After they had extinguished several fires, Elizabeth said: "Now we'll
play grocery-store, and I'll be the man who keeps it. We'll borrow some
apples and potatoes from the cook, and you come to buy them."
"No," said Johnnie Jones this time, "I'll be the grocery man, and you
the lady who comes to buy."
"I won't play if I mayn't be the storekeeper," threatened Elizabeth.
"But that's not fair," said Johnnie Jones. "You have chosen every game,
and have taken the best part in each one for yourself. Now it is my turn
to choose."
"I'll go home if you won't let me be the grocery man," Elizabeth told
him.
"No," he answered, "because that's not a fair way to play."
Then Elizabeth left him. She did not go home, however, but just next
door to Katherine's house. She found Katherine and Mary at home, playing
with their dolls.
As soon as the little girls saw Elizabeth, they said: "You can't play
with us unless you play the right way. You can't be Mother all the
time."
"Well, if you won't let me play my way, I won't play at all," said
Elizabeth, and ran on until she came to Sarah's house.
Sarah, Tom and Ned were jumping rope, and they called out to Elizabeth:
"You can't play with us unless you will turn the rope part of the time."
"I don't like to turn, I like to jump," Elizabeth complained. But when
she realized that she would not be allowed to jump until she first
turned the rope for the others, she left these children too, and went
next door to visit Sammy Smith.
That little boy and Susie were playing with a big wagon. They asked
Elizabeth to play with them, and because they were courteous little
children, and she was their visitor, they permitted her to take the
first ride, and pretended that they were two strong horses hitched to
her carriage. When they were tired, they told Elizabeth that it was
time for her to become a horse and let one of them ride.
"No," said Elizabeth, "I like to ride better than to pull the wagon."
"We won't let you ride any longer," they answered, "because it's your
turn to play that you are a horse."
"Then I'll go home," she said, and this time she did.
"What is the matter?" asked her mother.
"The children won't play the way I want them to, and I don't like them
any more because I think they are unkind," she answered. "I wish I could
go to fairy-land and be a princess, or else that I were a grown-up
lady."
"Even grown-up ladies and princesses cannot always have their own way,"
her mother said.
Elizabeth stood at the window and looked out across the street. Most of
the children had gathered there in front of Johnnie Jones's house, and
were jumping rope. Elizabeth could hear them counting, and laughing, and
talking. She began to feel very lonely. At last she put on her hat again
and ran back to join the children.
"If you will let me play with you," she said, "I'll play anything you
like."
"All right!" they answered, "and sometimes we'll play what you like."
"And I won't always ask for the best part any more," she said.
"You may have the part you like when it is your turn to choose," they
told her.
"I'll turn the rope now," Elizabeth added.
"You turn until some one trips," the others answered.
Elizabeth spent the remainder of the afternoon with the children, who
were glad to have her because she played fair. Elizabeth herself was
very happy. She was even glad that she wasn't a princess or a grown-up
lady; glad that she was just a little girl who had learned to play with
other children.
* * * * *
Johnnie Jones and the Hoop-Rolling Club
One day, all the children of the neighborhood decided to form a
hoop-rolling club. Each child was to buy a hoop and decorate it with
bells and ribbons. Then, every Saturday morning, all of them were to go
to the park and have a procession. They were to try their best to turn
square corners, to roll their hoops in a straight line, and to keep them
from falling down. No matter where they rolled them, up hill or down
hill, over smooth ground or rough, they were not to let the hoops fall.
The one who could do all these things the best was to be the captain and
lead the procession wherever he wished. He could go swiftly or slowly,
just as he liked, and all the rest were to follow in the same manner.
The captain was to remain captain only so long as he could roll his hoop
better than anyone else in the club.
The children were delighted with their plan, and ran to the shop to buy
the hoops.
All except poor little Johnnie Jones! He was not quite as old as the
others, and he could not manage a hoop. He had tried to roll one
belonging to Sammy Smith, one day, but he had been unable to prevent its
falling down every time he struck it. Of course he wanted to join the
club, and he asked Mother what she thought he had better do.
Mother went with him to the grocery-store, and bought a small hoop, much
smaller than Sammy Smith's. Then she told Johnnie Jones that no one
could teach him to roll it. "You must just try and try until you
succeed, little boy," she said.
