Uncle John with Rose’s cousin Charlie Carroll had gone to -live. Aunt Mary said that she would be glad to play for a while that -Rose was her own little girl, for poor Aunt Mary had no little girl -of her own. And Charlie thought that it would be great fun to have a -little sister; for you see he had never had one. And that is why he did -not make a very good kind of brother at first. - -Rose had not been in the country long before she began to miss Kenneth -more than ever,--more even than she had expected. It was all Charlie’s -fault. - -Charlie had his naughty days,--every one has naughty days, sometimes, -until he learns better. But it happened unfortunately that Charlie’s -naughtiest time came the very day after Rose arrived in the country, -when she was feeling especially lonesome, and before she was acquainted -with the new house and the barn and the new pets and playthings. She -began to be homesick almost as soon as her father said good-by to her -and went away to the train which would carry him home to Mamma and -Kenneth and the city. But she was still more homesick the next morning, -when she woke up and remembered that she was not going to see Kenneth -all that long, bright, beautiful, out-of-doorsy day. So you see she -needed very much that Charlie should be extra kind and good to her. - -Charlie’s mamma lay awake that morning smiling to herself to think -how nice it was that Rose was going to be Charlie’s little sister for -a time, and how happy he would make her in this beautiful country, -showing her the new kittens, and the rabbits, and old Brindle’s little -calf, and the flower-garden,--all the things which Charlie had enjoyed -so much since he had come into the county to live. But that was before -she knew this was Charlie’s naughty day. - -From the moment when he first opened his eyes and got out of the wrong -side of the bed, Charlie was in trouble, and his mother had to speak to -him so many times that she was ashamed to have Rose hear. - -After breakfast, when Rose cried eagerly, “Oh, Charlie, now will you -show me everything?” Charlie sulked and said, “Oh, bother!” And when -Rose followed him out into the garden, he tried to run away from her. -But Rose could run fast too, and he soon found her panting at his heels. - -“What makes you run so fast, Charlie?” she asked. “I can hardly keep up -with you.” - -“Well, I don’t want you to keep up with me,” he answered, turning his -back on her and slapping his stick at a poor sunflower. “You had better -go back to the house. I don’t want to play with you.” - -Rose’s eyes filled with tears and she said, “What makes you so bad to -me, Charlie? I haven’t seen you for a long time, but I thought you were -a nice, pleasant boy, like Kenneth. Oh, how I wish I could go back to -Kenneth!” - -“Go home as soon as you please,” said Charlie rudely. “I don’t want you -for a sister if you are so fussy and cross.” - -“I am not fussy and cross!” cried Rose indignantly. “You have been very -impolite and horrid to me, and I am ashamed of you!” - -Then, I am sorry to say, Charlie did a very naughty thing. He pushed -Rose roughly, so that she fell down and bruised her poor little knee. -She tried not to cry, but the tears would come. And when she saw -Charlie disappear around the corner of the house with his hands in his -pockets, as if he did not care at all, she began to sob. - -“I wish I had not come to the country!” she whimpered. - -Now from the parlor window Charlie’s mother had seen this last -naughtiness, and straightway she went after her boy, who was kicking -his toe against the piazza steps. - -“Charlie, you have been a very naughty boy,” she said. “You have hurt -your little cousin, and I must punish you. What makes you so bad -to-day? I thought you and Rose would have such pleasant times together!” - -“I don’t like girls,” said Charlie sulkily. “They are telltales and -cry-babies. I am glad I pushed her.” - -“Charlie!” exclaimed his mother, much shocked. “Go right up to the dark -room and sit down in a chair and stay there until you are sorry. When -you are truly sorry you can come out and tell Rose.” - -“I shan’t ever be sorry,” said Charlie obstinately. “And I will never -tell her that I am.” - -“Then you will have no supper to-night,” said his mother firmly. “Go, -now. Do as I tell you, Charlie.” - -Charlie knew that it was not safe to linger when his mother spoke in -that tone. He stamped up the three flights of stairs and opened the -door of the dark room. It was a spare chamber that was seldom used, -save on Charlie’s naughty days. The blinds were closed tight, and not a -ray of the beautiful summer sunshine could enter. Instead, there was a -gloomy, greenish dimness, which was not at all pleasant. And the room -was very, very still. The rest of the world seemed a long way off. - -Charlie dragged a chair into the middle of the room and sat down, -kicking the rungs with his feet. It was all Rose’s fault. He had given -her only a tiny push, and it could not have hurt her much. She was such -a cry-baby and telltale! Of course it must have been she who had told -his mother all about it. He could hear the faint sound of old Carlo -barking outside, and fancied he caught echoes of Rose’s happy laughter. -Yes, undoubtedly the mean little thing was playing with Carlo, enjoying -herself in the beautiful sunshine as if nothing had happened, while -he was shut up in the old dark room! Charlie thought of all the fine -things he had planned to do this day, if something had not gone wrong -from the very beginning. - -A great fly buzzed against the window pane, and for a time Charlie was -interested in watching it bump its foolish head again and again. But -he soon grew tired of the sight and sound. What a stupid way to spend -a beautiful day, watching an old fly in a dark room! How the minutes -dragged that usually galloped away too fast! He had only to say that he -was sorry, and he might come out. But he was not sorry, and he would -never tell Rose so. - -The time dragged on. The fly had ceased to buzz, and Carlo to bark. -There was no sound inside or outside the dark room. Probably Rose -had gone to ride. Mamma had promised to take them to the lake, where -they could learn to row. What fun that would have been! Now Rose was -enjoying it alone. Selfish little thing! - -Charlie began to fidget. The chair was hard and uncomfortable; he -thought he must have been sitting there for hours. Luncheon time was -over and gone. It must be almost evening. Surely it was growing even -darker in the dark room. How could he ever bear to stay there all night -alone--without any supper, too! He began to feel very hungry indeed. -Suppose he should starve to death! That would make Rose feel badly -enough. He hoped it would break her heart. A tear rolled down the side -of his nose at the thought of his sad fate. - -Just then he heard a sound outside the door. The knob turned, and in -tiptoed a little figure in white, with yellow hair and blue ribbons. -It was Rose. Her face was tear-stained, and she looked piteously at him -without speaking. Charlie frowned, and turned his head away. He was not -sorry. - -Rose stood first on one foot and then on the other, glancing shyly -at Charlie, as if hoping that he would speak. But he only sulked and -kicked the chair-rung harder. At last she dragged another chair from a -corner of the room, placed its back to his, climbed up into it and sat -down. - -“H’m!” thought Charlie, “She has been naughty too. Now Mamma sees that -I am not the only bad one. I wonder how long she will have to stay -here.” - -They sat silent for a long time, back to back. Then Charlie heard a -sniff behind him. He knew that Rose was crying. “I am glad of it!” he -said to himself. “I am glad she was naughty and had to be punished. -Usually girls are not punished like boys. They are lucky, and manage to -escape.” - -[Illustration: IN TIPTOED A LITTLE FIGURE] - -Another little sniff from Rose; then a long silence. At last she spoke, -in a half-sobbing voice: “It is beautiful out of doors. But it is -horrid in this dark room.” Charlie made no reply. Presently Rose tried -again. “How long have you got to stay here, Charlie?” - -“I don’t know,” he answered gruffly; “all night, perhaps.” - -“Oh!” Rose’s tone was startled, and again there was a long silence. - -“Aren’t you going to have any supper, Charlie?” she asked wistfully. - -“No,” said Charlie. “Are you?” - -“N-no,” said Rose hesitating, and then she gave a very long sigh. - -Charlie chuckled. She had “told” of him. It was her fault. Since he had -to suffer, it was some comfort to think that she must do so also. He -was not a bit sorry. - -“I wish we could have gone to the lake,” sighed Rose again. “I s’pect -Aunt Mary went without us.” At this tantalizing thought Charlie -retorted angrily:-- - -“If you had not been a cry-baby and a telltale, mother wouldn’t have -punished me, and we could both have gone.” - -“I didn’t tell!” cried Rose indignantly. “I wouldn’t have told if you -had broken my leg off. I can’t bear telltales, and I wouldn’t be one -for anything.” - -“Well, how did mother know, then?” asked Charlie, somewhat less crossly. - -“I s’pose she looked out of the window and saw you push me, and I -s’pose she saw that I was mis’able.” - -“Cry-baby!” taunted Charlie scornfully. - -“I am not a cry-baby,” said Rose, with a quaver in her voice. “It took -all the skin off my knee--look!