Mabel C. Hawley

“ Simmonds' bull," suggested Meg.
"Don't you think we ought to go down and drive him off?" asked Bobby, quite as if driving bulls off his aunt's lawn was a nightly task with him. "Or I'll go alone—I'm the man of the house."
As a matter of fact, he was. Aunt Polly and Linda slept in rooms across the hall at the back of the house, and apparently had heard nothing. But Meg had no idea of letting her brother face a bull alone.
"I'm coming, too," she whispered. "Let's put on our shoes—you know how wet the grass is at night. And here's a blanket, so you won't catch cold." ”

“ And the currant jelly was the reddest you ever saw, and certainly the pumpkin pie was the yellowest! Pale little Miss Florence, who sewed all day long, day after day, week after week, for the people in Oak Hill and who had no family of her own to love her, said she had never tasted such delicious stuffing as came out of the big brown turkey, and as for Mrs. Jordan and Paul they ate as though a good dinner was a solemn and important affair, and perhaps it was to them.
“It isn’t snowing, is it, Daddy?” said Twaddles, the moment dinner was over. ”

“ The four little Blossoms saw them coming, Father Blossom in the lead. Such a change had come over Mr. Harley! His shoulders sagged, he scuffed his feet and his eyes were heavy and dull.
"I suppose you know?" he said wearily to Mother Blossom, as he climbed into the car and Father Blossom took the wheel. "If I only knew where she went! But she quarreled with her people when she married me, and I never rightly knew where they lived, or who they were."
"You'll probably find her," Mrs. Blossom tried thus to encourage him. "It isn't easy for a woman with two children to drop out of sight, you know. ”

“ They reached the school house just as the first bell rang, and all that afternoon first Meg, then Bobby, would glance at the windows, fearful lest they see the whirling white flakes that would mean they could not go after the eggs. But three o'clock came and still no snow.
"I said it wouldn't!" announced Bobby triumphantly, meeting Meg at the door, for he had had to go down to the cellar and borrow a match from the janitor to light the little charcoal stove Mother Blossom had given him to carry in his pocket.
"Feel how warm." Bobby held out the stove for Meg to hold in her hand. ”

“ The four little Blossoms glanced uncertainly at each other.
"Polly Hayward," said Mother Blossom gayly, "you know perfectly well no one could get four children ready to take a journey in three days. Why, Dot has absolutely nothing to wear!"
"Oh, I'll lend her something," smiled Aunt Polly.
The children laughed at the idea of Auntie lending any dress of hers to small Dot.
"We'll fix it somehow," declared Aunt Polly comfortably. "I simply have to have those youngsters for a visit at Brookside. We're all getting so fat and lazy with no one to stir us up. Even the dog and cat need rousing." ”

“ The noise in the school yard ceased with a suddenness that was surprising. The gong rang again and a trampling and scuffling through the halls announced that the boys and girls were marching up to their classrooms. Miss Mason took her place at the door, and as a long line marched into her room she directed them where to sit. Meg wondered what she was to do with her hat.
“Beginning with the first aisle, the girls may go to the cloak room and hang up their hats,” announced Miss Mason, just as if Meg had spoken aloud. “Then after all the girls have returned, the boys may go, aisle by aisle. ”

“ The twins were scrambling over the rocks and they heard Meg's cry. Mother Blossom had kept them as long as she could, but they had insisted on setting out a half hour before noon and they had run most of the way, the lunch basket bumping wildly in time to their steps. Their faces red from the heat and streaming with perspiration, they burst into the ruins of the Harley house just as Bobby brushed the dirt from his find. ”

“ Then he skated away, with Fred Baldwin after him.
“Don’t you mind him,” whispered Meg to Bobby, as they joined hands and struck out across the ice. “He just likes to be mean.”
It did seem as though Tim liked to be mean. He and Charlie Black, instead of skating off with the others, hung around the edges of the pond and tried to tease the younger children who were amusing themselves by making slides on the ice. There were half a dozen who had no skates and these played with Twaddles and Dot. Left alone, they would have had a happy time, but Tim and Charlie continually tormented them. ”

