The week after the strawberry sociable was the busiest one of Mary
Jane's visit thus far. Frances came to see her twice and they became
better friends each time. The Westlands lived two miles farther from
the village than the Hodges did and Frances's father could easily leave
her at the Hodges's home when he went into the village and get her
again on his return trip. Mary Jane showed her all the interesting
things she had found--the pet mice, who were getting tamer and tamer
all the time; the ducks, which were losing their pretty babyness by now
and were getting almost big enough to look after themselves; the lamb
and the pigs and Brindle Bess.
Of course Frances was used to country sights, so she wasn't as much
surprised at what she saw as Mary Jane had been when she came from the
city. But she was interested and she told Mary Jane many things about
the farm creatures and the fun she had had with her own pets.
Then one day Grandfather took Mary Jane to see Frances and Mary Jane
had fun every minute of the two hours she was there. The Westlands
kept many cows and Mary Jane saw twenty little calves--such gentle,
soft-eyed little creatures that were so tame the girls could pet them
and feed them all they wanted to. And chickens! Mary Jane had thought
her grandmother had a good many but the Westlands had more!
"May we feed them all?" asked Mary Jane eagerly as she saw them.
"I guess Frances would be glad to have you," laughed Mrs. Westland
kindly; "she has to do it so much that I'm sure she'll be glad for help
at the job."
So the girls went to the bins and gathered great handfuls of corn and
oats for the feast. Frances gave a peculiar call which the chickens
seemed to know and immediately they came a-running, hundreds of them,
so fast that Mary Jane dropped the corn she held and tried to run away.
"They won't hurt you," laughed Frances, "see? I can let them eat right
out of my hand!"
Mary Jane looked and thought that if Frances was safe she would be too.
So she took some of the grain Frances handed over to her and bent down
for them to eat out of her hand too. It wasn't more than a minute
before she had lost every trace of fear and could let the biggest
rooster gobble up his grain right out of her hand. The girls tried
dropping kernels of corn on their shoes and then holding up one foot
for the chickens to reach for the grain. And they tossed occasional
kernels way to the outside of the feeding group and then giggled to see
how quickly the greedy ones whirled around to get all they could.
Then, before it was time to go, Mrs. Westland called them in and gave
them each a big glass of rich milk and a plate of fat sugar cookies to
eat on the porch. Altogether Mary Jane thought she had the most fun
during that visit of any visit she had ever made! And before the
little girls separated, Frances had promised to come over to Mary
Jane's house very soon.
The day after the call at the Westlands the postman brought a letter
from Mrs. Merrill which said that Alice could come to her grandfather's
in two days if that would be convenient. Grandfather was very fond of
Alice; she had visited there before and he was hoping she would have a
nice long stay there this summer. So, as soon as he read the letter he
got out his car, took Mary Jane with him and went into the village to
telegraph that Alice should come at once.
The next morning Mary Jane helped her grandmother clean the room that
Alice was to have--it was just across the hall from Mary Jane's and was
so quaint and cozy with its old-fashioned furniture and ruffled white
curtains. Then the next day Grandmother made a great jar full of
cookies; Mary Jane loved that because Grandmother let her cut out some.
They made stars and crescents and squares and some just plain round
ones; and Mary Jane put the sugar and nuts over the top, too. Then
they made apple pies and berry pies and a tart of each kind for Mary
Jane's dinner and supper that day. Mary Jane decided then and there
that she was going to be a good cook when she grew up because cooking
was about the most fun of anything she had ever tried.
On the morning Alice was to come, Mary Jane got up early; dressed
herself as quickly as possible and ran down the stairs. Just in the
nick of time she was too, for Grandfather was ready to start to the
station.
"Take me, please take me along!" she called as she heard him crank up
his car.
"Hello, Pussy; you up?" he answered; "to be sure you may go along. Get
your grandmother to give you a big piece of coffee cake to eat on the
way and we'll be off."
Grandmother heard what he said and had the coffee cake ready as Mary
Jane ran into the kitchen. A wonderful big piece, she cut, all full of
sugary, buttery "wells" that Mary Jane liked so much. She wrapped it
in a napkin so it wouldn't get Mary Jane's dress sticky with its
sweetness, threw a woolen scarf around the little girl's shoulders for
the early morning air was cool and waved a good-by as they rode out of
the yard.
They reached the station just as the great train pulled in and saw the
conductor and porter help Alice down the steps of the car. Mary Jane
thought she had never seen any one look so nice in all her life!
Grandfather set her out of the auto and she ran as fast as ever she
could and threw her arms around her sister. Alice held her tight a
minute and then turned to kiss her grandfather.
"So you're here all right, Blunderbuss," said Grandfather heartily,
using the nickname he had given her long ago, "and you haven't lost a
bit of your hair!" Alice laughed as he looked admiringly at her long
golden braids.
"I haven't," she replied teasingly, "but I can't say as much for you!"
And she laughed at her grandfather's bald head.
