thought as the train was already a little late it would be better for
the girls to eat a leisurely dinner on board so that the evening would
be free for visiting with their father. So they strolled into the diner
and ate chicken (and of _course_ hashed brown potatoes!) and the very
best strawberry shortcake they had ever tasted.
When the train pulled into Jacksonville at eight o’clock Mr. Merrill
was nearly smothered with embraces and with a whirlwind of tales about
all they had seen and done. The pretty little station was cleaned and
garnished; flowerbeds had been put in order and looked very lovely
under the glow of the brilliant lights and there was nothing to mar
their happy reunion.
Mr. Merrill’s business was finished that very afternoon and he was free
to spend a day in any way the girls liked. Then the next day, they
would start back home.
“Dear me!” exclaimed Alice in dismay, “only one day?”
“That’s the wrong way to say it,” said her father; “say all of one
day--that sounds a lot more. Now where shall we spend it?”
“Oh, let’s go to St. Augustine,” said Mary Jane eagerly; “where is
it?” And she looked around the streets of Jacksonville as though she
expected to find it there.
“Oh! let’s go to bed first,” mimicked her father laughingly. “You
remember you have to ride on the train an hour or more before you get
to St. Augustine. Let’s go to bed to-night and then take the first
train down to St. Augustine in the morning. How does that sound?”
“Pretty fine!” replied Mary Jane with a little skip of joy.
“But Dadah,” objected Alice, “I feel so celebrating this
evening--having you with us and all that! I wish there was something we
could do now.”
“I’ll tell you a secret,” answered Mr. Merrill, “I feel that same way
myself. Let’s get into this taxi,” he suggested as he hailed a passing
car, “and ride up to the ‘square’ and get some ice cream and buy a lot
of picture post cards for folks back home.”
The “square” was gay enough to suit even Alice. The lights glowed
brilliantly among the palms and bright flowers; the band was playing
in a stand nearby and the streets on the four sides were filled with
people strolling along or making purchases at the many little shops.
The Merrills were happy to find just the sorts of cards they wanted to
take home. They bought a whole set--pictures of every place they had
been--for Alice and another whole set for Mary Jane to keep.
“I wish I had some to take to my kindergarten, I do,” said Mary Jane as
she proudly slipped her set into her own little hand bag; “I’d like to
take one picture to each person there.”
“How many are there in your room?” asked Mr. Merrill.
“Let me see,” said Mary Jane, counting out the classes, “there’s ten,
and nine, and fifteen, and teachers and--how many is that, Dadah?”
“It’s enough for a whole set of cards,” replied Mr. Merrill; “we’ll get
fifty and then there will surely be enough.” Mary Jane slipped the
second set into her bag and began making plans that very minute about
giving them to Miss Lynn.
That was the very first Mary Jane had thought of home and school since
the day she had sent the alligators to Doris, more than a week ago. But
now that it had once come to her mind, she found herself thinking of
the pleasant kindergarten many times through the next days and making
plans for what she would do when she returned home.
Early the next morning the Merrills took the train to St. Augustine and
spent a happy day exploring the old fort. The tunnels and dungeons made
Mary Jane shiver they were so cold and dark and slimy, but the rooms
opening onto the main courtyard--the rooms where the soldiers quartered
in the fort had lived--the girls thought were lovely. The walls were
covered with great plants of beautiful maiden hair fern, the biggest
and loveliest the girls had ever seen. Alice thought it would be no
hardship to live there though she did admit it would likely be damp!
At the end of the day they went back to Jacksonville in time to catch
the nine o’clock limited for the North.
“Just think,” said Mary Jane as she slipped off her stockings and shoes
and tucked them into the little hammock by the window of her berth,
“I’m going to ride on this train all this night and all to-morrow and
all another night and then I’ll be home!”
“I wonder if it’s snowing up there?” Alice was asking as she too began
to undress at the same time; “wouldn’t snow seem funny?”
HOME AGAIN
“Look! Look! Just look there, Dadah!” cried Mary Jane the second
morning later as their train dashed through the familiar woods and
fields of their own state. “Look what it’s doing!”
The weather was indeed trying to give the returning travelers a frosty
welcome. The fields were white with snow and great sheets of driving
snowflakes piled up on the car window sill. The girls dressed in a
hurry and went to the back platform to see the sight better. But they
didn’t stay long! Not out there! The cold wind sent them scurrying into
the warm car in a jiffy.
The train was late because of the storm, connections were bad in the
city near their home town and the ride over home was slow and cold. So
it was a rather weary and half frozen set of travelers who stiffly got
off the traction line a couple of blocks from their own house.
“Ugh!” said Mrs. Merrill shivering, “I always like to come home, but
I’ll declare I almost dread the next hour. The house will be clammy
cold and it will take a while to get the furnace going and there won’t
be a thing to eat.”
Mr. Merrill didn’t reply with his usual sympathy. He merely picked up
the bag and walked off up the street--nobody guessed that he had to
hurry off to keep the twinkle in his eye from being seen! Alice was
glad to let him carry her bag too--her hands, used for some days to
the summer heat, were cold and stiff; she could hardly manage a little
swing of her arms when her mother suggested run and exercise to warm
her up.
