;-NRLF 
 
 
 I 
 
/"ft P. a K E I 6 Y\ 
 
 1 LIBRARY 
 
 Y O. c 
 CAUFORKSA 
 
BOOKS BY 
 
 MARGARET SIDNEY 
 
 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN 
 
 Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill 
 
 A LITTLE MAID OF BOSTON TOWN 
 
 Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill 
 
 THE FAMOUS PEPPER BOOKS 
 
 IN ORDER OF PUBLICATION 
 Twelve Volumes Illustrated 
 
 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AND HOW THEY GREW 
 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS MIDWAY 
 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS GROWN UP 
 PHRONSIE PEPPER 
 THE STORIES POLLY PEPPER TOLD 
 THE ADVENTURES OF JOEL PEPPER 
 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS ABROAD 
 FIVE LITTLE PEPPFRS AT SCHOOL 
 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AND THEIR FRIENDS 
 BEN PEPPER 
 
 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS IN THE LITTLE BROWN 
 HOUSE 
 
 OUR DA VIE PEPPER 
 
 LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON 
 
TAKK KICKI I ! UK liK.AT. Too. AS MUCH AS 1." 
 
FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS 
 AT SCHOOL 
 
 By 
 
 MARGARET SIDNEY 
 
 AUTHOR OF " FIVE LITTLE 
 PEPPERS ABROAD," " A 
 LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD 
 TOWN," " SALLY, MRS.TUBBS " 
 
 Illustrated by 
 HERMANN HEYER 
 
 BOSTON & 
 
 LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. 
 
FDUC-PSYCH 
 
 J* PEPPER Jl 
 
 TRADE-MARK 
 
 Registered in U. S. Patent Office. 
 
 COP Y R I G H T, 
 
 r 9 o 3 , BY 
 
 L O T H R O P 
 PUBLISHING 
 C O M P A N Y. 
 
 AT. L RIGHTS 
 R E S E R V E D 
 
 PUBL IS H E D 
 NOV. 1903 
 
 Fifty-fourth Thousand. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 story of young people s lives is not 
 complete without many and broad glimpses 
 of their school days. It was impossible to 
 devote the space to this recital of the Five 
 Little Peppers school life, in the books that 
 showed their growing up. The author, there 
 fore, was obliged unwillingly to omit all the 
 daily fun and study and growth, that she, loving 
 them as if they were real children before her 
 eyes, saw in progress. 
 
 So she packed it all away in her mind, ready 
 to tell to all those young people who also loved 
 the Peppers, when they clamored for more 
 stories about them just what Polly and Joel 
 and David did in their merry school days. Ben 
 never got as much schooling as the others, for 
 he insisted on getting into business life as early 
 as possible, in order the sooner to begin to pay 
 Grandpapa King back for all his kindness. But 
 Jasper and Percy and Van joined the Peppers 
 3 
 
4 PREFACE 
 
 at school, and a right merry time they had 
 of it! 
 
 And now the time seems ripe to accede to all 
 the insistent demands from those who love the 
 Five Little Peppers, that this record of their 
 school days should be given. So here it is, 
 just as they all gave it to 
 
 MARGARET SIDNEY. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER 
 I, 
 
 II. 
 III. 
 
 IV. 
 
 V. 
 
 VI. 
 
 VII. 
 
 VIII 
 
 IX. 
 
 X. 
 
 XI. 
 
 XII. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 XV. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 HARD TIMES FOR JOEL 9 
 
 THE TENNIS MATCH . 24 
 
 A NARROW ESCAPE 35 
 
 OF VARIOUS THINGS 49 
 
 AT SILVIA HORNE S 60 
 
 THE ACCIDENT 75 
 
 THE SALISBURY GIRLS 89 
 
 " WE RE TO HAVE OUR PICNIC 1 " . . . . 105 
 
 ALL ABOUT THE POOR BRAKEMAN . . . 121 
 
 JOEL AND His DOG *35 
 
 THE UNITED CLUBS 154 
 
 SOME EVERY-DAY FUN \ . 173 
 
 THE PICNIC 186 
 
 Miss SALISBURY S STORY 206 
 
 THE BROKEN VASE 233 
 
 NEW PLANS 2 47 
 
 PHRONSIE 262 
 
 TOM S STORY 280 
 
 5 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XJX. THE GRAND ENTERTAINMENT 300 
 
 XX. THE CORCORAN FAMILY ^22 
 
 XXI. AT THE PLAY ^ 
 
 XXII. PICKERING DODGE 368 
 
 XXIII. THE CLEMCY GARDEN PARTY 389 
 
 XXIV. THE PIECE OF NEWS 4I? 
 
 XXV. "THE VERY PRETTIEST AFFAIR" .... 435 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 " TAKE RICKET ! HE BEAT Too, AS MUCH AS I." 
 
 Frontispiece 
 
 AND SHE TOLD THEM THE WHOLE STORY AS 
 
 FAST AS SHE COULD 100 
 
 JUST THEN SOMETHING SKIMMED OUT FROM 
 
 THE CORNER 1^5 
 
 "I NEVER Din REGARD PICNICS AS PLEASANT 
 
 AFFAIRS," GASPED Miss ANSTICE 206 
 
 "SEE, JOEL, I M ALL FIXED UP NICE," LAUGHED 
 
 PHRONSIE FROM HER PERCH. ...... 286 
 
 OH, I Do HOPE I SHALL DRAW THE RIGHT 
 
 ONF, JASPER." 307 
 
 "AND So WE HAD A LITTLE ENTERTAINMENT, 
 AND SOLD THE TICKETS, AND HERE is OUR 
 GIFT!" 337 
 
 THERE STOOD THE LITTLE VASE, PRESENTING 
 AS BRAVE AN APPEARANCE AS IN ITS FIRST 
 PERFECTION 412 
 
Five Little Peppers at School 
 
 I HARD TIMES FOR JOEL 
 
 COME on, Pepper." One of the boys 
 rushed down the dormitory hall, giving 
 a bang on Joel s door as he passed. 
 
 "All right," said Joel a bit crossly, "I m com 
 ing." 
 
 "Last bell," came back on the wind. 
 
 Joel threw his tennis racket on the bed, and 
 scowled. Just then a flaxen head peeped in, 
 and two big eyes stared at him. 
 
 "Ugh!" --Joel took one look "off with 
 you, Jenkins." Jenkins withdrew at once. 
 
 Joel jumped up and slammed the door hard, 
 whirled around in vexation, sprang over and 
 thrust the tennis racket under the bed, seized a 
 dog-eared book, and plunged off, taking the pre 
 caution, despite his hurry, to shut the door fast 
 behind him. 
 
 Jenkins stole out of his room three doors 
 9 
 
io FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 beyond, and as the hall was almost deserted 
 about this hour, so many boys being in recita 
 tion, he had nothing to do but tiptoe down to 
 Joel s room and go softly in. 
 
 "Hullo!" A voice behind made him skip. 
 
 " Oh, Berry," it was a tone of relief, "it s 
 you." 
 
 "Urn," said Berry, "what s up now, Jenk?" 
 He tossed back his head, while a smile of delight 
 ran all over his face. 
 
 "Hush-- come here." Jenk had him now 
 within Joel s room and the door shut. "We ll 
 have fun with the beggar now." 
 
 "Who- Dave?" 
 
 " Dave ? No. Who wants to haul him over ? " 
 cried Jenk in scorn. "You are a flat, Berry, if 
 you think that." 
 
 "Well, you are a flat, if you think to tackle 
 Joe," declared Berry with the air and tone of 
 one who knows. "Better let him alone, after 
 what you got last term." 
 
 "Well, I ain t going to let him alone," declared 
 Jenk angrily, and flushing all up to his shock of 
 light hair; "and I gave him quite as good as he 
 gave me, I d have you know, Tom Beresford." 
 
 "Hoh, hoh!" Tom gave a howl of derision, 
 
HARD TIMES FOR JOEL n 
 
 and slapped his knee in pure delight. "Tell that 
 to the marines, sonny," he said. 
 
 "Hush old Fox will hear you. Be still, 
 can t you?" - twitching his jacket "and stop 
 your noise." 
 
 "I can t help it; ^ou say such very funny 
 things," said Beresford, wiping his eyes. 
 
 "Well, anyway, I m going to pay him up this 
 term," declared Jenkins decidedly. He was rush 
 ing around the small room; the corners devoted 
 to David being neatness itself, which couldn t 
 truthfully be said of Joel s quarters. "I m after 
 his new tennis racket. Where in thunder is it?" 
 tossing up the motley array of balls, dumb-bells, 
 and such treasures, that showed on their surface 
 they belonged to no one but Joel 
 
 "Great Scott!" Tom cried with sudden inter 
 est, and coming out of his amusement. "You 
 won t find it." 
 
 "Saw him looking at it just now, before he 
 went to class," cried Jenkins, plunging around the 
 room. "Where is the thing?" he fumed. 
 
 Berry gave a few swift, bird-like glances around 
 the room, then darted over to the end of one of 
 the small beds, leaned down, and picked out from 
 underneath the article in question. 
 
12 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Oh! give it to me," cried Jenk, flying at him, 
 and possessing himself of the treasure; "it s 
 mine; I told you of it." 
 
 "Isn t it a beauty!" declared Berry, his eyes 
 very big and longing. 
 
 "Ha, ha ain t it? Well, Joe won t see this 
 in one spell." 
 
 Jenkins gave it a swing over his head, then 
 batted his knee with it. 
 
 "What are you going to do, Jenk?" demanded 
 Berry, presently, when he could get his mi^d off 
 from the racket itself. 
 
 "Do? Ha, ha! Who says I can t pay the 
 beggar back?" grinned Jenk, hopping all over 
 the room, and knocking into things generally. 
 
 "Hush hush," warned Berry, plunging after 
 him; "here s old Fox," which brought both boys 
 up breathless in the middle of the floor. 
 
 "She s gone by" a long breath of relief; 
 "and there she goes down the stairs," finished 
 Berry. 
 
 "Sure?" Not daring to breathe, but clutching 
 the racket tightly, and with one eye on Berry, 
 Jenk cried again in a loud whisper, "Sure, 
 Berry?" 
 
 "As if any one could mistake the flap of 
 
HARD TIMES FOR JOEL 13 
 
 those slipper-heels on the stairs!" said Berry 
 scornfully. 
 
 "Well, look out of the window," suggested 
 Jenk suddenly. "She ll go across the yard, 
 maybe." 
 
 So Berry dashed to the window, and gave one 
 look. "There she sails with a bottle in her 
 hand, going over to South" (the other dormitory 
 across the yard). "Most likely Jones has the 
 colic again. Good! Now that disposes finely of 
 old Fox," which brought him back to the subject 
 in hand, the disposal of Joel s racket. 
 
 "Give me that," he said, hurrying over to 
 Jenkins. 
 
 "No, you don t," said that individual; "and I 
 must be lively before old Fox gets back." With 
 that, he rushed out of the room. 
 
 "If you don t give me that racket, I ll tell on 
 you," cried Beresford in a passion, flying after 
 him. 
 
 "Hush!" Jenk turned on him suddenly, and 
 gripped him fast. "See here," he cried in a sup 
 pressed tone, and curbing his anger as best he 
 could, "you don t want Joe to go into that 
 match, this afternoon, with this racket." He 
 shook it with eager, angry fingers. 
 
i 4 FIVE LITTLE PEPPEES AT SCHOOL 
 
 No," said Berry without stopping to think, 
 "I don t/ 
 
 "Well, then, you better keep still, and hold 
 your tongue," advised Jenk angrily. 
 
 "Well, what are you going to do with it?" 
 
 "None of your - what, he didn t say, for 
 just then a boy flew out of his room, to tear 
 down the long hall. He had his baek to them, 
 and there was no time to skip back into Jenkins 
 own room, for the two had already passed it. 
 One wild second, and Jenkins thrust the racket 
 into the depths of the housemaid s closet close at 
 hand, under some cleaning-cloths on a shelf. 
 Then he stuck his hands in his pockets. 
 
 "Hullo!" The boy who was rushing along, 
 suddenly turned, to see him whistling. 
 
 "Oh Jenk, is that you? See here, where s 
 your Cassar?" 
 
 "Don t know gone up the spout," said Jen 
 kins carelessly, and keeping well in front of 
 Beresford. 
 
 "Well, who has one? You haven t, Berry?" 
 He turned to Tom anxiously. 
 
 "Not on your life he hasn t," Jenk answered 
 for him. 
 
 "Botheration!" ejaculated the boy. "I ve 
 
HARD TIMES FOR JOEL 15 
 
 fifty lines to do, else I m shut in from the 
 game. And Simmons has run off with my 
 book." 
 
 "Try Joe Pepper s room; he s in math recita 
 tion," said Jenk suddenly. "He has one, Toppy." 
 
 "You re a brick." Toppy flew down the hall, 
 and bolted into Joel s room. 
 
 "Holy Moses, what luck! He ll prowl for an 
 hour over Joe s duds. Come on." Jenk had his 
 head in the cupboard, and his fingers almost on 
 the racket, when Toppy s voice rang dismally 
 down the hall: "Joe must have taken it." 
 
 Jenk pulled his fingers out, and had the door 
 fast, and was quite turned away from the danger 
 ous locality. "Well, I don t know what you ll 
 do, Toppy," he said, controlling his dismay 
 enough to speak. "Run down and skin through 
 the fellows rooms on first floor. Oh, good gra 
 cious!" he groaned, "it s all up with getting it 
 now," as a swarm of boys came tumbling over 
 the stairs. 
 
 So he mixed with them, laughing and talking, 
 and Berry melted off somewhere. And no one 
 had time to think a syllable of anything but the 
 great game of tennis to be called at two o clock, 
 between the two divisions of Dr. Marks boys. 
 
16 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 Some of the team of the St. Andrew s School, a 
 well-known set of fellows at this sport and ter 
 ribly hard to beat, were going to be visitors. So 
 there was unusual excitement. 
 
 "What s up, Pepper?" A howl that rose above 
 every other sort of din that was then in progress, 
 came from Joel s room. 
 
 "He s been in here I" Joel plunged out of the 
 doorway, tossing his black, curly locks, that were 
 always his bane, his eyes flashing dangerously. 
 "Say, where s Jenk? He s been in my room," 
 he cried, doubling up his small fists. 
 
 "What is it?" cried Jenkins, making as if just 
 coming up the stairs. "What s all the row 
 about?" 
 
 "You ve been in my room," shouted Joel in a 
 
 loud, insistent voice, "and taken my The 
 
 rest was lost in a babel of voices. 
 
 "What? What s gone, Joe?" They all 
 crowded into the small space, and swarmed all 
 over the room. 
 
 "My racket," yelled Joel wrathfully. "Jenk 
 has got it; he better give it up. Quick now." 
 He pushed up the sleeves of his tennis shirt, and 
 squared off, glaring at them all, but making the 
 best of his way over toward Jenk. 
 
HARD TIMES FOR JOEL 17 
 
 That individual, when he saw him coming, 
 thought it better to get behind some intervening 
 boys. Everybody huddled against everybody else, 
 and it was impossible to get at the truth. 
 
 "See here now, Mother Fox will be after us 
 all if you don t hush up," called one boy. "I 
 guess she s coming," which had the desired effect. 
 All the voices died down except Joel s. 
 
 "I don t care," said Joel wrathfully. "I wish 
 she would come. Jenk has got my racket. He 
 saw me with it before I ran to math; and now 
 it s gone." All eyes turned to Jenkins. 
 
 " Is that so ? " A half-dozen hands pushed him 
 into the centre of the group. "Then you ve got 
 to give him fits, Pepper." 
 
 "I m going to," announced Joel, pushing up 
 his sleeves higher yet, "until he tells where it is. 
 Come on, Jenk." He tossed his head like a 
 young lion, and squared off. 
 
 "I haven t your old racket," declared Jenk, a 
 white line beginning to come around his mouth. 
 It wasn t pleasant to see his reckoning quite so 
 near. 
 
 "Then you know where it is," declared Joel. 
 
 "And give it to the beggar," cried several of 
 the boys, with whom Jenkins was by no means a 
 favorite. 
 
i8 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Give it to him worse than you did last term, 
 Joe," called some one on the edge of the circle 
 closing around the two. 
 
 "I m going to," nodded Joel, every nerve in 
 his body tingling to begin. "Come on, Jenk, if 
 you won t tell where you ve put my racket." 
 
 "He s afraid," said the boy who had advised 
 the more severe pommelling, "old fraid-cat!" 
 
 Jenkins, his knees knocking together miserably, 
 but with a wild rage in his heart at these words, 
 struck out blindly to meet Joel s sturdy little fists, 
 and to find his Waterloo. 
 
 In the midst of the din and confusion that this 
 encounter produced, steps that could never by 
 any possibility be mistaken for those of a school 
 boy struck upon their ears. 
 
 The circle of spectators flew wide, and before 
 Joel and Jenkins realized what was coming, a 
 good two dozen hands were laid on their collars, 
 and they were dragged apart, and hauled into 
 separate rooms, the rest of the boys scattering 
 successfully. Tom Beresford fled with the rest, 
 and the long hall was cleared. 
 
 "Boys!" the voice of the matron, Mrs. Fox, 
 rang down the deserted, long hall, as she looked 
 up from the stairway. "Humph! they are quiet 
 
HARD TIMES FOR JOEL 19 
 
 enough now." She gave a restful sigh, and went 
 down again. Jones and his colic were just so 
 much extra on a terribly busy day. 
 
 "What did you fellows touch me for?" roared 
 Joel, lifting a bloody nose. In his own room, 
 Jenkins was in that state that recognizes any 
 interruption as a blessing. 
 
 "Old Fox would have caught you, if we 
 hadn t rushed you both," cried the boys. 
 
 Tom Beresford worked his way up to say close 
 to Joel s ear, " Don t speak, get into your room; 
 I ll tell you where it is," then melted off to the 
 outer circle of boys. 
 
 Joel looked up, gave a little nod, then broke 
 away from the boys, and dashed to Jenkins door. 
 
 "See here," he flung the words out, 
 " you ve got to finish sometime when Mrs. Fox 
 isn t round." 
 
 Jenkins, who was under the impression that he 
 had had quite enough, was made to say, "All 
 right;" something in the boys faces making it 
 seem imperative that he should do so. 
 
 Quite pleased, Joel withdrew as suddenly as he 
 had come. 
 
 Meanwhile, up the stairs, two at a time, came 
 Davie, singing at the memory of the special com- 
 
20 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 mendation given by his instructor in the recita 
 tion just over; and secretly David s heart bounded 
 with a wild hope of taking home a prize in 
 classics for Mamsie! 
 
 "Everything s just beautiful this term!" he 
 hummed to himself. And then, in a breathing 
 space he was in his room, and there, well drawn 
 behind the door, was a boy with big eyes. 
 " Hush" he warned. 
 
 "What s the matter?" asked David in astonish 
 ment, "and where s Joel?" 
 
 "Oh, don t speak his name; he s in disgrace. 
 Oh, it s perfectly awful!" The boy huddled up 
 in a heap, and tried to shut the door. 
 
 "Who?" cried David, not believing his ears. 
 
 "Joel oh dear! it s perfectly awful!" 
 
 "Stop saying it s perfectly awful, Bates, and 
 tell me what s the matter." Davie felt faintish, 
 and sat down on the shoe-box. 
 
 Bates shut the door with a clap, and then 
 came to stand over him, letting the whole infor 
 mation out with a rush. 
 
 "He s pitched into Jenk and they ve had a 
 fight and they re all blood and the old Fox 
 almost got em both." Then he shut his mouth 
 suddenly, the whole being told. 
 
HARD TIMES FOR JOEL 21 
 
 Davie put both hands to his head. For a 
 minute everything turned dark around him. 
 Then he thought of Mamsie. "Oh dear me!" 
 he said, coming to. 
 
 "How I wish he d had it all out with that 
 beggar!" exploded Bates longingly. 
 
 David didn t say anything, being just then 
 without words. At this instant Joel rushed in 
 with his bloody nose, and a torn sleeve where 
 Jenk in his desperation had gripped it fast. 
 
 "Oh Joel!" screamed Davie at sight of him, 
 and springing from his shoe-box. "Are you 
 hurt? Oh Joey!" 
 
 "Phoo! that s nothing," said Joel, running over 
 to the wash-basin, and plunging his head in, to 
 come up bright and smiling. "See, Dave, I m 
 all right," he announced, his black eyes shining. 
 "But he s a mean beggar to steal my new racket," 
 he concluded angrily. 
 
 "To steal your new racket that Grandpapa sent 
 you!" echoed David. "Oh dear me! who has 
 taken it? Oh Joel!" 
 
 "That beggar Jenkins," exploded Joel. "But 
 I m to know where it is." Just then the door 
 opened cautiously, enough to admit a head. 
 "Don t speak, Pepper, but come." 
 
22 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 Joel flung down the towel, and pranced to the 
 door. 
 
 "No one else," said the boy to whom the head 
 belonged. 
 
 "Not me?" asked David longingly. "Can t 
 I come?" 
 
 "No no one but Joe." Joel rushed over the 
 sill tumultuously, deserting David and the Bates 
 boy. 
 
 "Don t speak a single word," said the boy out 
 in the hall, putting his mouth close to Joel s ear, 
 "but move lively." 
 
 No need to tell him so. In a minute they 
 were both before the housemaid s closet. 
 
 "Feel under," whispered the boy, with a sharp 
 eye down the length of the hall. 
 
 Joel s brown hands pawed among the cleaning- 
 cloths and brushes, bringing up in a trice the 
 racket, Grandpapa s gift, to flourish it high. 
 
 "Take care; keep it down," said the boy in a 
 hurried whisper. 
 
 "Oh, oh ! " cried Joel, hanging to it in a 
 transport. 
 
 "Urn," the boy nodded. "Hush, be still. 
 Now skip for your room." 
 
 "Beresford," said Joel, his black eyes shining 
 
HARD TIMES FOR JOEL 23 
 
 as he paused a breathing space before rushing 
 back to Davie, the new racket gripped fast, "if 
 I don t pay Jenk for this!" 
 
 "Do." Tom grinned all over his face in great 
 delight; "you ll be a public benefactor," and he 
 softly beat his hands together. 
 
II THE TENNIS MATCH 
 
 JOEL, hugging his recovered tennis racket, 
 rushed off to the court. Tom Beresford, 
 staring out of his window, paused while pulling 
 on his sweater to see him go, a sorry little feeling 
 at his heart, after all, at Joe s good spirits. 
 
 " He ll play like the mischief, and a great deal 
 better for the row and the fright over that old 
 racket. Well, I had to tell. Twould have been 
 too mean for anything to have kept still." 
 
 So he smothered a sigh, and got into his togs, 
 seized his implements of battle, and dashed off 
 too. Streams of boys were rushing down to the 
 court, and the yard was black with them. In the 
 best places were the visitors. Royalty couldn t 
 have held stronger claims to distinction in the 
 eyes of Dr. Marks boys; and many were the 
 anxious glances sent over at the four St. An 
 drew s boys. If the playing shouldn t come up 
 to the usual high mark ! 
 
 " Pepper will score high," one after another 
 24 
 
THE TENNIS MATCH 25 
 
 said as he dropped to the ground next to his 
 chums, in the circle around the court. 
 
 "Of course." Nobody seemed to doubt Joel s 
 powers along that line. "He always does." And 
 cries of "Pepper Pepper," were taken up, and 
 resounded over the yard. 
 
 Joel heard it as he dashed along, and he held 
 his head high, well pleased. But David followed 
 his every movement with anxiety. "I m afraid 
 he was hurt," he said to himself; "and if he 
 should lose the game, he d never get over it. 
 Oh dear me! if Mamsie could only be here!" 
 
 But Mamsie was far away from her boys, 
 whom she had put at Dr. Marks school for the 
 very purpose of achieving self-reliance and obedi 
 ence to the training of the little brown house. 
 So Davie, smothering his longing, got into a front 
 row with several boys of his set, and bent all his 
 attention to the game just beginning. 
 
 Sharp at two o clock the four went on to the 
 court Joel and Fred Ricketson against Tom 
 Beresford and Lawrence Greene, otherwise 
 "Larry." And amid howls of support from 
 the "rooters," the game began. 
 
 At first Joel s luck seemed to desert him, and 
 he played wild, causing much consternation in 
 
26 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 the ranks violently rooting for him. David s 
 head sank, and he leaned his elbows on his 
 knees, to bury his hot cheeks in his hands. 
 
 "Wake up," cried Paul Sykes, his very par 
 ticular friend, hoarsely, giving him a dig in the 
 ribs. "Don t collapse, Dave." 
 
 "Oh!" groaned David, his head sinking lower 
 yet, "I can t look; I simply can t. It will kill 
 Joel." 
 
 "Stiffen up!" cried Paul. "Joe s all right; 
 he ll come to. Ha ! " 
 
 A shout, stunning at first, that finally bore 
 down all before it in the shape of opposing enthu 
 siasm, swept over the whole yard. Screams of 
 applause, perfectly deafening, rent the air. And 
 look! even the visitors from St. Andrew s are 
 leaping to their feet, and yelling, " Good good." 
 Something quite out of the common, even in a 
 close tennis match, was taking place. David 
 shuddered, and crouched down on the ground as 
 far as he could. Paul gave him an awful whack 
 on the back. 
 
 "You re losing it all," he cried as he stood on 
 his tiptoes. "Hi! Hi! Tippety Rippety! Hi! 
 Hi!" 
 
 It was Joel s especial yell; and there he was, 
 
THE TENNIS MATCH 27 
 
 as David scrambled up to see him, head thrown 
 back, and black eyes shining in the way they al 
 ways did when he worked for Mamsie and Polly, 
 and that dealt despair to all opponents. He had 
 just made a brilliant stroke, returning one of 
 Larry s swiftest balls in such a manner that it 
 just skimmed over the net and passed the boys 
 before they could recover themselves, and fairly 
 taking off from their feet the St. Andrew s men 
 who had been misled by Joel s previous slow 
 playing in the first set, which Tom and Larry 
 had won. 
 
 "Who is he? Gee Whiz! but that s good 
 form!" declared Vincent Parry, the St. Andrew s 
 champion, excitedly. 
 
 "Pepper don t you know Pepper?" cried a 
 dozen throats, trying to seem unconscious that it 
 was Parry, the champion, who was asking the 
 question. 
 
