of the city where the Merrills lived. And as the Merrill home was on the
west side of the city, the woods and the creek were not far from their
home. To reach Clearwater they only had to walk through the Campus just
west of their yard, cut through the fields back beyond and after a walk of
less than a mile they would find themselves by the bank of a swift running
creek of clear fresh water. And along the banks of this little creek grew
the loveliest violets and buttercups and Sweet Williams that could be found
anywhere.
Mary Jane held her precious basket firmly and walked along beside her
mother while the big girls skipped on ahead.
But when the girls reached the banks of Clearwater they waited till Mrs.
Merrill and Mary Jane caught up with them.
"Now keep your eyes open for flowers," called Alice as they started on
again, all together this time, "we don't want to miss any."
"What are we to do with them when we've picked them?" asked Frances as they
walked along.
"You won't get more than a bunch before lunch, I fancy," said Mrs. Merrill,
"so you can hold them in your hand till we find where we will eat. Then,
after lunch, you can dampen your napkin and wrap up the stems and put your
posies in the bottom of your basket. That is," she added slyly, "unless you
have a lot of food to take back home."
"Not much danger of that!" laughed Frances. "I could eat more than I have
in there right this very minute!"
So, laughing and joking and picking the blossoms they found as they walked,
the little party walked along the creek till they came to a bend where the
creek widened a bit and where some big bowlders made an interest looking
spot.
"This is the very place I was looking for!" exclaimed Mrs. Merrill. "I
couldn't recall just how far down the creek it was! Suppose we make this
our headquarters. Set your baskets on that biggest rock over there--that
will keep your food high and dry. That flat rock will be our table and
these two rocks here," pointing to two angle-shaped rocks that formed a big
V, "will be just right for making a fire."
"A fire!" exclaimed Alice. "What do we want with a fire?"
"Oh, I thought it might be fun to make one," said Mrs. Merrill
indifferently, "but of course if you don't care to--"
"But we do, Mrs. Merrill," interrupted Ruth, "I think it would be jolly."
"So do I," said Alice hastily, "only I was wishing we had thought of it
before and had brought along something to cook."
"But we can have the fun of making it anyway," said Frances and she started
off in search of kindling.
In a few minutes a brisk little fire was burning between the stones and
Mrs. Merrill added the sticks the girls brought her till she had a nice bed
of coals.
"Do let's eat now," said Marcia, "I'm starved! Then we can finish our
picking afterwards."
"It's only half past eleven," said Mrs. Merrill, laughingly.
"Who cares?" asked Ruth. "That's the fun of a picnic--doing something
different."
"Yes, let's," said Frances and Virginia together. So, as every one seemed
willing, the baskets were opened and the goodies spread out on a tablecloth
laid over the biggest rock.
"I love a picnic that happens before fly time," said Virginia as she spread
a tempting pile of cookies out where every one could see.
"We all do," agreed Mrs. Merrill, "and as there doesn't seem to be one
single prowler around, I guess I'll set out my cake." And of course the
girls "oh"-ed and exclaimed over its tempting whiteness as she set it on
the rock table.
"What have you in your basket, Mary Jane?" asked Frances.
Mary Jane looked at her mother and, as Mrs. Merrill nodded approvingly, she
laid back the napkin and gave each girl a long wire toasting fork.
"Well, what in the world, mother!" exclaimed Alice. "Did you bring
marshmallows?"
Mrs. Merrill shook her head and Mary Jane, without a word (though she was
trembling inside, she was that excited over her secret) picked up a big,
funny looking package and unrolled it slowly. The girls scented a secret
and watched eagerly. Slowly the paper unrolled--and then the white paper
inside and--there was the secret in plain sight!
"Sausages!" exclaimed all the girls in one breath, "sausages we can cook!"
"How jolly!" cried Alice. "You certainly did keep that secret well, Mary
Jane--I never even suspected."
"May we cook them right away?" asked Ruth. "I could eat a million!"
"Pass them around, Mary Jane," said Mrs. Merrill. "I expect you could eat
a good many, dear, but be sure to cook each one well before eating it--you
don't need to hurry, I think there are plenty!" she added teasingly.
The girls, each armed with a long fork on the end of which was speared a
sausage, gathered round the fire. Mary Jane had her own fork and her own
sausage, just like the big girls and cooked her sausage without burning her
fingers, which was lucky, as burns are no fun.
