Riddle Club

“ So Polly, with the active help of the other members, tried to tell her something about the Riddle Club, and what they did and something of the experiences they had had.
"What nice times you have together!" said Ella wistfully.
"We have more fun in our Conundrum Club," Carrie declared. "We meet around at different houses, and it's more exciting. Besides, there are fourteen of us—seven boys and seven girls—and we can have better times with a crowd." ”

“ The history of the Riddle Club, how Polly Marley started it and how it prospered so that a rival organization was formed, is told in the first book of this series, called "The Riddle Club at Home." The story of the first prize riddle contests and how they were won, is also told in that book. A second volume, "The Riddle Club in Camp" follows the adventures of the six chums at beautiful Lake Bassing and tells how they were able to help a kind old hermit find his lost home and friends. Up to that time the Riddle Club had met in the Larue barn, where they had a room to themselves. ”

“ And a day or two later a “round robin” letter went to Rye, signed by each member of the Riddle Club, a letter that left no doubt in Mr. Kirby’s mind as to the pleasure his pins had given the lucky boys and girls who received them.
“Now,” said Polly, when the pins were fastened in a conspicuous place on each blouse or coat, “we can have our riddles.”
“I’ve got a riddle for Fred,” announced Ward: “How much money does the moon represent?” ”

“ The Riddle Club had never bothered much with by-laws.
But Polly thought it time to interfere.
“I think you boys are too silly for words,” she pronounced. “Of course Fred has to collect the dues—that’s his work. But you know, Fred, that if you didn’t pitch into Ward, he’d hand you the ten cents without coaxing. Why you want to argue and get cross is more than I can understand.”
[115] Ward scowled and Fred laughed good-naturedly.
“There’s the bank,” he said. “You can put your money in it or leave it alone. But let me tell you, no club lasts very long without dues.” ”

“ Artie, go call the folks to come up.”
The grown-ups came in and sat down in the chairs provided for them. Polly, who was now used to talking “standing up,” as she said, thought it best to explain the purpose of the meeting again.
“This is a special kind of session of the Riddle Club,” she said earnestly. “Instead of forfeits, [183] the ones who fail to guess a riddle must pay money, and the money collected is going to school, to be used for a poor family. But don’t try flunking the riddles, because that isn’t fair.”
“You’d rather have good sportsmanship than a tray full of money, Polly?” ”

“ You mustn’t be so ready to believe that it’s their fault. They’re just as much interested in the Riddle Club as you are, dear.”
“No, they’re not,” said Polly. “They like it as long as I’ll do all the work and the planning, but they won’t do a thing to help.”
“And this isn’t the first time Ward’s gone off and forgotten to come back,” declared Margy. [71] “He always thinks there is plenty of time for everything.”
“There they are now,” said Mrs. Marley, as the doorbell sounded. “I’ll go down and send them up.”
Ward and Jess came stamping up the stairs, with Artie following them. ”

“ The molasses candy was a great success and so was the school collection the next day. When Polly told Miss Elliott how they had collected the six dollars, the teacher thought it was such an interesting story that she asked Polly to tell it before the assembly. Polly was too shy, but Fred was persuaded, and when he had finished speaking, the principal had a few words to say.
“I’d like the Riddle Club to know,” he said, “that we all admire their energy and generosity. They could have asked their parents for the money, but instead they held this novel meeting. ”

“ He said that Ella would be glad to know the Riddle Club had captured them.
"You wouldn't think he'd even remember any of us won a race, would you?" said Polly. "Every one says he is the kindest man. But what do you suppose can have happened to Ella?"
The boys and girls did not feel like going swimming that morning, but they went down to the beach and were idly picking up shells when the put-put of a motor boat sounded close inshore.
"That's Larry," Fred said. "I wonder where he is going? He chases up and down the coast exactly like a delivery wagon." ”

“ A group of men were busily at work this morning, with brooms, brushes and horse-drawn scrapers, taking the snow off the ice and getting it ready for the skaters. The sun was helping, too, and the Riddle Club members decided that by noon the river would be in fine condition.
“We’re going up to the pond, Mother,” said Polly, at the lunch table. “No, we’ll not be cold. You never get cold skating.”
“Don’t be late for supper,” cautioned Mrs. Marley. “And be sure you are dressed warmly. It will be much colder toward night.” ”