Johnnie Jones tried, all the way home, but he was as unsuccessful with
the new hoop as he had been with Sammy Smith's old one. The other
children watched him, but they did not know how to help him, much as
they wished to do so. One big boy was rude enough to laugh at him,
which hurt his feelings so much that he went out into his back yard to
practise. There he tried, and tried again, until he was very tired.
Every day while the other children were decorating their hoops or were
playing together, Johnnie Jones would practise all alone in the back
yard, where no one could see him. He tried so hard that at last he
succeeded in rolling his hoop from the porch to the gate without letting
it fall a single time. He was greatly encouraged then, but he had to
continue practising, because he could not even yet guide the hoop very
well, and he could not turn corners at all.
When Saturday came, he went to the park to watch the first procession.
It was a very pretty sight, for the hoops had been decorated with bright
ribbons, and with bells which made a merry tinkling sound. Ned was the
captain, as he was the oldest and could manage his hoop most skilfully.
He led the children through the park, stopping now and then for breath.
Whenever anyone dropped his hoop, he had to go to the end of the line,
for that was the rule of the club.
All the next week Johnnie Jones worked very hard, learning to guide his
hoop in a straight line, and to turn corners. He went to the park to
practise now, so that he might have more room.
Mother watched him every day, and after a while she told him that he had
become quite skilful enough to join the club. Then he was very happy,
and began to decorate his hoop with the bright pink ribbon and shining
brass bells which Mother had bought for him.
The next Saturday morning, Johnnie Jones took his hoop with him when he
went to the park with the other children, all of whom were glad to hear
that he had learned to roll it.
"But you had better be last in the procession," they told him, "because,
most likely, you can't manage it very well yet."
They did not know how hard he had worked.
When the procession started off, Johnnie Jones kept up with the other
children. Not once did he let his hoop fall, and he made it go so
straight, and turned such square corners, that, presently, the children
noticed how well he was doing.
"Well, look at little Johnnie Jones!" they said. "He can roll his hoop
better than anyone here, even better than Ned!"
After they had watched him for a while, they decided he must be their
captain, until Ned, or one of the other children had learned to do
better than he.
Then Johnnie Jones was the proudest, happiest little boy in the whole
world, as he led the procession through the park.
[Illustration: Then Johnnie Jones was the proudest, happiest little
boy--]
* * * * *
The Fire at Johnnie Jones's House
One night, while Father was away from home on a business trip, Mother
and Johnnie Jones and Little Brother were fast asleep in their beds.
Jack had been asleep too, down-stairs in the front hall, but now he was
wide awake. He stood up, put back his ears, and sniffed the air. Then he
ran quickly up the stairs to Johnnie Jones's room, stood outside his
door, and whined, That did not waken anyone, so he barked.
Johnnie Jones woke up and heard him. So did mother, who was in the next
room. "Please lie still, Mother," said Johnnie Jones. "I'll see what is
the matter." He was trying to help Mother all he could while Father was
away.
He opened the door, and cried out: "Oh, Mother, the hall is full of
smoke!"
Mother came to the door. She saw that smoke was pouring out from the
hall below. "I am afraid the house is on fire," she said. "You must be
very brave and help me. Put on your wrapper and slippers and run up to
Maggie's room, and tell her and Kathie to come down here."
Johnnie Jones was a bit frightened, but without another word he ran up
those long, dark steps, and aroused the two girls. It was brave of the
little boy.
Meanwhile Mother had given the fire alarm through the telephone, slipped
on her wrapper, and bundled the baby in a blanket. When the others had
come down to her room, she closed the door into the hall.
"It would be dangerous to go downstairs," she said; "we must just wait
here at the window until the firemen bring us a ladder."
"Oh, Mother!" Johnnie Jones said, "do you think they'll come soon?"
"Listen!" Mother answered.
Then Johnnie Jones heard a sound that made him clap his hands with joy.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! Galloping down the street came the splendid big
fire-horses drawing the hook-and-ladder. CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! Down the
street came the fire-engine, the hose carriage, and the salvage corps
wagon.
Quick as a flash the firemen saw Mother and the children at the window!