How good those warm sausages did taste with the fine sandwiches and pickles
and other goodies from home. But Ruth didn't eat a million after all--she
found three quite a-plenty; if she'd had more she couldn't have eaten any
cake and that _would_ have been too bad!
By half past twelve, there wasn't a scrap of anything left and every one
was saying that they had had just exactly enough to eat.
"Then I suggest we shake our crumbs into the creek," said Mrs. Merrill, "I
know the minnows will enjoy them. Then you can fix the baskets ready for
your posies and still have a good two hours left for picking."
So the napkins were shaken out and the baskets arranged in neat order on
the biggest rock and then every one ran in search of flowers.
"My, what a lovely bunch you have!" exclaimed Alice a little later as she
saw how diligently Mary Jane had been picking. "Miss Heath will like that,
I know."
"But Miss Heath isn't the one this is for," said Mary Jane quickly, "not
unless mother says so."
"Who do you want to give it to, pet?" asked Mrs. Merrill who happened to be
near enough to hear what was said, "your father?"
"No," said Mary Jane, decidedly, "Daddah will come out and get some
to-morrow, maybe. I want to send mine on the train--will they take flowers
on the train?"
"On the train!" exclaimed Mrs. Merrill. "Yes, they take flowers, but who do
you want to send them to?"
"My Aunt Effie," said Mary Jane. "I want to send my flowers to her."
"My thoughtful little girl!" said Mrs. Merrill and she put her arms
tenderly around her daughter. "I think that is a fine plan and she'll be
so glad to get them. You pick all you can and then after we get home, I'll
pack them in a box and Daddah will take them down to the station this
evening and put them on the New York train."
So of course, after that promise, Mary Jane picked more and more till she
had a fine big bunch of violets and buttercups.
But picking violets is tiresome work--that is, it is tiresome if you do
it for long. And it's not much wonder that after she had picked three
handfuls, Mary Jane decided that she had enough. She wandered back to the
rocks where the baskets were set and looked around for the others. All were
in plain sight, but they were scattered about, each one picking where she
thought the picking was best.
"I think I'll sit down here," said the little girl, "and fix mine so their
stems are all straight." And she sat down on the biggest rock close by the
edge of the creek--right at the bend where the water was deepest.
She spread her posies out on the rock and rearranged them so that the stems
were all tidy and straight. Then she happened to think of the crumbs that
were fed to the minnows. "I guess they's all eaten up now," she thought,
"but I guess I'd better see."
So she leaned out over the water to look. No one ever knew quite how it
happened--Mary Jane was sure she didn't lean too far, and mother and the
big girls, busy with their picking, didn't notice a thing till they heard a
scream. Then they looked up and no Mary Jane was to be seen!
From all directions they came a-running, Mary Jane's screams guiding them
straight to the big rock.
Alice and Ruth reached there first and without a word to each other or a
thought of their clothes or shoes, they slid down the bank and waded out
into the water.
"Don't be frightened, sweetheart," called Alice comfortingly, "we're
getting you!"
Alice grabbed her shoulders and Ruth took her feet and together they
scrambled up the bank and handed her into mother's out-reaching arms.
[Illustration: She sat down on the biggest rock close by the edge of the
creek.]
Then there was a hurrying for surely! Virginia and Ruth and Jane rushed
around for more sticks to build up the almost burned out fire. Frances and
Alice made a curtain of sweaters to keep off the winds while Mrs. Merrill
pulled off Mary Jane's wet clothes and rubbed her briskly with the old
tablecloth. Then Mary Jane sat in state, wrapped up in four sweaters, while
the "rescue girls," as Alice and Ruth were called, dried their shoes and
wet skirts.
"You brave girls!" said Mrs. Merrill as soon as she had time for a word. "I
am _so_ proud of you!"
"Pooh!" exclaimed Alice, "it wasn't deep a bit! See, mother, I'm not wet
above my knees!"
"All the same," said Mary Jane firmly, and it was the first word she had
said since they pulled her out, "water's wet! And it's lots colder than I
thought it would be and the bottom of the water's hard--so there!"
Everybody laughed at that, and then they all felt better--the scare was
over.
By the time Mary Jane's clothes were dry, everybody had a basketful of
flowers. Alice and Ruth straightened them all out neatly and tied them into
bunches while their shoes and stockings were drying. As the girls all lived
in the neighborhood, they decided to put the bunches in a tub in Alice's
basement.