 "Oh, is that Pepper?" said the St. Andrew s 
 boy. While "Pepper Pepper. Hi! Hi! Tip- 
 pety Rippety! Hi! Hi!" rolled out, till there 
 wasn t any other sound to be heard. And a 
 regular tussle of boys were getting in the wildest 
 excitement when it was announced that Pepper 
 and Ricketson had won the second set, the ref- 
 
28 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 erees trying to quiet them so that the game could 
 proceed. 
 
 In the third set, Joel seemed to have it all his 
 own way, and fairly swept Ricketson along with 
 him. The excitement was now so intense that 
 the boys forgot to yell, afraid they would miss 
 some strokes. 
 
 David clenched his hands tightly. The net 
 and flying balls spun all together inextricably be 
 fore his eyes as he strained them to see Joe s 
 brilliant returns. This was the deciding set, as 
 the cup was to go to the winners of two sets out 
 of three. 
 
 Joel s last serve was what finished it; the ball 
 flashing by Tom with such impetus, that even 
 the St. Andrew s champion said he couldn t ever 
 have returned it. 
 
 Everybody drew a long breath, and then the 
 crowd rushed and converged to Joel; surrounded 
 him, fighting for first place, the fortunate ones tos 
 sing him up to their shoulders to race him in tri 
 umph around the yard. 
 
 "Take Ricket!" screamed Joel, red in the face. 
 "Take him!" he roared. "He beat too, as 
 much as I." So a second group seized Fred; 
 and up he went to be trotted after, the crowd 
 
THE TENNIS MATCH 29 
 
 swarming alongside, yelling, tumbling over each 
 other, gone perfectly wild ; Joe waving the cup, 
 thrust into his hand, which would be kept by the 
 winners for a year. 
 
 It was the middle of the night. Davie, flushed 
 with the happiest thoughts, had peacefully settled 
 to dreams in which Mamsie and Grandpapa, and 
 Polly and Jasper, and all the dear home people, 
 were tangled up. And Phronsie seemed to be 
 waving a big silver cup, and piping out with a 
 glad little laugh, " Oh, I am so glad!" And now 
 and then the scene of operations flew off to the 
 little brown house, that it appeared impossible to 
 keep quite out of dreamland. Some one gripped 
 him by the arm. 
 
 "Oh, what is it, Joe?" David flew up to a 
 sitting posture in the middle of his bed. 
 
 "It isn t Joe. Get up as quick as you 
 can." 
 
 David, with a dreadful feeling at his heart, 
 tumbled out of bed. "Isn t Joe! " he found 
 time to say, with a glance in the darkness over 
 toward Joel s bed. 
 
 "Hurry up, don t stop to talk." The voice 
 was Tom Beresford s. "Get on your clothes." 
 
3 o FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 Meantime he was scuffing around. " Where in 
 time are your shoes?" But David already had 
 those articles, and was pulling them on with hasty 
 fingers. "Oh, tell me," he couldn t help crying; 
 but "Hurry up!" was all he got for his pains. 
 And at last, after what seemed an age to Tom, 
 David was piloted out into the hall, with many 
 adjurations to "go softly," down the long flight 
 of stairs. Here he came to a dead stop. "I 
 can t go another single step, Tom," he said firmly, 
 "unless you tell me what you want me for. And 
 where is Joel?" he gasped. 
 
 "Oh, bother! in another minute you d have 
 been outside, and then it would be safe to tell 
 you," said Tom. "Well, if you will have it, 
 Dave, Joe s finishing up that business with Jenk, 
 and you re the only one that can stop it. Now 
 don t keel over." 
 
 David clung to the door, which Tom had man 
 aged to open softly, and for a minute it looked 
 as if Beresford would have his hands full with 
 out in the least benefiting Joel. But suddenly 
 he straightened up. "Oh, tell me where he is," 
 he cried, in a manner and voice exactly like Polly 
 when she had anything that must be done set 
 before her. And clear ahead of his guide when 
 
THE TENNIS MATCH 31 
 
 Tom whispered, "Down in the pine grove," 
 sped Davie on the very wings of the wind. 
 
 " Gracious! Joel is nothing to Dave as a 
 sprinter," said Tom to himself, as his long legs 
 got him over the ground in the rear. 
 
 The two boys hugged the shadow of the tall 
 trees and dashed across the lawn to the shrub 
 bery beyond. Then it was but a breathing space, 
 and a few good leaps to the depths of the pine 
 grove. In the midst of this were two figures, 
 busily engaged in the cheerful occupation of fisti 
 cuffing each other till the stronger might win. 
 
 "Joel!" called David hoarsely, his breath 
 nearly spent as he dashed up. 
 
 Joel, at this, wavered, and turned. Seeing 
 which, his antagonist dealt him a thwack that 
 made his head spin, and nearly lost him his 
 footing. 
 
 "That was mean, Jenk ! " exclaimed Beresford, 
 dashing up in time to see it, "You took advan 
 tage when Joe was off guard," he cried hotly. 
 
 "No such thing," roared Jenk, losing his head 
 at what now seemed an easy victory, "and I ll 
 settle with you when I get through with Joe, for 
 being such a mean sneak as to turn tell-tale, 
 Tom." 
 
32 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "All right," said Tom coolly. "Go it, Joe, 
 and pay him up. You ve several scores to settle 
 now." 
 
 "Joel," gasped Davie. "Oh Mamsiel" He 
 could get no further. 
 
 Joel s hands, out once more in good fighting 
 trim, wavered again, and sank helplessly down 
 to his side. 
 
 "Oh dear!" Tom groaned in amazement. 
 
 "Hoh hoh! you see how easy I could whip 
 him," laughed Jenkins, raining down blows all 
 over Joel s figure, who didn t offer to stir. 
 
 "See here you!" Tom fairly roared it out, 
 perfectly regardless of possible detection. "You 
 beastly coward!" And he jumped in between 
 Joel and his antagonist. "You may settle with 
 me now if you like." 
 
 "Stop, Tom." Joel seized him from behind. 
 Tom, in a fury, turned to see his face working 
 dreadfully, while the brown hands gripped him 
 tightly. " I forgot Mamsie wouldn t like 
 you mustn t, Tom. If you do, I ll scream for 
 John," he declared suddenly. 
 
 John, the watchman, being the last person 
 whom any of Dr. Marks boys desired to see 
 when engaged in a midnight prank, Beresford 
 
THE TENNIS MATCH 33 
 
 backed away slowly from Jenkins, who was de 
 lighted once more at the interruption, and fas 
 tened his gaze on Joel. "Well, I never did, 
 Pepper!" he brought himself to say. 
 
 "Tom," said David brokenly, and getting over 
 to him to seize his hand, " don t you know our 
 Mamsie would feel dreadfully to see Joel doing 
 any such thing? Oh, she would, Tom," as Beres- 
 ford continued to stare without a word. 
 
 "Not to such a miserable beggar." Tom at 
 last found his tongue, and pointed to Jenk. 
 
 "Oh, yes, she would. It s just as bad in Joel," 
 said Davie, shaking his head. Joel turned 
 suddenly, took two or three steps, then flung 
 himself down flat on his face on the pine 
 needles. 
 
 "Well, get up," said Tom crossly, running 
 over to him. "John will maybe get over here, 
 we ve made so much noise. Hurry up, Joe, we 
 must all get back." 
 
 Joel, thus adjured, .especially as David got 
 down on the ground, to put his arms around the 
 shaking shoulders, got up slowly. Then they 
 turned around to look for Jenkins. He was no 
 where to be seen. 
 
 "Little coward!" exclaimed Tom between his 
 
34 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 teeth. "Well, we ll have to skin it as best we 
 may back. Here comes John ! " 
 
 They could see his lantern moving around 
 among the trees; and dashing off, taking the 
 precaution to hug the shadow of the trees again, 
 they soon made the big door to the dormitory. 
 Tom reached it first, and turned the knob. "It s 
 locked," he said. "The mean, beastly coward 
 has locked us out." 
 
Ill A NARROW ESCAPE 
 
 JOEL, in such an emergency, wiped his black 
 eyes and looked up sharply. David sank 
 on the upper step. 
 
 "Oh, no, Tom," cried Joel, crowding in be 
 tween Beresford and the door, "it can t be. Get 
 out of the way; let me try." 
 
 "It is it is, I tell you," howled Tom in what 
 was more of a whine, as he kept one eye out for 
 John and his lantern. "The mean sneak has 
 got the best of us, Joe." He set his teeth hard 
 together, and his face turned white. 
 
 Joe dropped the doorknob, and whirled off 
 the sieps. 
 
 "Julius Caesar! where are you going?" began 
 Tom, as Joel disappeared around the corner of 
 the dormitory. 
 
 "He s gone to see if John is coming, I suppose," 
 said Davie weakly. 
 
 Tom, preferring to see for himself, skipped off, 
 and disappeared around the angle. " Oh oh ! " 
 35 
 
36 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 was what David heard next, making him fly from 
 his step to follow in haste. 
 
 What he saw was so much worse than all his 
 fears as Tom gripped his arm pointing up over 
 his head, that he screamed right out, "Oh Joe, 
 come back, you ll be killed!" 
 
 "He can t come back," said Tom hoarsely. 
 "He d much better go on." Joel, more than 
 halfway up the lightning conductor, was making 
 good time shinning along. He turned to say, 
 "I m all right, Dave," as a window above them 
 was thrown up, and a head in a white nightcap 
 was thrust out. 
 
 "It s all up with him now; there s old Fox," 
 groaned Tom, ducking softly back over the grass. 
 "Come on, Dave." 
 
 But David, with clasped hands and white face, 
 had no thought of deserting Joel. 
 
 The person in the window, having tht good 
 sense to utter no exclamation, waited till Joel 
 was up far enough for her to grasp his arm. 
 Then she couldn t help it as she saw his face. 
 
 "Joel Pepper /" 
 
 "Yes m," said Joel, turning his chubby face 
 toward her. "I knew I could get up here ; it s 
 just as easy as anything." 
 
A NARROW ESCAPE 37 
 
 Mrs. Fox set her other hand to the task of 
 helping him into the dimly lighted hall, much to 
 Joel s disgust, as he would much have preferred 
 to enter unassisted. Then she turned her cap- 
 frills full on him, and said in a tone of great dis 
 pleasure, "What is the meaning of all this?" 
 
 "Why, I had to go out, Mrs. Fox." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 Oh I I had to." 
 
 She didn t ask him again, for the matron was 
 a woman of action, and in all her dealings with 
 boys had certain methods by which she brought 
 them to time. So she only set her sharp eyes, 
 that Dr. Marks pupils always called "gimlets," 
 full upon him. " Go to your room," was all she 
 said. 
 
 "Oh Mrs. Fox," cried Joel, trying dreadfully 
 to control himself, and twisting his brown hands 
 in the effort, " I I had to go. Really I did." 
 
 " So you said before. Go to your room." Then 
 a second thought struck her. "Was any other 
 boy with you?" she demanded suddenly. 
 
 Joel gave a sharp cry of distress as he started 
 down the hall, revolving in his mind how he 
 would steal down and unlock the door as soon 
 as the matron had taken herself off. 
 
38 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOl 
 
 "Here, stop come back here! Now answer 
 me yes or no was any other boy with you ? " 
 as Joel stood before her again. 
 
 Joel s stubby black curls dropped so that she 
 couldn t see his face. As there was no reply 
 forthcoming, Mrs. Fox took him by the arm. 
 "You needn t go to your room, Joel," she said 
 sharply. "You may go to Coventry." 
 
 "Oh Mrs. Fox," Joel burst out, " don t - 
 don t send me there." 
 
 "A boy who cannot answer me, is fit only for 
 Coventry," said Mrs. Fox with great dignity, 
 despite the nightcap. "Wait here, Joel. I will 
 get my candle, and light you down." She stepped 
 off to a corner of the hall, where she had set the 
 candlestick on a table, when startled by the 
 noise outside. "Now we will go." 
 
 It was impossible that all this confusion should 
 not awake some of the boys in the hall; and by 
 this time there was much turning on pillows, and 
 leaning on elbows, and many scuttlings out of 
 becj to listen at doors opened a crack, so that 
 nearly every one of the occupants, on that partic 
 ular hall soon knew that "old Fox" had Joel 
 Pepper in her clutches, and that he was being 
 led off somewhere. 
 
A NARROW ESCAPE 39 
 
 And at last Joel let it out himself. "Oh Mrs. 
 Fox dear Mrs. Fox, don t make me go to Cov 
 entry," he roared. He clutched her wrapper, a 
 big, flowered affair that she wore on such noc 
 turnal rambles, and held it fast. "I ll be just as 
 good," he implored. 
 
 "Coventry is the place for you, Joel Pepper," 
 said Mrs. Fox grimly; "so we will start." 
 
 Meanwhile David, holding his breath till he 
 saw, in the dim light that always streamed out 
 from the dormitory hall where the gas was left 
 turned down at night, that Joel was safely drawn 
 in to shelter, frantically rushed around to the 
 big door, in the wild hope that somehow admit 
 tance would be gained. "Joe will come by and 
 by," he said to himself, sinking down on the steps. 
 
 "We re done for," said Tom s voice off in the 
 distance. 
 
 "Oh Tom, are you there?" cried Davie, 
 straining his eyes to catch a glimpse. 
 
 "Hush!" Tom poked his head out from a 
 clump of shrubbery. " Don t you dare to breathe. 
 I tell you, Dave, our only hope is in staying 
 here till morning." 
 
 "Oh dear me!" exclaimed David in dismay. 
 
 "Oh dear me!" echoed Tom in derision. It 
 
40 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 was impossible for him to stop talking, he was 
 so keyed up. "It s paradise, I m sure, compared 
 to being in old Fox s grip." 
 
 This brought David back to Joel s plight, and 
 he sighed dismally, and leant his head on his 
 hands. How long he sat there he couldn t have 
 told. The first thing he did know, a big hand 
 was laid on his shoulder, and a bright glare of 
 light fell full on his face. 
 
 "Oh my soul and body!" cried John, the 
 watchman, bending over him, "if here ain t one 
 of th boys dead asleep on the doorsteps!" 
 
 "Little goose, to sit there!" groaned Tom, 
 huddling back into his bushes. "Now it s all up 
 with him. Well, I ll save my skin, for I don t 
 believe those boys will tell on me." 
 
 "Coventry" was a small square room in the 
 extension, containing a bed, a table, and a chair, 
 where the boys who were refractory were sent. 
 It was considered a great disgrace to be its in 
 mate. They were not locked in; but no boy 
 once put there \vas ever known to come out un 
 less bidden by the authorities. And no one, of 
 course, could speak to them when they emerged 
 from it to go to recitations, for their lessons must 
 be learned in the silence of this room. Then 
 
A NARROW ESCAPE 41 
 
 back from the class-room the culprit must go to 
 this hated place, to stay as long as his misde 
 meanor might seem to deserve. 
 
 It was so much worse punishment than a flog 
 ging could possibly be, that all Dr. Marks boys 
 heard Coventry" with a chill that stopped many 
 a prank in mid-air. 
 
 But Joel didn t get into "Coventry" after all, 
 for at the foot of the stairs, another caridle-beam 
 was advancing; and back of it was the thin, 
 sharp face of Mr. Harrow, one of the under- 
 teachers. 
 
 "Oh Mr. Harrow," screamed Joel, breaking 
 away from the matron, to plunge up to him, 
 "she s going to put me into Coventry. Oh, 
 don t make me go there; it will kill my Mamsie, 
 and Polly." 
 
 "Hey?" Mr. Harrow came to a sudden stop, 
 and whirled the candlestick around to get a 
 better view of things. "What s this, Mrs. Fox? 
 And Joel Pepper, of all boys!" 
 
 "I know it," said Mrs. Fox, her candlestick 
 shaking in an unsteady hand. "Well, you see, 
 sir, I was going upstairs to see if little Fosdick 
 had blankets enough; it s turned cold, and you 
 know he s had a sore throat, and - 
 
42 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Well, come to the point, Mrs. Fox," said the 
 teacher, bringing her up quickly. Joel clung 
 desperately to his hand, shaking violently in 
 every limb. 
 
 "Oh, yes, sir well, and I heard a noise out 
 side, so I bethought me to look, and there was 
 this boy climbing up the lightning conductor." 
 
 "Up the lightning conductor?" echoed Mr. 
 Harrow. 
 
 "Yes, sir," -Mrs. Fox s cap-frills trembled 
 violently as she nodded, "Joel Pepper was 
 climbing up the lightning conductor, sir. And 
 I thought I should have dropped to see him, 
 sir." 
 
 The under-teacher turned and surveyed Joel. 
 "Well, I think, Mrs. Fox," he said slowly, "if 
 he s been over that lightning conductor to-night, 
 we won t put him in Coventry." 
 
 "He wouldn t answer when I asked him if 
 any other boys were there," said the matron, a 
 dull red spot coming on either cheek. 
 
 "That s bad very bad," said Mr. Harrow. 
 "Well, I ll take Joel under my care. Do you go 
 to bed, Mrs. Fox." 
 
 It was all done in a minute. Somehow Mrs. 
 Fox never quite realized how she was left stand- 
 
A NARROW ESCAPE 
 
 43 
 
 ing alone. And as there really wasn t anything 
 else for her to do, she concluded to take the 
 under- teacher s advice. 
 
 "Now, Joel," -Mr. Harrow looked down at 
 his charge, "you seem to be left for me to 
 take care of. Well, suppose you come into my 
 room, and tell me something about this affair." 
 
 Joel, with his heart full of distress about 
 David and Tom, now that the immediate cause 
 of alarm over his being put into "Coventry" 
 was gone, could scarcely conceal his dismay, as 
 he followed Mr. Harrow to his room. He soon 
 found himself on a chair; and the under- teacher, 
 setting his candlestick down, took an opposite 
 one. 
 
 "Do you mind telling me all about this little 
 affair of yours, Joe?" said Mr. Harrow, leading 
 off easily. His manner, once away from the 
 presence of the matron, was as different as pos 
 sible; and Joel, who had never met him in just 
 this way, stared in amazement. 
 
 "You see, Joe," the under-teacher went on, 
 and he began to play with some pencils on the 
 table, "it isn t so very long ago, it seems to me, 
 since T was a boy. And I climbed lightning 
 conductors too. I really did, Joel." 
 
44 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 Joel s black eyes gathered a bright gleam in 
 their midst. 
 
 "Yes, and at night, too," said the under- 
 teacher softly, "though I shouldn t want you to 
 mention it to the boys. So now, if you wouldn t 
 mind, Joel, I should really like to hear all about 
 this business of yours." 
 
 But Joel twisted his hands, only able to say, 
 "Oh dear! I can t tell, Mr. Harrow." His dis 
 tress was dreadful to see. 
 
 "Well," said the under-teacher slowly, "per 
 haps in the morning you ll feel better able to 
 tell. I won t press it now. You must get to 
 bed, Joe," with a keen look at his face. 
 
 "Oh Mr. Harrow would you would you 
 Joel jumped out of his seat, and over to 
 the under-teacher s chair. 
 
 "Would I what?" asked Mr. Harrow in per 
 plexity, wishing very much that "Mamsie," 
 whom he had seen on her visits to the school, 
 were there at that identical moment. 
 
 "Would you oh, might I unlock the the 
 back door?" gasped Joel, his black eyes very big 
 with distress. 
 
 "Unlock the back door?" repeated Mr. Har 
 row. Then he paused a moment. "Cer- 
 
A NARROW ESCAPE 45 
 
 tainly; I ll go with you." He got out of his 
 chair. 
 
 "Oh, no, sir," cried Joel tumbling back, "I ll 
 - I ll do it alone if I may; please, sir." 
 
 "Oh, no, Joel, that can t ever be allowed," 
 Mr. Harrow was saying decidedly, when steps 
 were heard coming down the hall, and there was 
 John, the watchman, hauling David Pepper along 
 the dimly lighted hall to the extra gleam of the 
 under-teacher s room. 
 
 "I found this boy asleep on the steps," an 
 nounced John, coming in with his charge. 
 
 "Why, David Pepper!" exclaimed Mr. Har 
 row in astonishment. Then he turned a cold 
 glance on Joel, who flew over to Davie s side. 
 
 "Joel!" cried David convulsively, and blink 
 ing dreadfully as he came into the light. "Oh, 
 I m so glad you re safe oh, so glad, Joey!" 
 He hid his face on Joel s arm, and sobbed. 
 
 "You may go, John," said the under-teacher 
 to that individual, who kept saying, "I found that 
 boy asleep on the steps," over and over, unable 
 to stop himself. "And don t say anything about 
 this to any one. I will take care of the matter." 
 
 "All right, sir," said John, glad to be relieved 
 of all responsibility, and touching his cap. "I 
 
46 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 found that boy asleep on the steps," he added as 
 he took himself off. 
 
 "Now, see here." Mr. Harrow laid his hand 
 on David s shoulder, ignoring Joel for the time, 
 and drew him aside. "The whole of this busi 
 ness must be laid before me, David. So 
 begin." 
 
 "Oh Dave!" cried Joel, springing up to him. 
 "Oh, sir oh, Mr. Harrow, it was all my fault, 
 truly it was. David only came after me. Oh 
 Mr. Harrow, don t make him tell." 
 
 "You go and sit down in that chair, Joel," 
 said Mr. Harrow, pointing to it. So Joel went, 
 and got on it, twisting miserably. 
 
 "Now, then, David." 
 
 "You see," said David, the tears still rolling 
 down his cheeks, "that oh dear! Joel was 
 gone, and 
 
 "How did you know Joel was gone?" inter 
 rupted the under-teacher. 
 
 "Oh dear!" David caught his breath. "An 
 other boy told me, sir." 
 
 "Who?" 
 
 David hesitated. "Must I tell, sir?" not 
 trusting himself to look at Joel. 
 
 "Certainly." 
 
A NARROW ESCAPE 47 
 
 "Tom Beresford." 
 
 "Ugh!" Joel sprang from his chair. "He 
 hadn t anything to do with it, sir. Tom has been 
 awfully good. He only told Dave." 
 
 "Go back to your chair, Joel," said Mr. Har 
 row. "Now, then, David, go on. So you ,vent 
 out with Beresford to find Joel, eh?" 
 
 "Yes, sir," said David faintly. 
 
 "Any other boy?" asked the under-teacher 
 quickly. 
 
 "No, sir." 
 
 "Well, then, Tom is waiting out there, I sup 
 pose, now." Mr. Harrow got out of his chair. 
 
 "He didn t have anything to do with it, sir," 
 cried Joel wildly, and flying out of his chair 
 again, "truly he didn t." 
 
 "I understand." Mr. Harrow nodded. "I m 
 going to bring him in. Now it isn t necessary to 
 tell you two boys not to do any talking while I m 
 gone." With that he went over to a corner, 
 took down a lantern, lighted it, and passed 
 out. 
 
 When he came back, both Joel and David 
 knew quite well by Tom s face, that the whole 
 story was out; and Joel, who understood as well 
 as any one that Floyd Jenkins never by any possi- 
 
48 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 bility cuuld be a favorite with instructors, any 
 more than with the boys, unless he changed his 
 whole tactics, groaned again at thought that he 
 had made matters worse for him. 
 
 "Now all three of you scatter to bed," was all 
 the v.nder-teacher said as he came in with Tom. 
 "No talking now; get up as softly as you can. 
 Good night." 
 
IV OF VARIOUS THINGS 
 
 AND the next day, the story which flew all 
 over the yard, how that Joel Pepper was 
 "put into Coventry" last night, was overtaken 
 and set rHit. 
 
 "Huh! there, now you see," cried Van Whit 
 ney, coming out of his rage. He had cried so 
 that his eyes were all swollen up, and he was a 
 sight to behold. Percy, too miserable to say any 
 thing, and wishing he could ever cry when he 
 felt badly, had slunk out of sight, to bear the 
 trouble as well as he might. Now he came up 
 bright and smiling. "Yes, now you see," he 
 cried triumphantly. 
 
 "Oh, I hope that mean beggar Jenk will be 
 expelled." There appeared to be but one voice 
 about it. 
 
 "Well, he won t," said Van. 
 
 "Won t? Why not?" The boys crowded 
 around him on the playground, all games being 
 deserted for this new excitement. "Why not, 
 pray tell?" 
 
 49 
 
S o FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Of course he will," said one boy decidedly. 
 "Dr. Marks never ll keep him after this." 
 
 "Yes he will too," roared Van, glad he could 
 tell the news first, but awfully disappointed that 
 it must be that Jenkins was to stay, "for Joel 
 got Dr. Marks to promise there shouldn t any 
 thing be done to Jenk. So there now!" 
 
 "What, not after locking that door! That was 
 the worst." The boys, two or thre^ of them, 
 took up the cry, " Twas beastly mean." 
 
 "Contemptible! Just like Jenk!" went all 
 over the playground. 
 
 "Well, he isn t to go," repeated Van with a 
 sigh; "and Joel says he was as bad, because he 
 went out at night to fight." 
 
 "Why, he had to; Jenk dared him. And he 
 couldn t have it out in the dormitory; you know 
 he couldn t, Whitney," said one of the boys in 
 surprise. 
 
 "Oh dear! I know," said Van helplessly. 
 "Well, Joel says it s no matter that the racket 
 was stolen out of his room, and : 
 
 "No matter!" ejaculated the boys, a whole 
 crowd of them swarming around him, "well, if 
 that isn t monstrous /" 
 
 "Oh, Joel s afraid that Dr. Marks will expel 
 
OF VARIOUS THINGS 51 
 
 Jenk," Percy, very uncomfortable to have Joel 
 blamed, made haste to say. "Don t you see?" 
 
 "Well, he ought to be turned out," declared 
 one boy decidedly. "Never mind, we ll make it 
 so hot for that Jenk, he ll want to go." 
 
 "No, you mustn t," declared Percy, now very 
 much alarmed. "Oh, no, you mustn t, Hobbs; 
 because, if you do, Joel won t like it. Oh, he ll 
 be so angry! He won t like it a bit, I tell you," 
 he kept saying. 
 
 The idea of Joel s not liking it, seemed to take 
 all the fun out of the thing ; so Hobbs found him 
 self saying, "Well, all right, I suppose we ve got 
 to put up with the fellow then. But you know 
 yourself, Whitney, he s a mean cad." 
 
 There seemed to be but one opinion about that. 
 But the fact remained tnat Jenkins was still to 
 be one of them, to be treated as well as they 
 could manage. And for the next few days, Joel 
 had awfully hard work to be go-between for all 
 the crowd, and the boy who had made it hard 
 for him. 
 
