"Let's go skating!" called Frances one cold morning as she saw Alice shake
the bath room rug from the balcony.
"Skating?" answered Alice, "where?"
"Down on the Midway," said Frances. "As soon as you get your work done,
you and Mary Jane come around to our front door and Betty and I will be
ready."
"But Mary Jane doesn't know how to skate," said Alice.
"Betty doesn't either," answered Frances, "but they can take their sleds
and coast down the sides of the bank while you and I skate."
Alice promised and then she hurried inside to finish her work. She had
heard about the fine skating on the Midway where the park board flooded
the sunken greens for the benefit of neighborhood children, but thus far
the weather had been too mild for any skating, so she hadn't had a chance
to try it. But a sudden cold snap, with snow enough to cover the sloping
banks, had provided both skating and coasting.
Well protected with warm mittens and leggings the girls set out and had
the jolliest kind of a morning. At one end of the ice, the younger folks
did their coasting, the sloping sides giving a flying start and the smooth
ice a glorious finish. At the other end the older boys and girls did their
skating, so there was no mix up or interference.
That morning was the first of many happy Saturday mornings spent on the
ice. Even Mary Jane got some skates and, with the help of Dadah when he
could get away from the office, she learned to be a fine skater.
But winter fun never lasts very long. Just about the time Mary Jane
learned to skate well enough to challenge Alice to a race, the spring sun
sent the ice to nowhere land and the while-ago ice pond turned to green
grass! Spring had come.
With the coming of spring, Mary Jane grew very restless. She wasn't sick,
but something was wrong. Something was making her very solemn and
sober--quite unlike her usual lively self.
"I know what's the matter with me," she announced one warm sunny morning,
"I want to dig."
"You want to dig?" exclaimed Mrs. Merrill in amazement, "well, why don't
you go down and dig in the Holdens' yard? You know Mrs. Holden said you
might."
"But I don't want to dig in somebody's yard," answered Mary Jane, without
a spark of interest, "I want to dig in my _own_ yard and have flowers and
a sand pile and everything right in my own yard, I do."
Mrs. Merrill didn't reply but she did do a lot of thinking and that
evening she and Mr. Merrill had a long conference.
As a result, at breakfast table the next morning Mr. Merrill said, "How
would you girls like to have a summer home of your own? A place in the
woods where we could go as soon as school closes and where you could wear
bloomers and play in the sand and gather flowers and make garden and all
the things you love to do but can't do in the city. How would you like
that?"
Mary Jane and Alice stared at him. Would they _like_ it? anybody could see
by their faces that they would _love_ it!
"But we wouldn't want to leave you here in Chicago, all summer," objected
Alice.
"And I wouldn't want to be left," Mr. Merrill assured them. "But I am
sure, somewhere in the suburbs around Chicago there must be _some place_
we could get a summer home. And we'll make it our business to find that
place."
"I thought," began Mrs. Merrill, and then she hesitated.
"Something nice?" asked Alice, encouragingly.
"It would have been nice," admitted Mrs. Merrill, "but likely we couldn't
do it. I'd been thinking how pleasant it would be to take another trip
this summer. You know how you girls enjoyed going to Florida. And you
remember Uncle Hal graduates from Harvard this June. I had been wondering
if we could go east in time to be there when the festivities are going
on."
"Oh, mother!" cried Mary Jane, "what fun! I do want to ride on a train, a
big train with a sleeper and a diner! But then I want to dig, too," she
added, insistently.
"Then we'll take one thing at a time," suggested Mr. Merrill. "We'll look
into the question of a summer home--we know we'd all like that. And you
folks don't know that a very popular uncle would _want_ a grown up sister
and two small nieces hanging around at commencement time," he added
teasingly.
"How do you find a summer home?" asked Alice thoughtfully.
"That's what we'll have to discover," laughed Mr. Merrill. "And we'll
begin this very Saturday afternoon if the weather is fine. We'll take a
suburban train and ride till we see a place that looks homey and there
we'll get off and hunt."
The next Saturday was warm and sunny, the kind of a day for bringing
flowers into bloom and for making little girls want to play out of doors.
Mrs. Merrill and the girls met Mr. Merrill at his office so as not to lose
a minute's time, and they hurried right over to the station, and got
aboard the first suburban train they could find.
"I think this is lots of fun," said Mary Jane as they found their seats,
"we don't know where we're going--we're just going!" And the train was
off.
For some time the girls were really discouraged. They passed factories,
and tenements, and more factories till Mary Jane was sure they were never
coming to country--real country. But suddenly, when she was about to give
up, the factories were gone and from the window the girls could see wide
fields and strips of woods and an occasional brook. Two or three little
stations were passed and then the train ran through a beautiful stretch of
woods--rolling woods all leafy and budding and flower decked. The ground
was fairly covered with early blossoms and trees of wild crab were just
bursting into pink bloom.