--and it hurts awfully when I bend it -around, _so_. But I never told Aunt Mary, and she doesn’t know. I cried -a little because--because you hurt my feelings; that was why.” - -“Humph!” grunted Charlie, looking at the bruised, tender little knee. -He tried to make light of it, but his cheeks reddened, and he felt -ashamed. Rose was such a little thing, after all. - -Rose writhed in her seat. “Must you stay in the chair all the time?” -she asked over her shoulder. - -“Yes,” said Charlie briefly. - -“It is so hard! I thought--if we could stand up, or sit down on the -floor--maybe--but anyway we might play something else, some kind of -_quiet_ game; Twenty Questions, or--or something. Would you like to do -that, Charlie?” She twisted about in the chair and eyed the back of his -head wistfully. Charlie hardened his heart. - -“No,” he said crossly. “I don’t want to play anything in this horrid -old dark room.” - -“It isn’t quite so lonesome now that I am here, is it?” asked Rose -anxiously. Charlie made no reply. “I thought you might be glad for -company,” she went on. “I don’t mind being here--much. But it _is_ -nicer outside. There is Carlo--hear him bark! And there are the -sunshine and the birds and flowers--and everything. Oh, it is lovely -here in the country! I thought we would have such good times together, -Charlie, as we used to do when you lived in the city, only here it is -much nicer. You have so many lovely things to show me, Aunt Mary said. -But now”-- She stopped short as if afraid of hurting his feelings. - -“How long have you got to stay here?” asked Charlie, wishing that she -would go away. - -“Oh, I don’t know,” she answered; “perhaps all night. But I hope not.” - -“Why, what did you do that was so bad?” asked Charlie, turning half -around, in surprised interest. - -“I? Oh, I--I--I didn’t do anything,” stammered Rose. - -“Then why did Mamma send you here?” he demanded. - -“She didn’t send me. She doesn’t know I’m here. She thinks that I am -in the summer-house with Carlo and my dolls, where she left me--hours -ago.” - -“Then what did you come here for?” Charlie looked at her sternly. She -dropped her eyes and fidgeted with the ruffle of her dress. - -“I--I came because I didn’t want you to be punished all alone. P’rhaps -if I hadn’t come to your house you would not have been naughty at all; -so it was partly my fault. I am so sorry, Charlie! I shall stay here as -long as you do.” - -Charlie whirled around in his chair and sat back resolutely. He would -_not_ be sorry. Yes, it had been her fault; she had made him angry. Let -her stay and be unhappy! - -They sat very still for a time, then Charlie felt a little hand steal -around the chair-back and touch his gently. But he jerked away. - -“Are you angry, Charlie, because I came?” asked the soft little voice. -“If you are very angry, I will go away. But I had much rather stay here -in the dark with you. I--I am so lonesome without Kenneth, and you are -all the brother I have now. Won’t you let me be your little truly -sister and do as I would if you were Kenneth? When I knew you were shut -up here it made me so unhappy that I couldn’t play. I couldn’t even -enjoy the sunshine and the flowers. If you go without your supper, so -shall I. And if you stay here all night, I--I _think_ I shall not be -afraid to stay with you. But I hope Auntie will let you out before -then.” - -“No, she will not,” said Charlie, positively. “I know she will not.” - -“Not if I ask her? Not if I tell her that it makes me very sad to have -you here?” Rose’s voice trembled. - -“No,” said Charlie, “I don’t think I shall _ever_ come out.” - -“Oh!” cried Rose in horror. “Then we shall die here together. We shall -starve to death like the Babes in the Woods; but there will be no Robin -Redbreasts to cover us with leaves. Oh, Charlie! Surely Aunt Mary would -not be so cruel.” - -Charlie could not bear to have any one think so of his kind mother. -“Mamma is not cruel,” he said. “If I stay here it is my own choice. I -could come out now, if I chose to--to say--something.” - -Rose clapped her hands. “Oh, say it, say it now, Charlie!” she cried. - -At that moment a bell rang invitingly from downstairs. “Do say it, -Charlie,” she begged. “There is the supper bell, and I am so hungry, -aren’t you?” - -Charlie was very hungry, but he bit his lip and answered, “No, I will -not say it.” - -“Oh, why not?” begged Rose. “What is it that you must say? Is it so -very hard?” - -“Well,--I must say that I am sorry because I pushed you.” Charlie -blurted out the words with a gulp of shame. - -“Oh, Charlie! And you are not sorry?” Rose pleaded. - -“No, I am not sorry.” - -“Not a little bit?” - -“No, not one bit.” - -Rose gave a little sigh and sank back in her chair. “Well, then I -s’pose we must stay here and be hungry. For of course you mustn’t say -it unless you are really and truly sorry--not even for the sake of -supper. But oh! I know there is going to be jelly-roll. I saw Maggie -making it this morning.” - -Charlie kicked the chair hard. “Let’s try to think about something -else,” went on Rose cheerfully; “then perhaps we shall forget to be -hungry. Let’s talk about--about Carlo.” - -“Oh, do keep still!” grumbled Charlie. “I don’t want to talk at all.” -Rose was silent for some minutes. Then she began to speak again, half -to herself. - -“I think I will go home to-morrow, if I don’t starve before that. I -will go to Kenneth, who will be so glad to see me, even if he is sick. -Maybe I shall catch the fever and die. But that would be better than -living where I have no little brother to love me. After I am gone, -Charlie can come out, for of course Auntie will not ask him to tell me -he is sorry if I am not here to listen. Then Carlo and the rabbits -and Brindle and the calf will all be glad to see Charlie again, and -no one will miss me, for I am only a silly little girl who spoils the -beautiful country so that no one is happy here any more.” Here Rose -gave a great sob. Charlie wriggled uncomfortably in his chair. - -“I say, Rose, don’t talk like that. I don’t want you to go home. It -wasn’t your fault. I was very bad to you,” he stammered. - -“But it was my fault, too,” cried Rose eagerly. “I ought not to have -said you were impolite and horrid. Even when you pushed me--” - -“I am sorry I did that, Rose,” interrupted Charlie quickly. “I am, -truly. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” - -Once more the little hand stole around the chair-back and crept into -his own. Charlie did not drop it this time. “You said it!” cried Rose. -“Oh, Charlie! I am so glad! Now we can go down to supper.” - -Charlie stared. “Said it? What do you mean? What have I said?” - -“Why, you said _It_; that you were sorry,” cried Rose, clapping her -hands. “So it is all right now.” - -Charlie looked rather silly. “I--I didn’t mean to say it,” he faltered. -“I said I would never say it, and I meant what I said. But I _am_ -sorry, and now I am glad I said I was.” This sounded very queer, but -Rose knew what he meant, and was quite satisfied. - -At this moment the door opened and Charlie’s mamma appeared, looking -anxious. - -“Oh, here you are, Rose, my child,” she said. “Who would have thought -to find you here! I was so worried. We have been looking for you all -over the place. Have you been here all this beautiful afternoon, you -poor little thing?” She looked reproachfully at Charlie. - -“I wanted to stay here,” said Rose cheerfully. “But I am glad it is -time to come out now.” - -“Come, then, Dearie; you must be very hungry,” said Charlie’s mother, -taking Rose’s hand and leading her towards the door. But Rose hung back. - -“You come too, Charlie,” she smiled. - -“Mamma,” said Charlie bravely, “I am sorry I was naughty to Rose. I -have just told her so. She is a _brick_, and I wish she was going to be -my truly sister always. For the rest of her visit I am going to make -her have the best time she ever knew.” - -Then the supper bell rang again, anxiously, and the two children took -hold of hands, scampering down the stairs like hungry puppies when they -hear their master’s whistle. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -THE GARDEN OF LIVE FLOWERS - - -After Kenneth recovered from the scarlet fever and Rose came back to -the city, the Thornton family went away for the summer to their island -down in Maine, which the children loved better than any other place in -the whole world. - -It was a very wonderful island, and though Kenneth and Rose had gone -down there as many years as they could remember, they were continually -finding something new which they had never seen before. They liked to -play that it was a desert island and that they were Robinson Crusoes -who were exploring to see what they might find. And they were always -hoping to come upon a mysterious footprint, or something like that. - -One particular day they were scrambling about on the rocks, a long -way from the foot of the cliff on which perched their summer home. -They had never before happened to climb down to this particular spot, -because it was such a steep scramble. From the top of the cliff it did -not look interesting at all. I dare say nobody had ever before been on -that part of the island, except perhaps the Prout children, who lived -not far away all the year round. It was a bad landing-place; no boat -could ever come in from the sea on account of the big waves that dashed -up on the sharp rocks. And nobody would ever have thought of scrambling -down the cliff and over those rough boulders unless, like Columbus, he -was an adventurous explorer looking to see what he might find. But you -see, that is just what Kenneth and Rose were. They were explorers, and -they had their eyes wide open to see what there might be in this new -place. - -They hopped over the little rocks and climbed over the