THE CORE OF THE APPLE
Dot Kenway came home a day or two after this, quite full of her first
"easy lessons in physiology." It always seemed to Dot that when she
learned a new fact it was the very first time it had ever been learned
by anybody.
"Dot is just like a hen," Neale O'Neil said, chuckling. "She gets hold
of a thing and you'd think nobody ever knew it before she did. She is
the original discoverer of every fact that gets into her little noddle."
"But how does that make her like a hen?" demanded Ruth.
"Why, a hen lays an egg, and then gets so excited about it and makes
such a racket, that you'd think that was the first egg that had been
laid since the world began."
"What is all this you learned, Dottie?" demanded Neale, as they all sat
around the study lamp; for Neale was often at the old Corner House with
his books in the evening. He and Agnes were in the same grade.
"Oh, Neale! did you know you had a spinal cord?" demanded the smallest
Corner House girl.
"No! you don't tell me? Where is it?" asked the boy, quite soberly.
"Why," explained the literal Dot, "it's a string that runs from the back
of your head to the bottom of your heels."
At the shout of laughter that welcomed this intelligence, Tess said,
comfortingly:
"Don't mind, Dot. That isn't half as bad as what Sammy Pinkney said to
Miss Pepperill the other day. She asked us which was the most important
to keep clean, your face or your teeth, and Sammy shouted: 'Your teeth,
teacher, 'cause they can rot off and your face can't.'"
"And I guess that awful Miss Pepperpot punished him for that," suggested
Dot, awed.
"Yes. Sammy is always getting punished," said Tess. "He never _does_
manage to say the right thing. And I think Miss Pepperill is kind of
hard on him. But--but she's real nice to me."
"Well, why shouldn't she be, honey?" Ruth said. "You're not to be
compared with that rude boy, I am sure," for Ruth Kenway did not much
approve of boys, and only tolerated Neale O'Neil because the other
children liked him so much.
"I should hope not!" agreed Agnes, who did like boys, but did not like
the aforesaid scapegrace, Sammy Pinkney.
"I guess it was the sovereigns of England that makes her nice to me,"
said Tess, thoughtfully. "I 'spected to have an awfully hard time in
Miss Pepperill's class; but she has never been real cross with me. And
what do you s'pose?"
"I couldn't guess," Ruth said smilingly.
"To-day she asked me about Mrs. Eland."
"Mrs. Eland?"
"Yes," said Tess, nodding. "She asked me if I'd seen Mrs. Eland lately,
and if she'd found her sister. For you see," explained Tess, "I'd told
her how poor Mrs. Eland felt so bad about losing her sister when she was
a little girl and never being able to find her."
"Oh, yes, I remember," Ruth said.
"But I had to tell Miss Pepperill that I'd only seen her the one
time--when she taught me the sovereigns of England. I'd really love to
see Mrs. Eland once more. Wouldn't you, Dot?"
"Dear me, yes!" agreed the smaller girl. "I wonder if she ever got those
apples?"
"Of course she did," put in Neale. "Didn't I tell you I took them to the
hospital myself?"
"We--ell! But she never told us so--did she, Dot?" complained Tess.
However, the very next day the children heard from the bag of apples. A
delightfully suspicious package awaited Tess and Dot at the old Corner
House after school. It had been delivered by no less a person than Dr.
Forsyth himself, who stopped his electric runabout in front of the old
Corner House long enough to run in and set the pasteboard box on the
sitting room table.
"What forever is that, Doctor?" demanded Mrs. MacCall.
"I hope it's something to make these children sick," declared the
doctor, gruffly. "They are too disgracefully healthy for anything."
"Yes, thank our stars!" said the housekeeper.
"Oh, yes! oh, yes!" cried the apparently very savage medical man. "But
what would become of all us poor doctors if everybody were as healthy as
this family, I'd like to know?" and he tramped out to his car again in
much make-believe wrath.
Dot came first from school and was shown the box. It was only about six
inches square and it had a card tied to it addressed to both her and
Tess. Dot eyed it with the roundest of round eyes, when she heard who
had brought it.
"Why don't you open it, child?" demanded Aunt Sarah, who chanced to be
downstairs. "Bring it here and I'll snip the string for you with my
scissors."
"Oh! I couldn't, Aunt Sarah!" Dot declared.
"Why not, I should admire to know?" snapped the old lady. "It's not too
heavy for you to carry, I should hope?"
"Oh, no, ma'am. But I can't open it till Tess comes," said Dot.
"Why not, I should admire to know?" repeated Aunt Sarah, in her jerky
way.
"Why, it wouldn't be fair," said the smallest Corner House girl,
gravely.
"Huh!" snorted the old lady.
"Tess wouldn't do that to me," Dot said, with assurance.
Agnes chanced to get home next. "What ever do you s'pose is in it,
Dottums?" she cried. "There's no name on it except yours and Tess'. And
the doctor brought it!"
"Yes. But I know it isn't pills," declared Dot, seriously.
"How do you know that?" laughed Agnes.