“ Great high banks of snow rose on either side of the creek, and when they reached the twin oaks, so called because the two trees had grown together to form one trunk, where they must turn off to reach Mrs. Anson's house, Meg and Bobby had trouble finding a foothold.
They took off their skates and managed to scramble up the bank, however, and then found themselves in a field of snow, unbroken save for a few little dots and dashes that they recognized as rabbit tracks.
"They don't clean off their walks, do they?" giggled Meg. "How do you tell where Mrs. Anson's house is?" ”

“ Do we stop there? Yes, we do! Come on, Dot, let's watch!" shouted Twaddles, as the steamer headed inshore toward a pier built out into the water.
"Keep away from the gangplank," warned Mother Blossom. "You mustn't get in people's way, dear."
The pier was something of a disappointment, because when the boat tied up there the children discovered that only freight was to be taken off and more boxes carried on. There was only one man at the wharf, and apparently no town for miles.
"Doesn't anybody live here?" asked Twaddles, almost climbing over the rail in his eagerness to see everything. ”

“ Mother Blossom and Miss Florence laughed.
“I begin to think the other children are the attraction, not school,” said Mother Blossom. “However, Meg must run along if she is to be back by lunch time. I’ll give you and Bobby each fifty cents, dear. And suppose Dot and Twaddles have a quarter each to spend? Going to school without a shiny new pencil box isn’t to be thought of, I’m sure.”
Meg and Dot ran downstairs and found Twaddles and Bobby had tired of teaching Philip to jump through a hoop, and were busily cracking stones in the driveway. ”

“ What color is the car, Bobby?"
"Black—no, blue, dark blue!" cried Bobby.
As the comfortable touring car drew up at the curb and the smiling driver waved a gloved hand at the eager group on the porch, Dot jumped up and down with excitement.
"Take me, Daddy?" she shrieked. "Aren't you going?"
Pell-mell the children raced down the garden path and Mrs. Blossom followed more leisurely.
"Aren't you going?" Dot kept repeating. "Aren't you going?"
"You don't care much where you go, do you, Dot?" asked her father whimsically. "The main idea with you seems to be to keep moving. ”

“ Bobby and Twaddles were almost at the end of the load.
"Yah! yah! bet you upset!" taunted Tim Roon, who had watched enviously as Dave arranged his passengers.
"You keep still!" shouted the boys on the big sled. "All ready, Dave!"
With a sudden rush, the bobsled started. Dot clutched Meg frantically, and even Twaddles was startled. They had no idea it would seem so "different." The wind almost took their breath away, but they still had enough to scream with. You've noticed, haven't you, how every one on a bobsled just naturally screams when it is flying down a steep hill? ”

“ All eyes were fastened on the beautiful big tree which towered nearly to the ceiling. It was sprinkled with tissue-paper packages and looked as mysterious as though Santa Claus had trimmed it himself.
There was an hour or so of work in the classrooms, putting the desks in order for the holiday recess, and making sure that no loose papers were left in the books, and then the gong sounded again and the whole four grades [100] marched back to the assembly hall for the exercises. ”

“ They had reached the house by this time, and the little Blossoms dashed up the stairs to find their mother and tell her all the news. The twins listened eagerly, for the slightest word about school never failed to enthrall them.
“So I think Tim Roon is hateful,” concluded Bobby, when he had finished telling Mother Blossom about the unfortunate snake. “And Charlie Black is just like him.”
“Now, children,” said Mother Blossom firmly, “you needn’t tell me any child is hateful, I don’t care who he is or what he does. ”