“ Carrie slipped her arm through Margy's as the Riddle Club resumed its tramp.
Carrie did most of the talking on that walk, and it did not seem to exhaust her at all. When the Riddle Club reached the town, she accompanied them to the post-office, and when Fred said something to Polly about going home another way, she declared that she would love to go.
"I like to walk; and, anyway, you'll have to take me home for I don't know my way," she said. "I'll tell you—let's go as far as your cottage and I'll see your folks and then you can walk back to the bungalow with me." ”

“ They were used to planning [20] their parties, and their mothers thought that in this way they had twice the usual amount of fun. Nearly every one can go to a party, if invited, but not every one could plan a party if he had to. The members of the Riddle Club did do both nicely.
“We’re going to have all the games we can think of,” said Margy. “Picking a ring out of a plate of flour; trying to bite a marshmallow on a string; ducking for apples, of course. What else, Fred?”
“I know,” cried Artie, before Fred could answer. “Go out in the garden and pull up a cabbage. ”

“ We’re mighty lucky to have it. There’s room for everything, and that shelf will be just the place to put the loving cup.”
Polly was pleased. She had been so delighted [70] to have the room to offer the Riddle Club that she had taken their pleasure for granted; and now Ward and Jess and Artie were apparently making no effort to help her take possession. However, if the critical Fred approved of the room, it must be all right.
“Hello!” said Mrs. Marley, passing through the hall and seeing them sitting on the window seat. “Why, I thought this was the big afternoon! Where are all the others? ”

“ The Riddle Club accepted this plan with enthusiasm. They were even able to understand [129] something of Fred’s pride in the bank as the six shining round silver dollars slipped into the slip at the side and rang merrily against the other coins.
“We’re really getting wealthy,” said Margy, soberly.
Fred was so proud of the bank and the money in it that he was reluctant to leave it long enough to go downstairs at Mrs. Marley’s invitation, where hot chocolate and little sweet cakes were awaiting them as Mrs. Marley’s treat.
“Don’t lock the door, Ward,” Fred said, as they went downstairs. ”

“ Treasurer Fred Williamson lost the dues and the bank. But he found them again, and the experience only tended to make him more careful.
As soon as spring came, the children moved back to the clubroom in the Larue barn, for it was a delightful place and had the additional charm of seclusion. No matter how much the boys and girls stamped on the floor, or how [Pg 16] often they might be moved to song, no one would ever be disturbed. No wonder the members of the Conundrum Club, of which Carrie Pepper was president, often envied the Riddle Club its choice of meeting places. ”

“ Riddle Chap had an icicle on what was left of his nose, and Polly was hopeful that he would stay as he was and not shrink any more. Alas! New Year’s Day dawned with a burst of sunlight that started the little streams running again, turned the coasting hill to a sea of slush, and hastened the sure disappearance of the once handsome Riddle Chap.
“It’s a good thing we have his picture,” said Polly, mournfully, at breakfast.
“You can build another snowman, when another snow comes,” said Mr. Marley, cheerfully. ”

“ Polly expressed it.
As no one felt up to any very strenuous form of exercise, Mrs. Marley suggested that they hold a session of the Riddle Club on the front porch.
"Before the callers descend," she added laughingly. "You're sure to have a good many to-day, friends who want to see for themselves that you are safe."
Polly called the meeting to order and was about to proceed by calling on Margy for a riddle when Fred interrupted.
[Pg 245]
"I have an announcement to make, as treasurer," he stated.
"No dues!" Ward warned him. "This is an—an informal meeting." ”

“ Williamson had talked to Fred about it at some length while they waited for the bus. Fred was club treasurer and very proud of the bank account opened in the name of the Riddle Club. Mrs. Williamson had been afraid that he would regret the hundred dollars Margy might have taken for finding the ring.
"Mother said," Fred reported, "that she hopes we'll never take money when we haven't done anything to earn it. She said it is all right to offer rewards and to accept them, if we really do something. ”