big ones; they -crawled over some and slid down others which were very slippery. For -the tide had gone out, and here and there the rocks held little pools -which the sun had not dried. - -There were shells and seaweed and starfish in these pools, but the -children did not stop to gather them, for they had seen others just -like them often before. They scrambled on towards a big, big rock that -stood up right across the way between the cliff and the foamy water. - -“We can’t go any further,” said Rose. - -“Oh, we must go further,” answered Kenneth. “Perhaps there is some big -discovery just beyond. Why, Rose, supposing Columbus had stopped the -first time he was discouraged, he would never have discovered America. -And then where should we be now?” - -Rose could not answer that question. So they decided to go on. Kenneth -helped Rose and Rose helped Kenneth, and they scrambled and climbed and -puffed and panted, and bumped their knees on the rock, which was the -hardest one that they had ever climbed. But at last they came to the -top; and beyond, down below, was a flat rock which the tide had just -washed clean as a spandy floor. - -“Pooh!” said Kenneth. “I don’t think _that_ is very much to find. I -hoped there would be at least a cave.” - -“Let’s go down,” said Rose. “I think it looks nice. See, there is a -shelf over the edge. Perhaps there is a cave or something under this -big rock. I want to go down and see.” - -So they began to slide and scramble again; and it is a great deal -easier to slide down than up, as every one knows. In a very few moments -Kenneth landed on all fours on the flat shelf of rock, and in another -minute Rose bumped down beside him. And then Rose said “Oh!” - -Now perhaps you think that she said “Oh!” because she had bumped -her little nose on the hard rock. But that was not the reason. Rose -scarcely ever cried, even when she bumped herself hard, for she was a -brave little girl, the nicest kind of a sister for a boy to have. - -No; Rose said “Oh!” because she had made a discovery. There was -something under the shelf of rock down which they had slid. There was a -pool of water; a long, shallow pool of sea-water as cold as ice, into -which Rose had plunged her foot. But that was not all. It was a tiny, -beautiful sea-garden full of flowers. - -Kenneth cried “Oh!” too, when he saw where Rose was pointing, and in a -minute the two children were lying flat on their stomachs staring at -the wonderful garden. My! But I wish you could have seen how wonderful -it was. I must try to tell you how it looked. - -In the first place, the bottom of the basin, the rocky pool in which -some of the sea-water had been glad to linger when the rest ran away -with the tide,--this bowl was of a brilliant pink, bright as Rose’s own -pink cheeks. It was covered with a thick painted coating like coral, -and I suppose some kind of little animal like a coral-creature had made -it so. In the next place, up from the pinkness grew tiny plants of -seaweed, green and brown and yellow, branching and spreading out like -little trees and bushes, and waving in the water just as trees do in -the wind. Among the seaweed lived pink and purple and yellow starfish -and little crawling periwinkles carrying their shell houses upon their -backs. Here and there a funny little hermit-crab scuttled busily about, -keeping tightly hold of the shell which he had stolen to be his home. -Among the leaves of the seaweed trees Rose spied a tiny conger eel -moving to and fro, waving his fins as though they were wings, this -queer ocean bird! - -But what made Kenneth and Rose cry “Oh, oh, oh!” three times out loud -and clap their hands with joy, was the living flowers. - -Living flowers! You have read in fairy-books about flowers that came -alive? But this is no fairy-story, and these flowers were real, truly -live flowers,--flowers that were happy and hungry, that ate and drank -and moved, opening and closing whenever they chose. - -Some of the flowers were brown,--little brown sacks, with a daisy -flower growing out of the end, waving its petals to and fro to catch -its dinner of tiny unseen things that live in the water. Some of the -flowers were green, some were yellowish pink, some pale greenish blue. -And they were all wide open under the water, staring up through it at -the blue sky. - -One flower was like a little ripe, red strawberry, growing from the -roof of the cave; just the size and shape of a juicy strawberry, and -looking good enough to eat. Each blue flower-star had a white centre, -and when Rose put her little finger down very carefully into this -mouth, it closed its petals tightly, for it thought it had found a nice -bit of dinner. It was a funny, tickly feeling, and Rose drew away her -finger quickly, but very gently so as not to hurt the sea-flower. Then -Kenneth put his finger into the mouth of one of the pinkish flowers, -and the petals did not move. He tickled the flower gently, and it -seemed to like the feeling, which I dare say was as new to the flower -as the flower was to Kenneth. For the children had never before seen a -garden of live flowers. - -[Illustration: LIVING FLOWERS] - -For a long time they lay and watched the wonderful little pool and the -beautiful flowers, that moved their petals so gracefully in the water. -And they never noticed that a storm was gathering out to sea. But by -and by they saw that the flowers were closing one by one, closing -tightly and not opening again. - -“Why, what makes the flowers go to sleep?” cried Rose sorrowfully. “It -is not night yet, and garden flowers do not close till the sun sets.” - -“It is growing dark,” said Kenneth. “There is a cloud coming over the -sun.” - -Sure enough! A heavy cloud rolled over the sun, and all the sea-flowers -closed their eyes tightly, just as earth-flowers do at night. Then -Kenneth and Rose sat up and looked around. My! They were surprised! A -heavy fog was rolling in from sea, and it was going to rain very soon. -They had been so interested in the flowers that they had not thought of -this. - -“Oh, it is going to rain!” cried Rose. - -“The flowers have warned us just in time. Let us hurry home, Kenneth, -before the fog shuts down so that we cannot see the way.” For they knew -how cruel the fogs were about the island, so thick and heavy that the -fishermen themselves were afraid of being caught in them, and of losing -the way home. - -The children jumped up and said good-by to the beautiful garden. Then -they climbed, slid, hopped, and scrambled back over the rocks towards -home, racing with the storm. And they reached the house just as the -first drops of rain began to fall. They rushed up onto the piazza, -where their mamma was looking anxiously for them. - -“Oh, Mamma,” they cried both together, “we have seen a garden of live -flowers.” - -“Pink and blue and red!” cried Rose. - -“And they closed tight so as to let us know that the storm was coming,” -said Kenneth. - -“What, you have found a pool of sea-anemones?” cried their mother, -delighted. “I am so glad! I did not know there were any on this -island.” - -“And will you come with us to-morrow to see them?” begged Rose. “We -will show you, but it is going to be a great secret. Sh! Don’t let any -one hear!” - -“I am not a good climber,” said their mother, shaking her head. “I am -afraid I cannot get down that steep cliff. But you must take your Aunt -Claire, who is coming to-morrow. She will love to go with you, I know.” - -“Oh, is Aunt Claire coming to-morrow? Hurray!” cried Kenneth. For the -children thought that their Aunt Claire was great fun. - -“Oh, yes! We will take Aunt Claire to see the flowers,” said Rose. “But -we mustn’t tell any one else.” - -“Yes, you must keep the discovery a great secret,” said their mamma. -“Some one might want to transplant the little flowers, and that would -be a great pity. You must let them live there in their own sea-garden -just as they are. But what clever little explorers you were to find -them!” - -And, indeed, it is not every one who can discover a garden of live -flowers outside a fairy-book. But this was nicer than any fairy-book, -as their Aunt Claire said when Kenneth and Rose showed it to her the -very next day after she came to the island. And she ought to know, for -she writes fairy-books and tells stories better than any one else, so -the children think. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -BURIED TREASURE - - -One day Kenneth and his father went out fishing with Captain Prout. -Rose and Aunt Claire did not care to go, because they did not enjoy -fishing. But instead they decided to spend the morning on the sandy -beach, not far from the cottage, which was a grand play-room and -bathing-place for the children. It was the only sandy beach on that -rocky island. - -Rose ran ahead of her Aunt Claire, and as soon as she reached the beach -she sat down to pull off her shoes and stockings. For in this lovely -play-room she never wore shoes, nor even sandals, but ran around with -bare toes on the smooth, soft floor, making funny little tracks just -as the sandpipers do. But of course Rose’s footprints were larger than -their three-toed ones. - -When they reached the beach they saw that the tide was very low, and -that the sand stretched out like a great sheet of paper, smooth and -white, without a mark upon it, from the seaweed line to the water. For -it was early in the morning, and they were the very first persons on -the spot. Yesterday they had made houses of sand and had dug deep wells -all up and down the beach. But in the night the sea had stolen up and -swept everything smooth again, even wiping out the tracks of feet which -had crossed and criss-crossed it everywhere,--Aunt Claire’s tennis -shoes, Kenneth’s and Rose’s little bare footprints, the deep tread -of the clam-digger’s rubber boots, and the sandpipers’ light steps. -The beach looked like a field covered with newly fallen snow on which -nothing has yet made a mark. - -Then Aunt Claire, who was always having splendid ideas, thought of a -lovely game to play upon this smooth whiteness. - -[Illustration: THE SAND STRETCHED OUT LIKE A GREAT SHEET OF PAPER] - -“Oh, Rose,” she cried, “let us play a new kind of hide-and-seek. I -will shut my eyes, and you take this pretty whirly-shell which we found -yesterday and hide it somewhere in the sand. Then I will try to find it -by following the track of your bare feet.” - -“Oh, goodie!” said Rose, clapping her hands. “That is a nice game. -Play I am a pirate going to hide my treasure in the ground, and you -are another pirate hunting for it. Blind your eyes, Auntie. Blind them -tight, and don’t you peek!” - -Aunt Claire blinded her eyes and waited until she heard Rose call, -“Coo!” like a pirate. Then she looked up, and Rose was standing in the -deep, soft sand not very far away. But Aunt Claire knew that she had -not hidden the treasure so near. Oh, no! Rose was too sly a pirate to -do that. - -Aunt Claire peered all around very carefully, and finally she spied -the marks of little bare toes in the sand near the spot where Rose -had stood when they first began to play. And she followed the tracks -down to the water and up again, winding about in the funniest -way,--something like this:-- - -[Illustration] - -Up and down and round about, twisting in and out, went the funny little -marks, till Aunt Claire’s head whirled dizzily. Rose clapped her hands -and laughed to see her trying to set her tennis shoes exactly in the -track of those crazy wanderings. But at last, close by the water’s -edge, Aunt Claire saw a little something which rose up like a bump on -the sand; and about it were the marks of finger-scrapings. She stooped -down and dug with her fingers, and soon she cried: “I spy!” and held up -the pretty shell which Rose had hidden. “The treasure is found!” said -Aunt Claire. “But what a search you made for me, wicked Pirate!” - -“It is a lovely game,” said Rose, hopping up and down with excitement. -“Now _you_ hide, Aunt Claire,” Rose put her hands over her eyes, and -her auntie came back to the soft sand in order to start fair on a -smooth piece of beach. Pretty soon she cried, “Coo!” And the marks of -her shoes looked something like this:-- - -[Illustration] - -“Oh, I never, never can find the treasure in all that whirly-whirly!” -cried Rose, shaking her curls like a Skye terrier. And indeed, it -looked very hard. But Rose walked right along in the big prints of her -auntie’s shoes, and without much trouble she found the shell where it -was hidden in the middle of the whirly-figure. - -“That was a good hide,” she said. - -They played the pirate game for a long time, until the sand was covered -up and down with the strangest patterns, and there was hardly room for -a fresh footprint anywhere; for this was not a large beach. - -“We shall have to stop, now, I suppose,” said Rose with a sigh, “and -wait until Mr. Sea has washed out all our marks with his ocean sponge. -See, he is creeping up and has begun already. To-morrow the beach will -be all smooth and white again so that we can show Kenneth how to play -buried treasure, too.” - -“Let us play just once more,” said Aunt Claire. “It is my turn to hide -the treasure, and I think I can find a place which will not be too -hard, all among these markings. Blind your eyes, little Pirate.” - -“All right,” said Rose, who was a very good-natured pirate. And she -closed her eyes. - -Now there was not much smooth sand for Aunt Claire to walk in, but she -managed to go up and down the beach in a funny parallel-lined pattern, -like this:-- - -[Illustration] - -And when she called, “Coo,” Rose started off upon the trail, laughing -every time she turned the sharp corner and came back upon the long -stretch up or down. - -At last she came to the little bubbly mound in the sand where Aunt -Claire had hidden the treasure. She stooped over and her yellow curls -swept the sand as she thrust in all her ten fingers with a shout of -triumph. Presently she jumped up with the treasure in her hand and -stood still, examining it curiously. Then she gave a squeal of joy and -came racing up the beach to her auntie, with her curls flying madly. - -“Why, Aunt Claire,” she cried, “it is a really, truly treasure, this -time! See what was hidden inside the whirly-shell!” and she held -up a bright ten-cent piece which she had pulled out of the little -treasure-box. - -“So there is,” said her auntie. “I wonder how it got there?” - -Rose looked at Aunt Claire and laughed. “I like this game; very -specially the end of it,” she said. “Now what shall we do next, Auntie?” - -“We can’t play here any more,” said Aunt Claire. “The beach is so -marked up that if a pirate should hide his treasure here he might never -be able to find it again. I would not risk mine, if I were you.” - -“No, I suppose I had better not,” said Rose, shaking her head. “I think -I ought to keep the money for the game to-morrow, shouldn’t I, Auntie?” -she added, rather wistfully. - -“Oh, no!” said Aunt Claire. “A pirate would never do that. You must go -up to the store and change it for merchandise. That is what pirates -always did in the old days.” - -“What is merchandise?” asked Rose brightening. Then with a sudden -thought, “Is candy merchandise?” And Aunt Claire said that it was. - -“Well, then, you must come with me to the store and share,” said Rose, -pulling her auntie by the hand. And away both pirates went to the -little village store which was about a mile from the cottage. - -“I think it is lovely to be a pirate!” cried Rose, as she danced along -the road with the ten-cent piece in her hand. “I am going to be a -pirate every single day.” - -“Oh, not every day,” said her auntie, in dismay. “The pirates did not -go pirating every day, or there would not have been treasure enough to -last. They did other things between whiles.” - -“I suppose they couldn’t go pirating when it rained,” said Rose -thoughtfully. “Perhaps it may rain to-morrow.” - -And it did. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -THE PIECED BABY - - -For a long time Rose had been wanting a little sister. Kenneth was the -very best brother that ever lived, and they had beautiful times playing -together. But Kenneth was growing to be a big boy, and he liked a great -many things that Rose did not enjoy,--fishing, for instance, which -made her very ill. And there were things which Rose liked that Kenneth -would not play with her. Rose thought if only she had a little sister -they two would like just the same sort of things. They could play dolls -together, and house, and tea-party, and have the most beautiful times -when Kenneth was away doing something very different. - -Rose had waited a long time for the little sister. She had spoken to -her papa and mamma about it months before, and they had said that -perhaps some time there would come a little sister for her. Rose -thought that Christmas would be a very nice time for the sister to -come. But although Santa Claus was very kind and had brought two little -kittens to Christine, the Christmas cat, and had brought Alice, her -beautiful new doll, to Rose herself, there had been no baby sister in -mamma’s stocking nor in papa’s. - -Rose was almost tired of waiting. She wanted the little sister so -much that one morning, when Kenneth had gone to dig clams with -Captain Prout, she cried all by herself out in the woods behind the -house,--cried as if her heart would break. Her Aunt Claire found her -there, and asked her what was the matter. Then Rose told her all about -it. - -“Have you asked the fairies to help you?” said Aunt Claire -sympathetically. Rose said that she had forgotten to do that. - -“Well, I would do so, if I were you,” said Aunt Claire gravely. “One -never knows what may happen if you can only get the fairies to help.” - -Rose thought over what her auntie had said all that day, and she -resolved to ask the fairies to help her at the very first chance she -had. She sometimes saw them, when she woke up between dreams at night, -and she hoped that very soon she should meet her friends again. It -happened sooner than she expected. - -That very night, when she had not been asleep very long, she was -suddenly awakened by a little silvery laugh. And when she opened her -eyes to see what had laughed, there in the moonlight at the foot of her -bed stood a beautiful Fairy in a silver dress. - -“Why, Rose, what are you crying about?” said the Fairy. - -“Was I crying?” said Rose. “I did not know it.” - -[Illustration: AWAKENED BY A LITTLE SILVERY LAUGH] - -“Yes,” said the Fairy. “You were crying in your sleep, sobbing so hard -that I heard you away off in Fairyland. So I knew something very sad -must be troubling you, and I came just as quickly as I could to my -little friend. What is it, Rose? What is the matter?” - -The Fairy spoke so kindly that Rose began to cry again. - -“Oh, I do so want a little sister!” she sobbed. - -“Well, why don’t you go about to get one?” asked the Fairy. - -“I don’t know how,” said Rose, blinking the tears in wonder. “Where can -I find one, dear Fairy?” - -“You can’t find a whole baby,” said the Fairy, “but you must gather her -in little pieces. Then perhaps my fairies will put her together for -you, like a patchwork