Quicker than you can think, they had two long ladders placed against the
two window sills. Then two strong firemen climbed up. One of them helped
Mother and the baby to reach the ground, the other looked after Johnnie
Jones.
Maggie and Kathie did not wait to be helped, they stepped down the
ladder faster than one would have thought possible, and reached the
ground first of all.
Jack did not know how to use a ladder, so he was thrown out of the
window by one fireman, and caught in a blanket by two others. He wasn't
hurt in the least, though Johnnie Jones had been worried for fear he
might be, but ran straight to his little master.
"If it had not been for Jack's telling us there was a fire, we might
not have been able to leave the house so quickly," said Mother, as she
caressed the dog.
Elizabeth's mother, who lived across the street, asked Mrs. Jones and
the children to come into her house. They went, and stood at the window
watching the fire until it was out.
It was a beautiful sight, for the flames flashed out of the thick smoke
and made the whole neighborhood bright. Poor Mother felt too sad at
seeing her home burn to enjoy the beauty of the fire, but as it was the
very first fire he had ever seen, Johnnie Jones did enjoy it, although
he was sorry, too.
"Never mind, Mother dear," he said, trying to comfort her. "Father will
build us a new house if this one burns down."
All this time the brave firemen were working to extinguish the fire.
They had unhitched the horses, and tied them, at a safe distance from
the house. Some of them had fixed the hose to the engine and were
pumping great streams of water onto the flames. Others were inside the
house fighting the fire; and the salvage men were trying to save the
furniture and pictures and curtains.
Soon the flames became lower, and lower, until at last they died away,
and the fire was out. Then the horses were hitched again to the engine,
and hose carriage, and the other wagons. The whistle in the engine was
blown, and all went back to the engine houses where they belonged. Not
as they had come, in a swift gallop, but slowly, for now men and horses
were tired.
Soon the neighborhood was quiet again, and everyone returned to bed. The
Jones's passed the rest of the night in Elizabeth's house.
Next morning, they drove to Grandmother's home to visit her until they
could go into the country to spend the summer.
When Father came home he was very much grieved to find his home so badly
burned, but he felt very grateful to Jack for arousing the family, and
he was very thankful to the brave firemen and good horses, for coming so
quickly and doing their work so well. He was distressed that he had not
been at home, to save Mother from worry and care, but he was glad to
hear that Johnnie Jones had been a help and comfort to her, and had
behaved as a manly boy should.
* * * * *
Johnnie Jones and Fanny
Johnnie Jones enjoyed the country because he could be out of doors all
the day long, and because there were so many interesting things to do.
This summer he liked it even better than ever before, for Little Brother
was old enough to run about and play with him, in the soft grass under
the trees.
Then there was Fanny.
Fanny was a small brown pony which lived in the country all the year
round, and which had belonged to Johnnie Jones ever since he was a tiny
boy only two years old. The little pony and the little boy loved each
other, and spent a great deal of their time together. Each morning,
directly after breakfast, Johnnie Jones and Little Brother would go down
to the field where Fanny and the horses lived, taking with them an apple
or some sugar.
"Here, Fanny! Here, Fanny!" they would call.
As soon as she heard their voices, the little brown pony would come
running to them and eat out of their hands, always being very careful
not to nip their fingers. Then she would poke her nose into Johnnie
Jones's pockets to see if there were anything hidden away, that was good
to eat. She was so sweet tempered and gentle that she would let the
children do anything with her that pleased them, and often romped with
Johnnie Jones like a big dog.
About nine o'clock, Sam, the hired man, would hitch Fanny to a small
cart, and Johnnie Jones would take Mother, or Maggie, and Little
Brother, for a drive. Johnnie Jones could both drive and ride so very
well that he was often allowed to go out with Fanny quite alone.
One morning, after he had taken the others home, he started to the
village shop to buy some butter. On the road he met a boy named Charley,
who asked to go with him.
"All right! Jump in," Johnnie Jones told him, glad to have company.
"Let me drive?" Charley asked. So Johnnie Jones changed places with him,
and gave him the reins.
[Illustration: The little brown pony would eat out of their hands]
Charley was older than Johnnie Jones and considered himself a much
better driver, but he did not know and love horses in the same way that
Johnnie Jones did, though he had always lived in the country.