"Such a girl! Such a girl!" exclaimed Grandfather proudly; "now I
suppose I'll have to get your trunk and take you home and stand your
teasing the rest of the summer!" And in mock dismay he went for the
trunk the baggage man had tossed off the train.
That was the beginning of more fun for Mary Jane. First there was the
house and farm which must be shown to Alice just as carefully as though
she had never seen it before. Then there were all the jolly things
that Alice thought of to do--Alice was always thinking up something to
do, it seemed. She fixed up a saddle for the lamb and taught Mary Jane
to ride. She tied tiny bells on the rabbits so they could be more
easily found. She helped Mary Jane take the ducks down to the creek at
the end of the pasture and turn them into the water. Mary Jane thought
it perfectly wonderful that they should know how to swim--"just as
though they had taken regular lessons, Grandfather," she said as she
told him about it afterwards. And Alice learned how to make
bread--with Mary Jane helping to turn the crank of the bread mixer so
she wouldn't feel left out.
On the third day of Alice's visit Frances Westland came over to play
and the three little girls went out into the front yard and wondered
what they would do.
"I wish we had doll houses here like we have at home," said Mary Jane.
"I know Frances would like to play with doll houses."
"But you haven't any here," said Frances practically.
"Maybe we can get some," said Alice thoughtfully; "we ought to be able
to find something to make a doll house out of. Let's hunt."
"Where'll we hunt?" asked Mary Jane.
"Let me see," said Alice. She looked around the yard but saw nothing
that interested her. She looked across the road to Grandmother's lot
and saw all the grasses and brush that flourished there.
"We ought to be able to find something over there," she said; "let's
hunt."
So the three little girls scrambled over the fence and roamed through
the lot. The lamb was used to a good deal of petting and he supposed,
of course, that was what they had come for. So he poked himself into
their way at every step.
"No, sir," said Alice, laughing; "we didn't come to play with you
to-day! You run along, sir!" She rubbed her hand over his back to
push him away and something rough and pricky scratched her. She pulled
at his wool and a small brown burr came off in her hand.
"Look! Girls!" she cried suddenly. "If he got this, there must be
more in the lot!"
"Of course!" said Frances, looking scornfully at the burr Alice held up
for her to see; "there's a million over there--see? They're an awful
nuisance, burrs are, even this early in the season."
"They may be a nuisance," laughed Alice, "but I'll venture to say
they'll make good doll houses for all that. Here! I'll show you what
I think we can do." She ran over to where Frances had pointed out a
lot of burrs, pulled off a handful and began sticking them together.
"Yes, it works," she said in a satisfied tone, "but let's not stop to
make the houses here. Let's gather a lot of burrs and take them over
to Grandmother's front yard. Then we can make a whole village!"
Frances and Mary Jane didn't quite see how a village was to come out of
a lot of burrs, but Alice was so sure of what she was going to do that
they thought she must be right. So they gathered up their skirts and
filled them with burrs and then helped each other back over the fence.
Under the big pine tree, where the ground was the levelest of any place
in the yard, Alice had them spread out all their burrs.
"Now," she said when the burrs were ready, "you make them stick
together--so. Make eight rows of six burrs each. That will be the
floor of the house. Then start up the sides for walls."
Frances and Mary Jane got the idea in a minute and they set to work in
a jiffy. Such fun as it was! The houses and barns and churches grew
so rapidly that none of the girls gave a minute's thought to pricked
fingers--there wasn't time! When the stock of burrs was entirely used
up, Alice set the houses along in a straight line as though they were
on a street. Frances put the barns back of the houses where they
belonged and Mary Jane ran to her garden for nasturtiums to lay by the
houses for gardens.
"But we haven't any dolls to live in the houses!" exclaimed Frances
suddenly.
"That's easy," said Alice; "I've made dolls before. Grandmother showed
me how years ago. Come on and we'll get some."
She led the girls back to the orchard, where by now tiny green apples
were lying on the ground, scattered there by the summer winds.
"You girls get all the apples you can while I get the toothpicks." And
she ran to the house.
"What does she mean?" asked Frances, who wasn't used to this sort of
play.
"I don't know, but let's do what she says and then we'll find out,"
answered Mary Jane, who had great confidence in this big sister of
hers. They filled their skirts with apples of all sizes and hurried
back to the front yard where Alice, carrying a box of toothpicks, met
them.
"Now we'll all make dolls," said Alice as she spread out the picks.
"Use the biggest apples for the body; stick in two toothpicks for arms
and two for legs. And a middle-sized apple makes the head. Then take
another toothpick and mark out eyes and nose and mouth--so!" And she
set up the finished doll for the girls to see.
Frances and Mary Jane picked up apples and went to work too, and first
thing they knew there was a doll standing in front of each house. They
were just starting on animals, pigs and horses and cows which Alice
showed them how to make, when Grandmother came out with a pitcher of
lemonade and a basket of cookies. So the burr making turned into a
party which lasted till Mr. Westland came tooting along the road and
Frances had to go home.