 "You ll have to help me out, Tom," he said 
 more than once in despair. 
 
 "Pretty hard lines," said Tom. Then the 
 color flew all over his face. "I suppose I really 
 
52 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 ought, for you know, Pepper, I told you I wanted 
 at first that you should lose your racket." 
 
 " Never mind that now, Tom," said Joel 
 brightly, and sticking out his brown hand. 
 "You ve been awfully good ever since." 
 
 "Had to," grunted Tom, hanging to the hand, 
 "when I saw how mean the beggar was." 
 
 "And but for you I should never have found 
 the racket, at least not in time." Joel shivered, 
 remembering the close call he had had from 
 losing the game. 
 
 Tom shivered too, but for a different cause. 
 "If I hadn t told him, I d always have hated 
 myself," he thought. 
 
 "Well, Joe, I wouldn t after this give away a 
 racket. Now you see if you hadn t bestowed 
 your old one on that ragamuffin in town, you 
 wouldn t have been in such a scrape." Tom 
 tried to turn it off lightly. 
 
 "Oh, that made no difference," Joel made 
 haste to say, " cause I could have borrowed an 
 other. But I d got used to my new one. Be 
 sides, Grandpapa sent it to me to practise with 
 for this game, and I really couldn t have done 
 so well without it." 
 
 "Yes, I know I know," said Tom remorse- 
 
OF VARIOUS THINGS 53 
 
 fully, "and that s what Jenk knew, too, the beg 
 gar!" 
 
 "Well, it s all over now," said Joel merrily, 
 "so say no more about it." 
 
 But it wasn t all over with Jenkins; and he re 
 solved within himself to pay Joel Pepper up some 
 time, after the boys had forgotten a little about 
 this last exploit, if they ever did. 
 
 And that afternoon Joel staid in, foregoing all 
 the charms of a ball game, to write Mamsie a 
 complete account of the affair, making light of 
 the other boys part in it, and praising up Tom 
 Beresford to the skies. "And oh, Mamsie," 
 Joel wrote over and over, "Dave didn t have 
 anything to do with it truly he didn t. And 
 Mr. Harrow is just bully," he wrote, then 
 scratched it out although it mussed the letter up 
 dreadfully "he s fine, he is! And oh, I like 
 Dr. Marks, ever so much, I do" till Mrs. 
 Fisher had a tolerably good idea of the whole 
 thing. 
 
 "I m not sorry, Adoniram," she said, after Dr. 
 Fisher had read the letter at least twice, and then 
 looked over his spectacles at her keenly, "that I 
 agreed with Mr. King that it was best that the 
 boys should go away to school." 
 
54 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Now any other woman," exclaimed the little 
 doctor admiringly, "would have whimpered right 
 out, and carried on dreadfully at the least sign 
 of trouble coming to her boy." 
 
 "No, I m not a bit sorry," repeated Mrs. 
 Fisher firmly, "for it s going to be the making 
 of Joel, to teach him to take care of himself. 
 And I d trust him anywhere," she added proudly. 
 
 " So you may; so you may, my dear," declared 
 the little doctor gaily. "And I guess, if the truth 
 were told, that. Joel s part in this whole scrape 
 hasn t been such a very bad one after all." 
 
 Which came to be the general view when Dr. 
 Marks letter arrived, and one from the under- 
 instructor followed, setting things in the right 
 light. And although old Mr. King was for go 
 ing off directly to interview the master, with 
 several separate and distinct complaints and crit 
 icisms, he was at last persuaded to give up the 
 trip and let matters work their course under the 
 proper guidance at the school. 
 
 "So, Polly, my child," he said on the following 
 day, when the letters were all in, "I believe I ll 
 trust Dr. Marks, after all, to settle the affair. 
 He seems a very good sort of a man, on the whole, 
 and I really suppose he knows what to do with 
 
OF VARIOUS THINGS 55 
 
 a lot of boys; though goodness me! how he can, 
 passes my comprehension. So I am not going." 
 
 "Oh Grandpapa!" exclaimed Polly, the color 
 flooding her cheek, and she seized his hand in a 
 glad little way. 
 
 "Yes, I really see no necessity for going," 
 went on the old gentleman, much as if he were 
 being urged out of his way to set forth; "so I 
 shall stay at home. Joel can take care of him 
 self. I d trust him anywhere," he brought up, 
 using the same words that Mother Fisher had 
 employed. 
 
 "Wouldn t you, Grandpapa!" cried Polly with 
 sparkling eyes, and clinging to him. 
 
 "Yes, Polly, my child," said Grandpapa em 
 phatically, "because, no matter into what mis 
 chief Joe may get, he always owns up. Good 
 ness me! Polly, that boy can t go very far wrong, 
 with such a mother as you ve got." 
 
 Alexia Rhys, running through the wide hall, 
 came upon the two. " Oh, beg pardon, and may 
 we girls have Polly? " all in the same breath. 
 
 "Get away with you," laughed old Mr. King, 
 who had his own reasons for liking Alexia, "that s 
 the way you always do, trying to get Polly Pepper 
 away when we are having a good talk." 
 
56 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Oh dear!" exclaimed Alexia, doing her best 
 to curb her impatience, and pinching her hands 
 together, " we did so want " 
 
 "I can t go now, Alexia," said Polly, still cling 
 ing to Mr. King s hand. 
 
 Grandpapa sent a keen glance over into Alexia s 
 face. "I think you better go, Polly," he said. 
 "You and I will have our talk later." 
 
 "Oh goody!" cried Alexia, hopping up and 
 down. And "Oh Grandpapa!" reproachfully 
 from Polly. 
 
 "Yes, Polly, it s best for you to go with the 
 girls now," said old Mr. King, gently relinquish 
 ing her hands, "so run along with you, child." 
 And he went into the library. 
 
 "Come right along," cried Alexia gustily, and 
 pulling Polly down the hall. 
 
 "There now, you see, you ve dragged me away 
 from Grandpapa," cried Polly in a vexed way. 
 
 "Well, he said you were to go," cried Alexia, 
 perfectly delighted at the result. " Oh, we re to 
 have such fun! You can t think, Polly Pepper." 
 "Of course he did, when you said the girls 
 wanted me," said Polly, half determined, even 
 then, to run back. " I d much rather have staid 
 with him, Alexia." 
 
OF VARIOUS THINGS 57 
 
 "Well, you can t, because he said you were to 
 come ; and besides, here are the girls." And there 
 they were on the back porch, six or eight of them 
 in a group. 
 
 "Oh Polly, Polly! " they cried, "are you com 
 ing __ can you really go ? " swarming around her. 
 "And do get your hat on," said Clem Forsythe 
 "and hurry up." 
 
 "Where are you going?" asked Polly. 
 
 "The ideal Alexia Rhys, you are a great one 
 to send after her, cried Sally Moore. " Not even 
 to tell her where we are going, or what we want 
 her for!" 
 
 "Well, I got her here, and that is half of the 
 battle," said Alexia, in an injured way; "and 
 my goodness me I Polly won t hardly speak to 
 me now; and you may go yourself after her next 
 time, Sally Moore." 
 
 "There, girls, don t fight," said Clem sweetly. 
 " Polly, we are going out to Silvia Home s. Mrs. 
 Home has just telephoned to see if we ll corne 
 out to supper. Come, hurry up; we want to 
 catch the next car. She says she ll send some 
 body home with us." 
 
 "Yes, yes, do hurry," begged the girls, hopping 
 up and down on anxious feet 
 
58 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "I must ask Mamsie," said Polly. "Oh, how 
 perfectly splendid! running oft with a glad re 
 membrance of lessons all ready for the next day. 
 "Now how nice it is that Mamsie always made 
 me get them the first thing," she reflected as she 
 sped along. 
 
 Mamsie said "yes," for she well knew that 
 Mrs. Home was a careful person, and when she 
 promised anything it was always well done. 
 a But brush your hair, Polly," she said, "it looks 
 very untidy flying all over your head." 
 
 So Polly rushed off to her own room; Alexia, 
 who didn t dare to trust her out of her sight, at 
 her heels, to get in the way, and hinder dread 
 fully by teasing Polly every minute to " hurry - 
 we ll lose the train." 
 
 "Where are you going, Polly?" asked Phronsie, 
 hearing Alexia s voice ; and laying down her doll, 
 she went into the blue and white room that was 
 Polly s very own. "Oh, may I go too?" as 
 Polly ran to the closet to get out her second-best 
 hat. 
 
 "Oh d?ar me!" began Aiexia. 
 
 "No, Pet," said Polly, her head in the closet. 
 "Oh my goodness! where is that hat?" 
 
 "Oh dear!" exclaimed Alexia, wringing her 
 
OF VARIOUS THINGS 59 
 
 hands, "we ll be late and miss the train. Do 
 hurry, Polly Pepper." 
 
 "I ll find it, Polly," said Phronsie, going to the 
 closet and getting down on her knees, to peer 
 around. 
 
 "Oh, it wouldn t be on the floor, Phronsie," 
 began Polly. "Oh dear me! where can it: be?" 
 
 "Here it is," cried Alexia, "behind the bed." 
 And running off, she picked it up, and swung it 
 over to Polly. 
 
 "Goodness me!" said Polly with a little laugh, 
 "I remember now, I tossed it on the bed, I 
 thought. Well, I m ready now, thank fortune," 
 pinning on her hat. "Good-bye, Pet." 
 
 "I am so very glad it is found, Polly," said 
 Phronsie, getting up on tiptoe to pull Polly s hat 
 straight and get another kiss. 
 
 "Come on, Polly," called Alexia, flying over 
 the stairs. "Yes, yes, girls, she s coming! Oh 
 dear me, Polly, we ll be late!" 
 
V AT SILVIA HORNE S 
 
 "OUT they weren t not a bit of it ~- and had 
 -J ten minutes to spare as they came rushing 
 up to the station platform. 
 
 "Oh, look look, girls." Polly Pepper pointed 
 up to the clock, pushing back the damp rings of 
 hair from her forehead. " Oh dear me I m so 
 hot!" 
 
 "And so am I," panted the other girls, dash 
 ing up. One of them sank down on the upper 
 step, and fanned herself in angry little puffs 
 with her hat, which she twitched off for that 
 purpose. 
 
 "Just like you, Alexia," cried one when she 
 could get her breath, "you re always scaring us 
 to death." 
 
 "Well, I m sure I was scared myself, Clem," 
 retorted Alexia, propping herself against the 
 wall. "Oh dear! I can t breathe; I guess I m 
 going to die whew, whew!" 
 
 As Alexia made this statement quite often on 
 60 
 
AT SILVIA HORNE S 61 
 
 similar occasions, the girls heard it with the air 
 of an old acquaintance, and straightened their 
 coats and hats, and pulled themselves into shape 
 generally. 
 
 "Oh my goodness, how you look, Sally! Your 
 hat is all over your left eye." Alexia deserted 
 her wall, and ran over to pull it straight. 
 
 "You let me be," cried Sally crossly, and twitch 
 ing away. "If it hadn t been for you, my hat 
 would have staid where I put it. I ll fix it my 
 self." She pulled out the long pin. 
 
 "Oh dear mel now the head has come off," 
 she mourned. 
 
 "Oh my goodness! Your face looks the worst 
 isn t it sweet!" cried Alexia coolly, who hadn t 
 heard this last. 
 
 "Don t, Alexia," cried Polly, "she s lost her 
 pin." 
 
 "Misery!" exclaimed Alexia, starting forward, 
 "oh, where, where 
 
 "It isn t the pin," said Sally, holding that out, 
 "but the head has flown off." She jumped off 
 from the step and began to peer anxiously around 
 in the dirt, all the girls crowding around and 
 getting dreadfully in the way. 
 
 "What pin was it, Sally?" asked Polly, poking 
 
62 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 into a tuft of grass beneath the steps, -your 
 blue one?" 
 
 "No; it was my best one oh dear me!" 
 Sally looked ready to cry, and turned away so 
 that the girls couldn t see her face. 
 
 Not the one your aunt gave you, Sally!" 
 exclaimed Clem. 
 
 "Yes yes." Sally sniffed outright now. "Oh 
 dear! I put it in because because we were 
 going to Silvia s oh dear me!" 
 
 She gave up now, and sobbed outright. 
 "Don t cry, Sally," begged Polly, deserting her 
 grass-tuft, to run over to her. "We ll find it." 
 Alexia was alternately picking frantically in all 
 the dust-heaps, and wringing her hands, one eye 
 on the clock all the while. 
 
 "Oh, no, you won t," whimpered Sally. "It 
 flew right out of my hand, and it s gone way off 
 -I know it has oh dear!" and she sobbed 
 worse than ever. 
 
 "Perhaps one of those old hens will pick it 
 U P>" suggested Lucy Bennett, pointing across the 
 way to the station master s garden, where four or 
 five fowl were busily scratching. 
 
 "Oh oh!" Sally gave a little scream at 
 that, and threw herself into Polly Pepper s arms. 
 
AT SILVIA HORNK S 63 
 
 "My aunt s pin and she told me - to be care 
 ful, and she won t won t ever give me any 
 thing else, and now those old hens will eat it. 
 Oh dear me! what shall I do?" 
 
 "How can you, Lucy, say such perfectly dread 
 ful things?" cried Polly. "Don t cry, Sally. 
 Girls, do keep on looking for it as hard as you 
 can. Sally, do stop." 
 
 But Sally was beyond stopping. "She told 
 told me only to wear it Sundays, and with my 
 best best dress. Oh, do give me your hand 
 kerchief, Polly. I ve left mine home." 
 
 So Polly pulled out her clean handkerchief 
 from her coat pocket, and Sally wiped up her 
 face, and cried all over it, till it was a damp 
 little wad; and the girls poked around, and 
 searched frantically, and Alexia, one eye on the 
 clock, exclaimed, "Oh, girls, it s time for the 
 train. Oh misery me! what shall we do?" 
 
 "And here it comes!" Lucy Bennett screamed. 
 
 "Stick on your hat, Sally, you ve the pin part. 
 Come, hurry up!" cried the others. And they all 
 huddled around her. 
 
 "Oh, I can t go," began Sally. 
 
 "You must," said Clem; "we ve telephoned 
 back to Mrs. Home we re coming. Do stick on 
 your hat, Sally Moore." 
 
64 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 Alexia was spinning around, saying over and 
 over to herself, "I won t stay back I won t." 
 Then, as the train slowly rounded the long curve 
 and the passengers emerged from the waiting- 
 room, she rushed up to the knot of girls. "Go 
 along, Sally Moore, and I ll stay and hunt for 
 your old pin," just as some one twitched Sally s 
 hat from her fingers and clapped it on her head. 
 
 "Oh my goodness me!" Alexia gave a little 
 scream, and nearly fell backward. "Look it s 
 on your own head! Oh, girls, I shall die." She 
 pointed tragically up to the hat, then gave a 
 sudden nip with her long fingers, and brought 
 out of a knot of ribbon, a gilt, twisted affair with 
 pink stones. "You had it all the time, Sally 
 Moore," and she went into peals of laughter. 
 
 "Well, do stop; everybody s looking," cried the 
 rest of the girls, as they raced off to the train, 
 now at a dead stop. Sally, with her hat crammed 
 on her head at a worse angle than ever, only 
 realized that she had the ornament safely clutched 
 in her hand. 
 
 "Oh, I can t help it," exclaimed Alexia gustily, 
 and hurrying off to get next to Polly. "Oh dear 
 me! whee wheel" as they all plunged into 
 the train. 
 
AT SILVIA HORNE S 65 
 
 When they arrived at Edgewood, there was a 
 carriage and a wagonette drawn up by the little 
 station, and out of the first jumped Silvia, and 
 following her, a tall, thin girl who seemed to have 
 a good many bracelets and jingling things. 
 
 "My cousin, Kathleen Briggs. She just came 
 to-day," said Silvia, "while I was at school, and 
 so mother thought it would be nice to have you 
 girls out to supper, cause they re only going to 
 stay till to-morrow. Oh, it s so fine that you ve 
 come! Well, come and get in. Polly, you re 
 going in the carriage with Kathleen and me. 
 Come on." 
 
 Alexia crowded up close behind. 
 
 "I m going with Polly Pepper, this time," an 
 nounced Sally, pushing in between; "Alexia al 
 ways gets her." 
 
 "Well, she s my very dearest friend," said 
 Alexia coolly, and working her long figure up 
 close to Polly, as Silvia led her off, "so of course 
 I always must go with her." 
 
 "Well, so she is our very dearest friend, too, 
 Alexia Rhys," declared Clem, "and we re going 
 to have her sometimes,, ourselves." And there 
 they were in a dreadful state, and Silvia s cousin, 
 the new girl, to see it all! 
 
66 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 She jingled her bracelets, and picked at the 
 long chain dangling from her neck, and stared at 
 them all. 
 
 "Oh my goodness!" exclaimed Polly Pepper 
 with very red cheeks. "Alexia, don t don t," 
 she begged. 
 
 "Well, I don t care," said Alexia recklessly, 
 "the girls are always picking at me because I 
 will keep next to you, Polly, and you re my very 
 dearest friend, and - 
 
 "But Sally had such a fright about her pin," 
 said Polly in a low tone. Alexia was crowded 
 up close and hugging her arm, so no one else 
 heard. 
 
 "Well, that old pin dropped in the ribbon; she 
 had it herself all the time, oh dear!" Alexia 
 nearly went off again at the remembrance. 
 
 "She felt badly, all the same," said Polly 
 slowly. She didn t even smile, and Alexia could 
 feel that the arm was slipping away from her. 
 
 "Oh dear me!" she began, then she dropped 
 Polly Pepper s arm. "Sally, you may go next," 
 she cried suddenly, and she skipped back into 
 the bunch of the other girls. 
 
 Polly sent her an approving little nod, and she 
 didn t fail to smile now. Alexia ran over to the 
 
AT SILVIA HORNE S 67 
 
 wagonette, and hopped in, not daring to trust 
 herself to see Sally Moore s satisfaction ahead in 
 the coveted seat. 
 
 The other girls jumping in, the wagonette was 
 soon filled, and away they spun for the two 
 miles over to the Homes beautiful place. And 
 before long, their respects having been paid to 
 Mrs. Home, the whole bevy was up in Silvia s 
 pretty pink and white room overlooking the lake. 
 
 "I think it s just too lovely for anything here, 
 Silvia Home," exclaimed Sally, whose spirits 
 were quite recovered now. She had her aunt s 
 pin all safe, and she had ridden up next to Poll}-. 
 "Oh girls, she has a new pincushion and cover." 
 , "Yes, a whole new set," said Silvia carelessly, 
 as the girls rushed over from the bed vhere they 
 were laying their things, to see this new acquisi 
 tion to the beautiful room. 
 
 "Well, if I could have such perfectly exquisite 
 things," breathed Alexia as they all oh-ed and 
 ah-ed over the pink ribbons and dainty lace, 
 "I d be the very happiest girl." 
 
 Kathleen Briggs thrust her long figure in among 
 the bevy. "That toilet set is very pretty," she 
 said indifferently and with quite a young-lady 
 air. 
 
68 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Very pretty!" repeated Alexia, turning her 
 pale eyes upon her in astonishment, "well, I 
 should think it was! It s too perfectly elegant 
 for anything!" 
 
 "Oh dear me!" Kathleen gave a little laugh. 
 "It s just nothing to the one I have on my toilet 
 table at home. Besides, I shall bring home some 
 Oriental lace, and have a new one: I m going 
 around the world to-morrow, you know." 
 
 "Oh my goodness!" exclaimed Alexia faintly. 
 And the other girls fell back, and stared respect 
 fully. 
 
 "Yes," said Kathleen, delighted at the effect 
 she had produced. "We start to-morrow, and 
 we don t know how long we shall be gone. Per 
 haps two years. Papa says he ll stay if we want 
 to; but mamma and I may get tired and come 
 home." She jingled her bracelets worse than 
 ever. 
 
 "They ve come to bid us good-bye, you see," 
 said Silvia, to break the uncomfortable silence. 
 
 "Oh yes," said Polly Pepper. 
 
 "Well, if you ve got your things off, let s go 
 out of doors," proposed Silvia suddenly. 
 
 "Yes, do let s." The girls drew a long breath 
 as they raced off. 
 
AT SILVIA HORNE S 69 
 
 "I think that Kathleen Briggs is too perfectly 
 horrid for anything" Alexia got up close to 
 Polly as they flew down the stairs "with her 
 going round the world, and her sniffing at Sil 
 via s toilet set." 
 
 "Hush hush!" whispered Polly, "she ll hear 
 you." 
 
 "Well, I don t care; and she s going round the 
 world to-morrow, so what does it signify?" said 
 Alexia. "Oh, don t go so fast, Polly. You most 
 made me tumble on my nose." 
 
 "Well, you mustn t come with me, then, if you 
 don t keep up," said Polly, with a merry little 
 laugh, and hurrying on. 
 
 "I m going to keep up," cried Alexia, dashing 
 after, "but you go so fast," she grumbled. 
 
 "We re going to have tea out on the lawn," 
 announced Silvia in satisfaction, as the bevy 
 rushed out on the broad west piazza. 
 
 The maids were already busily setting three 
 little tables, that were growing quite pretty under 
 their hands. 
 
 "There will be four at each table," said Silvia. 
 "Polly s going to sit with Kathleen and me, and 
 one other girl I don t know which one yet," 
 she said slowly. 
 
yo FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Oh, choose me." Alexia worked her way 
 along eagerly to the front. "I m her dearest 
 friend Polly s, I mean. So you ought to 
 choose me." 
 
 "Well, I sha n t," declared Silvia. "You 
 crowded me awfully at Lucy Bennett s party, 
 and kept close to Polly Pepper all the time." 
 
 "Well, that s because you would keep Polly 
 yourself. You crowded and pushed horribly 
 yourself, you know you did." Her long face was 
 quite red now. 
 
 "Well, I had to," declared Silvia coolly. "At 
 any rate, you sha n t have Polly I --day, for I ve 
 quite decided. Clem, you shall have the other 
 seat at my table." 
 
 Clem hopped up and down and beat her hands 
 together in glee. "There, Alexia Rhys!" she 
 cried in triumph. "Who s got Polly Pepper 
 now, I d like to know!" 
 
 Alexia, much discomfited, fell back. "W T ell, I 
 think that s a great way to give a party," she 
 said, "to get up a fight the first thing." 
 
 But Silvia and Kathleen had got Polly Pepper 
 one on each side, and were now racing down to 
 the lake. "We re going to have a sail," called 
 Silvia over her shoulder, so they all followed, 
 
AT SILVIA HORNE S 71 
 
 Alexia among the rest, with no time for anything 
 else. There was the steam launch waiting for 
 them. 
 
 "Girls girls!" Mrs. Home called to them 
 from the library, "wait a moment. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Briggs are going too." 
 
 "Oh bother!" began Silvia. Then the color 
 flew into her face, for Kathleen heard. 
 
 "I shall tell my mother what you said," she 
 declared. 
 
 "Dear me! no, you mustn t," begged Silvia in 
 alarm. 
 
 "Yes, I shall too." Kathleen s bracelets 
 jingled worse than ever as she shook them out. 
 
 "Well, I call that real hateful," broke out 
 Silvia, a red spot on either cheek, "you know I 
 didn t mean it." 
 
 "Well, you said it. And if you think it s a 
 bother to take my mother and father out on 
 your old launch, I sha n t stop here and bring 
 you anything when I come home from around 
 the world." 
 
 Silvia trembled. She very much wanted some 
 thing from around the world. So she put her 
 arm about Kathleen. "Oh, make up now," she 
 said. "They re coming," as Mr. and Mrs. 
 
72 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 Briggs advanced down the path. "Promise you 
 won t tell," she begged. 
 
 "Yes, do," said Polly Pepper imploringly. 
 So Kathleen promised, and everything became 
 quite serene, just in time for Mr. and Mrs. Briggs 
 to have the girls presented to them. And then 
 they all jumped into the steam launch, and the 
 men sent her into the lake, and everything was 
 as merry as could be under the circumstances. 
 
 "I haven t got to go to school to-morrow," 
 announced Silvia when they were well off. "Isn t 
 that, too fine for anything, girls?" 
 
 "Dear me! I should say so," cried Alexia 
 enviously. "How I wish I could ever stay home! 
 But aunt is so very dreadful, she makes me go 
 every single day." 
 
 "Well, I m going to stay home to bid Kathleen 
 good-bye, you know," said Silvia. 
 
 "You see we are going around the world," 
 announced Mrs. Briggs. She was just like 
 Kathleen as far as mother and daughter could 
 be, and she had more jingling things on, besides 
 a long lace scarf that was catching in everything; 
 and she carried a white, fluffy parasol in her 
 hand. : And we ve come to bid good-bye to 
 our relatives before we start: Kathleen, you 
 
AT SILVIA HORNE S 73 
 
 shouldn t have come out on the water without 
 your hat," for the first time noticing her daugh 
 ter s bare head. 
 
 "None of the girls have hats on," said Katn- 
 leen, shaking her long light braids. 
 
 "Well, I don t see how their mothers can c.1- 
 low it," exclaimed Mrs. Briggs, glancing around 
 on the group, "but I sha n t let you, Kathleen. 
 Dear me! you will ruin your skin. Now you 
 must come under my parasol." She moved up 
 on the seat. "Here, come over here." 
 
 "Oh, I m not going to," cried Kathleen with a 
 grimace. "I can t see anything under that old 
 thing. Besides, I m going to stay with the girls." 
 
 "Yes, you must come under my parasol." A 
 frown of real anxiety settled on her mother s face 
 "You ll thank me by and by for saving your 
 complexion for you, Kathleen; so come over." 
 
 "No," said Kathleen, hanging back, and hold 
 ing to Silvia s arm. 
 
 "There s your veil, you know." Mr. Briggs 
 hadn t spoken before, but now he edged up to 
 his wife. "It s in my pocket." 
 
 "So it is," cried his wife joyfully, as Mr. 
 Briggs pulled out a long green tissue veil. "I 
 am so glad I had you bring it. Now, Kathleen, 
 
74 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 tie this all over your head; your father will bring 
 it over to you. And next time, do obey me, and 
 wear your hat as I ve always told you." 
 
 So Kathleen, not daring to hold back from 
 this command, but grumbling at every bit of the 
 process, tied on the veil, and then sat up very 
 cross and stiff through the rest of the sail. 
 