Mary Jane grabbed her coat and started down the aisle.
"Make 'em stop the train, Dadah," she said, "this is where we want to
live!"
Fortunately at that minute the train really did stop at a small station
and the Merrills got off and looked around. It didn't take long to explore
into the woods far enough to find that they had come to the very place
they were looking for--a spot not too far from the city for Mr. Merrill's
daily trip and yet wild enough to give the girls some real woods. The
girls picked flowers as they explored and had such a happy time that it
was hard work to persuade them to go back to the city when the twilight
came. But they had found the very place!
Three weeks later Mr. Merrill bought a lot in the heart of the woods, and
the summer home was no longer a mere dream--it was to be really truly.
"Now," announced Alice, "we'll draw the kind of a house we want. I love to
draw plans of a house!" She cleared off the dining table, sharpened
pencils, brought two tablets and insisted that everybody come out and
help.
And just then the door bell rang.
"Telegram for Merrill!" shouted a voice through the tube and Mary Jane
pressed the buzzer in a hurry--a telegram usually meant something
exciting.
It was addressed to Mrs. Merrill and said, "Have all tickets and hotel
reservations. You and the girls must come." And it was signed by Mrs.
Merrill's brother.
"If that isn't just like a college boy!" laughed Mrs. Merrill. "For weeks
he doesn't answer a letter and then he telegraphs! Girls," she added,
"let's go! Wouldn't you like to go to Boston and see the college and the
ocean and the White Mountains--and--everything?"
"Oh, mother, _really_?" exclaimed Mary Jane. (She felt as though she must
be dreaming, things were happening so fast!)
"But what about the summer home?" asked Alice.
"Don't you worry about the summer home," Mr. Merrill assured her, "we'll
have that summer home just the same. You girls take your trip east. You
won't be gone more than a couple of weeks--and what are two weeks out of a
whole summer? And before you go, we'll get the shack all planned and when
you come back we'll move out."
"Goody! Goody! Goody!" cried Mary Jane happily, "then I can see Uncle Hal
and ride on the train and dig a garden and _everything_!"
And if you want to hear all about Mary Jane's beautiful trip to Boston and
the White Mountains, the fun she had sight-seeing and the jolly party on
"Class Day," you must read--
"MARY JANE IN NEW ENGLAND"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE MARY JANE SERIES
BY CLARA INGRAM JUDSON
Cloth, 12mo. Illustrated.
With picture inlay and wrapper.
[Illustration]
Mary Jane is the typical American little girl who bubbles over with fun
and the good things in life. We meet her here on a visit to her
grandfather's farm where she becomes acquainted with farm life and farm
animals and thoroughly enjoys the experience. We next see her going to
kindergarten and then on a visit to Florida, and then--but read the
stories for yourselves.
Exquisitely and charmingly written are these books which every little girl
from five to nine years old will want from the first book to the last.
1 MARY JANE--HER BOOK
2 MARY JANE--HER VISIT
3 MARY JANE'S KINDERGARTEN
4 MARY JANE DOWN SOUTH
5 MARY JANE'S CITY HOME
6 MARY JANE IN NEW ENGLAND
7 MARY JANE'S COUNTY HOME
BARSE & HOPKINS
PUBLISHERS
NEWARK, N. J. NEW YORK, N. Y.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHICKEN LITTLE JANE SERIES
_By_ LILY MUNSELL RITCHIE
[Illustration]
Chicken Little Jane is a Western prairie girl who lives a happy, outdoor
life in a country where there is plenty of room to turn around. She is a
wide-awake, resourceful girl who will instantly win her way into the
hearts of other girls. And what good times she has!--with her pets, her
friends, and her many interests. "Chicken Little" is the affectionate
nickname given to her when she is very, very good, but when she misbehaves
it is "Jane"--just Jane!
Adventures of Chicken Little Jane
Chicken Little Jane on the "Big John"
Chicken Little Jane Comes to Town
With numerous illustrations in pen and ink
By CHARLES D. HUBBARD
BARSE & HOPKINS
NEWARK NEW YORK
N. J. N. Y.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dorothy Whitehill Series
For Girls
[Illustration]
Here is a sparkling new series of stories for girls--just what they will
like, and ask for more of the same kind. It is all about twin sisters, who
for the first few years in their lives grow up in ignorance of each
other's existence. Then they are at last brought together and things begin
to happen. Janet is an independent go-ahead sort of girl; while her sister
Phyllis is--but meet the twins for yourself and be entertained.