quilt.” - -“I never heard of such a thing!” exclaimed Rose indignantly. “I don’t -want a pieced little sister, I want a nice whole one.” - -“Oh, very well,” returned the Fairy Queen carelessly, “but I’ll tell -you a secret. They are _all_ pieced that way, though nobody knows it. -The seams never show, we take such fine, fine stitches. But the pieces -must be carefully chosen. Haven’t you noticed how some babies have a -nose which doesn’t belong with the chin, or unmatched eyes, or ears -which are not a truly pair? You must do better than that, Rose. You -must choose carefully, so that your little sister will be symmetrical -and even,--the same on both sides.” - -“Oh, can I really do it?” cried Rose eagerly, sitting up in bed. “When -may I begin?” - -“Begin now,” said the Fairy. “I suppose you would like to have the -little sister as soon as possible?” - -“I would like her to-morrow!” cried Rose, jumping out of bed. “But how -shall I begin? Will you not help me?” - -“I cannot help you to collect the pieces,” answered the Fairy, “but I -will give you a hint. You might begin with a _face_ for your little -sister; and why not go to the clock for that?” So saying the Fairy -suddenly disappeared. - -“Go to the clock!” Rose gasped, “how very strange!” Then she looked -up at the tall old clock that faced her bed, and in the moonlight -the face seemed to be smiling at her. “It’s a queer face for a baby -sister to have,” thought Rose, “but the Fairy ought to know. I will -begin as she told me.” So she peeled the pillowcase from her pillow to -make a good big bag for the pieces which she was to collect. Then she -went up to the clock and said politely,--for he was an old friend of -hers,--“Please, Clock, I want your face to begin a baby sister.” Then -she took off the face and put it in the bottom of the pillowcase bag. - -“Now what must my little sister have next?” wondered Rose. “_Eyes_, of -course! But where shall I find eyes?” Just then her own eyes happened -to spy the pincushion on the bureau. “To be sure! Needles have eyes. I -will borrow two for my sister.” And into the bundle went two needles. -But Rose was careful that they should be just alike, as the Fairy had -warned. - -“Now I want a _nose_,” thought Rose. “What has a nose? Oh--a kettle.” -And very quietly, so as not to waken any one in the house, she ran down -into the kitchen, took the nose from the teakettle, and put that in the -bag. - -“A _mouth_; I must have a mouth next. Oh, yes, a bottle has a mouth,” -said Rose. She found one in the pantry, and its round mouth went into -the bundle with the eyes and nose. But there must be a _tongue_ to go -in the mouth. Rose thought and thought; but at last she remembered that -there was a tongue in her shoe, and that was added to the collection. - -“What about a _head_? She needs that for her face, her eyes and nose -and mouth; I forgot her head!” cried Rose. “Let me think. Why, yes, -a head of lettuce,--that is what I want.” And because it was summer, -warm and pleasant out of doors, Rose skipped right out in her nightie -and bare feet. The vegetable garden was behind the house, and there -Rose picked out a round head of lettuce, which she added to her funny -bundle. - -The garden made her think of something else. The baby must have _ears_, -and where should one look for ears if not in the cornfield? So away she -tripped to the cornfield, where for weeks she had been watching the -ears of corn grow plumper every day. Here she carefully selected two -pretty ears, just alike. - -“And now the little sister is ready and trimmed as far as her neck,” -thought Rose. “And for a _neck_, I know where I can find that. Mamma’s -white vase on the parlor mantel has a beautiful neck.” So back to the -house went Rose, and soon into the bundle with the other things went -the white vase. - -“Now let me see, baby must have a _body_. What is there that has a -body? The body of a--the body of a--what have I heard? The body of a -wagon; yes, that is it! But I can’t take Papa’s big wagon. A little one -will be nicer for a baby. I will take the body of Kenneth’s express -wagon,” and Rose pattered softly to Kenneth’s room, where the little -red cart went into the fast-growing bundle. - -Next Rose took the _arms_ of a sofa, two _legs_ of a chair, and two -_feet_ of a table. Then she went back to her own little room. “You poor -old clock,” she said to her now faceless friend, “I must rob you again. -Please, I want your two _hands_ for my little sister.” And the clock -had to give her his hands, whether he could spare them or not. Then -Rose remembered that the baby must have _nails_ on her hands and feet. -So she tiptoed very softly into Mamma’s room and got twenty nails from -the little carpenter’s chest which Mamma kept in her closet. - -By this time the pillowcase had grown very heavy and hard to carry, -like Santa Claus’s wonderful pack. Moreover, Rose was tired, for she -had been roaming around for a long time collecting the pieces of her -little sister. - -“I think I must have everything now,” she sighed, sitting down on the -edge of her bed. “Such a funny bundle! I hope little Sister will not -look very queer with all these strange kinds of features and things. I -wish the Queen of the Fairies would come and tell me what to do next.” - -Just at that moment Rose blinked and stopped talking, for in at the -window on a ray of moonlight came walking the Fairy Queen herself. She -smiled at Rose and nodded when she saw the big bundle. - -“Good!” she said. “You have done well. I hope that you haven’t -forgotten anything, for that would be awkward.” Rose shook her head -positively. “Very well,” went on the Fairy, “now empty out your bundle -upon the floor at the foot of the bed, put the pillowcase on the pillow -and go to sleep. As soon as your eyes are closed tight I will see what -my fairies can do with the pieces which you have collected. But mind, -you must not peep.” - -“No, I promise not to peep,” said Rose, and obediently she went to bed -and closed her eyes tight, and before she knew it she was sound asleep. - -Rose slept and slept and slept, later than usual. And it was not until -the old clock called out, “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, -_eight_!” that she opened her eyes with a pop and stared at him hard. -How could a clock speak without a face? But there the old fellow stood, -smiling at her as usual, with his hands pointing up and down quite -correctly. - -“Then it was only a dream after all!” sighed Rose, and there were two -tears in her eyes as she thought of the little sister whom she had -hoped to see this morning. “There wasn’t any Fairy Queen, and I didn’t -go about last night collecting eyes and ears and hands for a new baby. -Oh, dear! Oh, dear!” - -Just then there was a knock on the door, and Papa came into the room. -“Wake up, my little Rose,” he said, “and see what I have to show you -here! Something came in the night, something new and nice that you have -wanted for a long time.” - -“Oh, Papa,” gasped Rose, “what is it? Not a--not a little sister?” - -Papa looked surprised. “Why, how did you guess, Rose?” he asked. “That -is just what it is.” And he beckoned to Eliza, Rose’s own old nurse, -who came into the room with a tiny bundle in her arms. And there, -wrapped in soft flannel, was the pinkest, prettiest, cunningest little -baby you ever saw! - -“Oh, Papa!” cried Rose, clapping her hands. “It wasn’t a dream after -all. I did collect the pieces. Oh, I am so glad!” - -Papa looked puzzled, but Rose had no time now to explain about the -Fairy Queen. She was too busy examining the little pink bundle to see -if it was all there as she had planned. Yes, there were the eyes and -ears, the little hands and nails, all quite evenly matched. This was -no crooked, carelessly patched baby, this little sister of Rose’s. The -fairies had smoothed out all the pieces and made them beautiful, and, -as the Queen had promised, there was not one seam to show how it had -been done. Oh, how proud Rose was of the dear little nose and the pink -mouth! Suddenly her face clouded. The baby had opened its pink mouth -wide to let out a babyish howl, and Rose saw a dreadful sight. There -was not a single tooth there! - -“Oh, oh!” cried Rose, “I forgot her _teeth_. And there was my comb -lying on the bureau conveniently all the time. Oh, how careless I was! -Poor little Sister!” and she burst out crying. - -Nurse and Papa assured Rose that it was quite fashionable for a baby -to be toothless at first; that the little sister’s teeth would come -soon enough. But Rose could not believe it. She felt sure that she -had spoiled the baby, who would never be quite finished like other -children. It was only when, some months later, Papa and Nurse turned -out to be right and Rose felt the little hard teeth pushing through the -baby’s gums that she became quite happy and relieved. - -“I think that this was the Fairy’s doings, too!” said Rose. And indeed, -that did not seem more wonderful than the fact which Rose could never -explain,--that no one had missed the nose of the teakettle, nor the -neck of Mamma’s white vase, nor any of the other things which Rose had -collected to piece the baby. For, like the clock’s hands and face, they -were all in place as usual the very next morning after that exciting -night. But, as Aunt Claire said, of course it is useless trying to -explain anything which has to do with the fairies. Is it not so? - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -THE ALARM - - -One day Captain Prout said to Kenneth, “How’d ye like to go out with -me to-morrow morning to catch bait