"The box is too big," was the prompt reply. "He brings pills in just the
_cunningest_ little boxes."
"Maybe it's charlotte russe," suggested Agnes. "They put them in boxes
like this at the bakery."
"Oh! do you think so?" gasped Dot, scarcely able to contain herself.
"If they are charlotte rushings," chuckled Neale, who had brought home
Agnes' books for her, "be careful and not be so piggish as the country
boy who ate the pasteboard containers as well as the cake and cream of
the charlotte russe. He said he liked them fine, only the crust was
tough."
"Mercy!" ejaculated Agnes. "That's like a boy."
"I _do_ hope Tess comes pretty quick!" murmured Dot. "I--I'm just about
going crazy!"
Tess came finally; but at first she was so excited by something that had
happened in school that she could not listen to Dot's pleading that she
should "come and look at the box."
Of course, Sammy Pinkney was in difficulties with the teacher again. And
Tess could not see for once why he should be punished.
"I'm sure," she said earnestly, "Sammy did his best. And I brought the
composition he wrote home for you to see, Ruthie. Sammy dropped it out
of his book and I will give it to him to-morrow.
"But Miss Pepperill acted just like she thought Sammy had misbehaved
himself. She said she hoped she hadn't a 'humorist in embryo' in her
class. What did she mean by that, Ruthie? What's a humorist in embryo!"
"A sprouting funny man," said Agnes, laughing. "Maybe Sammy Pinkney will
grow up to write for the funny columns in the newspapers."
"Let us see the paper, Tess," said Ruth. "Maybe that will explain just
what Miss Pepperill meant."
"And poor Sammy's got to stay after school for a week," said Tess,
sympathetically, producing a much smudged and wrinkled sheet of
composition paper.
"_Do_ come and see the box!" wailed Dot.
Tess went with her smaller sister then, leaving Ruth to read aloud for
the delight of the rest of the family Sammy Pinkney's composition on
"THE DUCK
"The duck is a low heavyset bird he is a mighty poor singer
having a coarse voice like crows only worse caused by getting to
many frogs in his neck. He is parshal to water and aks like hed
swallowed a toy balloon that keeps him from sinking the best he
can do is to sink his head straight down but his tail fethers is
always above water. Duks has only two legs and they is set so
far back on his running gears by Nachur that they come pretty
near missin' his body altogether. Some ducks when they get big
curls on their tails is called drakes and don't have to set or
hatch but just loaf and go swimming and eat ev'rything in sight
so if I had to be a duck I'd ruther be a drake. There toes are
set close together the web skin puts them in a poor way of
scratching but they have a wide bill for a spade and they walk
like they was tipsy. They bounce and bump from side to side and
if you scare them they flap there wings and try to make a pass
at singing which is pore work. That is all about ducks."
"Do you suppose," cried Agnes in wonder, "that that boy doesn't know any
better than that composition _sounds_?"
"Evidently Miss Pepperill thinks he does," laughed Ruth. "But it _is_
funny. I wonder what will happen to Sammy Pinkney when he grows up?"
"The question is, what will happen to him before he grows up," chuckled
Neale. "That kid is a public nuisance. I don't know but that the
dog-catchers will get him yet."
Meanwhile the two little girls had secured the paper box and opened it.
Their squeals drew all the others to the sitting room. Inside the
neatly wrapped box was a round object in silver and gold foil, and when
this was carefully unwound, a big, splendid golden pippin lay on the
table.
"Why!" cried Dot, "it's one of our own apples."
"It is surely off our pippin tree," agreed Agnes.
"Who could have sent it?" Tess surmised. "And Dr. Forsyth brought it."
"Bringing coals to Newcastle," chuckled Neale.
But when Tess took up the apple, it broke in half. It had been cunningly
cut through and through, and then the core scooped out, and the halves
of the apple fastened together again.
"Oo-ee!" squealed Dot again.
For in the core of the apple was a wad of paper, and Tess spread this
out on the table. It was a note and the reading of it delighted the two
smaller girls immensely:
"My dear Lesser Half of the Corner House Quartette," it began.
"Your kindness in sending me the nice bag of apples has not been
overlooked. I wanted to come and see you, and thank you in
person; but my duties at present will not allow me to do so. We
are short-handed here at the Women's and Children's Hospital and
I can not spare the time for even an afternoon call.
"I would, however, dearly love to have you little girls, Theresa
and Dorothy, both come to call on me, and take tea, some
afternoon--the time to be set by your elder sister, Miss Ruth.
Ask her to write to me when you may come--on your way home from
school, if you like.
"Hoping I shall have the pleasure of entertaining you soon, I
am,
"Your loving and sincere friend,
"MARION ELAND."
"I think that is just too sweet for anything of her," sighed Tess,
ecstatically. "To call and take tea with her! Won't that be fine, Dot?"
"Fine!" echoed Dot. She bit tentatively into her half of the apple which
had contained the invitation. "This--this apple isn't hurt a mite,
Tess," she added and immediately proceeded to eat it.