"Watch me!" he said. "I'll show you how to make a pony run."
Before Johnnie Jones could stop him, he seized the whip and with it gave
Fanny a sharp cut. The little pony had never before been whipped, and
was so surprised and hurt, that she began to run as fast as ever she
could. Bump! Bump! She dragged the cart over rocks and stones so fast
that the little boys were almost thrown out on the road.
Johnnie Jones was just as surprised as Fanny.
"Give me that whip," he said to Charley. "I don't allow anyone to use it
on my pony. You've hurt her and made her run away. Give me the reins. I
will never again let you drive."
"Leave me alone," Charley answered. "I'll teach her a good lesson."
He struck Fanny once more, and then began pulling on the reins with all
his might, hurting the pony's tender mouth, and making her toss her head
and even kick.
Johnnie Jones was very angry and commanded Charley to give him the
reins. Charley was beginning to be frightened, so he obeyed.
"Whoa! Fanny, don't be afraid," Johnnie Jones said to the little pony,
as he took the reins and held them loosely in his hands.
As soon as Fanny heard the voice of her little master, she stopped
running, and soon stood still. Then Johnnie Jones jumped out of the cart
and began to pat her. Fanny was very much ashamed of herself, and rubbed
her nose against his sleeve, as if to say: "I am sorry, Johnnie Jones,
but that boy surprised me. I'll never act so again."
Johnnie Jones drove on to the shop and then back home, but he was so
angry with Charley that he would not let him ride any further.
"I don't like you any more," he told him.
And I do not blame Johnnie Jones, do you? For I could not like a boy who
would be so cowardly and unkind as to hurt an animal.
* * * * *
Fanny and Little Brother
One day, Elizabeth came with her mother to spend the day in the country
with Mrs. Jones and the little boys. The children had enjoyed themselves
very much, playing all the morning. Just before lunch they ran down to
the field where Fanny and Tim, the carriage horse, were, to pick some
wild flowers for the table. Little Brother was with them, and while the
others were gathering the flowers, he toddled away, and lay down in the
tall grass.
The two mothers were sitting under the trees near the house. From where
they sat they could see the children in the field.
"Aren't you afraid to let the children play there where the horses are?"
Elizabeth's mother asked Mrs. Jones.
"No indeed," she answered. "Tim and Fanny love them too well to hurt
them."
But just then Tim and Fanny began to play "Tag," as they often did, for
they were great friends. Fanny pretended to bite Tim, and came galloping
up the field as fast as ever she could. She did not see Little Brother,
lying directly in front of her, hidden by the tall grass. On she came,
galloping rapidly towards him.
Mother saw her, and was so frightened she could hardly stand, for she
thought the baby would be trampled down by the pony. She started to run,
but of course she could not run as fast as Fanny, and besides, she was
much further away.
Fanny rushed on until she was within a few feet of the baby. Then she
saw him! She tried to stop, but was moving too rapidly. Being a wise
little pony, she saw there was but one thing to do, and she did it. She
jumped and landed on the other side of the baby without touching him,
though her foot just did miss his head.
Mother caught Little Brother up in her arms, and examined him carefully.
She could scarcely believe he had escaped without any injury, and was
very happy indeed, when she found that such was the case.
"I don't believe any other pony would have had so much sense," she said.
That evening, when Father had heard of Little Brother's narrow escape,
he told Mother and Johnnie Jones about an experience he had had when a
baby.
His father had owned a wise old horse whose name was Charley. One day
Charley was eating the grass in the yard, and Johnnie Jones's father,
who was then only a baby three years old, was lying on the ground,
playing with the leaves After a while old Charley had eaten all the
grass near by, except the very long delicious blades underneath the
baby. He couldn't ask the little boy to move away, because he couldn't
talk. So, very carefully, he took hold of the baby's dress with his
teeth, lifted him up, and set him down on the other side of the yard.
He did not even frighten him, but the mother, who was looking out of the
window, was very much frightened, until she saw that the baby had not
been harmed.
Mother and Johnnie Jones agreed that Charley had shown almost as much
sense as Fanny, but that it wasn't very safe to leave little children
alone when there were horses and ponies about.