“ Let's get the trunk down right away, Mother."
"Well, I wouldn't, not till Daddy comes home," said Aunt Polly, fanning herself and smiling. "A week is plenty of time, and I hear that Dot has to have some new frocks made."
"Is Daddy coming?" Bobby asked suddenly.
"I wanted him to, for I think he needs a rest," said Aunt Polly soberly. "But the most we could get him to promise was that he might come up with your mother when it is time for you to go home."
"Mother's going—she said so," Meg reminded her aunt.
"Only to take you to Brookside, Daughter," explained Mother Blossom. ”

“ Captain Jenks thought his boat was a beauty. Bobby thought so, too.
"Like boats?" the captain asked him, finding the little boy at his elbow.
"I don't know much about them," admitted Bobby. "Shall we have a boat like this? Daddy left the car in the garage."
"A car's no good on the water," said the captain loftily. "What you want is a seaworthy, tight little craft. You're going to live in the Winthrop bungalow, aren't you? Well, then, you'll have two rowboats."
"Then Dot and I can have one," Twaddles remarked with satisfaction. ”

“ The afternoon period rather dragged, though Miss Mason, the teacher, read them stories about the frozen North and their geography lesson was all about the home of the polar bear.
"My, I was tired of listening," confided Bobby, hurrying home with Meg at half-past three. "What do we care what polar bears do when we've got snow all ready to use ourselves?"
"Feels like more, doesn't it?" said the scarlet-cheeked Meg, trotting along in her rubber boots, her blue eyes shining with anticipated fun. "Can't I steer good now, Bobby?"
"'Deed you can," returned Bobby. "You steer better than most girls. ”

“ Meg was waiting her turn impatiently.
“I have the longest piece!” she began breathlessly the moment Bobby finished. “Five verses, Mother! And we’re not going to have any time to study in school! Will you hear me?”
Mother Blossom said of course she would, and Meg began studying her verses that very night after supper.
“You’ll have to have a new white dress,” decided Mother Blossom. “You’re growing so fast, Meg, that none of your summer dresses will do. I’ll have to call up Miss Florence and see, if you can stop in to be measured to-morrow.” ”

“ The mention of the carpenter was enough for Fred. He tossed his precious football out of the window and climbed after it, hastily followed by the other boys. All breathed a sigh of relief as they landed safely on the ground.
“H. Bennett,” read Bobby, looking up at the sign which hung over the door. “Does Mr. H. Bennett own the shop, Bertrand?”
“Yes, he’s the carpenter,” replied Bertrand, “and he has men who go out and work for him. He lives up near the school.”
“Oh, yes, I know that man,” said Palmer. ”

“ Twaddles ate the first dozen berries he picked and then he picked another dozen for Dot's pail. He decided that larger and better berries grew on the other side of the fence. He crawled under and his shout of delight brought the others.
"You never saw such big ones!" cried Twaddles gleefully. "Meg, look!"
"They are big," agreed Meg. "Come on, Bobby, let's go on the other side. Mr. Simmonds won't care."
Dot was already under the fence, and Meg and Bobby stooped down and crawled under after her. ”

“ The little bathing beach was not too far from the bungalow, and Father Blossom was an excellent swimmer. He taught each child to swim and very cunning Twaddles and Dot looked in the water. Dot wore a scarlet bathing cap on her dark hair and her bathing suit was red, too, while Twaddles wore a navy and white suit. Meg's suit was a lighter blue and her cap was white, and Bobby had a brown suit like Father Blossom's. The children thought that no one could look lovelier than their mother in her black and white suit and cap to match, and indeed Mother Blossom was growing prettier every day. ”

“ Bobby and Meg pulled him back into the sleigh and he held out the glove for them to see. Sam Layton whistled in surprise when he examined it.
"Well, Twaddles, you were right and I was wrong," he said. "This is a good glove; it's fur lined and almost new. Somebody is out of luck—one glove is about as useless as one shoe lace."
"Maybe we'll find the man," Twaddles declared placidly.
"You believe in luck, don't you?" said Sam, starting the horse on his way again. "That glove must have been dropped from some wagon or car and probably last night. I think we're the first folks through here to-day." ”