Mabel C. Hawley

“ 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. ”

“ Bennett to risk getting out warrants. But, suppose he did: do you think I want my son, and would your fathers want you, to run away instead of facing this trouble and seeing it through?”
“But I thought you wouldn’t like me to be arrested,” cried Bobby. “And all the girls in school would tease Meg.”
“I don’t want you arrested,” said Father Blossom earnestly, “and Meg would feel very bad if that should happen and so would Mother. But, Bobby, that would be something you could not help. People can not help getting into trouble sometimes, but they can always help being afraid. ”

“ That is Meg and Dot and Twaddles talked, but Bobby remained silent.
“I hope there will be skating,” said Meg. “If there is anything I love it is skating. I don’t know which is more fun, skating or coasting.”
“I like skating better,” declared Twaddles. “Don’t you, Dot?”
“Yes,” agreed Dot, “I do. And I’m going to ask Daddy to buy us some skates. I’m sure we’re old enough to have ’em this year.” ”

“ 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. ”

“ The four little Blossoms always trimmed their own Christmas tree, and right after lunch they went to work. Uncle Dave insisted on helping and he was so tall and had such long arms that he was every bit as good as a step-ladder. How he laughed when Twaddles, watching him admiringly, told him this.
“I must tell Aunt Miranda that,” he chuckled. “She always says I put things out of her reach. She is so short that what I put away on the closet shelves, she has to stand on a chair to get down.” ”

“ Mother Blossom pretended to scold. “Dot will go to college of course. Isn’t she going when she is a big girl? You may be the professor and Dot one of your students.”
“But, Mother, I don’t know how to play college,” said Twaddles. “Dot doesn’t, either. You tell us how.”
Mother Blossom thought a moment. She was used to planning plays for the twins and even Meg and Bobby sometimes came and asked her to tell them “something to play.”
“Why don’t you hold entrance examinations, Twaddles?” said Mother Blossom, after she had thought while the twins watched her anxiously. ”

“ After all the presents had been seen, and the four little Blossoms had so many toys and games that Father Blossom said folks must have made a mistake and thought they didn’t have a single thing to play with before, Mother Blossom reminded them that they were to feed the birds. The children did this every year, tying pieces of suet to long strings and hanging these in the trees where the birds could easily find them. They also sprinkled plenty of bread-crumbs in dry sheltered places, off the ground so that no cats should bother the birds at dinner. ”

“ Bobby nodded and Father Blossom laughed.
“Now, Twaddles, don’t begin to see a nice comfortable walnut bureau like the one in Mother’s room going around collecting food for the poor folk,” he said teasingly. “I can see your big eyes beginning to wonder what a Charity Bureau is. That is only a name for the kind men and women who go around taking care of hungry and cold people.”
But though Dot continued to tease to be allowed to go to school the next day, Twaddles’ [16] busy little brain kept thinking about the “Charity Bureau.” ”

“ Mother Blossom laughed and said she thought that Charlotte knew about Dot and Twaddles.
“You wouldn’t have much fun at this party, dears,” she told the disappointed youngsters. “The children who are asked are several years older than you; I’ll tell you what we’ll do when Meg and Bobby go to the party. We’ll have one of our own. Dot may set the dolls’ table and Norah will give her something good to eat and I will come upstairs and play with you myself. ”

“ Meg was only six years old, but she could steer a sled as well as Bobby and her small friends knew it.
“Don’t take Hester,” said Marion Green to Meg. “She always screams and makes folks think she is hurt. And once she grabbed my brother and pulled him right over backward.”
Marion Green and Hester Scott were both in Meg’s class at school. Hester was a fat little [124] girl and generally smiling. But now she looked ready to cry.
“I haven’t been down the hill once this whole afternoon,” she declared. “I’ll lend Dot my sled, Meg, if you’ll take me down. ”

“ You may imagine how the four little Blossoms glued their faces to the front windows to watch for Father Blossom, and what a racket they made when the car turned in the drive. They were out on the porch in a minute, dancing in the cold like four little wild Indians.
“Come in, come in,” said Father Blossom laughing as they pounced upon him. “You are not little Eskimos, you know. ”

“ The glowing heater occupied one end of the cemented room and the laundry tubs the other. In between were the vegetable and fruit bins and closets where food [11] that would keep through the winter had been stored.
“Norah says we don’t use soap on the potatoes,” reported Meg to Dot. “Maybe we shouldn’t have hot water, either.”
“Course we need hot water,” insisted Dot, who was already splashed from head to foot. “Hot water is the only way to get ’em clean.”
“There’s Sam—we’ll ask him,” said Bobby as someone opened the door of the cellar and came in, bringing a blast of cold, fresh air. ”

“ When they told of the pumpkin Edward Kurler had brought and of the trouble Tim Roon had made for himself, Twaddles listened breathlessly, but Dot turned up her small nose.
“Huh!” she said scornfully. “I think Edward [36] is a very queer boy. Nobody could eat a hollow pumpkin, could they, Norah?”
“Not a very hollow one,” admitted Norah, “but neither can I make tarts from a hollow bowl, Dot. If you don’t stop ‘tasting’ pretty soon, we’ll have no tarts for tomorrow.”
The four little Blossoms were in the kitchen, helping Norah who was very busy getting ready for the Thanksgiving Day dinner. ”

“ Before they left the garage, their plans were all made to run away that night. There was no use waiting, Bobby said.
“I’ll meet you at the corner, at ten o’clock,” he said. “And we can’t carry much baggage. We can’t run with a trunk, and we may have to run.”
“Do we say good-bye to anyone?” asked Fred.
“Not a single person,” said Bobby, “Not even your mother. And remember not to bang the front door. Daddy is going to lodge meeting tonight, I think, so I can get away easily.”
After the boys had gone, Bobby did not go back to where Meg and the twins were playing with Mr. White. ”