 "I should rather never go around the world, 
 if I d got to be tied up like an old green mummy 
 every step," Alexia managed to whisper in Polly s 
 ear as they hopped out of the launch. And she 
 was very sweet to Kathleen after that, pitying 
 her dreadfully. 
 
VI THE ACCIDENT 
 
 OH dear me!" exclaimed Clem. They 
 were all on the cars the early train - 
 going home; the governess, a middle-aged per 
 son who looked after the younger Home children 
 and who was going in to her sister s to pass the 
 night, taking care of the party. "Now I ve got 
 to sit up till all hours when I get home, to get 
 my lessons." 
 
 Polly Pepper gave a comfortable little wriggle 
 under her coat. "Isn t it nice Mamsie makes 
 me get my lessons the first thing, before I play!" 
 she said to herself for about the fiftieth time. 
 
 "So have I," cried Lucy Bennett, echoing 
 Clem s words 
 
 "Well, I can t," cried Alexia with a flounce, 
 "because my aunt won t let me sit up after nine 
 o clock; that is, to study. So I have to get up 
 early in the morning. Oh dear!" with a grimace 
 at the thought. 
 
 "So do I," said Amy Garrett. "Dear me! 
 75 
 
76 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 and I m just as sleepy in the morning as I can 
 be." 
 
 Alexia yawned at the very memory of it. 
 "Well, don t let s talk of it," she begged. 
 "Seems as if Miss Salisbury s eyes were all over 
 me now." 
 
 "I have Miss Anstice to-morrow," said Amy, 
 "and it s the day for her black silk gown." 
 
 "Horrors!" exclaimed Alexia; and, "How do 
 you know she ll wear the black silk gown to 
 morrow, Amy?" from the other girls. 
 
 "Because she said Professor Mills from the 
 Institute is to be there to-morrow," said Amy. 
 " He gives the art lecture to our class. And you 
 know the black silk gown will surely go on." 
 
 "There s no help for you, you poor child," 
 cried Alexia, exulting that she never would be 
 gathered into Miss Anstice s clas \ and that she 
 just hated art and all that sort of thing, despite 
 the efforts of Miss Salisbury s younger sister to 
 get her interested. "Yes, that black silk gown 
 will surely be there. Look out now, Amy; all 
 you girls will catch it." 
 
 "Oh, I know it," said Amy with a sigh. "How 
 I do wish I never d got into that class!" 
 
 "Well, you know I told you," said Alexia pro- 
 
THE ACCIDENT 77 
 
 vokingly; "you d much better have taken my 
 advice and kept out of her clutches." 
 
 "I wish I had," mourned Amy again. 
 
 "How Miss Anstice can be so horrid she 
 isn t a bit like Miss Salisbury," said Alexia. "I 
 don t see" 
 
 "She isn t horrid," began Polly. 
 
 "Oh Polly!" 
 
 "Well, not always," said Polly. 
 
 " Well, she is anyway when she has company, 
 and gets on that black silk gown; just as stiff and 
 cross and perky and horrid as can be." 
 
 "She wants you all to show off good," said 
 Alexia, "Well, I m glad enough I m not in any 
 of her old classes. I just dote on Miss Salis 
 bury." 
 
 "Oh Alexiaj you worry the life out of her al 
 most," said Sally. 
 
 "Can t help it if I do," said Alexia sweetly. 
 "I m very fond of her. And as for Mademoi 
 selle, she s a dear. Oh, I love Mademoiselle, 
 too." 
 
 "Well, she doesn t love you," cried Clem vi 
 ciously. "Dear me! fancy one of the teachers 
 being fond of Alexia! " 
 
 "Oh, you needn t laugh," said Alexia compos- 
 
78 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 edly as the girls giggled; "every single one of 
 those teachers would feel dreadfully if I left that 
 school. They would really, and cry their eyes 
 out." 
 
 "And tear their hair, I suppose," said Clem 
 scornfully. 
 
 "Yes, and tear their why, what in this world 
 are we stopping for?" cried Alexia in one breath. 
 
 So everybody else wondered, as the train grad 
 ually slackened speed and came to a standstill. 
 Everybody who was going in to town to the the 
 atre or opera, began to look impatient at once. 
 
 "Oh dear!" cried the girls who were going to 
 sit up to study, "now isn t this just as hateful as 
 it can be?" 
 
 "I don t care," said Alexia, settling comfort 
 ably back, " because I can t study much anyway, 
 so I d just as soon sit on this old train an hour." 
 
 "Oh Alexia!" exclaimed Polly in dismay, with 
 her heart full at the thought of Mamsie s dis 
 tress, and that of dear Grandpapa and Jasper. 
 Phronsie would be abed anyway by the time the 
 early train was in, so she couldn t worry. But 
 all the others "Oh dear me!" she gasped. 
 
 "Don t look so, Polly," said Alexia, " we ll start 
 pretty soon, I guess." 
 
THE ACCIDENT 79 
 
 The governess, Miss Baker, came over from 
 the opposite seat to stand in the aisle. " I think 
 we ll start soon," she said. But her eyes looked 
 worried. 
 
 "What is it oh, Miss Baker, what is the 
 reason we re stopping ? " cried two or three of 
 the girls. 
 
 " I don t know," said the governess. 
 
 A man coming in from outside, where a lot of 
 gentlemen were pouring out of the cars to investi 
 gate, furnished the information. 
 
 " Driving wheel broken," he said, being spar 
 ing of words. 
 
 " Oh, can t we go out to see ? " cried Alexia, 
 hopping out of her seat. " Come on," and she 
 was prancing down the aisle. 
 
 "No, indeed," said Miss Baker in displeasure, 
 "and do you come directly back," she com 
 manded. 
 
 " Oh dear me ! " grumbled Alexia to Sally, who 
 had tumbled out after her, "she s worse than 
 Miss Anstice stiff, precise old thing ! " She 
 came slowly back. 
 
 " That a young lady under my care," said Miss 
 Baker, lifting her black gloves in amazement, 
 " should so far forget herself as to want to run 
 
So FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 out on that track with a lot of men! I am as 
 tonished." 
 
 "There s a girl out there," said Aiexia, sinking 
 into her seat crossly, and peering over Polly 
 Pepper s head. 
 
 "And there s another," proclaimed Sally tri 
 umphantly. 
 
 "Well, if they ve forgotten themselves so far as 
 to go out there under such circumstances, I shall 
 not let any young lady in my care do it," said 
 Miss Baker emphatically. 
 
 So, swallowing their disappointment at not be 
 ing allowed to see all that presented itself, the 
 girls settled back and made themselves as com 
 fortable as possible. Meantime almost every 
 body else poured out of their car. But it seemed 
 to Polly Pepper as if she never could keep still in 
 all this world. And she clasped her hands tightly 
 together and hoped nobody would speak to her 
 just yet. 
 
 "Polly," Alexia gave a little push, as she 
 leaned over, " isn t it perfectly dreadful to be 
 mewed up here in this way? Say, Polly, do 
 talk." 
 
 "Go right away, Alexia." Polly gave a little 
 flounce, and sat quite straight. 
 
THE ACCIDENT 81 
 
 "Oh dear me!" exclaimed Alexia in astonish 
 ment, and falling back. 
 
 "And I wish you would let me alone," cried 
 Polly, quite aghast at herself, but unable to stop. 
 
 "Oh dear me!" Alexia kept saying quite 
 faintly, and rolling her eyes. 
 
 "Well, I m glad Polly has made you behave 
 for once," said Clem, who never could forgive 
 Alexia for getting Polly cp much to herself. 
 
 Alexia stopped saying, " Oh dear me!" and sat 
 quite still. Just then Polly turned and saw her 
 face. 
 
 "Oh Alexia!" she cried, flying at her, when 
 an awful bump, and then another much worse, 
 and then a grinding noise, perfectly terrible, 
 and everybody who was left in the car, went 
 tumbling out of their seats. 
 
 "Oh, we re run into!" screamed half a dozen 
 of the girls. Miss Baker, who had been standing 
 in the aisle, was down in a heap on the floor. 
 
 "Oh, oh!" Polly had her arms around Alexia 
 and was hugging her tightly. "Are you hurt?" 
 as they wriggled out of the bunch of girls into 
 which they had been precipitated, up to their feet. 
 
 "N no." Alexia tried to say. Instead, she 
 wobbled over, and laid her head on Polly s arm. 
 
82 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 " Girls girls Miss Baker!" called Polly, not 
 seeing that lady, in the confusion of the other 
 passengers, staggering along the aisle, her bonnet 
 knocked over her eyes, and a girl on either hand 
 to help her along. "Clem oh, somebody help 
 me! Alexia is hurt." But nobody heard in the 
 general tumult. 
 
 "Oh dear! Alexia, do open your eyes," begged 
 Polly, quite gone now with distress. "And to 
 think I was so cross to her!" And she turned 
 quite white. 
 
 "Dear, dear Alexia," she cried; and because 
 there was nothing else to do, she leaned over and 
 dropped a kiss on Alexia s long face, and two 
 tears dropped down as well. 
 
 Alexia opened her eyes. "That s very nice, 
 Polly," she said, "do so some more." 
 
 "Aren t you ashamed!" cried Polly, the rosy 
 color coming back to her cheek. And then, re 
 membering, she hugged Alexia tightly. "Oh, 
 I m so glad you re not hurt, Alexia, so very 
 glad!" she cried gratefully. 
 
 "Ow!" exclaimed Alexia, shrinking back. 
 
 "Oh, now you are hurt," cried Polly. "Oh 
 Alexia!" And she turned very white again. 
 "Tell me where it is." And just then some of 
 
THE ACCIDENT 83 
 
 the girls rushed up with the news, corroborated 
 by the other passengers, that the down express 
 had run into them, been signalled, but couldn t 
 stop in time, etc., etc., till Polly thought she 
 should go wild before the babel could be stopped. 
 "Don t crowd around so," she cried hoarsely. 
 "Alexia is hurt." 
 
 "Alexia?" The noise, as far as Miss Salis 
 bury s girls were concerned, stopped at once; and 
 at last the other passengers were made to under 
 stand how it was. And Alexia, quite faint now, 
 but having sense enough to hang to Polly Pep 
 per s hand, was laid across an improvised bed 
 made of two seats, and a doctor who happened 
 to be on the train, one of the party going in to 
 the theatre, came up, and looked her over pro 
 fessionally. 
 
 "It s my arm," said Alexia, opening her eyes 
 again; "it was doubled up someway under me. 
 Oh dear me! I m so silly to faint/ 
 
 "You re not silly at all," cried Polly warmly, 
 and holding her well hand, while her eyes searched 
 the doctor s face anxiously. "Oh, is it broken?" 
 they asked, as plainly as possible. 
 
 "Not a bit of it," said the doctor cheerfully, 
 feeling it all over again to make quite sure, while 
 
84 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 Alexia set her teeth together, trying not to show 
 how very much it hurt. "It s badly strained, 
 the ligaments are; but fortunately no bones 
 are broken." 
 
 " Oh dear ! " groaned Alexia. " Now why can t 
 it be broken?" 
 
 "Oh Alexia!" cried Polly. And now the tears 
 that had been kept back, were rolling down her 
 cheeks. "I m so happy, I can t help it," she 
 said. 
 
 "And the very idea, Alexia Rhys," exclaimed 
 Clem, "to wish your arm had been broken!" and 
 she gave a little shiver. 
 
 "It hurts just as much," said Alexia, trying to 
 sit up straight, and making an awful face, "so 
 it might as well be. And I ve never been in a 
 railroad accident. But a sprained arm isn t any 
 thing to show; any baby can have that oh 
 dear me!" 
 
 "Well, you better lie still," counselled Miss 
 Baker tartly. "Dear me! I little thought when 
 I took charge of you young ladies that any such 
 thing would occur." 
 
 "She acts as if she thought we did it on pur 
 pose," said Alexia, turning her face over to hide 
 it on Polly s arm again, and wishing her own 
 
THE ACCIDENT 85 
 
 needn t ache so dreadfully. "Oh dear! such a 
 time as we ve had, Polly Pepper, with those dread 
 ful Briggses, I mean Mrs. Briggs, and now 
 to be all banged up, and this cross old thing to 
 see us home! And now I never ll be able to get 
 through the term, cause I ll have to stay at home 
 with this old arm, and aunt will scold." She 
 was quite out of breath with all her woes. 
 
 "Oh, yes, you will," cried Polly reassuringly, 
 "I ll run over every day, and study with you, 
 Alexia. And you ll soon be all well again. Don t 
 try to talk now, dear," and she patted the poor 
 cheeks, and smoothed her hair. All the while 
 she was trying to keep down the worry over the 
 home-circle who would be thrown into the great 
 est distress, she knew, if news of the accident 
 should reach their ears. 
 
 "Can t somebody telephone them?" she cried; 
 "Oh, Miss Baker" the doctor had rushed off 
 to other possible sufferers- "and tell them no 
 one is hurt; I mean seriously?" 
 
 "There is," said the governess, quite calmly; 
 "a man has been killed." 
 
 "Oh dear!" 
 
 "A brakeman," Miss Baker hastened to add. 
 " Don t be frightened. None of the passengers." 
 
86 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Now I know he was brave, and trying to do 
 something to save us," cried Polly, with kindling 
 eyes. 
 
 "Yes," said a passenger, coming up to their 
 group, "he was running back with a lantern to 
 signal the train, and he slipped and fell, and the 
 express went over him. But it stopped just in 
 time for us." 
 
 "Oh the poor, poor man!" Polly was quite 
 gone by this time, and Alexia forgot her pain in 
 trying to comfort her. 
 
 "But suppose he had children," cried Polly, 
 "just suppose it, Alexia." 
 
 "I don t want to suppose it," said Alexia, wrig 
 gling. "Ugh! you do say such uncomfortable 
 things, Polly Pepper." 
 
 "I know it." Polly swallowed hard, and held 
 Alexia s hand tighter than ever. "Well, I won t 
 talk of it any more." 
 
 The governess, who had moved away a bit, 
 now came back with vexation plainly written all 
 over her face. "I must go and see if there isn t 
 some way to get a message to Grandpapa King, 
 Alexia," said Polly. "I ll be back as soon as I 
 can." She dropped a kiss on the nearest cheek. 
 
 "Don t be gone long," begged Alexia. 
 
THE ACCIDENT 87 
 
 "I will go with you," said the governess, step 
 ping off after her. 
 
 " Very well," said Polly, going swiftly down the 
 aisle, to see below the car steps a crowd of pas 
 sengers all in a tumult, and vociferating angrily. 
 In the midst of them, Polly saw the face of the 
 doctor who had just fixed Alexia s arm. 
 
 "Oh sir," she began. 
 
 He looked up, and caught sight of the brown 
 eyes. " Is the little girl worse ?" And he sprang 
 over toward her. 
 
 Polly, not stopping to think how furious Alexia 
 would be, who was quite the tallest of their set, 
 to be designated as a little girl, made haste to 
 say, "Oh no, sir; but oh, could you tell me how 
 to let my grandpapa and my mother know we are 
 safe? Could you, sir?" Poor Polly, who had 
 held up so bravely, was clasping her hands tightly 
 together, and the brown eyes were full of tears. 
 
 "Well, you see," began the doctor, hating to 
 disappoint her, "it s a difficult matter to get in 
 communication with them at once. We are only 
 five miles out, but - 
 
 "Five miles?" echoed Polly. "Oh then, some 
 one can go to the nearest station, and telephone, 
 can t they, sir?" 
 
88 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "To be sure; and that s been done. But your 
 family, little girl how can we reach them ? " 
 
 "Oh, I can run," cried Polly happily, "to the 
 station myself, sir," and she began to clamber 
 down the car steps. 
 
 "Come back," commanded the governess, lift 
 ing her hands in horror. "I never heard of 
 such a thing. The very idea! What would your 
 grandfather, Mr. King, say to such a thing, Polly 
 Pepper?" 
 
 "Mr. who?" cried the doctor. "Stay, little 
 girl," seizing her arm. "Mr. who?" he de 
 manded, looking up to the governess on the car 
 steps. 
 
 "Mr. Horatio King," she replied with asperity, 
 "and you d better be occupied with something 
 else, let me tell you, sir, instead of encouraging 
 his granddaughter to run off on such a wild- 
 goose errand as this." 
 
 "I certainly shall take pleasure in performing 
 the wild-goose errand myself," he said. "Now 
 Polly, I ll send the message; don t you worry," 
 and he sped off down the track. 
 
VII THE SALISBURY GIRLS 
 
 AND then somebody rushed in, saying, 
 "We ve another locomotive; now we re 
 going!" And everybody else who was outside 
 hurried into the cars; the new propelling power 
 was attached to the other end of the train, and 
 after a deal of switching, there they were at last 
 off on the way home ! 
 
 Polly gave a long breath of relief, and clasped 
 Alexia s hand closely. "Oh, by this time they 
 know at home it s all right," she cried. 
 
 The doctor came smilingly down the aisle. 
 "Well," he nodded to Polly. "Yes, it s all 
 right," he said. "I must really call you Polly 
 Pepper now, for I know your grandfather, and 
 Dr. Fisher well there! indeed I know him." 
 
 "Do you?" cried Polly with blooming cheeks, 
 well pleased to find a friend at such a time. 
 
 "Yes, indeed. I m fortunate enough to meet 
 him in hospital work. Now then, how is our 
 little friend here ? " He leaned over, and touched 
 Alexia s arm lightly. 
 
 89 
 
90 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Oh, I m all right," she said. 
 
 "That s good," in a gratified tone. "Now 
 keep plucky, and you ll get out of this finely." 
 Then he sat down on the arm of the seat, and 
 told such a funny story that no one supposed it 
 could be the home station when the train came 
 to a standstill, and he was helping Alexia out. 
 
 "There now drop Polly s hand, if you 
 please," the doctor was saying; "I ll assist you." 
 
 "But I don t want to," said Alexia, hanging to 
 it for dear life. "I want Polly." 
 
 "I presume so," laughed the doctor, "but I 
 think it s best for me to help you." Miss Baker 
 and all the girls crowded up in a bunch. "Easy 
 there," he said. "Don t hurry sc; there s plenty 
 of time." And he got between them and Alexia s 
 lame arm. 
 
 And there, down by the car steps Polly 
 could see him as he waited for the stream of 
 passengers to get out was Jasper, his eyes 
 eagerly searching every face, with an impatience 
 scarcely to be controlled. And back of him were 
 Dr. Fisher s big glasses, shining as the little doc 
 tor pranced back and forth, unable to keep still. 
 
 " There they are there they are!" Polly ex 
 claimed. "Oh, if we could hurry and let them 
 
THE SALISBURY GIRLS 91 
 
 know we re all right!" But they were wedged 
 in so, there was nothing to do but to take their 
 turn and let the passengers in front descend. 
 
 " Jasper oh, Papa Fisher!" At last Polly 
 was out on the platform where she stood on her 
 tiptoes and waved her hand. 
 
 "Are you all right?" asked Jasper eagerly, 
 craning his neck to see for himself. 
 
 "Yes yes!" cried Polly. And then pres 
 ently they had her on either hand! "Oh, help 
 Alexia," she cried, turning back. 
 
 Dr. Fisher took one look through his big glasses. 
 "Well, well, Pennell," he exclaimed, "you here?" 
 and he skipped over to them. 
 
 "I really believe so," laughed Dr. Pennell. 
 
 "Dear me!" Little Dr. Fisher glanced at 
 Alexia quickly. 
 
 "Nothing but sprained," the other doctor said 
 quickly. "Still, it needs careful attention." 
 
 And then it came out that Alexia s aunt had 
 heard a chance word dropped about the accident, 
 and had run down to Mr. King s in her distress, 
 so she was there awaiting them; and the fathers 
 and brothers of the rest of the "Salisbury girls" 
 took off their charges, much to the relief of the 
 governess. So presently Jasper had his party all 
 
92 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 settled in the carriage, Dr. Pennell saying, "Well, 
 I resign my responsibility about that arm to you, 
 Dr. Fisher." He lifted his hat, and was off. 
 
 "Oh, wait!" cried Polly in great distress as 
 Thomas was just starting off with a dash, "I 
 must speak to him." 
 
 "Polly what is it?" cried Jasper. "Wait, 
 Thomas!" So Thomas pulled up. 
 
 "I must I must," declared Polly. Her foot 
 was on the step, and she was soon out. 
 
 "I ll go with you," said Jasper, as she sped 
 down through the streams of people pouring 
 along the platform, tc thread her way after the 
 tall figure, Jasper by her side.. "Dr. Pennell 
 oh, please stop." 
 
 "Hey?" The doctor pulled up in his brisk 
 walk. "Oh dear me! what is it?" 
 
 "Will you please tell me do you know who 
 the poor man was who was killed?" she gasped. 
 
 "Oh Polly," cried Jasper, "was there some 
 one killed?" 
 
 "Yes, he was a brakeman, Polly," said Dr. 
 Pennell. 
 
 "Oh, I know but where did he live?" cried 
 Polly, "and had he any children?" all in one 
 breath. 
 
THE SALISBURY GIRLS 93 
 
 "A big family, I understand," said the doctor 
 gravely. 
 
 "Oh dear me!" exclaimed Polly with a sorry 
 droop to the bright head, and clasping her hands, 
 "could you, Dr. Pennell, tell me anything more?" 
 
 " That s all I know about the poor fellow," 
 said the doctor. "The conductor told me that." 
 
 "I ll find out for you to-morrow, Polly, 5 said 
 Jasper quickly; "I ll run down to the railroad 
 office, and get all the news I can." 
 
 "And I ll go with you," said Polly, "for I 
 most know r Grandpapa will let me. He was so 
 very good to us all that poor man was," she 
 mourned. 
 
 "Yes, Polly, there s no doubt of that," Dr. 
 Pennell said abruptly. "You and I maybe 
 wouldn t be standing here if it were not for him." 
 
 Jasper shivered, and laid hold of Polly s arm. 
 "Well now, run along and get home," finished 
 the doctor cheerily, "and look out for that plucky 
 little friend of yours, and I ll try and find out, 
 too, about that brakeman, and we ll talk the 
 thing over. 3 So Polly and Jasper raced back 
 again down over the platform, clambered into the 
 carriage, and away they went home to Grandpapa 
 and Mamsie! 
 
94 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 And Alexia and her aunt staid all night. And 
 after the whole story had been gone over and 
 over, and Grandpapa had held Polly on his knee, 
 all the time she was not in Mamsie s lap, and 
 Alexia had had her poor arm taken care of, and 
 all bandaged up, Dr. Fisher praising her for 
 being so cool and patient, why then it was nearly 
 eleven o clock. 
 
 "Dear me! Polly," cried Mother Fisher in 
 dismay, looking over at the clock they were all 
 in the library, and all visitors had been denied 
 "the very idea! you children must get to bed." 
 
 "Yes or you won t be cool and patient to 
 morrow," said Dr. Fisher decidedly, and patting 
 Alexia s bandages. "Now run off, little girl, and 
 we ll see you bright as a button in the morning." 
 
 "I m not cool and patient," declared Alexia, 
 abruptly pulling down, with her well hand, the 
 little doctor till she could whisper in his ear. 
 "Oh, aunt does fuss so you can t think; I m 
 a raging wild animal." 
 
 "Well, you haven t been raging to-night, 
 Alexia," said the little doctor, bursting out into a 
 laugh. 
 
 "Oh, hush, do," implored Alexia, who wasn t 
 in the slightest degree afraid to speak her mind, 
 
THE SALISBURY GIRLS 95 
 
 least of all to Dr. Fisher, whom she liked im 
 mensely; "they ll all hear us," she brought up in 
 terror. 
 
 "What is it, Alexia?" cried her aunt from the 
 sofa, where Dr. Fisher had asked her to be 
 seated, as it was well across the room. "Oh, is 
 she worse?" she exclaimed, hurrying over nerv 
 ously. 
 
 "There, now, you see," cried Alexia tragically, 
 and sinking back in her chair; "everything s just 
 as bad as can be now." 
 
 "Not in the least, Miss Rhys," the little doc 
 tor said in his cheeriest tones, "only Alexia and I 
 had a little joke all by ourselves." And as he 
 waited coolly for the maiden lady to return to 
 her seat, she soon found herself back there. Then 
 he went over to Mamsie, and said something in 
 a low tone. 
 
 "Yes, Adoniram." Mother Fisher nodded 
 over Polly s brown head. " She ought to have a 
 good night s sleep." 
 
 "Polly," said Dr. Fisher, leaning over her, 
 "it s just this: that aunt of Alexia s she s a 
 good enough sort of a woman, I suppose," 
 wrinkling his brows in perplexity to find the 
 right words, "but she certainly does possess the 
 
98 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Oh bless me!" exclaimed old Mr. King 
 hastily, "Polly, see here, my child, well well, 
 in the morning perhaps dear me ! we can 
 tell then whether it s best for you to go to school 
 or not. Come, kiss me good night, again." 
 
 So Polly ran back and gave him two or three 
 kisses, and then raced off, Jasper having time to 
 whisper at the door: "I most know, Polly, 
 father ll let you go; I really and truly believe 
 he will." 
 
 "I believe so too," cried Polly happily. 
 
 And sure enough, he did. For the next morn 
 ing Polly ran down to breakfast as merry as a 
 bee, brown eyes dancing, as if accidents were 
 never to be thought of ; and Grandpapa pinched 
 her rosy cheek, and said: "Well, Polly, you ve 
 won! Off with you to school." And Polly 
 tucked her books under her arm, and raced off 
 with Jasper, \vho always went to school with her 
 as far as their paths went, turning off at the 
 corner where she hurried off to Miss Salisbury s 
 select school, to go to his own. 
 
 "Oh, here comes Polly Pepper!" The girls, 
 some of them waiting for her at the big iron 
 gate, raced down to meet her. " Oh Polly - 
 Polly." At that a group of girls on the steps 
 
THE SALISBURY GIRLS 99 
 
 turned, and came flying up, too. "Oh, tell us 
 all about the awful accident," they screamed. 
 "Tell, Polly, do." They swarmed all over 
 her. 
 
 "Give me the books," and one girl seized 
 them. "I ll carry them for you, Polly." 
 
 "And, Polly, not one of the other girls that 
 went out to Silvia Home s is here this morning." 
 
 "They may come yet," said Polly; "it s not 
 late." 
 
 "Oh, I know; we came early to meet you; 
 well, Silvia isn t here either." 
 
 "Oh, she can t come, because of her cousin," 
 said Polly, "and- 
 
 "Well, I don t care whether she ever comes," 
 declared Leslit Fyle. "I can t abide that Silvia 
 Home." 
 