“ THE RIDDLE CLUB AT SUNRISE BEACH
CHAPTER I
AN INFORMAL SESSION
"I don't think you ought to be fussing just because it is a little hot," Jess Larue said, scrubbing her chin with a moist and grimy handkerchief.
"A little hot!" cried Margy Williamson. "Why, last night I couldn't sleep a wink. I think last night was the hottest night we ever had in River Bend."
Fred, Margy's twin brother, pretended to fan himself.
"I never knew it to be like this before," he complained, mimicking his sister's tone. "Every year, just before the Fourth, we always have a snowstorm. ”

“ THE RIDDLE CLUB BOOKS
By ALICE DALE HARDY
Individual Colored Wrappers. Attractively Illustrated.
Every Volume Complete in Itself.
Here is as ingenious a series of books for little folks as has ever appeared since “Alice in Wonderland.” The idea of the Riddle books is a little group of children—three girls and three boys decide to form a riddle club. Each book is full of the adventures and doings of these six youngsters, but as an added attraction each book is filled with a lot of the best riddles you ever heard. ”

“ She began to fondle and exhibit her snakes and the crowd pressed closer. Ward made all haste to get further away from the woman who had been frightened. He was afraid she might begin to scold again, but she was too interested in the snake charmer to remember her fright.
The Riddle Club stayed till the last snake had been put back in its box and then came out, the strong sunlight making their eyes blink after the darkness.
"Say, this is your unlucky day all right, Ward," said the grinning Fred. "First your pass is no good for peanuts and then you give the whole snake show a regular fit. ”

“ But she forgot Carrie and the burned fire [Pg 34] works when they reached home and found that Mrs. Williamson had invited the Riddle Club to a porch supper. It was served on the big front porch and was exactly like a picnic except, as Ward put it, you did not have to go anywhere.
"Where'll we set off our fireworks?" asked Fred, munching his fourth peanut butter sandwich.
"Can we start as soon as it is dark?" Artie wanted to know.
"We want to start early, because we have to go to bed early," declared Polly. "Mother says we want to get a good early start in the morning." ”

“ Polly and Margy liked to consider themselves almost grown up—at times—and Fred was sure he was much older than Ward and Artie. Jess, [193] who was a year older than Margy, liked to romp too well to desire “grown-upness,” as she called it. But when Christmas Eve came, each member of the Riddle Club discovered that hanging up one’s stocking was half the fun of Christmas, and Polly and Margy and Fred were just as eager as Artie and Jess and Ward. ”

“ Six dollars will, as you doubtless know, buy a quantity of firecrackers, punk and fireworks, even for six children with varying demands and tastes. Mr. Harrison, whose small store was [Pg 18] crammed with Fourth of July supplies, wrapped everything up in one large package and the three boys agreed to take turns carrying it.
"Let's go down by the wharf," suggested Polly, as they left the shop.
Mr. Larue was the head of the steamboat line, and the wharf on which his office was built was of course familiar ground to the Riddle Club. ”

“ There were classes for beginners and for children under ten. There was a "novice" class for those who had never tried to swim a stroke. There was a class for fat swimmers. Artie suggested that Ward enter this.
"I'll bet it's a heap of fun," said Jess. "Lots of the swimming will be a joke and people just go in it for a good time and to make money for the life guards. I'll tell you what! Let's each one of us enter something. One of us ought to get some kind of prize."
"If six of us go in, we must surely win something for the Riddle Club," added Fred. ”

“ Ward, much scandalized. “I never saw a man wear earrings.”
“Don’t touch that snowman,” ordered Fred. “If he wants to wear earrings, let him! Every one says he is the biggest snow statue we ever had in River Bend, and we’re not going to spoil him picking on him.”
The pictures Harry Worden had taken turned out beautifully, and he had had an enlargement made for the Riddle Club clubroom. Mrs. Marley cleverly framed it in an old frame that fitted exactly, and the snowman hung on the wall of the pretty clubroom and was much admired. ”