Abbie Farwell Brown

“ 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 [35] bundles before his face and seemed trying to tempt him to pluck their magic fruit. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ But they are good jokes, are they not? One never tires of them, does one?” And again he grinned at Kenneth maliciously.
“I AM APRIL FOOL”
[41] “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!” ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Papa was down town in [4] 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. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ 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?” ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 [30] 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. ”

“ For the children had never before seen a garden of live flowers.
LIVING FLOWERS
[93] 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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! ”

“ 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 [114] softly to Kenneth’s room, where the little red cart went into the fast-growing bundle. ”

“ 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 [12] 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.” ”

“ 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.”
[16] 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. ”

“ 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, [151] they would have been glad indeed that they had remembered to be brotherly and sisterly. ”

“ 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.”
[127] 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.” ”

“ You must let them live there in their own sea-garden just as they [96] 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 [138] sisters of Kenneth and Rose. And you know we ain’t that.” ”

“ 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 [55] 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. ”