 "Nor I," said another girl, "she s so full of 
 her airs and graces, and always talking about her 
 fine place at Edgewood. Oh dear me ! I m sick 
 of Edgewood!" 
 
 A little disagreeable laugh went around. 
 
 "Oh, I ll tell you of the accident," said Polly; 
 "come, let s sit down on the steps; we ve ten 
 minutes yet." 
 
 "Yes, do, do," cried the girls, So they huddled 
 
ioo FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 up together on the big stone steps, Polly in the 
 middle, and she told them the whole story as 
 fast as she could. Meantime other girls hurry 
 ing to school, saw them from a distance, and 
 broke into a run to get there in time. 
 
 And Polly gave Alexia s love all round, as she 
 had been commissioned to do. 
 
 "We ll go up to your house to see her," cried 
 Leslie, "perhaps this afternoon." 
 
 "Oh, no, you mustn t," said Polly. "I m 
 dreadfully sorry, girls, but Papa Fisher says no 
 one must come yet, till he sends word by me." 
 
 "I thought you said Alexia was all right." 
 
 "And if her arm isn t broken I should think we 
 might see her," said a big girl on the edge of the 
 circle discontentedly. She had private reasons 
 for wishing the interview as soon as possible, as 
 she and Alexia had quarrelled the day before, 
 and now it was quite best to ignore all differ 
 ences, and make it up. 
 
 "But she s had a great strain, and Papa- 
 Doctor says it isn^t best," repeated Polly very 
 distinctly, "so we can t even think of it, Sarah." 
 
 "Polly? is that Polly Pepper?" exclaimed a 
 voice in the hall. 
 
 " Oh, yes, Miss Anstice," cried Polly, hopping 
 
THE SALISBURY GIRLS 101 
 
 up so quickly she nearly overthrew some of the 
 bunch of girls. 
 
 Yes, she had on the black silk gown, and 
 Polly fancied she could hear it crackle, it was so 
 stiff, as Miss Anstice advanced primly. 
 
 "I hear that there was an accident, Polly 
 Pepper, last night, which you and some of the 
 other girls were in. Now, why did you not come 
 and tell me or sister at once about it?" 
 
 "Oh dear me! do forgive me," cried poor 
 Polly, now seeing that she had done a very wrong 
 thing not to have acquainted Miss Salisbury first 
 with all the particulars. "I do hope you will 
 forgive me, Miss Anstice," she begged over 
 again. 
 
 "7. find it very difficult to overlook it, Polly," 
 said Miss Anstice, who was much disturbed by 
 the note she held in her hand, just delivered, by 
 which Professor Mills informed her he should be 
 unable to deliver his address that morning before 
 her art class. So she added with asperity, "It 
 would have been quite the proper thing, and 
 something that would naturally, I should sup 
 pose, suggest itself to a girl brought up as you 
 have been, Polly, to come at once to the head of 
 the school with the information." 
 
102 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 Polly, feeling that all this reflected on Mamsie 
 and her home training, had yet nothing to do 
 but to stand pale and quiet on the steps. 
 
 "She couldn t help it." The big girl pushed 
 her way into the inner circle. "We girls all just 
 made her stop. My! Miss Anstice, it was just a 
 mob here when we saw Polly coming." 
 
 "Sarah Miller, you have nothing to say until 
 I address you." A little red spot was coming on 
 either cheek as Miss Anstice turned angrily to 
 the big girl. "And I shall at once report you to 
 sister, for improper behavior." 
 
 "Oh dear, dear! Well, I wish sister would 
 fire old black silk," exclaimed a girl on the edge 
 of the circle under her breath. "Look at her 
 now. Isn t she a terror!" and then the big bell 
 rang, and they all filed in. 
 
 "Now she won t let us have our picnic; she ll 
 go against it every way she can," cried a girl who 
 was out of dangerous earshot. And the terror of 
 this spread as they all scampered down the hall. 
 
 "Oh dear, dear! to think this should have 
 happened on her black silk day!" 
 
 "No, we won t get it now, you may depend," 
 cried ever so many. And poor Polly, with all 
 this added woe, to make her feel responsible for 
 
THE SALISBURY GIRLS 103 
 
 the horrible beginning of the day, sank into her 
 seat and leaned her head on her desk. 
 
 The picnic, celebrated as an annual holiday, 
 was given by Miss Salisbury to the girls, if all 
 had gone well in the school, and no transgressions 
 of rules, or any misdemeanor, marred the term. 
 Miss Anstice never had looked with favor on the 
 institution, and the girls always felt that she 
 went out of her way to spy possible insubordina 
 tion among the scholars. So they strove not to 
 get out of her good graces, observing special care 
 when the "black silk days" came around. 
 
 On this unlucky day, everything seemed against 
 them; and as Miss Anstice stalked off to sit upon 
 the platform by "sister" for the opening exer 
 cises, the girls felt it was all up with them, and 
 a general gloom fell upon the long schoolroom. 
 
 Miss Salisbury s gentle face was turned in sur 
 prise upon them as she scanned the faces. And 
 then, the general exercises being over, the classes 
 were called, and she and "sister" were left on 
 the platform alone. 
 
 "Oh, now she s getting the whole thing!" 
 groaned Leslie, looking back from the hall, to 
 peer in. "Old black silk is giving it to her. 
 Oh, I just hate Miss Anstice!" 
 
io 4 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Sarah, why couldn t you have kept still?" 
 cried another girl. "If you hadn t spoken, Miss 
 Anstice would have gotten over it." 
 
 "Well, I wasn t going to have Polly Pepper 
 blamed," said Sarah sturdily. "If you were 
 willing to, I wasn t going to stand still and hear 
 it, when it was our fault she told us first." 
 
 "Oh, no, Sarah," said Polly, "it surely was my 
 own self that was to blame. I ought to have 
 run in and told Miss Salisbury first. Well, now, 
 girls, what shall I do ? I ve lost that picnic for 
 you all, for I don t believe she will let us have it 
 now." 
 
 "No, she won t," cried Leslie tragically; "of 
 that you may be sure, Polly Pepper." 
 
VIII " WE RE TO HAVE OUR PICNIC i" 
 
 AND that afternoon Polly kept back bad 
 recollections of the gloomy morning at 
 school as well as she could. She didn t let Alexia 
 get the least bit of a hint about it, although how 
 she ever escaped letting her find it out, she never 
 could quite tell, but rattled on, all the messages 
 the girls had sent, and every bit of school news 
 she could think of. 
 
 "Were the other girls who went to Silvia s, at 
 school?" asked Alexia suddenly, and twitching 
 up her pillow to get higher in bed, for Dr. Fisher 
 had said she mustn t get up this first day; and a 
 hard piece of work Mother Fisher had had to 
 keep the aunt out of the room. 
 
 "I wouldn t go in," Mamsie would say; "Dr. 
 Fisher doesn t wish her to be disturbed. To 
 morrow, Miss Rhys." And it was all done so 
 quietly that Alexia s aunt would imd herself off 
 down in the library again and busy with a book, 
 very much to her own surprise. 
 
 105 
 
io6 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "I ll shake em up," Polly cried; and hopping 
 off from the foot of the bed, she thumped the 
 pillows, if not with a merry, at least with a vig 
 orous hand. "There now," crowding them in 
 back of Alexia s restless head, "isn t that fine?" 
 
 "I should think it was," exclaimed Alexia with 
 a sigh of satisfaction, and giving her long figure 
 a contented stretch; "you do know just the best 
 things to do, Polly Pepper. Well, tell on. I 
 suppose Amy Garrett is perfectly delighted to 
 cut that old art lecture." 
 
 "Oh, Professor Mills didn t come at all," said 
 Polly. That brought it all back about Miss 
 Anstice, and her head drooped suddenly. 
 
 "Didn t come? oh dear " And Alexia fell to 
 laughing so, that she didn t notice Polly s face at 
 all. But her aunt popping in, she became sober 
 at once, and ran her head under the bedclothes. 
 
 "Oh, are you worse? is she, Polly?" cried 
 Miss Rhys all in a flutter. "I heard her cry, I 
 thought." 
 
 "No, I was laughing," said Alexia, pulling up 
 her face red and shining. "Do go right away, 
 aunt. Dr. Fisher said Polly was to tell me things." 
 
 "Well, if you are not worse," said her aunt, 
 slowly turning away. 
 
"WE RE TO HAVE OUR PICNIC!" 107 
 
 "No," said Alexia. "Polly Pepper, do get up 
 and shut that door," she cried; "slam it, and 
 lock it." 
 
 "Oh, no," said Polly, in dismay at the very 
 thought, "I couldn t ever do that, Alexia." 
 
 "Well, then I will." Alexia threw back the 
 bedclothes with a desperate hand, and thrust one 
 foot out. 
 
 "If you clo," said Polly, not moving from 
 where she sat on the foot of the bed, "I shall go 
 out of this room, and not come back to-day." 
 
 "Shall you really?" cried Alexia, fixing her 
 pale eyes on her. 
 
 "Yes, indeed I shall," said Polly firmly. 
 
 "Oh, then I m not going." Alexia drew in her 
 foot, and huddled all the clothes up over her 
 head. "Polly Pepper," she said in muffled tones, 
 "yoif re a perfectly dreadful creature, and if you d 
 gone and sprained your arm in a horrible old 
 railway accident and were tied in bed, I d do just 
 everything you said, I would." 
 
 "Oh, I hope you wouldn t," said Polly. 
 
 "Hope I wouldn t!" screamed Alexia, flinging 
 all the clothes away again to stare at Polly out 
 of very wide eyes. "Whatever do you mean, 
 Polly Pepper?" 
 
io8 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "I hope you wouldn t do as I wanted you to," 
 said Polly distinctly, "if I wanted something that 
 was bad." 
 
 "Well, that s a very different thing," mumbled 
 Alexia. "Oh dear me!" She gave a grimace at 
 a twinge of pain in her arm. "This isn t bad; 
 I only wanted that door shut." 
 
 "Oh now, Alexia, you ve hurt your arm!" 
 cried Polly; "do keep still, else Papa- Doctor 
 won t let me stay in here." 
 
 "Oh dear, dear! I ll keep still," promised 
 Alexia, making up her mind that horses shouldn t 
 drag any expression of pain from her after that. 
 
 "I mean, do sit up straight against your pil 
 lows; you ve got em all mussed up again," cried 
 Polly. So she hopped off from the bed, and 
 thumped them into shape once more. 
 
 "I wish you d turn em over," said Alexia: 
 "they re so hot on that side." So Polly whisked 
 over the pillows, and patted them straight, and 
 Alexia sank back against them again. 
 
 "Wouldn t you like me to smooth your hair, 
 Alexia?" asked Polly. "Mamsie does that to 
 me when I don t feel good." 
 
 "Yes, I should," said Alexia, "like it very 
 much indeed, Polly." 
 
"WE RE TO HAVE OUR PICNIC! 1 109 
 
 So Polly, feeling quite happy, albeit the re 
 membrance of the morning still lay deep in her 
 mind, ran off for the brush and comb. "And 
 I m going to braid it all over," she said with 
 great satisfaction, "after I ve rubbed your head." 
 
 "Well, now tell on," said Alexia, as Polly 
 climbed up back of the pillows, and began to 
 smooth the long light fluffs of hair, trying to do 
 it just as Mamsie always did for her. "You say 
 Professor Mills didn t come oh dear! and think 
 of that black silk gown wasted on the girls. Well, 
 I suppose she was cross as two sticks because he 
 didn t come, wasn t she, Polly? Oh dear me! 
 well, I m glad I wasn t there," she hurried on, 
 not waiting for a reply; "I d rather be in with 
 this old bundle" she patted her bandages 
 "Oh Polly!" She started up so suddenly that the 
 brush flew out of Polly s lap and spun away 
 across the floor. "Take care," said Polly, "oh, 
 there goes the comb now," and she skipped 
 down, recovered the articles, and jumped up to 
 her post again. "What is it, Alexia?" 
 
 "Why, I ve just thought you don t suppose 
 Miss Salisbury will appoint the day for the pic 
 nic, do you, while my arm is lame?" 
 
 The color in Polly s cheeks went out, and she 
 
no FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 was glad that she could get well behind the 
 pillows. 
 
 "Oh, no, Alexia," she made herself say, "we 
 wouldn t ever in all this world have the picnic 
 till you were well. How could you think it, 
 Alexia?" 
 
 "I didn t believe you would," cried Alexia, 
 much gratified, and huddling down again, with 
 out once seeing Polly s face, "but most of the 
 girls don t care about me, Polly, and they wouldn t 
 mind." 
 
 "Oh yes, they do," said Polly reassuringly, 
 "they re very fond of you, most of them are." 
 
 "Well," said Alexia, "I m not fond of them, 
 so I don t really expect them to be, Polly. But 
 I shouldn t like em to go off and have that pic 
 nic when I couldn t go. Was anything said about 
 it, Polly?" she asked abruptly. 
 
 "Miss Salisbury or Miss Anstice didn t say 
 a word," said Polly, trembling for the next ques 
 tion. Just then Mother Fisher looked in with a 
 smile. "Polly, you are wanted," she said. 
 "Grandpapa and Jasper are ready to go to the 
 railroad station. I m going to stay with Alexia 
 and finish her hair just as I do for Polly." 
 
 Alexia looked up and smiled. It was next 
 
"WE RE TO HAVE OUR PICNIC!" in 
 
 best to having Polly, to have Airs. Fisher. So 
 Polly, happy to have a respite from Alexia s ques 
 tions about the picnic, and happier still to be 
 going to find out something about the poor brake- 
 man s family, flew off from the bed, set a kiss 
 on Alexia s hot cheek, and another on Mamsie s, 
 and raced off. 
 
 "I m coming, Jasper/ she called. She could 
 see him below in the wide hall. 
 
 "All right, don t hurry so, father isn t ready 
 yet. Dear me! Polly, you can get ready so 
 quickly for things!" he said admiringly. And, 
 in the glow of starting, he couldn t see that Pol 
 ly s spirits seemed at a low ebb, and he drew a 
 long breath as he tried to make himself believe 
 that what he had noticed at luncheon wasn t 
 really so at all. 
 
 And Polly, between Grandpapa and Jasper, 
 tried to make them have such a good time that 
 really it seemed no walk at all, and they were 
 all quite surprised when they found themselves 
 there. 
 
 "We must go up into the superintendent s 
 room," said Mr. King. So up the long stairs 
 they went, the old gentleman grumbling at every 
 step because there was no elevator, and at all 
 
ii2 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 other matters and things that were, as he de 
 clared, "at loose ends in the whole system." 
 At last they stood before the desk. 
 
 "Have the goodness," began old Mr. King to 
 the official, a short, pompous person who came 
 up in the absence of the superintendent and now 
 turned a cold face up to them, "to give me some 
 information regarding a brakeman who was killed 
 last night in the accident to the train due here 
 
 at 745." 
 
 "Don t know anything about him," said the 
 official in the crispest accents. He looked as if 
 he cared less, and was about to slam down the 
 window, when Mr. King asked, "Does anybody 
 in this office know?" 
 
 " Can t say." The official pulled out his watch, 
 compared it with the big clock on the wall, then 
 turned away. 
 
 "Do any of you know who the man was who 
 was killed last night?" asked the old gentleman, 
 putting his face quite close to the window, and 
 speaking in such clear, distinct tones that every 
 clerk looked up. 
 
 Each man searched all the other faces. No, 
 they didn t know; except one, a little, thin, 
 weazen-faced person over in the corner, at a high 
 
"WE RE TO HAVE OUR PICNIC!" 113 
 
 desk, copying. "I only know that his name was 
 Jim," he said in a voice to match his figure. 
 
 "Have the goodness to step this way, sir, and 
 tell me what you do know," said Mr. King in 
 such a way that the little man, but with many 
 glances for the pompous individual, slipped off 
 from his high stool, to advance to the window 
 rubbing his hands together deprecatingly. The 
 other clerks all laid down their pens to see the 
 interview. 
 
 "What was his name this brakeman s ? " de 
 manded Mr. King. 
 
 "I don t know, sir," said the little, thin clerk. 
 "Jim that was all I knew him by. I used to 
 see him of a morning when I was coming to the 
 office, and he was waiting to take his train. He 
 was a steady fellow, Jim was," he added, anx 
 iously scanning the handsome face beneath the 
 white hair. 
 
 "I don t doubt that," said old Mr. King hastily. 
 "I don t in the least doubt it." 
 
 "And he wasn t given to drink, sir," the little, 
 thin clerk cried abruptly, "although some did 
 say it who shouldn t; for there were many after 
 Jim s place. He had an easy run. And - 
 
 "Yes, yes; well, now what I want to know," 
 
ii4 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 said Mr. King interrupting the stream, Polly and 
 Jasper on either side having a hard time to con 
 trol their impatience, "is where this Jim, as you 
 call him, lived, and what was his last name." 
 
 "That I don t know, sir," said the little, thin 
 clerk. "I only know he had a family, for once 
 in a while when I had a minute to spare he d 
 get to talking about em, when we met. Jim 
 was awful fond of em; that any one could 
 see." 
 
 "Yes, well, now what would he say?" asked 
 the old gentleman, trying to hurry matters along. 
 The pompous official had his eye on the clock. 
 It might go hard for the little, thin clerk in his 
 seedy coat, if he took too much time from office 
 hours. 
 
 "Why, he had one girl who was crazy about 
 music," said the little clerk, " and " 
 
 "Oh dear me!" exclaimed Polly. Old Mr. 
 King heard her sigh at his side, and he cried, 
 "Well, what else?" 
 
 "Why. I ve heard Jim say more n once he d 
 live on bread and water if he could only give his 
 daughter a chance. And there were his three 
 boys." 
 
 " Three boys," echoed Mr. King sharply. 
 
"WE RE TO HAVE OUR PICNIC!" 115 
 
 "Yes, sir. I saw em round the train once or 
 twice; they were likely chaps, it seemed to me." 
 The little, thin clerk, a bachelor with several 
 unmarried sisters on his hands for support, sighed 
 deeply. 
 
 "Well, now," cried Mr. King, thinking it quite 
 time to bring the interview to a close, "I d 
 take it quite kindly if you d find out for me all 
 you can about this Jim. A member of my fam 
 ily was on the train last night, who but for this 
 noble brakeman might might bless me! 
 There is my card." The old gentleman pulled 
 out one "rom his cardcase, then fell to wiping his 
 face violently. 
 
 "What is your name?" asked Jasper, seeing 
 that his father couldn t speak. 
 
 "Hiram Potter," said the little clerk. The 
 pompous official drew near, and looked over his 
 shoulder at the card. " Oh! why Mr. King!" 
 he cried, all the pomposity suddenly gone. "I 
 beg your pardon; what can I do for you, sir?" 
 
 "Nothing whatever, sir." Mr. King waved him 
 away. "Well, now, Mr. Potter, if you ll be so 
 very good as to get this information for me as 
 soon as possible and bring up to my house, I ll 
 be very much indebted to you." With a bow 
 
n6 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 to him, in which the official was nowise included, 
 the old gentleman and Polly and Jasper went off 
 down the stairs again. 
 
 "Finkle, you re caught this time; you re in a 
 hole," the brother officials sang out when the 
 card had been displayed around the office. "I 
 wouldn t want to be in your shoes," said more 
 than one. 
 
 Finkle tried to brave out the dismay he felt at 
 having offended the powerful millionaire railroad 
 director, but he made but a poor show of it. 
 Meanwhile the little, thin clerk, slipping the 
 precious card into his seedy coat pocket, clam 
 bered up to his high stool, his mind busy with 
 plans to unearth all possible information con 
 cerning Jim, the brakeman, as soon as the big 
 clock up on the wall should let them out of the 
 office. 
 
 "Polly, my dear," old Mr. King kept saying, 
 as they went down the stairs, and he held her 
 hand very closely, "I think this Potter a very 
 good sort of a man he seems to be, too will 
 find out all we want to know about Jim. I really 
 do, Polly; so we won t worry about it, child." 
 
 Nevertheless, on top of all the rest that was 
 worrying her, Polly had a sorry enough time, 
 
"WE RE TO HAVE OUR PICNIC!" 117 
 
 to keep her troubles from sh wing on her face. 
 And after dinner, when the bell pealed violently, 
 she gave a great start and turned quite pale. 
 
 Jasper saw it. "I don t believe it s any bad 
 news, Polly," he hastened to say reassuringly, 
 and longing to comfort, though he couldn t im 
 agine the reason. 
 
 "Oh, where s Polly?" She head the girls 
 voices out in the hall, and ran out to meet them. 
 "Oh dear me!" she cried at sight of their faces 
 that confirmed her worst fears. 
 
 "Yes, oh Polly, it s just as I said," cried 
 Leslie Fyle, precipitating herself against Polly. 
 "Now, girls, keep back; I m going to tell her 
 first." 
 
 "Well, we are all going to tell too, Les; that s 
 what we ve come for," cried the others, crowding 
 up. 
 
 "Oh, what is it?" cried Polly, standing quite 
 still, and feeling as if she never could hold up 
 her head again now that the picnic was lost 
 through her. 
 
 "I shall tell, myself," declared Sarah bluntly. 
 "I m the one, it seems, that made all the trouble, 
 so it really belongs to me, I should think, to be 
 the first speaker." 
 
n8 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 Polly folded her hands tightly toge her, while 
 the babel went on, feeling that if she didn t hear 
 the dreaded news soon, she should fly off to 
 Mamsie. 
 
 1 Miss Salisbury said " She could hear little 
 scraps of chatter. 
 
 "I know oh, do hurry and tell Polly." 
 
 "Oh, and just think, Miss Salisbury " 
 
 "And Miss Anstice " Then some of them 
 looked around and into Polly s face. "Oh my 
 goodness, girls, see Polly Pepper!" 
 
 With that they all rushed at her, and nobody 
 told first, for they all shouted it out together: 
 "Polly, Miss Salisbury has given us our picnic!" 
 and "Polly, isn t it too splendid!" and "Polly 
 Pepper, just think how perfectly elegant! Our 
 picnic, Polly only think!" till the circle in 
 the library popped out their heads into the 
 hall. 
 
 "Jasper," cried Polly, deserting the bunch of 
 " Salisbury girls, to plunge up to him with shin 
 ing eyes, "we re to have our picnic; we truly are, 
 Jasper, and I thought I d lost it to all the girls." 
 
 And just then Johnson advanced down the 
 length of the hall. "It s a person to see you, 
 sir," he said to old Mr. King, "says it s quite 
 
"WE RE TO HAVE OUR PICNIC!" 119 
 
 important, sir, and that you told him to come. 
 He s sitting by the door, sir." 
 
 "Oh, it s Mr. Potter, I think," said the old 
 gentleman; "show him into the library, Johnson. 
 Polly, my child. Bless me! I don t see how 
 you stand it with these girls chattering around 
 you every minute. Now be off with you," he 
 cried gaily to the group. He was much pleased 
 at the success of his plan to find out about the 
 brakeman, of which he felt quite sure from the 
 appearance so promptly of the little clerk. "I 
 have something quite important for Polly to at 
 tend to now; and I really want her to myself 
 once in a while." 
 
 "Yes, I must go, girls," said Polly, turning a 
 blooming countenance on them; " so good night. 
 We won t have the picnic, you know, till Alexia 
 is well," she added decidedly. 
 
 "Oh, that s what Miss Salisbury said," cried 
 Leslie, turning back. "You sec, I saw her after 
 school went back for my history and I was 
 to tell you that, Polly; only Sarah spoilt it 
 
 all." 
 
 "Never mind," said Polly brightly, "it s all 
 right now, since we are really to have our picnic. 
 And then she put her hand in old Mr. King s, 
 
120 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 quite bubbling over with happiness, Jasper, just 
 as jubilant, since Polly was herself again, on the 
 other side, to go in and meet the little, thin 
 clerk, scared at his surroundings, and perched on 
 the extreme edge of a library chair. 
 
IX ALL ABOUT THE POOR BRAKEMAN 
 
 MR. POTTER was very miserable indeed 
 on the edge of his chair, and twirling 
 his hat dreadfully; Liid for the first moment after 
 the handsome old gentleman spoke to him, he 
 had nothing to say. 
 
 Old Mr. King was asking him for the third 
 time, "You found out all about poor Jim s 
 family, eh?" 
 
 At last he emerged from his fit of embarrass 
 ment enough to reply, " Yes, sir." 
 
 "Now that is very good," the old gentleman 
 cried approvingly, and wiped his face vigorously 
 after his effort, "very good indeed, Mr. Potter." 
 
 Hiram Potter now followed up his first attempt 
 to find his voice; and trying to forget the hand 
 some surroundings that had so abashed him, he 
 went on now quite glibly. 
 
 "You see, sir, there s six of em Jim s 
 children." 
 
 "Dear me!" ejaculated old Mr. King. 
 
122 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Yes, sir, there are." Mr. Potter s hat began 
 to twirl uneasily again. "And the wife she 
 ain t strong, just got up from rheumatic fever." 
 
 "That s bad very bad," said Mr. King. 
 
 "Those three boys of his are good," said Mr. 
 Potter, brightening up a bit in the general gloom; 
 "and the biggest one says he s going to be a 
 brakeman just like his father. But the mother 
 wants em all to go to schc. )1. You see, that s 
 what Jim was working for." 
 
 "And the girl who wanted to play on the 
 piano?" broke in Polly eagerly. Then she 
 blushed rosy red. " Oh, forgive me, Grandpapa, 
 for interrupting." and she hid her face on old 
 Mr. King s arm. 
 
 "I was just going to ask about that girl, my 
 self," said Grandpapa promptly. "Tell us about 
 her, Mr. Potter, if you please." 
 
 Hiram Potter set his hat carefully on the floor 
 beside his chair. It was his Sunday hat, and 
 evidently that, with his best clothes which he 
 had donned in honor of the occasion, were ob 
 jects of great care. He scratched his head and 
 thought deeply. "Well, now, you see, sir," he 
 said slowly, " that s almost a hopeless case, and I 
 wish, as sure as I sit here, that girl hadn t never 
 
ALL ABOUT THE POOR BRAKEMAN 123 
 
 thought of piano music. But it s born in her, the 
 mother said; the girl s grandfather was a musician 
 in the old home in Germany, and so she can t 
 help it. Why, she s just so crazy about it, 
 she ll drum all up and down the kitchen table to 
 make believe that 
 
 "Oh Grandpapa 1" cried Polly in the greatest 
 excitement, and hopping up and down by his 
 side, "that s just as I used to dc in the little 
 brown house, the very same way, Grandpapa, 
 you know." 
 