"Then we can come over at eight o'clock in the morning and put them in the
gift basket and take them to Miss Heath's before breakfast," said Frances.
And so it was planned.
Alice and Ruth put on their shoes and stockings and Mrs. Merrill dressed
Mary Jane in her dried out clothes--and how funny they did look too--and
then the picnic started for home.
Mr. Merrill was just driving up to the house when they got back home and he
stared in amazement when he saw Mary Jane.
"What have they done to your dress and your hair ribbon?" he asked.
"_They_ didn't do anything but just dry it," explained Mary Jane. "I doned
it myself. I bent over to look at the fishies and the water hit me and
the bottom was hard and I got wet and Alice and Ruth pulled me out and
everybody dried me and will you please put my flowers on the train for Aunt
Effie?"
"Well, I'd call all that enough for one day," replied father. "It's lucky
the water wasn't deep--it's better to feel a hard bottom than none at all,
little girl."
"And will you mail my flowers?" asked Mary Jane.
"As soon as they're ready," promised father. And so the picnic ended.
GOING SHOPPING
"Well, what are we doing to-day?" asked Mr. Merrill as he finished his
breakfast. "This is a fine enough day to be doing something big and
important."
"I'm just going to play around," said Mary Jane, "I'd like to do something
big if you have it, Daddah," she added, encouragingly. "Could we go on a
picnic?"
"No more picnic for you this week, young lady!" answered Mr. Merrill. "I
should think you were wet enough last Saturday to last a while!"
"But that wasn't the picnic's fault," explained Mary Jane, in distress,
"that just happened, and I want to go on another picnic right away." To
tell the truth, she had been a bit worried for fear her accident of the
picnic would keep her father and mother from letting her go next time
somebody gave a picnic party and she did so hope it wouldn't make any
difference.
"I expect you do," laughed Mrs. Merrill, "and I'm certain your wetting
didn't hurt you any. Don't you worry, dear, you shall go next time there
is any picnic to go to. In fact, you and Alice and I may go on a picnic
to-morrow--but it will be a picnic of quite a different kind, I'll assure
you."
"Oh, mother! Do tell us what it will be!" exclaimed both girls.
"I was talking with Doris's mother last evening," began Mrs. Merrill, "and
she tells me that it's very satisfactory to go to the city to buy hats and
shoes. What would you think" (she asked Mr. Merrill) "if the girls and I
took the trolley to the city to-morrow and bought our summer outfits?'
"I'd think that was a fine plan," said Mr. Merrill, "and I'd say that
perhaps I'd go along if I was asked."
"Oh, would you, Daddah?" cried Alice. "That would be jolly. Then it's all
settled--we're going!"
"Talk about deciding in a hurry," teased Mrs. Merrill; "when do we start?"
"I have some business that I've needed to do for a week. Suppose we all
take the early limited that leaves at eight? Then we can have a good long
day and time for a fine lunch together."
That plan suited Mrs. Merrill and was agreed upon at once. "Only remember,"
she reminded them, "eight o'clock on the car, means everybody up early."
"I'll set the alarm for six," promised Mr. Merrill.
"And I'll do my two days' practicing today," said Alice.
"And I'll help, mother, truly I will," said Mary Jane.
"We ought to have no trouble getting off then," said Mrs. Merrill, "and I,
for one, think we'll have lots of fun."
That evening, every one laid out their clothes ready for morning; lists
were made out and then the girls were sent to bed a whole hour earlier than
usual so they would feel ready for the day's fun.
It was a good thing everything was planned before hand, for eight o'clock
came _very_ early the next morning--or so it seemed; and there was
considerable scrambling to get hair ribbons on and gloves buttoned and the
house all locked up in time for the car.
Alice had been to the city with her mother several times before; but this
was Mary Jane's first trip and she watched out of the car window with
great interest and was almost sorry when the car pulled into a big train
shed--the interurban station.
"You lady folks shop till one," said father as they parted, "and then we'll
meet for lunch."
Mary Jane thought she had never seen such big stores in all her life.
Fortunately mother decided to do some of her own and Alice's shopping first
and that gave Mary Jane a chance to look around and get used to things. But
finally Mrs. Merrill said, "Now it's your turn, Mary Jane. Let's look at
spring coats and then at play suits."
They got into the elevator again (and Mary Jane's heart took a funny
"flip-flop" every time it started or stopped) and went to a floor where
everything was for little girls. There seemed to be enough suits and
dresses for all the little girls in the world and Mary Jane was certain
sure that she could _never_ tell which she liked best. But mother and Alice
helped her and before very long they had bought a pretty little gray
coat and one pink afternoon dress and two pink and two blue rompers for
playtimes.