for my lobster traps? We’ll have to -start early,--right early for a little city feller like you. What do -you say to four o’clock?” - -“Oh, I can get up at four o’clock just as easily as at seven,” said -Kenneth proudly; “of course I will go with you, Captain Prout.” - -The Captain chuckled. “’Tain’t so easy as you think, to git up at -sunrise, when you ain’t used to it,” he said; “but you kin set an -alarm, I guess. You ask your father, an’ if he says you can go, -I’ll take you off from the beach in my boat to-morrow morning at -four-fifteen; that is, pervided you’re there, Sonny.” - -Of course he would be there! Kenneth asked his father if he might go, -and Mr. Thornton was quite willing, for he knew that Captain Prout -would be careful of the little boy. Kenneth did not tell his father how -early he must start. But without troubling any one he set the alarm -clock at four, and put it under the bed, so that it would be sure to -waken him in due season. - -Now, very early the next morning, when every one in the Thornton -cottage was sleeping soundly, two little figures came walking up -through the woods towards the back door. The little boy carried a -pail of milk, and the little girl walked beside him, and they looked -something like the children whom you see in the full moon,--Jack and -Jill. But these were not Jack and Jill. They were Tommy and Mary Prout, -Captain Prout’s twins, and it happened to be their turn to bring the -milk that morning to the Thornton cottage for Kenneth’s and Rose’s -breakfast. I don’t know what Kenneth and Rose would have done if the -little Prouts had forgotten to come with the milk. But they never -forgot, not once, all summer. There were six of them--three boys and -three girls--and every morning in July and August, whether it rained -or shone, two of them came two miles from Lobster Cove with the milk. -And they came very early,--so early that no one in the cottage ever -saw them do it. They were glad of this, for they were very bashful. -Whenever they were out in the woods or along the shore and heard any -one coming, they always scuttled away and hid like little frightened -animals. - -Sometimes Kenneth and Rose spied one or two of these children running -away through the woods, but they had scarcely ever seen their faces, -and did not know one from another. They called them just “the little -Prouts,” and thought them very queer. - -[Illustration: THEY WERE TOMMY AND MARY PROUT] - -But the little Prouts knew Kenneth and Rose much better. They often -watched them from a distance, when Kenneth and Rose did not know. And -they thought the Thornton children the most wonderful creatures that -ever lived, and their toys and their doings the finest ever known. -For you see, the little Prouts had no toys of their own, and were very -different from Kenneth and Rose in every way, except in being little -brothers and sisters. - -Tommy and Mary, who were just the age of Kenneth, came stealing very -quietly through the woods with the pail of milk, which they carried -around to the back door and set upon the step, ready for Katie to take -it when she came down to get breakfast. They had done their errand, and -now were they not ready to tramp home? Oh, no! They stood for a minute -listening, to be sure that no one was stirring in the cottage, and then -very softly they tiptoed around to the front of the house, where the -broad piazza was. Sometimes the city children left their toys all night -out on the piazza. The little Prouts knew this, for they had often -before done just this same thing in the early morning after their long -tramp with the milk. - -It was such a fine night that Rose had swung her doll’s hammock on -the piazza, and Alice, her beautiful new doll, was sleeping here very -sweetly. Rose had heard that it was good for children to sleep in the -open air. Kenneth had left his express wagon and his rocking-horse out -here, too. - -The little Prouts stood at the foot of the piazza steps, staring up at -these wonderful things. - -At last Mary Prout reached out her hand and touched her brother. “Ain’t -I dreaming?” she said. “No, I ain’t. But Tommy! Ain’t they beautiful!” - -Tommy took a step towards the piazza and paused, listening. There was -no sound in the house. “Let’s go up,” he whispered. “No one will ever -know. Come on.” - -The two children stole noiselessly up the steps and crept over the -piazza to the sheltered nook where the toys were safe from the dew. -Mary sank down on her knees beside Alice. “Oh, oh!” she breathed. “I -never saw anything so beautiful!” - -Tommy was looking eagerly at the rocking-horse. “Oh, how I wish ’t I -dared ride on him, just once!” he thought. He reached out his hand to -stroke the mane of the beautiful creature, the like of which he had -never before seen. And at the same moment Mary stretched a trembling -hand towards Alice’s golden curls. Think of having a doll like that for -your very own, to kiss and play with, and carry around wherever you -went! If only she might have it in her arms just once, Mary felt that -she should be happy all the rest of her days. - -But just at that moment there came a terrible sound, -“Pr-r-r-jingle-jangle! P-r-r-r-r! Jang-jang!” In the stillness it -seemed to sound louder than the loudest thunder. Tommy started as if he -had been shot. Poor Mary drew back her hand as if Alice’s yellow curls -had burned them. “Pr-r-r-jang-jang!” The dreadful noise continued, and -it came from inside the house. - -With one frightened leap Tommy and Mary were down the piazza steps. -Casting one wild look behind to see if they were being followed by the -terrible creature that was growling to warn and punish them for daring -to touch those precious treasures, they fled away like foxes across -the garden and into the woods at the back of the house. Poor little -frightened things! They thought that their early-morning secret had -been discovered, and never again would they dare to venture near that -piazza which was the only fairyland that they knew. - -Meanwhile what was going on inside the house? “Pr-r-r-jang-jang!” The -alarm clock still buzzed away fiercely. Kenneth had wound it up as far -as it would go, and for several minutes the bell rang, until every one -in the house, except Kenneth himself, was wide awake. - -Papa and Mamma woke up instantly. Mrs. Thornton’s first thought was -about the new baby. “Oh, John!” she cried, “has anything happened to -the baby? Do call Eliza.” - -Mr. Thornton was already out of bed. “It can’t be burglars,” he said, -“for we haven’t any burglars down here on the island, nor any burglar -alarm, either. Don’t be frightened. I will go and look through the -house.” - -In the hall he met Aunt Claire and the servants, shivering in their -wrappers. “Oh, John,” cried Aunt Claire, “is the house afire? I -certainly heard a fire-alarm.” - -“Nonsense!” said Mr. Thornton. “It must be some one pulling the -door-bell.” But when he went down to open the door, with the servants -following in a frightened, huddled group, there was no one waiting -outside. The piazza was empty. Only Alice swung peacefully in her -hammock, seeming not the least frightened. - -“It is very strange,” muttered Mr. Thornton. “It certainly seemed to me -inside the house.” - -In the hall outside the nursery he met old Eliza, the nurse. - -“Have you been into Master Kenneth’s room?” she asked. “I thought the -noise came from there, though I don’t see how it could be so.” - -“It can’t be, of course,” said Mr. Thornton, but he went into Kenneth’s -room, where the boy was still sleeping soundly. It was just at this -moment that Kenneth at last woke up. - -“What is the matter?” he murmured, blinking sleepily. “What is the -matter, Papa?” - -“We heard a bell ring,” said his father, “and Eliza thought that it -came from here. Did you hear it?” - -“No, Papa,” said Kenneth drowsily, “I didn’t hear any bell,” and -turning over he went fast asleep again. It was a quarter past four, and -Captain Prout was just rowing away from the beach, where he had looked -in vain for his little passenger. - -“I knew he would forgit to come!” he chuckled. - -From Kenneth’s room Mr. Thornton went to Rose’s. He found her standing -by the window in her little blue wrapper, looking out towards the -woods. - -“Oh, Papa, what is it?” she said eagerly. “Do you think it was the -fairies?” - -“Fairies? Why, what makes you think it was fairies?” asked Mr. -Thornton, “though I must confess that I don’t know what else it could -have been.” - -“I looked out of the window,” said Rose, “and I saw two little -creatures run into the woods as fast as they could go. One was a little -girl and one was a little boy, and I think they were fairies who had -been ringing our door-bell.” - -“Pooh-pooh! Fairies don’t ring doorbells,” said her father. “And -at this time in the morning it isn’t likely that any of the island -children were ringing our bell and running away, as the naughty boys -do in the city sometimes. I don’t understand it at all. But the noise -has stopped, so let us finish our naps, as Kenneth is doing. He is the -wisest of us all, not to bother his head about it.” - -And so they all went back to bed and slept soundly until breakfast time. - -At the breakfast table the first thing Kenneth said was,-- - -“Oh, goodness me! I was going to fish with Captain Prout at four -o’clock in the morning. But I didn’t wake up. How he will laugh at me! -But why didn’t my alarm clock go off?” - -“_Alarm clock?