 "Yes, she did, father," :ried Jasper, bobbing 
 his head scarcely less excited, ju c as if old Mr. 
 King hadn t heard the story many times. 
 
 Mr. Potter, for want of something to do to ex 
 press his amazement, picked up his hat, stroked it, 
 and set it down again, staring with all his might 
 
 "So you did, Polly; so you did, my child," 
 cried Grandpapa, taking her hands in both o.: 
 his, and looking down into her shining eyes; 
 "well, well, to be sure. Now, Jasper, get the 
 tablet, and write down the address of Jim s 
 family as quickly as you can, my boy." 
 
 So Jasper ran over to the library table, and. 
 brought back the tablet and pencil hanging to it; 
 and pretty soon Jirn s borne was all described 
 
124 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 thus: "Mrs. James Corcoran, 5 Willow Court 
 third house from Haven Street." 
 
 "It s kinder hard to find," observed Mr. Pot 
 ter slowly, "because Willow Court runs into 
 Haven Street criss-cross, and this number isn t on 
 the house; it s got rubbed off; but if you follow 
 up No. 3, and come up carefully, why, there 
 you ll be where No. 5 was." 
 
 "Oh dear me!" said Mr. King. "Well, you 
 may describe the house, for I arn going down 
 there to-morrow, and I certainly do not wish to 
 waste my time walking about." 
 
 Polly and Jasper looked so very decidedly 
 "Oh, may we go too?" that the old gentleman 
 added quickly, "And my young people will ac 
 company me," which really left nothing more to 
 be desired at present. 
 
 "Well, it s a yellow house," said Mr. Potter, 
 thinking very hard, "that is, it is in spots, where 
 the paint is on; and it s low, and runs down to 
 the back, and sets sideways. But I tell you 
 how you ll know it. She s got Mrs. Jim Cor 
 coran has the greatest lot of flowers in her 
 window. They re chock full, sir." 
 
 "I shall know it, then," cried Polly in great 
 satisfaction. 
 
ALL ABOUT THE POOR BRAKEMAN 125 
 
 "I think there s no danger, sir, but what we 
 will find the place all right." Old Mr. King 
 was fumbling in his pocket in great perplexity. 
 "It never would do," he decided, pulling his 
 hand out. "No, I must contrive to send him 
 something. Well, now hem Mr. Potter," 
 he said aloud, "and where do you live? Quite 
 near, I presume?" 
 
 "Oh, just the other end of the town, sir," 
 said Mr. Potter. "I live on Acorn Street." 
 
 "Acorn Street?" repeated Mr. King, wrinkling 
 his brows, "and where may that be, pray tell?" 
 
 "It s over at the South End, sir; it runs off 
 from Baker Street and Highland Square." 
 
 "Oh yes, yes," said the old gentleman, without 
 much more idea than before. 
 
 "I know where it is, father," said Jasper. 
 "Dear me! You ve had to take a good bit of 
 time to get all this information, Mr. Potter." 
 
 Mr. Potter looked down busily on the carpet, 
 trying not to think how tired his feet were, saving 
 some car-fare for their owner. 
 
 "Well, now what number?" The old gentle 
 man seeming to desire his whole address, that 
 was soon given too, "23 Acorn Street, South 
 End." 
 
126 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "And I suppose you have a family?" went on 
 the old gentleman, determined to find out all 
 there was to it, now he had commenced. 
 
 The little clerk began to hem and to haw, be 
 hind his hand. "No, sir, I haven t; that is, yes, 
 1 have considerable I mean my four sisters, 
 sir; we all live together." 
 
 "Oh ah!" replied Mr. King. "Well, now 
 thank you very much, Mr. Potter; and as your 
 time is valuable, and should be paid for," he 
 tucked a bill within the nervous hands. 
 
 "Oh, I couldn t take it, sir," cried Hiram 
 Potter, greatly distressed. 
 
 "But it s your due. Why, man, I shouldn t 
 have asked you to take all this trouble, and spend 
 so much time after I ve found you had so far to 
 go. " Mr. King was really becoming irate now, 
 so that the little clerk didn t dare to say more. 
 " Bless me! Say no more say no more!" 
 
 The little clerk was too much frightened to 
 think of another word; and finding that the in 
 terview was considered closed, he picked up his 
 hat, and in some way, he could never remember 
 how, he soon found himself out of the handsome 
 house, and skipping off nimbly in the fresh air, 
 which quite revived him. 
 
ALL ABOUT THE POOR BRAKEMAN 127 
 
 "I could offer him only a trifle," old Mr 
 King was saying, "only what might repay him for 
 his trouble and time to-night. But I shall speak 
 to Fraser about him to-morrow, Jasper. That 
 agent of mine is, curiously enough, in want of a 
 clerk just at this time, and I know this little 
 man can fit in very well, and it will get him 
 away from that beastly office. Four sisters 
 oh my goodness! Well, Fraser must give him 
 enough to take care of them." 
 
 "Oh, how fine, father!" exclaimed Jasper with 
 kindling eyes. "And then the girl that wants 
 to learn to play on the piano." 
 
 "Oh dear me, yes!" Old Mr. King burst 
 into a merry laugh. "I must look after that 
 little girl, or Polly won t speak to me, I am 
 afraid. Will you, Polly, my child?" He drew 
 her close to him, and kissed her blooming cheek. 
 
 "I am so very glad you are going to look out 
 for her, Grandpapa," she cried, "because you 
 know I did feel so dreadfully when I used to 
 drum on the table in the little brown house," 
 she confessed. 
 
 "I know I know, child." Grandpapa s face 
 fell badly, and he held her very close. It always 
 broke him up to hear the Peppers tell of the hard 
 
128 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 times in the little brown house, and Polly hastened 
 to add brightly, "And then you came, Grand 
 papa dear, and you made it all just beautiful - 
 oh Grandpapa!" and she clung to him, unable 
 to say more. 
 
 "Yes, yes, so I did so I did," cried the old 
 gentleman delightedly, quite happy again, and 
 stroking the brown hair. "Well, Polly, my girl, 
 it isn t anything to the good times we are always 
 going to have. And to-morrow, you and I must 
 go down to see after poor Jim s family." 
 
 And Jasper?" cried Polly, poking up her 
 head from old Mr. King s protecting arm; "he 
 must go too, Grandpapa." 
 
 "And Jasper? Why, we couldn t do any 
 thing without him, Polly," said the old gentle 
 man in such a tone that Jasper threw back his 
 head very proudly; "of course my boy must go 
 too." 
 
 And the next day, Pickering Dodge, who 
 thought he had some sort of a claim on Jasper 
 for the afternoon, came running up the steps, 
 two at a time. And he looked so horribly dis 
 appointed, that old Mr. King said, "Why don t 
 you take him, Jasper, along with us?" 
 
 Jasper, who would have much preferred to go 
 
ALL ABOUT THE POOR BRAKEMAN 129 
 
 alone with his father and Polly, swallowed his 
 vexation, and said, "All right;" and when he 
 saw Pickering s delight, he brightened up, and 
 was glad it all happened in just that way after 
 all. 
 
 "Now see here," said old Mr. King suddenly 
 They were turning out of Willow Court, after 
 their visit, and Thomas had a sorry time of it, 
 managing his horses successfully about the old 
 tin cans and rubbish, to say nothing of the chil 
 dren who were congregated in the narrow, ill- 
 smelling court. "Why don t you boys do some 
 thing for those lads in there?" pointing back 
 ward to the little run-down-at-the-hcel house 
 they had just left. 
 
 "We boys?" cried Pickering faintly. "Oh 
 dear me! Mr. King, we can t do anything." 
 
 " Can t is a bad word to use," said the old 
 gentleman gravely, "and I didn t mean that you 
 all alone should do the work. But get the other 
 boys interested. I m sure you can do that. 
 Phew! Where are the health authorities, I 
 should like to know, to let such abominations 
 exist? Thomas, drive as fast as you can, and 
 get us out of this hole; " and he buried his aris 
 tocratic old face in his handkerchief. 
 
130 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 Pickering looked over at Jasper in great dis 
 may. 
 
 "We might have our club take it up," said 
 Jasper slowly, with a glance at Polly for help. 
 
 "Yesj why don t you, Jasper?" she cried. 
 "Now that s what I m going to propose that our 
 club of Salisbury girls shall do. We re just fin 
 ishing up the work for a poor Southern family." 
 
 "You ve had a bee, haven t you," asked Pick 
 ering, "or something of that sort? Although I 
 don t really suppose you do much work," he 
 said nonchalantly, "only laugh and play and 
 giggle, generally." 
 
 "Indeed we don t, Pickering Dodge," cried 
 Polly indignantly, "laugh and play and giggle, 
 the very idea!" 
 
 "And if you say such dreadful things I ll pitch 
 you out of the carriage," cried Jasper in pre 
 tended wrath. 
 
 "Ow! I ll be good. Take off your nippers," 
 cried Pickering, cringing back down into his 
 corner as far as he could. " Goodness me! Jas 
 per, you re a perfect old tiger." 
 
 "Take care, and keep your tongue in its place 
 then," said Jasper, bursting into a laugh. 
 
 "And we work oh, just dreadfully," de- 
 
ALL ABOUT THE POOR BRAKEMAN 131 
 
 clared Polly with her most positive air. "We 
 cut out all the clothes ourselves. W? don t want 
 our mothers to do it; and sew oh dear me!" 
 
 "You ought to see our house Oxi club day 
 when Polly has the bee," said Jasper. "I rather 
 think you d say there was something going on 
 for those poor little Southern darkies." 
 
 "Well, I don t see how you can work so for a 
 lot of disgusting pickaninnies," said Pickering, 
 stretching his long figure lazily. "The whole 
 bunch of them isri t worth one good solid after 
 noon of play." 
 
 Polly turned a cold shoulder to him, and be 
 gan to talk with Jasper most busily about the 
 club of boys. 
 
 "Yes, and oh, Jasper, let s have one meeting 
 of all you boys with us girls the two clubs to 
 gether," she cried at last, waxing quite enthusiastic. 
 
 "Yes, let us," cried Jasper, just as enthusi 
 astic; "and oh, Polly, I ve thought of something. 
 Let s have a little play you write it." 
 
 "Oh Jasper, I can t," cried Polly, wrinkling her 
 brows. 
 
 "Oh, yes, Polly, you can," cried Jasper; "if it s 
 one half as good as The Three Dragons and 
 the Princess Clotilde, it will be just fine." 
 
132 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Well," said Polly, "I ll try; and what then, 
 Jasper?" 
 
 "Why, we ll give it for money father, may 
 we, in the drawing-room? And perhaps we ll 
 make quite a heap to help those boys with. Oh 
 Polly!" He seized both of her hands and wrung 
 them tightly. "Oh, may we, father, may we?" 
 
 "Eh what s that ? Oh, yes." The old gen 
 tleman took down his handkerchief. "Dear me! 
 what a mercy we are where we can breathe!" as 
 Thomas whirled them dexterously past a small 
 square. "What are the health authorities about, 
 to allow such atrocious old holes? Oh, yes, my 
 boy, I m sure I d be delighted to have you help 
 along those three lads. Arid it s really work for 
 boys. Polly s going to start up something for 
 the girl." 
 
 "How perfectly fine!" exclaimed Jasper and 
 Polly together, now that the consent was really 
 gained. Then they fell into such a merry chatter 
 that Pickering, left out in the cold, began to 
 wriggle dreadfully. At last he broke out: 
 
 "Yes, I think it would be fine too," trying to 
 work his head into the conference, where Polly 
 and Jasper had theirs together buzzing over the 
 plans. 
 
ALL ABOUT THE POOR BRAKEMAN 133 
 
 But nobody paid him the slightest attention; 
 so he repeated his remark, with no better suc 
 cess. 
 
 "I should think you might turn around," at 
 last he said in a dudgeon, "and speak to a body 
 once in a while." 
 
 "Why should we?" cried Jasper over his 
 shoulder. "You don t think it s worth while to 
 work for any of those people. No, Polly, we ll 
 let him severely alone." Then he fell to talking 
 again, busier than ever. 
 
 "Yes, I do," cried Pickering in a high, wrath 
 ful key, "think it s worth while too, so there, 
 Jasper King! " 
 
 "Oh, he does, I do believe, Jasper," cried 
 Polly, looking at Pickering s face. 
 
 "Why, of course I do," said Pickering. 
 
 "And so we must let him into the plans." So 
 Polly turned around to draw Pickering in, and 
 old Mr. King leaned forward in his seat, and the 
 committee of ways and means got so very busy 
 that they didn t even know when Thomas turned 
 in at the big stone gateway, until Polly looked up 
 and screamed out, "Why, we are home! Why, 
 we can t be!" 
 
 "Well, we are, Polly, my child," said old Mr. 
 
134 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 King, getting out to help her with his courtliest 
 air. "We ve been gone just three hours and a 
 half, and a very good afternoon s work it is too. 
 For Jim s children will care twice as much for 
 what you young folks are going to do for them 
 as for anything I may do. Yes, Polly, they 
 will," as he saw her face. "And I m sure if I 
 were in their places, I d feel just the same way." 
 
X JOEL AND HIS DOG 
 
 " 1V~]~OW, children," hummed Phronsie, pausing 
 
 -JL ll in the midst of combing her doll s flaxen 
 hair, "you must keep still, and be very good; 
 then I ll get through pretty soon," and she bowed 
 to the several members of her lumerous family 
 set up in a row before her, who were awaiting 
 their turn for the same attention. Then she took 
 up the little comb which had dropped to her lap, 
 and set nerself busily to her task again. 
 
 Alexia looked in at the door of the " baby- 
 house," as Phronsie s little room devoted to 
 her family of dolls, was called. "Oh my good 
 ness me!" she exclaimed, "don t you ever get 
 tired of everlastingly dressing those dolls, Phron 
 sie?" 
 
 Phronsie gave a sigh, and went patiently on 
 with her work. "Yes, Alexia, I m tired some 
 times; but I m their mother, you see." 
 
 "And to comb their hair!" went on Alexia, 
 "Oh dear me! I never could do it in aF this 
 135 
 
136 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 world, Phronsie. I should want to run and throw 
 
 them all out of the window." 
 
 ^h Alexia!" exclaimed Phronsie in horror, 
 
 " throw them all out of the window ! You couldn t 
 
 do that, Alexia." She tightened her grasp on 
 
 the doll in her arms. 
 
 "Yes, I should want to throw every one of 
 
 those dreadful dolls out of the window, Phronsie 
 
 Pepper!" declared Alexia recklessly. 
 
 "But they are my children," said Phronsie 
 
 very soberly, trying to get all the others waiting 
 
 for their hair to be fixed, into her arms too, "and 
 dear Grandpapa gave them to me, and I love 
 them, every single one." 
 
 "Well, now, you see, Phronsie," said Alexia, 
 getting down on the floor in front of the doll s 
 bureau, by Phronsie s side, "you could come out 
 with me on the piazza and walk around a bit if 
 it were not for these dreadfully tiresome dolls; 
 and Polly is at school, and you are through with 
 your lessons in Mr. King s room. Now how nice 
 that would be, oh dear me!" Alexia gave a rest 
 ful stretch to her long figure. " My ! " at a twinge 
 of pain. 
 
 "Does your arm hurt you, Alexia?" asked 
 Phronsie, looking over her dolls up to Alexia s face. 
 
JOEL AND HIS DOG 137 
 
 "Um maybe," said Alexia, nursing her arm 
 hanging in the sling; "it s a bad, horrid old 
 thing, and I d like to thump it." 
 
 "Oh, don t, Alexia," begged Phronsie, "that 
 will make it worse. Please don t, Alexia, do any 
 thing to it." Then she got up, and went over 
 with her armful of doUs to the sofa, nnd laid 
 them down carefully in a row. "I ll fix your 
 hair to-morrow, children," she said; "now I m 
 going away for a little bit of a minute," and 
 came back. "Let s go down to the piazza," she 
 said, holding out her hand. 
 
 "You blessed child, you!" exclaimed Alexia, 
 seizing her with the well hand, "did you suppose 
 I d be such a selfish old pig as to drag you off 
 from those children of yours?" 
 
 "You are not a selfish old pig, Alexia, and I 
 like you very much," said Phronsie gravely, try 
 ing not to hit the arm in the sling, while Alexia 
 flew up to her feet and whirled around the room 
 with her. "And, oh, I m so afraid you ll make 
 it sick," she panted. "Do stop." 
 
 "I just can t, Phronsie," said Alexia; "I shall 
 die if I don t do something! Oh, this horrid old 
 arm!" arid she came to a sudden standstill, 
 Phronsie struggling away to a safe distance. 
 
138 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Papa Fisher would not like it, Alexia," she 
 said in great disapproval, her hair blown about 
 her face, and her cheeks quite pink. 
 
 "Oh dear me!" Alexia, resting the sling in 
 the other palm, and trying not to scream with 
 the pain, burst out, "It s so tiresome to be al 
 ways thinking .hat some one won t like things one 
 does. Phronsie, there s no use in my trying to 
 be good, because, you see, I never could be. I 
 just love to do bad things." 
 
 "Oh no, Alexia," said Phronsie greatly shocked, 
 "you don t love to do bad things. Please say 
 you don t;" and before Alexia could say another 
 word, the tears poured down the round cheeks, 
 wetting Phronsie s pinafore. And although she 
 clasped her hands and tried to stop them, it was 
 no use. 
 
 "There now, you see," cried Alexia, quite gone 
 in remorse. "Oh, what shall I do? I must go 
 and get Mrs. Fisher," and she rushed out of the 
 room. 
 
 Phronsie ran unsteadily after her, to call, "Oh 
 Alexia!" in such distress that the flying feet 
 turned, and up she came again. 
 
 "What is it, Pet?" she cried. "Oh dear me! 
 What shall I do ? I must tell your mother." 
 
JOEL AND HIS DOG 139 
 
 ""I will stop," said Phronsie, struggling hard 
 with her tears, "if you only won t tell Mamsie," 
 and she wiped her cheeks hard with her pinafore. 
 "There, see, Alexia," and tried to smile. 
 
 Well, n^w, come back." Alexia seized her 
 hand, and dragged her up the stairs. "Now I m 
 just going to stay up here with you, if you ll let 
 me, Phronsie, and try not to do bad things. I 
 do so want to be good like Polly. You can t 
 think how I want to," she cried in a gust, as 
 she threw herself down on the floor again. 
 
 "Oh Alexia, you never could be good like 
 Polly," said Phronsie, standing quite still in 
 astonishment. 
 
 "Of course not," said Alexia wfth a little 
 laugh, "but I mean oh, you know what I 
 mean, Phronsie. I want to be good so that 
 Polly will say she likes it. Well, come on 
 now, get your horrible old I mean, your dolls, 
 and" 
 
 "I wish very much you wouldn t call them 
 dolls, Alexia," said Phronsie, not offering to sit 
 down; "they are my children, and I don t think 
 they like to be called anything else." 
 
 "Well, they sha n t hear it, then," declared 
 Alexia decidedly, "so get some of them, and 
 
140 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 brush their hair, just as you were doing when I 
 came in, and I m going to read aloud to you out 
 of one of your books, Phronsie." 
 
 "Oh oh!" Phronsie clapped her hands in 
 glee. Next to Polly s stories, which of course 
 she couldn t have now as Polly was at school, 
 Phronsie dearly loved to be read to But she 
 suddenly grew very sober again. 
 
 "Are you sure you will like it, Alexia?" she 
 asked, coming up to peer into Alexia s face. 
 
 "Yes, yes, Pet, to be sure I will," cried Alexia, 
 seizing her to half smother her with kisses. 
 "Why, Phronsie, it will make me very happy 
 indeed." 
 
 "Well, if it will really make you happy, Alexia," 
 said Phronsie, smoothing down her pinafore in 
 great satisfaction, "I will get my children-" And 
 she ran over to the sofa, and came back with an 
 armfuL 
 
 "Now what book?" asked Alexia, forgetting 
 whether her arm ached or not, and flying to her 
 feet. "I m going down to your bookshelf to 
 get it." 
 
 "Oh Alexia," cried Phronsie in great excite 
 ment, "will you could you get The Little 
 Yellow Duck ?" 
 
JOEL AND HIS DOG 141 
 
 As this was the book Phronsie invariably chose 
 when asked what she wanted read, Alexia laughed 
 and spun off, perfectly astonished to find that the 
 world was not all as blue as an indigo bag. And 
 when she came back two steps at a time up the 
 stairs, Phronsie was smiling away, and humming 
 softly to herself, while the hair-brushing was 
 going on. 
 
 "She had a blue ribbon on yesterday Al- 
 mira did," said Phronsie, reflecting. "Now, 
 wouldn t you put on a pink one to-day, Alexia?" 
 
 "I surely should," decided Alexia "that 
 pretty pale pink one that Polly gave you last, 
 Phronsie." 
 
 "I am so very glad you said that one," said 
 Phronsie, running over on happy feet for her 
 ribbon-basket, "because I do love that ribbon 
 very much, Alexia." 
 
 "Well, now then," said Alexia, as Phronsie 
 began to tie up the pink bow laboriously, "we 
 must hurry and begin, or we never shall see 
 what happened to this Little Yellow Duck. " 
 
 "Oh, do hurry, Alexia," begged Phronsie, as 
 if she hadn t heard the story on an average of 
 half a dozen times a week. So Alexia propped 
 herself up against the wall, and began, and pres- 
 
142 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 ently it was so still that all any one could hear 
 was the turning of the leaves and the ticking of 
 the little French clock on the mantel. 
 
 "Well, dear me, how funny!" and Polly rushed 
 in; then burst into a merry laugh. 
 
 "Polly Pepper you home!" Alexia tossed 
 "The Little Yellow Duck" half across the room, 
 flew to her feet again, and spun Polly round and 
 round with her well hand. 
 
 "Yes," said Polly, "I am, and I ve been search 
 ing for you two all over this house." 
 
 "Take me, Polly, do." Phronsie laid down 
 Almira carefully on the carpet, and hurried over 
 to Polly. 
 
 "I guess I will. Now then, all together!" and 
 the three spun off until out of breath. 
 
 "Oh dear me!" Polly stopped suddenly. "I 
 never thought of your arm, Alexia. Oh, do you 
 suppose we ve hurt it?" It was so very dreadful 
 to think of, that all the color deserted her cheek. 
 
 "Nonsense, no!" declared Alexia, "that spin 
 put new life into me, Polly." 
 
 "Well, I don t know," said Polly critically; 
 "at any rate, we mustn t do it any more. And 
 we must tell Papa- Doctor about it as soon as he 
 gets home." 
 
JOEL AND HIS DOG 143 
 
 "Oh, what good is it to worry him?" cried 
 Alexia carelessly. "Well, Polly, tell all the news 
 about school," as they hurried downstairs to get 
 ready for luncheon. 
 
 "We must tell Papa- Doctor everything about 
 it, Alexia," said Polly in her most decided fash 
 ion, putting her arm carefully around Alexia s 
 waist; and \vith Phronsie hanging to the other 
 hand, down they went, Polly retailing the last bit 
 of school news fresh that day. 
 
 "And, oh, Alexia, Miss Salisbury said we are 
 not to have the picnic until you get quite well; 
 she said so in the big schoolroom, before us 
 all." 
 
 "Did she, Polly?" cried Alexia, immensely 
 gratified. 
 
 "Yes, she did." Polly stood on her tiptoes at 
 the imminent danger of going on her nose, and 
 pulling the other s down, to get a kiss on the long 
 sallow cheek. " She said it very distinctly, Alexia, 
 and all the girls talked about it afterward." 
 
 "Well, she s a dear old thing," exclaimed 
 Alexia, with remorseful little pangs at the mem 
 ory of certain episodes at the "Salisbury School," 
 "and I shall try oh, Polly, I ll try so hard to 
 be nice and please her." 
 
144 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 Polly gave her two or three little pats on her 
 back. 
 
 "And don t you think," cried Polly, flying off 
 to brush her hair, and calling back throjgh the 
 open door, "that the boys are going to have 
 their club meet with ours. Just think of that ! " 
 
 "Oh Polly!" Alexia came flying in, brush in 
 hand. "You don t really mean it I" 
 
 "I do. Jasper just told me so. Well, hurry, 
 Alexia, else we ll be late," warned Polly, brush 
 ing away vigorously. "Yes, Phronsie," for 
 Phronsie had gone off for Jane to put on a clean 
 apron, "we re ready now that is, almost." 
 
 "When when?" Polly could hear Alexia 
 frantically asking, as she rushed back into her 
 room, which was next to Polly s own. 
 
 "Oh, just as soon as you are able," called 
 Polly. "Now don t ask any more questions, 
 Alexia," she begged merrily. "Yes, Mamsie, 
 we re coming!" 
 
 That afternoon, Percy and Joel were rushing 
 back to school from an errand down to the vil 
 lage, and hurrying along with an awful feeling 
 that the half-past-five bell in the big tower on 
 the playground would strike in a minute. 
 
JOEL AND HIS DOG 145 
 
 "Hold on," called Percy, considerably in the 
 rear; "how you get over the ground, Joe! " 
 
 "And you re such a snail," observed Joel 
 pleasantly. Nevertheless he paused. 
 
 "What s that?" pricking up his ears. 
 
 "I don t hear anything." Percy came up 
 panting. 
 
 "Of course not, when you re puffing like a 
 grampus." 
 
 "What s a grampus?" asked Percy irritably. 
 
 "I don t know," said Joel honestly. 
 
 : Well, I wouldn t say words I didn t know 
 what they meant," said Percy in a patronizing 
 tone, and trying not to realize that he was very 
 hot. 
 
 "Well, do keep still, will you!" roared Joel. 
 "There, there it is again." He stooped down, 
 and peered within a hedge. "Something s cry 
 ing in here." 
 
 "You ll get your eyes scratched out, most 
 likely, by an old, cross cat," suggested Percy. 
 
 Joel, who cared very little for that or any 
 warning, was now on his knees. " Oh whickers!" 
 he exclaimed, dragging out a small yellow dog, 
 who, instead of struggling, wormed himself all 
 up against his rescuer, whining pitifully. 
 
146 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "He s hurt," declared Joel, tossing back his 
 stubby locks, and patting the dog, who stopped 
 whining, and licked him all over, as much of his 
 face and hands as he could reach. 
 
 "Oh, that dirty thing faugh! How can you, 
 Joel Pepper!" cried Percy in distress. 
 