Mary Jane, hoping Doris might be at a window, had run ahead, but the
snow laden hedge made it impossible to see the house.
But when they turned past the hedge at their own gateway, every one
stopped still in amazement--all but Mr. Merrill, that is! Smoke was
coming from both the chimneys of their own pretty home; the gleam of a
fire in the living room fireplace showed from the front windows, and
Amanda swung open the front door.
“I see de limited a-goin’ by,” she exclaimed, with a welcoming grin,
“and I jes’ seys to myself ‘there’s my folks!’ So I run and put the
kettle on! Come right in and I’ll have yo’ a cup o’ tea in a jiffy!”
“How in the world?” exclaimed Mrs. Merrill happily as she and the girls
settled themselves cosily before the big, cheerful fire.
“Telegraphing, my dear,” said Mr. Merrill; “you may not know it, but
this country has a fairly complete telegraph system and once in a
while I think to use it!” He rubbed his hands by the blaze and smiled
gayly over the success of his surprise.
“You certainly picked out the right thing to do, Dad,” said Alice as
Amanda wheeled the little tea wagon before the fire and Alice spied a
piled up plate full of hot cinnamon toast; “it’s worth the fun of going
away, just to come home--it really is!”
The first thing after they were warmed and fed, Mary Jane got out
her picture folders and spread them on the floor in front of the
fire--folder after folder till the rug was almost covered.
“Now,” she said when she had them all in place where she could see
them, “I’m going to see if I saw every place I intended to.”
“See if you got the worth of your money, you mean, do you?” laughed her
father; “well you just go ahead and see. But if any two girls ever saw
more of Florida and were away from home only fourteen days and fifteen
nights--I’d like to see them! I’d like to know how they did it!”
And indeed, when Mary Jane and Alice began counting the pictures they
had seen they realized more than even before, how very much they _had_
seen. For there were not more than a dozen pictures out of that whole
collection that did not look familiar. Think of that!
The next morning Mary Jane buttoned on her leggings, put on her storm
rubbers and heavy coat and cap and muff and started off through the
snow to school. On her arm in her own little bag she carried all the
picture post cards she had brought for her friends in kindergarten. At
Doris’s gate she met her friends and Mr. Dana who was taking Doris to
school on her sled.
“Pile on, Mary Jane,” he said cordially; “always room for one more on a
sled you know. Hold tight, now! Here we go!” And away they dashed down
the street and to the school.
When Miss Lynn saw the fine cards Mary Jane had brought for the pupils
she at once suggested that they stop regular work for part of the
morning and make a party in honor of Mary Jane’s return.
“We can hang the cards all around the room at the edge of the board,”
she said, going to her desk to get the box of hangers; “and then as we
march around and look at them, you can tell us about each picture.”
Mary Jane and pretty Miss Amerion, the assistant, set busily to work
and by the time the bell rang a few minutes later all the pictures were
hung in place. It was lots of fun to march around the room at the head
of the class and tell interesting things about the pictures. She told
about the fire on the boat and about riding the ponies and seeing the
queer stoves in the orange orchard and everything she could think of.
And she didn’t wonder a bit that the boys and girls (and teachers too)
laughed when she told them about their wild ride in the auto in chase
of a boat.
“What did you think was the strangest thing you saw, Mary Jane?” asked
Miss Lynn when Mary Jane had finished.
“Well--” Mary Jane hesitated. She thought quickly of the jelly
fish, the chameleon, the queer sword fish she had seen swimming in
Clear River, but none of those seemed quite as queer as the big old
alligators that looked so like logs.
“I think the alligators were the queerest,” she said decidedly, and she
told how she had been fooled into thinking one was a real log.
Then suddenly she happened to think. “I sent Doris an alligator. I sent
her two of ’em. Couldn’t she bring them to school so everybody could
see? They were just baby ones of course, but they were funny all the
same.”
The whole school looked over to Doris and saw the poor little girl
flushed with embarrassment and hanging her head.
“Have you got them, dear?” asked Miss Lynn encouragingly; “maybe we
could wrap them up warm and snug and bring them to school to-morrow.”
“Well, you see--” Doris hesitated and then blurted out suddenly, “we
had ’em two days and then they both crawled down the register and they
haven’t ever come back--not yet they haven’t.”
“They must have thought this country too cold,” said Miss Lynn; “but
don’t you worry. We’ve nice pictures to look at and if the alligators
ever come back you can bring them to us then.” And Doris was comforted.
For two months after they came home from Florida, Mary Jane went to
kindergarten and played with her little friends and helped about the
house just as she had loved to do before they went away for those
wonderful two weeks. The piled up snows of winter melted into little
dirty piles that finally slipped off into the ground without anybody
noticing when they went. The buds on the lilac bush began to swell
and two gay robins appeared in the garden to announce that spring was
coming.