_” said his father. “So you set the alarm, did you? Well, -that accounts for everything. What a sleepy head you are, Kenneth!” - -Yes, that accounted for everything, except for Rose’s fairies. They -never were accounted for. And indeed, those poor little fairies never -again dared visit that scene of their terrible early-morning alarm. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -BROTHERS AND SISTERS - - -The summer passed away only too quickly, as summers do, and almost -before the children knew it the fall had come, and it was time to go -back to the city to school. It was very hard for Kenneth and Rose to -leave the island, with all its beautiful playgrounds and wonderful -playthings, so different from what one has in the city. And yet it was -pleasant to be back in the city, too, to see all their little friends -again, and to begin new studies at school. Kenneth and Rose soon forgot -to long for the beach, and the rocks, and the woods behind their little -summer home, they were so happy in their other home in the city. They -scarcely ever thought of the island nowadays, and when they did it -seemed very far away and unreal, almost like an island in a dream. They -forgot that there were people still living there to whom this was the -only home; people who would be there all through the long winter, when -the rough winds would sweep through those evergreen trees, _whew!_ so -loudly, and the waves would dash up over the bare rocks, _splash!_ -so fiercely, while all the island lay cold and dreary and deserted, -wrapped in a blanket of snow. - -One rainy Saturday morning Mrs. Thornton was dusting the shelves in the -play-room closet, where the children’s books lived. “Oh, dear!” she -sighed, “It is such a bother to take care of all these old magazines! -I wish I knew some one who would like these papers after you children -have finished reading them.” - -“All the other children have more books of their own than they can -read,” said Kenneth. - -“I know it,” said his mother. “But there might be _some one_ who would -be so glad to have the pictures and stories, if only we could know.” - -Rose was playing with her dolls in the window seat, when she had a -sudden idea. - -“Mamma!” she cried, clapping her hands. “Why can’t we send them away -off down to the island where the little Prouts live? Don’t you think -the little Prouts would like the magazines?” - -“That is a good idea, Rose,” said her mother. “I fancy the poor little -things never see a magazine. They will be sure to like the pictures, -anyway, whether they can read or not. I wonder if any of them can read?” - -“I don’t know what their names are,” said Rose, “but there are ever so -many of them, boys and girls. Mamma, I should like to send my magazine -to the little girl Prouts.” - -“And I will send mine to the Prout boys,” said Kenneth promptly. “Won’t -they be glad to see it coming, every week?” - -“Yes, indeed they will,” said Mrs. Thornton. “And you must be sure not -to disappoint them. If you are going to send the magazines at all, I -want you to do it regularly, every week. It will be a good practice -lesson in remembering. Promise not to forget, children, if I let you -send the papers this time?” - -“We promise, Mamma, we promise,” said Kenneth and Rose. And that -promise was the beginning of a very interesting thing. - -Every week after that, when they had finished reading their two -magazines, Kenneth and Rose rolled them up, each in brown stamped -wrapper, and Rose wrote on hers in big letters, “The Misses Prout,” and -Kenneth wrote on his “The Masters Prout,” and they sent them away down -to the island in Maine. It wasn’t much trouble to do that. But my! you -should have seen what pleasure it gave the little Prouts. - -All the year round, in summer and in winter, too, the little Prouts -lived with their father, Captain Prout, in a tiny cottage on the -island, close beside the sea. It was a very nice place in the summer; -for then, like Kenneth and Rose, they were happy all day long, playing -out of doors, fishing and picking berries. But best of all, they -enjoyed carrying the milk to the Thornton cottage on the cliff, two -miles away. For then they sometimes had a peep at the wonderful things -which the strangers had brought to the island, and at the two children -playing at games which were so different from any ever before seen -thereabout. The little Prouts used almost to quarrel over their turns -to carry the milk. - -But in the fall the summer people sailed away. Then the little Prouts -went to school for a time, as they did in the spring; and that was -pleasant, too. But in the winter there was no school, because of the -cold and the deep snow, and the long road which the island children -had to travel to the schoolhouse in the village. Also it was hard to -get a teacher for these bitter winter months. The winters were lonely -enough for the little Prouts. They seldom saw any other children, and -there was not much for them to do except housework and patchwork and -knitting, and helping father to mend nets and make lobster-pots for -the next summer. - -The little Prouts had few playthings. They hardly knew what playthings -were. They had seen Kenneth’s express wagon and rocking-horse, and -Rose’s beautiful dolls on the piazza of the cottage. They had almost -dared to touch the wonderful things one early morning; but a terrible -alarm had warned them away, so they knew that these marvelous and -lovely things were not meant for children like themselves. They thought -that the city people were a different kind of creature. - -Tom and Mary and Susan knew how to read, but they had no books. On the -island people did not read much, because there were no books. In some -houses there was not even a Bible. There was no public library. There -was no Sunday-school library, for there was not even a church on the -island. In summer a minister came there to spend his vacation, and he -preached every Sunday on the hill-top near the village. But in winter -every one, even the minister, seemed to forget the island. The little -Prouts were very ignorant, and they wondered if the Lord himself forgot -the island in the dreary months of snow and cold. - -“Of course He forgets,” said Tommy, when they were talking about it one -day. “He lives in the city, and comes down here only in the summer, -just as the city people do.” - -“But He must remember us,” sighed little Polly. “The minister said He -was our Father.” - -“Pooh!” said Tommy scornfully. “He ain’t our Father, either! You know -he ain’t. He is _their_ Father in heaven. I heard them talking to Him, -one day, on the hill.” - -“But the minister said He was everybody’s Father, Tommy,” answered Mary -wistfully. - -“But how _can_ He be?” argued Tommy. “He is the Father of Kenneth and -Rose Thornton, and of people like them who live in the city. He can’t -be our Father, too; for if He was, we should be the brothers and -sisters of Kenneth and Rose. And you know we ain’t that.” - -“Oh, no! We ain’t that!” echoed all the little Prouts sadly, and then -they were silent for a long time. The little girls sighed, and their -lips trembled. They admired Rose Thornton more than anybody they had -ever seen. Many and many a time when Rose did not know it, the little -Prout girls were peeping at her from behind some big tree in the woods -or rock on the shore; wondering at her long, golden curls and at her -pretty, pink skin, which never seemed to grow brown and rough like -theirs, and at the simple little dresses, which seemed wonderfully -beautiful to them. Rose’s blue cambric frock with the red leather belt -and red hair-ribbon was their favorite. - -The Prout boys thought that Kenneth was the most wonderful person, with -his bicycle and his Indian suit and bow and arrows. But they never -dreamed of speaking to Rose or to Kenneth. They were ashamed even to -be seen by them, and always ran away and hid, especially after that -terrible morning of the early alarm. Oh, no! Of course these children -could not be their brothers and sisters! - -It was at the end of that very same day, the longest, dreariest day -of early winter, when the little Prouts had agreed that the Father -had forgotten the island, that the magazines began to come. Tim Parks -drove four miles from the village to bring them, he was so curious to -know who could have been sending things to “The Masters Prout” and “The -Misses Prout.” For no one had ever before sent any mail to the Prout -family. These were postmarked from the city, too! - -“Something for the Masters Prout, and something for the Misses Prout!” -he called out as he pushed open the door. “I thought I’d jest bring ’em -over for ye.” And he handed the packages to Tommy and Mary. - -What an excitement there was then! They tore open the wrappers, and -behold! A boy’s magazine and a girl’s magazine, full of pictures and -stories. The children danced around, shouting and laughing. Somebody -had sent them papers from the city! They were not quite forgotten! - -“Who sent ’em? That is what I want to know,” said Tim Parks. - -But there was no word or scrap of writing to tell, and Tim could not -find out what he longed to know. - -“Wall, I guess they jest came from the magazine shop,” said Tim at -last, as he went out of the door. But the children looked at one -another. They knew better. - -“You said He had forgotten, and He sent these to show He hasn’t,” -whispered Mary to Tom. And the children looked at the papers with a -feeling of awe and pride. - -What continued joy there was for the little Prouts in those generous -pages! Mary and Tom read every word aloud to the others, and to the -whole family; for the father and mother were as much interested as the -children. There was a continued story, and that was the most