 But Joel didn t even hear him, being occupied 
 in setting the dog on the ground to try his paces. 
 
 "No, he s not hurt, after all, I guess," he de 
 cided, "but look at his ribs, he s half starved." 
 
 "I don t want to look at them," said Percy, 
 turning his back, "and you ought to let him 
 alone; that bell will ring in half a second, Joel 
 Pepper!" 
 
 "True enough!" cried Joel. "Come on, 
 Perky," this being the school name of the older 
 Whitney, and he picked up the dog, and shot off. 
 
 "What are you going to do with that dog?" 
 yelled Percy after him. But as well talk to the 
 wind, as Joel arrived hot and breathless at the 
 big door long before him. 
 
 Luckily for him, none of the boys were about; 
 and Joel, cramming the dog well under his 
 jacket, plunged up the stairs, and down the hall 
 to his room. 
 
 "Joe!" roared two or three voices; but he 
 
JOEL AND HIS DOG 147 
 
 turned a deaf ear, and got in safely; slammed to 
 the door, and then drew a long breath. 
 
 u Whew I Almost caught that time," was all 
 he had the wind to say. "Well, now, it s good 
 Dave isn t in, cause I can tell him slowly, and 
 get him used to it." All this time he was draw 
 ing out his dog from its place of refuge, and put 
 ting it first on the bed, then on the floor, to study 
 it better. 
 
 It certainly was as far removed from being 
 even a good-looking dog as possible. Having 
 never in its life had the good fortune to hear its 
 pedigree spoken of, it was simply an ill-favored 
 cur that looked as if it had exchanged the 
 back yard of a tenement house for the greater 
 dangers of the open street. Its yellow neck was 
 marked where a cruel cord had almost worn into 
 the flesh, and every one of its ribs stuck out as 
 Joel had said, till they insisted on being counted 
 by a strict observer. 
 
 Joel threw his arms around the beast. "Oh 
 dear!" he groaned, "you re starved to death. 
 What have I got to give you?" He wrinkled his 
 forehead in great distress. "Oh goody!" He 
 snatched the dog up, and bore him to the closet, 
 then pulled down a box from the shelf above. 
 
148 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Mamsie s cake how prime!" And not stop- 
 ping to cut a piece, he broke off a goodly wedge. 
 "Now then, get in with you," and he thrust him 
 deep into one corner, cramming the cake up to 
 his nose. "Stay there on my side, and don t 
 get over on Dave s shoes. Wheel" 
 
 The dog, in seizing the cake, had taken Joel s 
 thumb as well. 
 
 "Let go there," cried Joel; "well, you can t 
 swallow my thumb," as the cake disappeared in 
 one lump; and he gave a sigh for the plums 
 with which Mamsie always liberally supplied the 
 school cakes, now disappearing so fast, as much 
 as for the nip he had received. 
 
 The dog turned his black, beady eyes sharply 
 for more cake. When he saw that it wasn t 
 coming, he 1 cked Joel s thumb; and in his 
 cramped quarters on top of a heap of shoes and 
 various other things not exactly classified, he 
 tried hard to wag his stump of a tail. 
 
 "Whickets! there goes that bell! Now see 
 here, don t you dare to stir for your lifel You ve 
 got to stay in this closet till to-morrow then 
 I ll see what to do for you. Lie down, I tell 
 you." 
 
 There was a small scuffle; and then the dog, 
 
JOEL AND HIS DOG 149 
 
 realizing here was a master, curled himself or. 
 top of some tennis shoes, and looked as if he held 
 his breath. 
 
 "All right," said Joel, with an approving pat. 
 "Now don t you yip, even if D ve opens this 
 door." Then he shut it carefully, and rushed 
 oft" down to the long dining-room to the crowd of 
 boys. 
 
 Joel ate his supper as rapidly as possible, lost 
 to the chatter going on around him. He im 
 agined, in his feverishness, that he heard faint 
 "yaps" every now and then; and he almost ex 
 pected to see everybody lay down knife and fork. 
 
 "What s the matter with you?" He was 
 aroused by seeing the boy next to him lean for 
 ward to peer into his face. And in a minute he 
 was conscious that on the other side he was just 
 as much of an object of attention. He buried 
 his face in his glass of milk; but when he took it 
 out, they were staring still the same. 
 
 "Ugh! stop your looking at me," growled Joel. 
 
 "What s the matter with you, anyway?" asked 
 the other boy. 
 
 "Get away nothing," said Joel crossly, and 
 bestowing as much of a kick as he dared on the 
 other boy s shin. 
 
150 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Ow! There is too." 
 
 "You re awfully funny," said the first boy, 
 "you naven t spoken a word since you sat down." 
 
 "Well, I ain t going to talk, if I don t want 
 to," declared Joel. "Do stop, Fletcher; every 
 body s looking." 
 
 But Fletcher wouldn t stop, and Joel had the 
 satisfaction of seeing the whole table, with the 
 under-teacher, Mr. Harrow, at the head, mak 
 ing him, between their mouthfuls, the centre 
 of observation. The only alleviation of this 
 misery was that Percy was at another table, and 
 with his back to him. 
 
 David looked across in a worried way. "Are 
 you sick, Joe?" he asked. 
 
 "No." Joel laughed, and began to eat busily. 
 When he saw that, David gave a sigh of relief. 
 
 Mr. Harrow was telling something just then 
 that seemed of more than common interest, and 
 the boys, hearing Joel laugh once more, turned 
 off to listen. "Yes," said the under-teacher, "if 
 was a dog that was " 
 
 "Ugh!" cried Joel. "Oh, beg pardon," and 
 his face grew dreadfully red, as he tried to get 
 as small as possible on his chair. 
 
 "It s a clog I used to own, Joel," said Mr. 
 
JOEL AND HIS DOG 151 
 
 Harrow, smiling at him. "And I taught him 
 tricks, several quite remarkable ones." 
 
 "Yes, sir," mumbled Joel, taking a big bite of 
 his biscuit; and for the next quarter of an hour 
 he was safe, as the funny stories lasted till back 
 went the chairs, and the evening meal was over. 
 
 To say that Joel s life was an easy one till bed 
 time, would be very far from the truth. Strange 
 to say, David did not go to the closet once. To 
 be sure, there was a narrow escape that made 
 Joel s heart leap to his mouth. 
 
 "Let s have Mamsie s cake, Joe, to-night," 
 said David in an aside to him. The room was 
 full of boys; it was just before study hour, and 
 how to tell David of the dog, was racking Joe s 
 powers of mind. 
 
 "Ugh! no, not to-nig 1 ^. Dave." He was so 
 very decided that although David was puzzled at 
 his manner, he gave it up without a question. 
 And then came study hour when all the boys 
 must be down in "Long Hall," and Joel lingered 
 behind the others. "I ll be down in a minute." 
 He flew over to the closet, broke off another gen 
 erous wedge of Mamsie s cake, stifling a second 
 sigh as he thought of the plums. "You haven t 
 eaten my half yet," he said as the dog swallowed 
 
152 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 it whole without winking. "Keep still now." 
 He slammed to the door again, and was off, his 
 books under his arm. 
 
 And after the two boys went up to bed, David 
 was too tired and sleepy to talk, and hopped 
 into his bed so quickly that long before Joel was 
 undressed he was off to dreamland. 
 
 "That s good, now I haven t got to tell him 
 till morning." Joel went over to the other bed 
 in the corner, and listened to the regular breath 
 ing, then tiptoed softly off to the closet, first 
 putting out the light. "I know what I m going 
 to do." He got down on all-fours, and put his 
 hand out softly over the pile of shoes, till he felt 
 the dog s mangy back. "I m going to take you 
 in my bed; you ll smother in here. Now, sir!" 
 The dog was ready r* mgh to be quiet, only oc 
 cupied in licking Joel s hands. So Joel jumped 
 into his bed, carrying his charge, and huddled 
 down under the clothes. 
 
 After being quite sure that he was really to 
 remain in this paradise, the dog began to turn 
 around and around to find exactly the best po 
 sition in which to settle down for the night. 
 This took him so long, interrupted as the process 
 was with so many lickings of Joel s brown face, 
 
JOEL AND HIS DOG 153 
 
 that it looked as if neither would get very much 
 sleep that night; Joel, not averse to this lengthy 
 operation, hugging his dog and patting him, to 
 his complete demoralization just as he was 
 about to quiet down. 
 
 At last even Joel was tired, and his eyes drooped. 
 "Now go to sleep" -with a final pat "I m 
 going to call you Sinbad." Joel, having always 
 been mightily taken with Sinbad the Sailor, felt 
 that no other name could be quite good enough 
 for his new treasure. And Sinbad, realizing that 
 a call to repose had actually been given, curled 
 up, in as round a ball as he could, under Joel s 
 chin, and both were soon sound asleep. 
 
 It was near the middle of the night. Joel had 
 been dreaming of his old menagerie and circus he 
 had once in the little brown house, in which there 
 were not only trained dogs who could do the most 
 wonderful things, strange to say, now they were 
 all of them yellow, and had stumpy tails, but 
 animals and reptiles of the most delightful variety, 
 never seen in any other show on earth; when a 
 noise, that at once suggested a boy screaming 
 "Ow!" struck upon his ear, and brought him 
 bolt upright in his bed. He pawed wildly around, 
 but Sinbad was nowhere to be found. 
 
XI THE UNITED CLUBS 
 
 THE whole dormitory was in an uproar. 
 " Owl help help!" Mr. Harrow, hav 
 ing gone out after dinner, had retired late, and 
 was now sound asleep, so another instructor 
 scaled the stairs, getting there long before Mrs. 
 Fox, the matron, could put in an appearance. 
 
 In the babel, it was somewhat difficult to locate 
 the boy who had screamed out. At last, "In 
 there, Farnham s room," cried several voices at 
 once. 
 
 " Nightmare, I suppose," said the instructor to 
 himself, dashing in. 
 
 But it was a real thing he soon saw, as a knot 
 of boys huddled around the bed, where the ter 
 rified occupant still sat, drawing up his knees to 
 his chin, and screaming all sorts of things, in 
 which "wild beast" and "cold nose" was all 
 that could be distinguished. 
 
 "Stop this noise!" commanded the instructor, 
 who had none of Mr. Harrow s pleasant but de- 
 
THE UNITED CLUBS 155 
 
 cided ways for quelling an incipient riot. So 
 they bawled on, the boy in bed yelling that he 
 wouldn t be left alone. 
 
 Just then something skimmed out from the 
 corner; the boys flew to one side, showing a ten 
 dency to find the door. Even the instructor 
 jumped. Then he bethought himself to light the 
 gas, which brought out the fact that there cer 
 tainly was an animal in the room, as they could 
 hear it now under the bed. 
 
 "Boys, be quiet. Mrs. Fox s cat has got up 
 here, probably," said the instructor. But the 
 boy in the bed protested that it wasn t a cat 
 that had waked him up by thrusting a cold nose 
 in his face, and jumping on top of him. And 
 he huddled worse than ever now that it was 
 under him; yet afraid to step out on the floor. 
 
 Even the instructor did not offer to look under 
 the bed, when Joel Pepper rushed in, his black 
 eyes gleaming. "Oh, it s my dog!" he cried. 
 
 "It s Joe Pepper s dog!" cried the whole room 
 ful, nearly tumbling over each other. 
 
 "And when did you begin to keep a dog, Joel 
 Pepper?" hurled the instructor at him, too angry 
 for anything, that he hadn t impressed the boys 
 with his courage. 
 
156 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 But Joel was occupied in ramming his body 
 under the bed as far as possible. "Here, Sin- 
 bad," and he presently emerged with a very red 
 face, and Sinbad safely in his arms, who seemed 
 perfectly delighted to get into his old refuge 
 again. David had now joined the group, as 
 much aghast as every other spectator, 
 
 "Do you hear me, Joel Pepper?" thundered 
 the instructor again. "When did you get that 
 dog?" This brought Joel to, 
 
 "Oh, I haven t had him long, sir," he said, 
 and trembling for Sinbad, as he felt in every 
 fibre of his being that the beast s fate was sealed, 
 unless he could win over the irritated teacher. 
 " He s a poor dog I I found, sir," wishing he 
 could think of the right words, and knowing that 
 every word he uttered only made matters worse. 
 
 "David," cried the instructor, catching Davie s 
 eye, down by the door, "do you know anything 
 about this dog?" 
 
 "No, sir," said David, all in a tremble, and 
 wishing he could say something to help Joel out. 
 
 "Well, now, you wait a minute." The in 
 structor, feeling that here was a chance to im 
 press the boys with his executive ability, looked 
 about over the table where Farnham s school- 
 
THE UNITED CLUBS 557 
 
 books were thrown. "Got a bit of string? No 
 oh, yes." He pounced on a piece, and came 
 over to Joel and the dog. 
 
 "What are you going to do, sir?" Joel hung 
 to Sinbad with a tighter grip than ever. 
 
 "Never mind; it s not for you to question me," 
 said the instructor, with great authority. 
 
 But Joel edged away. Visions of being ex 
 pelled from Dr. Marks school swam before his 
 eyes, and he turned very white. 
 
 David plunged through the crowd of boys, 
 absolutely still with the excitement. "Oh Joel," 
 he begged hoarsely, "let Mr. Parr do as he 
 wants to. Mamsie would say so." 
 
 Joel turned at that. "Don t hurt him," he 
 begged. "Don t, please, Mr. Parr." 
 
 "I shall not hurt him," said Mr. Parr, putting 
 the cord about the dog s neck, and holding the 
 other end, after it was knotted fast. "I am 
 going to tie him in the area till morning. Here 
 you, sir," as Sinbad showed lively intentions 
 toward his captor s legs, with a backward glance 
 at his late master. 
 
 " Oh, if you ll let me keep him in my room, Mr. 
 Parr," cried Joel, tumbling over to the instructor, 
 who was executing a series of remarkable steps 
 
158 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 as he dragged Sinbad off, "I ll I ll be just as 
 good just till the morning, sir. Oh, please, 
 Mr. Parr I ll study, and get my lessons better, 
 I truly will," cried poor Joel, unable to promise 
 anything more difficult of performance. 
 
 "You ll have to study better anyway, Joel 
 Pepper," said Mr. Parr grimly, as he and Sin- 
 bad disappeared down the stairway. "Every 
 boy get back to his room," was the parting 
 command. 
 
 No need to tell Joel. He dashed through the 
 ranks, and flung himself into his bed, dragged 
 up the clothes well over his stubby head, and 
 cried as if his heart would break. 
 
 "Joel Joel oh, Joey!" begged David 
 hoarsely, and running to precipitate himself by 
 his side. But Joel only burrowed deeper and 
 sobbed on. 
 
 And Davie, trying to keep awake, to give pos 
 sible comfort, at last tumbled asleep, when Joel 
 with a flood of fresh sorrow rolled over as near 
 to the wall as he could get, and tried to hold in 
 his sobs. 
 
 As soon as he dared the next morning, Joel 
 hopped over David still asleep, and out of bed; 
 jumped into his clothes, and ran softly down- 
 
THE UNITED CLUBS 159 
 
 stairs. There in the area was Sinbad, who had 
 evidently concluded to make the best of it, and 
 accept the situation, for he was curled up in as 
 small a compass as possible, and was even at 
 tempting a little sleep. 
 
 "I won t let him see me," said Joel to himself, 
 " but as soon as Dr. Marks is up " and he 
 glanced over at the master s house for any sign 
 of things beginning to move for the day " and 
 dressed, why, I ll go and ask him "what, he 
 didn t dare to say, for Joel hadn t been able, with 
 all his thinking, to devise any plan whereby 
 Sinbad could be saved. 
 
 "But perhaps Dr. Marks will know," he kept 
 thinking; and after a while the shades were drawn 
 up at the red brick house across the yard, the 
 housemaid came out to brush off the steps, and 
 various other indications showed that the master 
 was beginning to think of the new day and its 
 duties. 
 
 Joel nlunged across the yard. It was awful, 
 he knew, to intrude at the master s house before 
 breakfast. But by that time oh, dreadful! 
 Sinbad would probably be beyond the help of 
 any rescuing hand, for Mr. Parr would, without 
 a doubt, deliver him to the garbage man to be 
 
160 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 hauled off. And Joel, with no thought of con 
 sequences to himself, plunged recklessly on. 
 
 "Is Dr. Marks up?" he demanded of the 
 housemaid, who only stared at him, and went on 
 with her work of sweeping off the steps. "Is 
 Dr. Marks up? "cried Joel, his black eyes flash 
 ing, and going halfway up. 
 
 "Yes; but what of it?" cried the housemaid 
 airily, leaning on her broom a minute. 
 
 "Oh, I must see him," cried Joel, bounding 
 into the hall. It was such a cry of distress that 
 it penetrated far within the house. 
 
 "Oh my! you outrageous boy!" exclaimed the 
 housemaid, shaking her broom at him. "You 
 come right out." 
 
 Meantime a voice said, "What is it?" And 
 there was Dr. Marks in dressing gown and slip 
 pers looking over the railing at the head of the 
 stairs. 
 
 "Oh Dr. Marks, Dr. Marks!" Joel, not giv 
 ing himself time to think, dashed over the stairs, 
 to look up into the face under the iron-gray hair. 
 
 The master could scarcely conceal his amaze 
 ment, but he made a brave effort at self-control. 
 
 "Why, Pepper!" he exclaimed, and there was 
 a good deal of displeasure in face and manner; so 
 
THE UNITED CLUBS 161 
 
 much so that Joel s knees knocked smartly to 
 gether, and everything swam before his eyes. 
 
 "Well, what did you want to see me for, Pep 
 per?" Dr. Marks was inquiring, so Joel blurted 
 out, "A dog, sir." 
 
 "A dog?" repeated Dr. Marks, and now he 
 showed his amazement and displeasure as well. 
 "And is this what you have interrupted me to 
 say, at this unseasonable hour, Joel Pepper?" 
 
 "Oh!" cried Joel, and then he broke right 
 down, and went flat on the stairs, crying as if his 
 heart would break. And Mrs. Marks threw on 
 her pretty blue wrapper in a dreadful tremor, and 
 rushed out with restoratives; and the housemaid 
 who shook her broom at Joel, ran on remorseful 
 feet for a glass of water, and the master s whole 
 house was in a ferment. But Dr. Marks waved 
 them all aside. "The boy needs nothing," he 
 said. "Come, Joel." He took his hand, all 
 grimy and streaked, and looked at his poor, 
 swollen eyelids and nose, over which the tears 
 were still falling, and in a minute he had him in 
 his own private study, with the door shut. 
 
 When he emerged a quarter-hour after, Joel was 
 actually smiling. He had hold of the master s 
 hand, and clutched in his other fist was a note, 
 
1 62 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOI 
 
 somewhat changed in appearance from its im 
 maculate condition when delivered by Dr. Marks 
 to the bearer. 
 
 "Yes, sir," Joel was saying, "I ll do it all just 
 as you say, sir." And he ran like lightning 
 across the yard. 
 
 The note put into the instructor s hand, made 
 him change countenance more than once in the 
 course of its reading. It simply said, for it was 
 very short, that the dog was to be delivered to 
 Joel Pepper, who was to bring it to the master s 
 house; and although there wasn t a line or even 
 a word to show any disapproval of his course, 
 Mr. Parr felt, as he set about obeying it, as if 
 somehow he had made a little mistake somewhere. 
 
 All Joel thought of, however, was to get pos 
 session of Sinbad. And when once he had the 
 cord in his hand, he untied it with trembling 
 fingers, Sinbad, in his transport, hampering the 
 operation dreadfully by bobbing his head about 
 in his violent efforts to lick Joel s face and hands, 
 for he had about given up in despair the idea of 
 ever seeing him again. 
 
 "He s glad to go, isn t he, Joel?" observed the 
 instructor, to break the ice, and make conversa 
 tion. 
 
THE UNITED CLUBS 163 
 
 But no such effort was necessary, for Joel 
 looked up brightly. "Isn t he, sir? Now say 
 good-bye." At last the string was loose, and 
 dangling to the hook in the area wall, and Joel 
 held the dog up, and stuck out his paw. 
 
 "Good-bye," said Mr. Parr, laughing as he 
 took it, and quite relieved to find that relations 
 were not strained after all, as Joel, hugging his 
 dog, sped hastily across the yard again to the 
 master s house. 
 
 Dr. Marks never told how very ugly he found 
 the dog, but, summoning the man who kept his 
 garden and lawn in order, he consigned Sinbad 
 to his care, with another note. 
 
 "Now, Joel," he said, "you know this pay 
 ment comes every week out of your allowance for 
 this dog s keeping, eh? It is clearly understood, 
 Joel?" 
 
 "Oh, yes, sir yes!" shouted Joel. 
 
 "Perhaps we ll be able to find a good home for 
 him. Well, good-bye, Sinbad," said the master, 
 as Sinbad, with the gardener s hand over his eyes, 
 so that he could not see Joel, was marched off, 
 Dr. Marks from the veranda charging that the 
 note be delivered and read before leaving the 
 dog. 
 
1 64 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Oh, I m going to take him home at vaca 
 tion," announced Joel decidedly. 
 
 "Indeed! Well, now, perhaps your grand 
 father won t care for him; you must not count 
 too much upon it, my boy." All the control in 
 the world could not keep the master from smiling 
 
 now. 
 
 "Oh, I guess he will." Joel was in no wise 
 disturbed by the doubt. 
 
 "Well, run along to breakfast with you, Pep 
 per," cried Dr. Marks good-humoredly, "and 
 the next time you come over to see me, don t 
 bring any more dogs." 
 
 So Joel, in high good spirits, and thinking how 
 he would soon run down to the little old cob 
 bler s where the master had sent the dog, chased 
 off across the yard once more, and slipped in to 
 breakfast with a terrible appetite, and a manner 
 as if nothing especial had happened the preced 
 ing night. 
 
 And all the boys rubbed their eyes, particu 
 larly as Joel and Mr. Parr seemed to be on the 
 best of terms. And once when something was 
 said about a dog by Mr. Harrow, who hadn t 
 heard anything of the midnight tumult in the 
 dormitory, and was for continuing the account of 
 
THE UNITED CLUBS 165 
 
 his trained pet, the other under-teacher and Joel 
 Pepper indulged in smiles and nods perfectly 
 mystifying to all the other people at the table, 
 David included. 
 
 David, when he woke up, which was quite 
 late, to find Joel gone, had been terribly fright 
 ened. But chancing to look out of the window, 
 he saw him racing across the yard, and watching 
 closely, he discovered that he had something in 
 his arms, and that he turned in to the master s 
 house. 
 
 "I can t do anything now," said Davie to him 
 self in the greatest distress; yet somehow when 
 he came to think of it, it seemed to be with a 
 great deal of hope since Dr. Marks was to be 
 appealed to. And when breakfast-time came, 
 and with it Joel so blithe and hungry, David fell 
 to on his own breakfast with a fine appetite. 
 
 All the boys of the club, not one to be re 
 ported absent, presented themselves at Mr. 
 King s on club night. And all the members of 
 the "Salisbury School Club" came promptly to 
 gether, with one new member, Cathie Harrison, 
 who, at Polly s suggestion, had been voted in at 
 the last meeting. 
 
166 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 Alexia still had her arm in a sling; and indeed 
 she was quite willing it should remain so, for 
 she was in constant terror that her aunt, who 
 had been persuaded to leave her, would insist on 
 the return home. So Alexia begged off at every 
 mention of the subject, as Grandpapa King and 
 Mother Fisher were very glad to have the visit 
 lengthened. She was as gay as ever, and to 
 night was quite in her element; it had been so 
 long since she had had a good time. 
 
 "Oh, Jasper," she cried, "can we all get into 
 your den?" 
 
 "I think so," said Jasper, who had already 
 settled all that with Polly, counting every mem 
 ber as coming, in order to make no mistake, 
 "we re to have the business-meeting in there, 
 Alexia; and after that, father has invited us in 
 to the drawing-room." 
 
 "What richness!" exclaimed Alexia, sinking 
 into one of the library chairs to pull out her 
 skirts and play with her rings. "Oh, Jasper 
 King, I shouldn t think you d ever in all this 
 world get used to living in this perfectly exqui 
 site house." 
 
 "Well, I ve always lived here, Alexia," said 
 Jasper with a laugh, "so I suppose that is the 
 
THE UNITED CLUBS 167 
 
 reason I m not overwhelmed now. Oh, here 
 comes Clare. All right, old fellow, glad you ve 
 come. Now I ll call the meeting to order." For 
 Clare was the secretary. 
 
 And the rest of the boys and girls assembling, 
 the business-meeting was soon begun in the 
 "den," Jasper who was the president of the boys 
 club, flourishing his gavel in great style. 
 
 "Now we ve come together," announced the 
 president after the regular business was dis 
 posed of, "to get up a plan by which we can 
 accomplish something more than merely to have 
 a good time." 
 
 "Nonsense!" interrupted Clare, "we want a 
 good time." 
 
 "For shame!" Jasper pounded his gavel to 
 restore order. "And to begin with, it is as well 
 to announce at once that all unruly members will 
 be put out," with a stern glance at the secretary. 
 
 "Oh, dear me!" exclaimed Clare, huddling 
 down into his big chair. 
 
 "Go along, Prex," said Pickering, coming over 
 from the other side of the room, "I ll sit on that 
 old secretary if he makes any more trouble." 
 
 "Get away!" laughed Clare; "that s worse 
 than being put out." 
 
1 68 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Oh, I ll sit on you first, and then I ll carry 
 out the pieces afterward. Sail on, Prexy, they 
 all want the plan." 
 
 "Well" -the president cleared his throat - 
 "hem! And in order to do good work, why we 
 had to ask the girls club to come to this meet 
 ing, and - 
 
 "Not necessarily," put in Clare. 
 
 Pickering pounced for him, but instead of sit 
 ting on him, his long figure doubled up in the 
 big chair, while the secretary slipped neatly out. 
 
 "Ha, ha! did you ever get left?" giggled Clare, 
 at a safe distance. 
 
 "Many a time, my dear child," said Pickering 
 coolly, leaning back restfully, "but never in such 
 a good seat. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Pro 
 ceed, Prexy." 
 
 "Good for you, Pickering," cried Alexia, while 
 the laugh went around. 
 
 " Order ! " cried Jasper, pounding away. " Now 
 that our troublesome secretary is quieted, I will 
 proceed to say that as we want the plan to suc 
 ceed, we invited the Salisbury Club this evening." 
 