One warm noon time Mary Jane stopped on the front steps to make into a
chain the first gay dandelions of the season she had picked on the way
home from school.
“See, Dadah!” she exclaimed to her father as he came up the walk, “I
got seven and I making them into a chain for mother--won’t she be
pleased?”
“Indeed she will,” replied Mr. Merrill, but Mary Jane noticed that his
voice sounded as though he was thinking of something else. “Do you
like it so very well here, Mary Jane?” he asked and he waved his hand
out toward the yard.
“Why yes, Dadah,” replied Mary Jane, puzzled at his manner, “don’t you?”
“Of course,” said Mr. Merrill, “but would you like to live somewhere
else, do you think?”
Mary Jane looked out over the pretty front yard, where the grass was
so green and the crocuses were peeking up here and there. “Well,” she
said, “I like it here and I don’t know what you mean. But I think I’d
like it anywhere you and mother and Alice were.”
“That’s my girl!” exclaimed her father as he hugged her close. “Come
here, folks,” he added as Alice came up the walk just then and Mrs.
Merrill opened the door to greet them; “I’ll tell you the news.” He
pulled a yellow telegram from his pocket. “See that? That means new
work and a promotion. And it means that we move to Chicago.”
“Leave here?” exclaimed Mrs. Merrill.
“Leave here inside of a month,” he replied. “Leave here and live in the
big city.”
“Oh!” exclaimed Mary Jane, “go on the train again! Hashed brown
potatoes! And have a moving wagon and boxes of things just like other
folks! Oh me! Goody! Is it really for true?”
And if you want to read about all the fun Mary Jane had getting
acquainted with the big city, exploring its parks and going to school,
you will find it all told in
MARY JANE’S CITY HOME
_THE MARY JANE SERIES_
_By Clara Ingram Judson_
Cloth, 12 mo. Illustrated
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 COUNTRY HOME.
8. MARY JANE AT SCHOOL.
9. MARY JANE IN CANADA.
10. MARY JANE’S SUMMER FUN.
11. MARY JANE’S WINTER SPORTS.
12. MARY JANE’S VACATION.
13. MARY JANE IN ENGLAND.
14. MARY JANE IN SCOTLAND.
Publishers
BARSE & CO.
New York, N. Y. Newark, N. J.
Elizabeth Ann Series
By JOSEPHINE LAWRENCE
_For Girls from 7 to 12_
Elizabeth Ann is a little girl whom we first meet on a big train,
travelling all alone. Her father and mother have sailed for
Japan, and she is sent back East to visit at first one relative’s
home, and then another. Of course, she meets many new friends,
some of whom she is quite happy with, while others--but you
must read the stories for yourself. Every other girl who reads
the first of these charming books will want all the rest; for
Elizabeth Ann is certainly worth the cultivating.
THE ADVENTURES OF ELIZABETH ANN.
ELIZABETH ANN AT MAPLE SPRING.
ELIZABETH ANN’S SIX COUSINS.
ELIZABETH ANN and DORIS.
ELIZABETH ANN’S BORROWED GRANDMA.
ELIZABETH ANN’S SPRING VACATION.
ELIZABETH ANN and UNCLE DOCTOR.
ELIZABETH ANN’S HOUSEBOAT.
Publishers
BARSE & CO.
New York, N. Y. Newark, N. J.
_THE “TWINS” SERIES_
_By Dorothy Whitehill_
Cloth, 12 mo. Illustrated.
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.
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.
7. THE TWINS AT HOME.
8. THE TWINS’ WEDDING.
9. THE TWINS ADVENTURING.
10. THE TWINS AT CAMP.
11. THE TWINS ABROAD.
Publishers
BARSE & CO.
New York, N. Y. Newark, N. J.
_The Joyce Payton Series_
_By_
DOROTHY WHITEHILL
_For girls from 8 to 14_
Between the covers of these new books will be found the most intensely
interesting cast of characters, whose adventures in school and at
home keep one guessing continually. Joyce Payton, known as “Joy” with
her knowledge of gypsy ways, is bound to become a universal favorite;
there is also Pam, her running mate, and her best chum; Gypsy Joe, the
little Romany genius, and his magical “fiddle,” with which he talks to
the birds, squirrels, and in fact all of Animated Nature. Then there
is among the host of others Gloria, the city-bred cousin, a spoiled
darling; who feels like a “cat in a strange garret” when in the company
of Joy and her friends.
1. JOY AND GYPSY JOE.
2. JOY AND PAM.
3. JOY AND HER CHUMS.
4. JOY AND PAM AT BROOKSIDE.
Publishers
BARSE & CO.
New York, N. Y. Newark, N. J.
Transcriber’s Note:
Page 13
for its two week’s vacation _changed to_
for its two weeks’ vacation
Page 49
the ’gaters climbed slowly _changed to_
the ’gators climbed slowly
Page 58
wall’s is real! _changed to_
walls is real!
Page 74
there was an open pavalion _changed to_
there was an open pavilion
End of Project Gutenberg's Mary Jane Down South, by Clara Ingram Judson