exciting -of all. For it was one of the best stories that Aunt Claire had ever -written. But, alas! it stopped short at the most thrilling part. - -“Oh, dear!” cried Mary, when she had read the last word aloud to her -big-eyed audience. “Why does it stop? Now we shall never know how the -Princess got out of the Giant’s castle!” - -Those papers lasted the little Prouts for a whole week. And they had -not begun to tire of them when--another set of magazines came! Captain -Prout happened to go to the village that day, and Tim Parks came -running out to him from the post-office. - -“More mail for the Misses and the Masters Prout, Cap’n!” he called. -“I guess your children are goin’ to have ’em come reg’lar. Ain’t it -wonderful who sends ’em?” - -What a shriek of joy went up from the little Prouts when they saw -what Father brought them that night! “Now we shall know about the -Princess!” cried Mary, and they could hardly wait for supper to be over -before they continued the wonderful tale. This part was to be continued -also; but there was no such wail of anguish when the last word was read. - -“Oh, I’s sorry it’s done,” sighed little Polly; “but I guess the rest -will come next week. Don’t you?” - -And somehow, even Tommy was hopeful this time. “Yes, I guess He hasn’t -forgotten us, quite,” he confessed to Mary before they went to bed. - -If only Kenneth and Rose could have seen what joy their story papers -gave to the little Prouts! Every week through all that bitter winter, -in sun or in shine, through snow and sleet, as regularly as a Saturday -came, one of the Prouts tramped four miles to the village for the -precious magazines. And always the other little Prouts were waiting -breathlessly for him to return, fearful lest this time the papers might -not have come. They were always looking out of the window, a row of -little heads, one above another. - -[Illustration: WHAT A SHRIEK OF JOY WENT UP] - -“Did it come?” they would cry, making signs of eager question as soon -as the messenger appeared in sight, and he would shout and wave the two -wrappers over his head, whereat all the children would begin to jump up -and down with joy. - -It would have been a dreadful thing if Kenneth or Rose had once -forgotten to send the papers. But they never did, though they could -not guess how much depended upon their remembering that simple little -promise which they had made. - -No, Kenneth and Rose could not possibly know what the sharing of that -single one of their pleasures meant to the little Prouts, and to all -the other island children besides,--for in the end the whole island -saw the magazines. They were passed on from family to family all that -winter, and were literally worn to rags by the thumbing of many little -fingers, and big ones, too. - -The Prouts were learning a great deal about many things, nowadays. It -was almost as good as going to school. All that winter they lived in a -new world of constant change. The little cottage was no longer dreary -or lonely. Their stupid tasks were no longer tiresome, for they had -the beloved magazines to read when all was done. They had the children -of those stories for their companions and friends, and they began to -understand, ever so dimly, that all the children of the world are -little brothers and sisters to one another. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -TOMMY’S LETTER - - -One day they were talking about it, all together. - -“God is our Father, as the preacher said,” declared Mary. “I read it -to-day in the magazine, don’t you remember?” - -“Yes,” agreed Tommy, “it must be He who sends the papers to us, for -nobody else knows about us. But He knows everything,--the preacher said -so.” - -“I wish we could thank Him,” said little Polly. “He has been so good -not to forget us.” - -“I am going to write to Him,” said Tommy suddenly; “there is a -Letter-Box in the paper, and boys and girls write to it every week. I -am going to write and tell the Lord how we thank Him.” - -And forthwith Tommy sat down and wrote to the magazine a letter -something like those which he read every week in the Letter-Box,--yet -different. An island letter would have to be different. This is what -Tommy wrote: - - LUCKY ISLAND, MAINE. - - DEAR MAGAZINE,--You kum evry weak, an i dono ow we got long witout - You. The aint nobody in the Sity to tel You how to get to This - jumpin-of plais, so we no that Our Father must send You evry weak. - An we wanter Thanx him but we dono ow. Plees put this Leter in the - Leterbox sos he wil see. He dont kum here in Wintr its so lonsum I - gess he wood be glad if he knu ow hapy he made 6 litl chilren way - down in Maine. I hop he will send it evr an evr we havnt nothin els - to red. - Yours truly, - TOMMY PROUT. - -The editor of the magazine did not often print a letter spelled as -badly as this one of poor Tommy Prout, who was eight years old, but -who only went to school in the spring and fall. But when the editor -read that letter he blew his nose and wiped his glasses and said:-- - -“Yes, I’ll print your letter just as it is, Tommy Prout, and I think it -will please Him whom you wish to thank, even if some one else mails the -paper for Him every week.” - -So that is why, some days later, when Kenneth Thornton was carelessly -cutting the leaves of his new magazine, he suddenly gave a surprised -whistle. The name of his beloved summer island had caught his eye, at -the head of a letter in the Letter-Box. - -“Oh, Mamma,” he cried, “see, here is a letter from our island. And it -is signed, ‘Tommy Prout.’ But I can’t make out the funny spelling.” - -Then Kenneth’s mamma read the letter aloud, and it did not sound so -queer as it looked. When she had finished there were tears in her eyes -and in Rose’s, too. And Kenneth was winking queerly. - -“The dear little fellow!” said Mamma. “Just think what it means to them -to have those papers that you don’t care for. O children, our Father -surely did put it into your heads to send the magazines; so Tommy is -right.” - -“And we will send them ‘ever and ever,’ as Tommy hopes, won’t we, -Kenneth?” cried Rose eagerly. - -“Course we will,” said Kenneth promptly. - -“I’d like to write a letter to the little girl Prouts,” mused Rose. “It -must be awfully lonesome on the island in winter.” - -“We must wait till next summer, Rose dear,” said her mamma. “We have -been bad neighbors to those little children, and we must get acquainted -with them first. The little Prouts do not know us, and it is our fault. -But another summer we will know them. And then we will plan what we can -do to make their winters less lonely. Poor babies!” - -“I’d like to send them a Christmas box,” said Kenneth, who had been -thinking all this time. “I’ll send the boys a lot of books and candy -and things.” - -“And I’ll send some to the girls,” cried Rose, clapping her hands. “Oh! -That will be fine,--and a doll for each one.” - -“That is a good plan,” said Mrs. Thornton. “We will certainly do it. -How selfish we have been to care for our beautiful island only while -we were there, and to forget our neighbors who live there all the year -through! Just think, Kenneth and Rose, those children believe that our -Father doesn’t come there in winter. We must change that, and show them -that He is watching all His children all the time.” - -Kenneth and Rose had a beautiful time making ready that Christmas box. -Into it they put all the things that they had first thought of, and -a great many beside. And they sent it so that it reached the island -on Christmas eve. Tim Parks brought it over to the Prouts the next -morning. - -“I guess your friend who sends you the magazines has sent you something -fine for Christmas,” he grinned, as he carried the heavy box into the -room where the six little Prouts stood gaping with wonder. “‘The Misses -and the Masters Prout!’” he cried, reading the label. - -Mary squeezed Tommy’s hand and whispered something as they all crowded -around while the box was being opened. And Tommy nodded wisely. - -On the top of the box, inside, was a card which read: “Merry Christmas -to the little Prouts, from a brother and a sister who read Tommy’s -letter in the Letter-Box. The kind Father watches over us all alike, -on islands and in the big cities, and He bids us love one another, -especially on His birthday.” - -A brother and a sister in the city! That news was almost more welcome -than the box itself. If Kenneth and Rose could have seen those six -little Prouts and have heard their squeals of joy when the box was -unpacked, they would have been glad indeed that they had remembered to -be brotherly and sisterly. - -The magazines which kept coming “ever and ever” and the books that were -in that Christmas box were the beginning of the Island Public Library, -of which every one is now so proud, and of many other good things which -happened to the island and especially to the little Prouts. - -For in summers after that they grew to know and to love their -neighbors, the city children. Kenneth and Rose have been a good brother -and sister to the little Prouts ever since; and it is as good a fortune -for Kenneth and Rose as it is for the little Prouts. - - - The Riverside Press - _Electrotyped and printed by H. O. Houghton & Co. - Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A._ - - - - -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: - - - Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. - - 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 BROTHERS AND SISTERS *** - -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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