"There, now," said Mrs. Merrill as she looked at her watch, "that's all we
can do before lunch. It's time to meet father this very minute." So they
got into the elevator again and went to the top floor.
"This is the funniest store," Mary Jane told her father, who was waiting
for them as they stepped off the car; "they sell dresses and coats and
things to eat and everything right off of one elevator!"
"Think of that!" exclaimed her father as he piloted them to a table. "Well,
I believe I like the things to eat best--at least right now."
"What are you going to have?" he asked Mary Jane as they sat down and made
themselves comfortable.
"May I have anything I want?" she asked, "_anything_?"
"Anything at all," her father assured her.
"Then I know what I want," said she promptly, "I want chicken broth and
mashed potatoes and pink ice cream."
"That's what you're going to have," Mr. Merrill told the waiter. "I wish
Alice could make up her mind as quickly," he added teasingly, for Alice was
reading the whole menu from cover to cover before she made up her mind what
to order.
Mary Jane had her chicken broth while the others were deciding and then she
had a bit of mother's good fish to eat with the mashed potatoes which came
later. And of course the pink ice cream, a big dish of it, all for herself.
"Now," said Mr. Merrill, when they were all through, "I'm going to buy Mary
Jane a pair of white shoes and a pink parasol while you two finish what you
have on your list and then maybe we'll have time to ride out to the park
before we start for home."
"Oh!" cried Mary Jane, but that was all she could think of to say. Dresses
and a coat and lunch and a ride and shoes and a parasol--all in one day!
And it wasn't a birthday either, just a regular, every day sort of a day!
"Don't worry," laughed her father for he guessed what she was thinking,
"this is just once a year! Come on, now, and we'll get the shoes."
They went back to the children's floor and bought the shoes and the
prettiest pink parasol Mary Jane had ever seen and then, just as they were
ready to go and meet mother and Alice, a friend of father's passed by.
"Well, Tom!" cried Mr. Merrill, and he jumped up to speak to him. Mary Jane
couldn't hear all they said but from what she did hear, she guessed that
the man lived a long way off and that he was buying clothes to take home to
his little girl. "Sit right there, Mary Jane," Mr. Merrill called to her as
he walked off in the direction of the elevator, "and I'll be back in five
minutes."
Mary Jane looked around and up and down. She saw the wrapper girl high up
in her box between the counters. She saw the busy clerks and floorman come
and go. She saw the many shoppers--grown folks and children that passed by
her seat. And the more folks she saw, the lonesomer she became; sitting
there all by herself among so many folks.
"I don't think it's nice for a little girl to sit here in a big seat," she
decided, "I think I'll sit somewhere that I won't _show_ so much." And she
looked around for a quiet corner. Between the big cases that formed the
counters she spied just the place she wanted. A shelf down close enough to
the floor for her to sit on and quite out of the way of the busy crowd.
"That's where I'll wait," she said softly, "then I won't show while I'm
waiting for father." And she slipped back of the big cases while no one was
looking and sat down on the shelf. But the minute she got away from the
confusing noises and sights, she felt very sleepy, so sleepy that she could
hardly keep awake; so very sleepy, so very--
Father's five minutes lengthened out to ten and then his friend stepped
into the elevator and Mr. Merrill hurried back to his little girl.
"You must excuse me, dear," he said as he approached where he had left her,
"but I hadn't seen Tom in ten years and--" But there was no little girl
there!
Mr. Merrill called the floorman and asked about her. "I left her only ten
minutes ago," he said as he looked at his watch, "and she wouldn't run
off--I _know_ Mary Jane wouldn't run off. She must be here."
"We'll find her," said the floorman, easily, "she must be in some other
aisle."
They hunted up and down and up and down the aisles and they looked at many
little girls--the store was full of them. But not a sign of Mary Jane
did they see. Finally it came time to meet Mrs. Merrill and Alice so Mr.
Merrill, knowing that they would be uneasy if he was late, hurried down
to meet them and all three came back to resume the search that by now was
getting pretty anxious.
"There's no need of your hunting on any other floor," said Mrs. Merrill as
the floorman suggested that maybe Mary Jane had gone to hunt her father and
had lost her way. "I know my little girl and she's not far from where her
father left her. Show me where she was sitting when you left and I'll find
her--I'm sure."