* * * * *
When Johnnie Jones Learned to Swim
One summer, when Johnnie Jones was six, he and the other members of the
family spent a month in the woods. They lived in a small log house which
was close to a beautiful lake, and almost completely surrounded by
trees. Johnnie Jones enjoyed the life there immensely. He learned to
row a light boat on the water, and every day he went for a long walk
through the woods, meeting many birds and small wild animals on the
way. Sometimes, in the distance, he caught a glimpse of the beautiful,
graceful deer, which were too timid to permit him to come very near
them.
Just in front of the house was a wooden dock where Johnnie Jones liked
to play, but where he was never allowed to go alone as the water about
it was very deep. "Teach me to swim," he said to his father. "Then I
shall be able to play wherever I please."
Father had been intending to give Johnnie Jones lessons in swimming and
was only waiting for a warm, sunshiny day. Such a day came very soon,
and, about twelve o'clock, he and Johnnie Jones, dressed in their
bathing suits, went in the water. The little boy considered bathing
great fun as long as he remained close to shore where the water was
shallow but he did not like it so well when Father carried him out to
the raft, where the water was so deep that it reached the shoulders of
the grown people standing in it.
"Now, son," Mr. Jones said, "I want you to stand on the raft, and jump
when I count three. I will catch you in my arms, let you go down under
the water, and bring you up again. Remember to hold your breath, so that
you will not take any of the water into your nose or mouth. Perhaps you
had better keep one hand over your face for fear you might forget and
try to breathe before you reach the surface. Now jump, I am quite ready
to catch you."
Johnnie Jones stood on the raft and looked down at the water. He did not
want to jump into it, but neither did he want to disappoint his father.
Besides he wished very much to learn to swim.
"Will you be certain to catch me?" he asked Father.
"I promise you I will," he answered.
Johnnie Jones knew that Father always kept his promise, so, after a
moment or two, he said he was ready.
"One, two, three, jump!" said Father. And Johnnie Jones obeyed.
As soon as he touched the water he felt Father's strong arms about
him, and then he did not mind going down, down, into it. In a second
he came to the surface again, of course dripping wet, but without
having swallowed any water, as he had remembered to hold his breath.
After the first plunge, he enjoyed taking others, and jumped into the
water as many times as Father would catch him. Next day they went in
bathing again, and Father carried Johnnie Jones out to the raft as
before. But when the little boy was ready to jump, Father said: "To-day,
I shall not catch you when you first touch the water; I shall wait until
you come to the surface by yourself, and then I shall hold you up."
After he had jumped into the water, Johnnie Jones was surprised to find
that he came up again just as quickly as when Father's arms had been
under him. Then while Father held him he lay flat on the water and
paddled himself about with his hands and feet.
In a few days the little boy learned to swim a short distance, quite
alone, although he was not allowed to go into the water unless an older
person were with him.
One day, before Johnnie Jones had learned to swim very well, he had an
exciting experience. He was on the dock with his uncle, and a very high
wind was blowing the water into waves, which dashed against the dock
with a roaring sound. Indeed the waves were so noisy, that when Johnnie
Jones suddenly slipped and fell off the dock, his uncle, whose back was
turned, did not hear the splash.
However, a boatman at the boat-house saw Johnnie Jones fall, and he ran
as fast as possible, towards the dock.
Meantime Johnnie Jones sank down into the water, and came up to the
surface again. The brave little fellow remembered what to do. He closed
his mouth, and holding one hand over his nose, he paddled with the
other, until he was able to grasp the dock, against which the wind was
blowing him. He held on bravely, never opening his mouth to cry, nor
taking his hand from his face.
In less than a minute, though it seemed much longer to Johnnie Jones,
his uncle and the boatman had drawn him from the water. He was not in
the least harmed by his unexpected bath because he had remembered, even
while he was falling, the proper thing to do.
Mother stripped off his wet clothing, and after she had rubbed him until
he was all in a glow, she wrapped him in blankets so that he should not
take cold.
Johnnie Jones went to sleep. When he awoke he felt very well, and was
glad when he heard Father say: "You were a brave boy and I am proud of
you."
Johnnie Jones's uncle was sorry he had been so careless as to turn his
back when the wind was blowing such a gale, and promised that it should
never happen again.