5 Titles, Cloth, large 12mo.,
Covers in color.
1. JANET, A TWIN
2. PHYLLIS, A TWIN
3. THE TWINS IN THE WEST
4. THE TWINS IN THE SOUTH
5. THE TWINS' SUMMER VACATION
6. THE TWINS AND TOMMY JR.
BARSE & HOPKINS
PUBLISHERS
NEWARK, N. J. NEW YORK, N. Y.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE POLLY PENDLETON SERIES
BY DOROTHY WHITEHILL
[Illustration]
Polly Pendleton is a resourceful, wide-awake American girl who goes to a
boarding school on the Hudson River some miles above New York. By her
pluck and resourcefulness, she soon makes a place for herself and this she
holds right through the course. The account of boarding school life is
faithful and pleasing and will attract every girl in her teens.
1 POLLY'S FIRST YEAR AT BOARDING SCHOOL
2 POLLY'S SUMMER VACATION
3 POLLY'S SENIOR YEAR AT BOARDING SCHOOL
4 POLLY SEES THE WORLD AT WAR
5 POLLY AND LOIS
6 POLLY AND BOB
Cloth, Large 12mo., Illustrated.
BARSE & HOPKINS
PUBLISHERS
Newark, N. J. New York, N. Y.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Sunny Boy Series
By RAMY ALLISON WHITE
[Illustration]
Children, meet Sunny Boy, a little fellow with big eyes and an inquiring
disposition, who finds the world a large and wonderful thing indeed. And
somehow there is lots going on, when Sunny Boy is around. Perhaps he helps
push! In the first book of this new series he has the finest time ever,
with his Grandpa out in the country. He learns a lot and he helps a lot,
in his small way. Then he has a glorious visit to the seashore, but this
is in the next story. And there are still more adventures in the third
book and fourth book. You will like Sunny Boy.
4 Titles, Cloth, illustrated, 12mo.,
with colored covers.
1. SUNNY BOY IN THE COUNTRY
2. SUNNY BOY AT THE SEASHORE
3. SUNNY BOY IN THE BIG CITY
4. SUNNY BOY IN SCHOOL AND OUT
5. SUNNY BOY AND HIS PLAYMATES
BARSE & HOPKINS
PUBLISHERS
NEWARK, N. J. NEW YORK, N. Y.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOOD STORIES FOR CHILDREN
(From four to nine years old)
THE KNEETIME ANIMAL STORIES
By RICHARD BARNUM
[Illustration]
In all nursery literature animals have played a conspicuous part; and the
reason is obvious, for nothing entertains a child more than the antics of
an animal. These stories abound in amusing incidents such as children
adore, and the characters are so full of life, so appealing to a child's
imagination, that none will be satisfied until they have met all of their
favorites--Squinty, Slicko, Mappo, and the rest.
1 Squinty, the Comical Pig.
2 Slicko, the Jumping Squirrel.
3 Mappo, the Merry Monkey.
4 Tum Tum, the Jolly Elephant.
5 Don, a Runaway Dog.
6 Dido, the Dancing Bear.
7 Blackie, a Lost Cat.
8 Flop Ear, the Funny Rabbit.
9 Tinkle, the Trick Pony.
10 Lightfoot, the Leaping Goat.
11 Chunky, the Happy Hippo.
12 Sharp Eyes, the Silver Fox.
13 Nero, the Circus Lion.
14 Tamba, the Tame Tiger.
15 Toto, the Rustling Beaver.
16 Shaggo, the Mighty Buffalo.
17 Winky, the Wily Woodchuck.
Cloth, Large 12mo., Illustrated.
BARSE & HOPKINS
Publishers
Newark, N. J. New York, N. Y.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Yank Brown Series
By DAVID STONE
Cloth, large 12 mo. Illustrated.
[Illustration]
When Yank Brown comes to Belmont College as a callow Freshman, there is a
whole lot that he doesn't know about college life, such as class rushes,
rivalries, fraternities, and what a lowly Freshman must not do. But he
does know something about how to play football, and he is a big, likeable
chap who speedily makes friends.
In the first story of this series we watch Yank buck the line as a
Halfback. In the second story he goes in for basketball, among many other
activities of a busy college year. Then there are other stories to
follow--each brimful of action and interest. This is one of the best
college series we have seen in a long while.
YANK BROWN, HALFBACK
YANK BROWN, FORWARD
YANK BROWN, CROSS-COUNTRY RUNNER
BARSE & HOPKINS
NEWARK NEW YORK
N. J. N. Y.
(Other volumes in preparation.)