Mr. Merrill led her to the very seat where he had left Mary Jane and then,
to the surprise of all the clerks and curious shoppers who had become
interested in the search, Mrs. Merrill didn't rush around and hunt as
the others had. Instead, she sat down in the seat as though she had all
afternoon and not a worry in the world. And then, sitting down as Mary Jane
had been, she began to look around. And the very first thing she saw was
the shelf, way back out of the way; and on the shelf, huddled down in a
sleepy heap, her own little girl!
How the people did stare as she jumped up quickly and hurried over to the
between aisle where no one had thought of looking. And how every one did
smile as she reached down and picked up Mary Jane--Mary Jane all sound
asleep!
The little girl opened her eyes and slipped her arm around her mother's
neck and then, as she noticed so many folks looking at her, she hid her
sleepy eyes in her mother's shoulder.
"Don't you be afraid, little girl," said the floorman, in great relief, "we
like little girls who know enough not to get lost. It was better to stay
right there and go to sleep than to run around and hunt your father. You
and your sister take this slip," and he wrote hastily on a scrap of paper,
"and go upstairs to the lunch room. Maybe a dish of ice cream will help you
to wake up."
So that was how it happened that Mary Jane had a trip and an adventure and
some new clothes and _two_ dishes of pink ice cream all in one day.
THE PAPER DOLL SHOW
Bright and early the next Monday morning Mary Jane went over to Doris's
house to ask if she could come and play. Fortunately the chicken pox was
all over and Doris was well and was allowed to play again. Mary Jane had
had so many things to do during the time that Doris had been sick and she
was anxious to tell about them. And she was oh, so very glad to have her
little friend to play with again.
"Come on over to my house," she urged Doris, "I can play all morning."
"Are you sure Doris won't be in your mother's way?" asked Doris' mother.
"Monday morning is a busy time, I know."
"It isn't at our house," said Mary Jane positively, "because _this_ day
isn't wash day to-day--it's just getting ready for my sister Alice's party
this afternoon and mother said we wouldn't bother if we played in the
nursery, so please do let her come."
"Very well," laughed Doris's mother, "if you're as sure as all that I guess
I'll let her go, but I should think getting ready for a party would be
_almost_ as much work as wash day! What are you going to play?"
"Paper dolls," said Mary Jane. "I have two, five new sheets and two
scissors that don't prick that my Aunt Effie sent to me and she said that
Doris could play with them too."
"That's fine," said Doris's mother much relieved. "I should think you
little girls would have a very happy time because you haven't seen each
other for so long. Run along now, Doris, and be sure to come home when the
big whistle blows for noon."
The two little girls skipped gayly across the yard, through the gap in the
hedge between the houses and onto Mary Jane's porch.
"Let's play here," suggested Doris.
"We can't," said Mary Jane, "'cause mother says if we play out doors she
don't know where we are so we must play in the nursery with all the windows
open and have a good time and not bother. So let's do that.
"And anyway," she added as they climbed up the stairs, "out doors is bad
for paper dolls so I'm not sorry."
They got out the five new sheets of paper dolls and the scissors and set to
work cutting. Now everybody who has ever played cutout-paper dolls knows
that the cutting out is the most fun. As long as there was a doll or a
hat or a parasol uncut those two little girls had a beautiful time. They
figured out which hats belonged to which dresses and they counted the
children on the five pages so they could be divided equally. But as soon as
the cutting was done, the fun was over and the girls didn't know what to do
with themselves.
"I'll tell you what let's do," suggested Mary Jane suddenly, "some of these
dolls have dress-up clothes like a show. Let's make a show in a box like
Alice does."
What Mary Jane meant was this. Some of Alice's friends liked to plan rooms,
and furnish them. And to do that they took a neat pasteboard box and stood
it on its side; then they lined it with crepe paper for wall paper. Then
they made furniture to match the color scheme (they were very particular
about color schemes, Mary Jane remembered that) and they dressed dolls in
crepe paper to match and put them in the furnished room. And, Mary Jane
thought this part was the best of all, when they were tired of one room,
they gave it to Mary Jane and made a new one for themselves.
It happened that only the week before, Alice and her best friend Frances
had made a beautiful little room, in a box of course, all done in green and
pale yellow. Later they had planned one in rose and had told Mary Jane she
might have the green and yellow one. It was this box Mary Jane meant to use
for the show.