“ Meg and Dot had strung the ropes of popcorn and the cranberries and Bobby and Uncle Dave had put on the gold and silver ornaments which were carefully saved from year to year. Twaddles always claimed the right to sprinkle the white cotton and mica on [113] for the snow, and just before dinner Father Blossom put the star at the top of the tree and Sam Layton came in to fix the electric lights. Norah had baked the gingerbread men which hung from the branches, and Mother Blossom and Aunt Miranda had made the candied apples on sticks which helped to trim the tree. ”

“ Dot had filled the laundry tubs with hot water and was only waiting Meg’s return to put in the turnips and potatoes to be thoroughly washed. As for Twaddles, he was walking up and down before the preserve closet, munching apples, and trying to decide which jar of preserves he would choose. Mother Blossom had promised each of the children one jar of jelly, jam or canned fruit, to take to school.
“And Dot and Twaddles may send something, too,” she had said, when the twins as usual declared that they never had any of the fun because they were too young to go to school. ”

“ Edward Kurler was in Meg’s class. He was [28] a good-natured, not particularly quick child, and very ready to do whatever anyone else suggested. When he played “tag” with the other boys, Edward was apt to be “it” the greater part of the game; but he was so good-natured he never was known to be cross about it.
“I brought a pumpkin,” he explained, his own face as round and shiny as the pumpkin he carried. “I didn’t have time to bring it in ’fore school opened. I guess the poor folks will like a pumpkin—they can make pies out of it.”
Tim Roon came up to the pumpkin and looked at it closely. ”

“ And Bobby and I want to go this morning, because they say the high school crowd is going to skate all the afternoon and we couldn’t have much fun then.”
Mother Blossom moved the sugar bowl away from Twaddles who seemed to want to pour sugar on his oatmeal, and said she had a question to ask Meg.
“I’ve often wondered, Daughter,” said Mother Blossom, “who ‘they’ are; you’re always quoting what ‘they’ say, Meg, and yet you seldom use any names.”
“They are—they are—well, I guess I mean everybody,” explained Meg. “Everybody says the skating is wonderful, Mother. ”

“ Although New Year’s Day was nearly a week off, Dot teased Norah to tell her what they could have to eat and Twaddles helped to set the doll table so many times that he broke two of the cups and saucers.
“Going to Charlotte Gordon’s party?” asked Fred Baldwin when he met Bobby in the grocery store the morning after the invitations had been sent out. “You are? So’m I. But what do you think, she’s asked Tim Roon and Charlie Black. I wouldn’t have them at my birthday party last summer; they’re too mean to invite to a party, I think.” ”

“ You don’t [165] care if Bobby and I go this morning do you?”
“Let Twaddles and me go?” said Dot eagerly. “Mother, can’t we go skating, too?”
Father Blossom looked across the table at Mother, and laughed.
“Now the argument begins,” he remarked whimsically. “A little more coffee, please, Norah, to fortify me.”
“Oh, Mother, don’t let the twins go!” said Bobby hastily. “We can’t have a bit of fun with them around. They get in the way, and Twaddles won’t stay off the pond, and they always want to come home before we do.”
“I think you’re a mean boy!” stormed poor Twaddles. “You and Meg are selfish. ”

“ The children sat down in a circle, Tim on one side of Meg, Charlie Black on the other. Mrs. Gordon went around back of them and held a small bottle for each one to smell. Such wild guesses! Fred Baldwin thought it was camphor, and Bobby was sure it was cologne.
“I think it’s vinegar,” said Meg when her turn came.
[159] She had guessed it and she guessed the next test, also, which was a pickle cut up in tiny bits so that each child had a taste. If you think you can tell a pickle every time, try it some day when your eyes are closed and you have not seen what you are going to eat. ”

“ Meg reminded him. Meg had her own jar of canned pears she had filled herself and labeled with a little red label. “Filled by Meg, October 2,” Mother Blossom had written, and Meg was eager to give the jar [14] away because, as she said, it was something she had done herself.
“Well, pickles don’t count,” argued Twaddles. “Pickles are extra.”
Bobby had chosen his favorite strawberry jam and he was anxious to go upstairs and see if dinner wasn’t almost ready.
“Hurry up, Twaddles!” he urged his small brother. “We can’t wait all night. Which do you want, Dot?” ”

“ Norah answered. She was clearing the breakfast table [167] and had heard Dot’s remark. “Wagons always creak like that in cold weather. You can tell by that it’s a very cold day.”
Bobby and Meg bundled up warmly and taking their skates from the hall closet, hurried off to the pond. They promised Mother Blossom to come home the moment they felt cold.
“The big boys will have a bonfire on the ice,” said Bobby. “We can warm our hands there, Mother.”
“Don’t go near the fire unless there are older people around,” warned Mother Blossom. “You can’t always tell what a bonfire is going to do, Bobby.” ”

“ Can you come over tomorrow?”
“Is it about the fire?” asked Bobby in quick alarm. “Has Mr. Bennett said anything more?”
[126] “Yes, he has,” admitted Fred. “I can’t tell you now. You come over to my house tomorrow morning.”
“You come over to our house,” suggested Bobby. “Bring the boys. I said I’d help the children start a snowman in the yard. We can go out in the garage and talk and nobody will hear us.”
Fred said they would come and then he hurried on to watch the coasting race. But Bobby’s pleasure in the sport was spoiled. He began to worry again about the fire in the carpenter shop. ”