 "Thank you, Mr. President," the girls clapped 
 vigorously. 
 
 "So now after I tell you of the object, I want 
 
THE UNITED CLUBS 169 
 
 you to express your minds about the various 
 plans that will be laid before you." Then Jas 
 per told the story of Jim, the brakeman; and how 
 Grandpapa and Polly and he had gone to the 
 poor home, thanks to the little clerk; and how 
 the three boys who were waiting for education 
 ar^d the girl who was crazy to take music-lessons, 
 to say nothing of the two mites of children tod 
 dling around, made the poor widow almost 
 frantic as she thought of their support; until 
 some of the girls were sniffling and hunting for 
 their handkerchiefs, and the boys considerately 
 turned away and wouldn t look at them, 
 
 "Now you tell the rest, Polly," cried Jasper, 
 quite tired out. 
 
 "Oh, no, you tell," said Polly, who dearly 
 loved to hear Jasper talk. 
 
 "Do, Polly," and he pushed the hair off from 
 his forehead. So, as she saw he really wanted 
 her to, Polly began with shining eyes, and glow 
 ing cheeks, to finish the story. 
 
 And she told how Grandpapa had ordered pro 
 visions and coal for the poor widow enough for 
 many months to come; and how oh, wasn t 
 that perfectly splendid in dear Grandpapa? he 
 had promised that the little girl (Arethusa was 
 
,70 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 her name) should take music-lessons from one of 
 the teachers in the city. And Polly clasped her 
 hands and sighed, quite unable to do more. 
 
 "And what do you want us to do?" cried the 
 secretary forgetting all about losing his seat, to 
 crowd up to the table. "Say, if that family has 
 got all that richness, what do you want the club 
 to do?" 
 
 "Oh," said Polly turning her shining eyes on 
 him, "there are ever and ever so many things 
 the boys and that girl will need, and Grandpapa 
 says that they ll think a great deal more of help, 
 if some young people take hold of it. And so 
 I m sure I should," she added. 
 
 "It strikes me that I should, too," declared 
 Pickering, all his laziness gone. And getting his 
 long figure out of the chair, he cried, "I move, 
 Mr. President, that we," - here he waved his 
 hands in a sweeping gesture, "the Salisbury 
 Club and our club, unite in a plan to do some 
 thing for that family." 
 
 "I second the motion," the secretary cried out, 
 much to everybody s surprise, for Polly was all 
 ready to do it if no one else offered to. So the 
 vote was carried unanimously amid the greatest 
 enthusiasm. 
 
THE UNITED CLUBS i 7 t 
 
 "Now what shall we do?" cried the president, 
 jumping to his feet. "Let us strike while the 
 iron is hot. What shall we do to raise money?" 
 
 "You said you had plans," cried one of the 
 girls. 
 
 "Yes tell on," cried several boys. 
 
 "Well, one is, that we have a play," began 
 Jasper. 
 
 "Oh oh!" 
 
 Old Mr. King, over his evening paper off in 
 the library, laid it down, and smiled at the merry 
 din that reached him even at such a distance. 
 
 "And another," cried the president, doing his 
 best to make himself heard. 
 
 "Oh, we don t want another," cried Clare, in 
 which the united clubs joined. 
 
 "Don t you want to hear any other plans?" 
 shouted the president. 
 
 "No, no the play! Put it to vote, do, Jas 
 per I mean, Mr. President," cried Alexia. 
 
 So the vote was taken, and everybody said, 
 "Aye," and as there wasn t a single "No ? " why 
 the "ayes" had it of course. And after that they 
 talked so long over the general plan, that old Mr. 
 King at last had to send a very special invitation 
 to come out to the dining-room. And there was 
 
172 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 Mother Fisher and Mrs. Whitney and the little 
 doctor and a most splendid collation! And then 
 off to the big drawing-room to top off with a 
 dance, with one or two musicians tucked up by 
 the grand piano, and Grandpapa smiling in great 
 satisfaction upon them all. 
 
XII SOME EVERY-DAY FUN 
 
 "TT can t rain," cried Polly Pepper, "and it 
 
 A isn t going to. Don t think it, girls." 
 
 "But it looks just like it," said Alexia obsti 
 nately, and wrinkling up her brows; "see those 
 awful, horrid clouds, girls." She pointed tragi 
 cally up to the sky. 
 
 "Don t look at them," advised Polly. "Come 
 on, girls. I challenge you to a race as far as the 
 wicket gate." 
 
 Away she dashed, with a bevy at her heels. 
 Alexia, not to be left behind staring at the sky, 
 went racing after. 
 
 "Wait," she screamed. The racers, however, 
 spent no time attending to laggards, but ran on. 
 
 Polly dashed ahead, and touched the green 
 wicket gate. "Oh, Polly got there first!" Al 
 most immediately came another girl s fingers on 
 it. 
 
 " No I don t think so," panted Polly. " Phi- 
 lena got there just about as soon." 
 73 
 
174 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "No, you were first," said the girl who plunged 
 up next; "I saw it distinctly. 
 
 "Well, it was so near that we ought to have 
 another race to decide it," declared Polly, with 
 a little laugh, pushing back the damp rings of 
 hair from her forehead. " Girls, isn t it lovely 
 that we have this splendid place where we can 
 run, and nobody see us?" 
 
 "Yes," said Alexia, throwing herself down on 
 the grass; which example was immediately fol 
 lowed by all the other girls. "I just love this 
 avenue down to the wicket gate, Polly Pepper." 
 
 "So do I," chimed in the others. 
 
 "Oh dear me! I m just toasted and fried," 
 declared Alexia. "I never was so hot in all my 
 life." 
 
 "You shouldn have run so, Alexia," said 
 Polly reproachfully, patting the arm still in its 
 sling. "Oh, how could you " 
 
 "Well, did you suppose I was going to see you 
 all sprinting off and havm* such fun, and not 
 try it too? No, indeed; that s asking too much, 
 Polly." 
 
 Then she threw herself at full length on the 
 grass, and gazed at her meditatively. 
 
 "Well, we mustn t have the second race, Phi 
 
SOME EVERY-DAY FUN 175 
 
 lena," said Polly; "because if Alcxia runs again, 
 it surely will hurt her." 
 
 "Ow ! " exclaimed Alexia, flouncing up so sud 
 denly that she nearly overthrew Amy Garrett, 
 who was sitting next, and who violently protested 
 against such treatment, "now I won t keep you 
 back, Polly. Oh dear me! it can t hurt me a 
 single bit. I m all ready to take off this horrible 
 old thing, you know I am, only Dr. Fisher 
 thought" 
 
 "He thought it would be safer to keep it on 
 till after the picnic," Polly was guilty of inter 
 rupting. "You know he said so, Alexia. No, 
 we won t run again, girls," Polly brought up 
 quite decidedly. 
 
 "Polly, you shdl; I won t run I really 
 won t; I ll shut my eyes," and Alexia squinted up 
 her pale eyes till her face was drawn up in a 
 knot. " I ll turn my back, I ll do anything if 
 you ll only race; please try it again, Polly." 
 
 So Polly, seeing that Alexia really wished it, 
 dropped a kiss on each of the closed eyes. "Put 
 your hand over them, and untwist your face 
 from that funny knot," she laughed. "Come 
 on, girls," and the race began. 
 
 Alexia twisted and wriggled, as lie pattering 
 
176 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 feet and quick breath of the girls when they 
 neared her resting place, plunged her in dreadful 
 distress not to look. "Oh dear um! if I could 
 just see once; um um! I know Polly will 
 win; oh dear! She must." 
 
 But she didn t. It was Cathie Harrison, the 
 new girl; that is, new to them, as they hadn t 
 drawn her into their set, but a few weeks. She 
 was a tall, thin girl, who got over the ground 
 amazingly, to touch the green wicket gate cer 
 tainly three seconds before Polly Pepper came 
 flying up. 
 
 "You did that just splendidly, Cathie," cried 
 Polly breathlessly. "Oh dear me, that was a 
 race!" 
 
 " Goodness me !" cried Altxia, her eyes flying 
 open, "my face never ll get out of that knot in 
 all this world. My! I feel as if my jaws were 
 all tied up. Well, Polly, this time you beat for 
 sure," she added confidently, as the girls came 
 running up to throw themselves on the grass 
 again. 
 
 "But I didn t," said Polly merrily. "Oh 
 dear! I am so hot." 
 
 "Yes, you did," declared Alexia stubbornly. 
 
 "Why, Alexia Rhys! I didn t beat, any such 
 
SOME EVERY-DAY FUN 177 
 
 a thing," corrected Polly "not a single bit of 
 
 it." 
 
 "Well, who did, then?" demanded Alexia, 
 quite angry to have Polly defeated. 
 
 "Why, Cathie did," said Polly, smiling over at 
 her. 
 
 "What, that old- then Alexia pulled her 
 self up; but it was too late. 
 
 A dull red mounted to Cathie s sallow cheek, 
 that hadn t changed color during all the two 
 races. She drew a long breath, then got up 
 slowly to her feet. 
 
 "I m going to play bean-bags," announced 
 Polly briskly. "Come on, girls. See who ll get 
 to the house first." 
 
 "I m going home," said Cathie, hurrying up to 
 wedge herself into the group, and speaking to 
 Polly. "Good-bye." 
 
 "No," said Polly, "we re going to play bean- 
 bags. Come on, Cathie." She tried to draw 
 Cathie s hand within her arm, but the girl pulled 
 herself away. "I must go home " and she 
 started off. 
 
 " Cathie Cathie, wait," but again Cathie beat 
 her on a swift run down the avenue. 
 
 Alexia stuffed her fingers, regardless of arm in 
 
1 78 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 the sling, or anything, into her mouth, and rolled 
 over in dreadful distress, face downward on the 
 grass. The other girls stood in a frightened little 
 knot, just where they were, without moving, as 
 Polly came slowly back down the avenue. She 
 was quite white now. "Oh dear!" groaned Phi- 
 lena, "look at Polly!" 
 
 Alexia heard it, and stuffed her fingers worse 
 than ever into her mouth to keep herself from 
 screaming outright, and wriggled dreadfully. 
 But no one paid any attention to her. She knew 
 that Polly had joined the girls now; she could 
 hear them talking, and Polly was saying, in a 
 sad little voice, "Yes, I m afraid she won t ever 
 come with us again." 
 
 "She must, she shall!" howled Alexia, rolling 
 over, and sitting up straight. "Oh Polly ? she 
 shall!" and she wrung her long hands as well 
 as she could for the arm in the sling. 
 
 "Oh, no, I am afraid not, Alexia," and her 
 head drooped; no one would have thought for a 
 moment that it was Polly Pepper speaking. 
 
 And then Amy Garrett said the very worst 
 thing possible: "And just think of that picnic!" 
 And after that remark, the whole knot of girls 
 was plunged into the depths of gloom. 
 
SOME EVERY-DAY FUN 179 
 
 Jasper, running down the avenue with Picker 
 ing Dodge at his heels, found them so, and was 
 transfixed with astonishment. " Well, I declare ! " 
 He burst into a merry laugh. 
 
 "You look like a lot of wax figures," said 
 Pickering pleasantly; "just about as interesting." 
 Then they saw Polly Pepper s face. 
 
 "Oh, what is it?" cried Jasper, starting for 
 ward. 
 
 Polly tried to speak cheerfully, but the lump 
 in her throat wouldn t let her say a word. 
 
 "If you boys must know," said Alexia, floun 
 cing up to her feet, "I ve been bad and perfectly 
 horrid to that Harrison girl; and I ve upset every 
 thing ; and and do go right straight away, 
 both of you, and not stand there staring. I don t 
 think it s very polite." 
 
 "Oh Polly," cried Jasper, gaining her side, 
 "can t we help?" He was dreadfully distressed. 
 "Do let us." 
 
 Polly shook her head. "No, Jasper, there isn t 
 anything you can do," she said brokenly. 
 
 Pickering thrust his hands in his pockets, and 
 whistled softly. "Girls always get into such 
 rows," he observed. 
 
 "Well, I guess we don t get into worse ones 
 
i8o FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 than you boys do, nor half as bad," cried Alexia 
 crossly, perfectly wild to quarrel with somebody. 
 "And, besides, this isn t the other girls fault 
 It s all my fight from beginning to end." 
 
 "Then you ought to be perfectly ashamed of 
 yourself, Alexia," declared Pickering, not intend 
 ing to mince matters in the slightest. 
 
 "Well, I am," said Alexia, "just as ashamed 
 as I can be. Oh dear me! I wish I could cry. 
 But I m too bad to cry. Polly Pepper, I m going 
 to run after that horrible Harrison girl. Oh 
 misery! I wish she never had come to the Salis 
 bury School." Alexia made a mad rush clown 
 the avenue. 
 
 "Don t, Alexia, you ll hurt your arm," warned 
 Polly. 
 
 "I don t care I hope I shall," cried Alexia 
 recklessly. 
 
 "It s no use to try to stop her," said Jasper, 
 "so let us go up to the house, Polly." 
 
 So they started dismally enough, the girls, all 
 except Polly, going over in sorry fashion how 
 Cathie Harrison would probably make a fuss 
 about the little affair she was doubtless on her 
 way to Miss Salisbury s now and then perhaps 
 there wouldn t be any picnic at all on the mor- 
 
SOME EVERY-DAY FUN 181 
 
 row. At this, Philena stopped short. "Girls, 
 that would be too dreadful," she gasped, "for 
 anything! " 
 
 "Well, it would be just like her," said Silvia 
 Home, "and I wish we never had taken her into 
 our set. She s an old moping thing, and can t 
 bear a word." 
 
 "I wish so too," declared Amy Garrett posi 
 tively; "she doesn t belong with us; and she s 
 always going to make trouble. And I hope she 
 won t go to the picnic anyway, if we do have it, 
 so there." 
 
 "I don t think that is the way to mend the 
 matter, Amy," said Jasper gravely. 
 
 "Hoh, hoh!" exclaimed Pickering, "how you 
 girls can go on so, I don t see; talking forever 
 about one thing, instead of just settling it with a 
 few fisticuffs. That would be comfortable now." 
 
 The girls, one and all, turned a cold shoulder 
 to him after this speech. 
 
 "Well, we sha n t get the picnic now, I know," 
 said Philena tragically; "and think of all our 
 nice things ready. Dear me! our cook made me 
 the sweetest chocolate cakes, because we were 
 going to start so early in the morning. Now we ll 
 have them for dinner, and eat them up ourselves. 
 We might as well." 
 
182 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "You better not," advised Pickering. "Take 
 my advice; you ll get your picnic all right; then 
 where would you be with your cakes all eaten up ? " 
 
 "You don t know Miss Salisbury," said Sally 
 Moore gloomily; "nothing would make her so 
 mad as to have us get up a fuss with a new 
 scholar. She was so pleased when Polly Pepper 
 invited that Harrison girl to come to our bee for 
 that poor family down South." 
 
 "And now, just think how we ve initiated her 
 into our club!" said Lucy Bennett, with a sigh. 
 " Oh my goodness look!" 
 
 She pointed off down the avenue. All the 
 girls whirled around to stare. There were Alexia 
 and Cathie, coming toward them arm in arm. 
 
 "Jasper" -Polly turned to him with shining 
 eyes " see ! " Then she broke away from them 
 all, and rushed to meet the two girls. 
 
 "There isn t anybody going to say a word, 
 announced Alexia, as the three girls came up to 
 the group, Polly Pepper in the middle, "because, 
 as I told you, it was all my fight, anyway. So, 
 Pickering, you needn t get ready to be disagree 
 able," she flashed over at him saucily. 
 
 "I shall say just what I think," declared Pick 
 ering flatly. 
 
SOME EVERY-DAY FUN 183 
 
 "No doubt," said Alexia sweetly, "but it 
 won t make a bit of difference. Well, now, 
 Polly, what shall we do? Do start us on some 
 thing." 
 
 "We came, Pick and I," announced Jasper, 
 "to ask you girls to have a game of bean-bags. 
 There s just time before dinner on the south 
 lawn, Polly. " 
 
 "Oh, good good!" cried the girls, clapping 
 their hands. "Come on, Cathie," said Philena 
 awkwardly, determined to break the ice at once. 
 
 "Yes, Cathie, come on," said Amy and Silvia, 
 trying to be very nice. 
 
 Cathie just got her mouth ready to say, "No, 
 I thank you," primly, thought better of it, and 
 before she quite realized it herself, there she was, 
 hurrying by a short cut across the grass to the 
 south lawn. 
 
 "I m going to stay with Alexia," said Polly, 
 when they all reached there, and Jasper flew 
 over to pull out the bean-bags from their box 
 under the piazza. "Come on, Alexia, let s you 
 and I sit in the hammock and watch it." 
 
 "Oh Polly, come and play," begged Jasper, 
 pausing with his arms full. "Here, Pick, you 
 lazy dog. Help with these bags." 
 
184 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 " Can t," said Polly, shaking her head. So 
 
 Alexia and she curled up in one of the hammocks. 
 
 "I m just dying to tell you all about it, Polly 
 
 Pepper," said Alexia, pulling Polly s cheek down 
 
 to her own. 
 
 "Yes," said Polly happily, "and I can t wait 
 to hear it; and besides, you can t play bean-bags, 
 Alexia, with that arm. Well, do go on," and 
 Polly was in quite a twitter for the story to be 
 gin. 
 
 "You see," said Alexia, "I knew something 
 desperate had got to be done, Polly, for she was 
 crying all over her best silk waist." 
 
 "Oh dear me!" exclaimed Polly, aghast. 
 "Yes; she had sat down on the kitchen step." 
 "The kitchen step," repeated Polly faintly. 
 "Yes. I suppose she got beyond caring whether 
 the cook saw or not, she was feeling so very 
 badly. Well, there she was, and she didn t 
 hear me, so I just rushed up, or rather down 
 upon her, and then I screamed Ow! And she 
 jumped up, and said, Oh, have you hurt your 
 arm? And I held on to it hard, and made up 
 an awful face, oh, as bad as I could, and doubled 
 up ; and the cook came to the door, and said could 
 she get me anything, and she was going to call 
 
SOME EVERY-DAY FUN 185 
 
 Mrs. Fisher. That would have been terrible." 
 Alexia broke off short, and drew a long breath at 
 her remembrance of the fright this suggestion 
 had given her. "And Cathie fell right on my 
 neck with, Oh, do forgive me, and I said twas 
 my fault, and she said, no, she oughtn t to have 
 got mad, and I said she must hold her tongue." 
 
 "Oh Alexia!" cried Polly reprovingly. 
 
 "I had to," said Alexia serenely, "or we 
 should have gotten into another fight. And she 
 said she would, and I just took hold of her arm, 
 and dragged her down here. And I m tired to 
 death," finished Alexia plaintively. 
 
 "Alexia," exclaimed Polly, cuddling up the 
 long figure in a way to give perfect satisfaction, 
 "we must make Cathie Harrison have the best 
 time that she ever had, at the picnic to-morrow." 
 
 " I suppose so," said Alexia resignedly. " Well, 
 but don t let s think of it now, for I ve got you, 
 Polly, and I want to rest." 
 
XIII THE PICNIC 
 
 r I^HE four barges were to leave the " Salis 
 bury School" at precisely half-past eight 
 o clock the next morning. Miss Salisbury was 
 always very particular about being prompt, so 
 woe be to any girl who might be late! There 
 was great scurrying, therefore, to and fro in the 
 homes of the day scholars. And the girls hurried 
 off with maids behind carrying their baskets; or, 
 as the case might be, big family carriages filled 
 with groups of girls collected among those of a 
 set; or in little pony carriages. All this made 
 the thoroughfares adjacent to the "Salisbury 
 School" extremely busy places indeed. 
 
 Mother Fisher sent Polly s basket over to the 
 school, at an early hour, Polly preferring to walk, 
 several of the girls having called for her. So they 
 all, with Jasper, who was going as far as the 
 corner with them, set out amidst a chatter of 
 merry nonsense. 
 
 "Oh girls, I am so glad we are going to the 
 186 
 
THE PICNIC 187 
 
 Glen!" exclaimed Polly, for about the fiftieth 
 time. 
 
 "So am I," cried all the others in a chorus. 
 
 "Why, you haven t ever been to any other 
 place for your picnic, have you, Polly?" cried 
 Jasper, with a laugh. 
 
 "No," said Polly, "we never have. But sup 
 pose Miss Salisbury had decided to try some 
 other spot this year; oh, just suppose it, Jasper!" 
 and her rosy color died down on her cheek. "It 
 would have been just too dreadful for any 
 thing." 
 
 "We couldn t have had our picnic in any other 
 place," declared Rose Harding; "it wouldn t be 
 the same unless it was at the Glen." 
 
 "Dear old Glen!" cried Polly impulsively. 
 "Jasper, it s too bad you boys can t all come to 
 our picnics." 
 
 "I know it. It would be no end jolly if we 
 only could," said Jasper regretfully, to whom it 
 was a great grief that the picnic couldn t take in 
 the two schools. 
 
 "Yes," said Polly, with a sigh, "it would, Jas 
 per. But Miss Salisbury never will in all this 
 world let the boys school join." 
 
 "No, I suppose not," said Jasper, stifling his 
 
i88 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 longing; "well, you must tell me about it to 
 night, the same as always, Polly." 
 
 "Yes, I will, Jasper," promised Polly. So he 
 turned the corner, to go to his school. But pres 
 ently he heard rapid footsteps back of him. " Oh 
 Jasper," cried Polly, flushed and panting, as he 
 whirled about, "tell Phronsie I won t forget the 
 little fern-roots. Be sure, Jasper." 
 
 "All right; I will," said Jasper. "Dear me! 
 do hurry back, Polly. You ll be late." 
 
 "Oh no, there are oceans of time," said Polly, 
 with a little laugh. "I ve the tin case in my 
 picnic basket, Jasper, so they will keep all fresh 
 and nice." 
 
 "Yes; do hurry back," begged Jasper. So 
 Polly, with a merry nod, raced off to the corner 
 where the girls were drawn up in a knot, impa 
 tiently waiting for her. 
 
 Every bit of the fuss and parade in getting the 
 big company started for all the scholars went to 
 the annual picnic was a special delight to the 
 girls. The only trouble was that the seats were 
 not all end ones, while the favorite places up by 
 the driver were necessarily few in each vehicle. 
 
 "Come on, Polly," screamed Alexia. Every 
 body had agreed that she should have one of 
 
THE PICNIC 189 
 
 these choice positions because of her lame arm, 
 which Dr. Fisher had said must be carried in 
 its sling this day. So there she was, calling lus 
 tily for Polly Pepper, and beating the cushion im 
 patiently with her well hand. " Oh, do hurry up ! " 
 
 Polly, down on the ground in a swarm of girls, 
 shook her head. "No," her lips said softly, so 
 that no one but Alexia, who was leaning over for 
 that purpose, could possibly hear, "ask Cathie." 
 
 " Oh bother!" exclaimed Alexia, with a frown. 
 Then she smothered it up with a "Come, Polly," 
 very persuasively. 
 
 "Can t," said Polly; "I m going back here." 
 And she moved down to the end of the barge. 
 
 "Then I m going back too." Alexia gave a 
 frantic dive to get down from the barge. 
 
 Miss Salisbury saw it; and as she had planned 
 to give Alexia just that very pleasure cf riding 
 on the front seat, she was naturally somewhat 
 disturbed. "No, no, my dear," seeing Alexia s 
 efforts to get down, "stay where you are." 
 
 "Oh dear me!" Alexia craned her long neck 
 around the side of the vehicle, to spy Polly s 
 movements. "I don t want to be mewed up 
 here," she cried discontentedly. But Miss Salis 
 bury, feeling well satisfied with her plan for 
 
190 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 making Alexia happy, had moved off. And the 
 babel and tumult waged so high, over the placing 
 of the big company, all the girls chattering and 
 laughing at once, that Alexia, call as she might, 
 began to despair of attracting Polly s attention, 
 or Cathie s either for that matter. 
 
 "You better set down," said the driver, an old 
 man whom Miss Salisbury employed every year 
 to superintend the business, "and make your 
 self comfortable." 
 
 "But I m not in the least comfortable," said 
 Alexia passionately, "and I don t want to be up 
 here. I want to get down." 
 
 "But you can t," -the old man seemed to 
 fairly enjoy her dismay, " cause she, you 
 know," pointing a short square thumb over his 
 shoulder in the direction of Miss Salisbury, "told 
 ye to set still. So ye better set." 
 
 But Alexia craned her neck yet more, and 
 called insistently, "Polly oh, Polly!" 
 
 Miss Anstice looked up from the bevy of girls 
 she was settling in ancther barge. "Alexia Rhys," 
 she said severely, "you must be quiet; it is im 
 possible to get started unless all you girls are 
 going to be tractable and obedient." 
 
 "Miss Anstice," Alexia formed a sudden 
 
THE PICNIC 191 
 
 bold resolve, " please come here. I want you 
 very much," she said sweetly. 
 
 Miss Anstice, pleased to be wanted very much, 
 or indeed at all, left her work, and went over to 
 the front barge where Alexia was raging in 
 wardly. 
 
 "Miss Anstice, I need Polly Pepper up next 
 to me," said Alexia, "oh, so much. She knows 
 all about my arm, you know; her father fixed it 
 for me. Will you please have her come up here ? 
 Then if I should feel worse, she could help 
 me." 
 
 Miss Anstice peered here and there in her near 
 sighted fashion. "I don t see Polly Pepper," she 
 said. 
 
 "There she is; there she is," cried Alexia, 
 trembling in every limb, for her plan could not 
 be said to be a complete success yet, and point 
 ing eagerly to the end of her barge; "she s the 
 fourth from the door, Miss Anstice. Oh, how 
 lovely you are!" 
 
 Miss Anstice, quite overcome to be told she 
 was lovely, and especially by Alexia, who had 
 previously given her no reason to suppose that 
 she entertained any such opinion, went with great 
 satisfaction down the length of the barge, and 
 
192 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 standing on her tiptoes, said very importantly, 
 "Polly Pepper, I want to place you differently." 
 
 So Polly, quite puzzled, but very obedient, 
 crawled out from her seat, where she was wedged 
 in between two girls not of her set, who had been 
 perfectly radiant at their good fortune, and clam 
 bering down the steps, was, almost before she 
 knew it, installed up on the front row, by Alexia s 
 side. 
 
 "Oh Polly, what richness! " exclaimed that in 
 dividual in smothered accents, as Miss Anstice 
 stepped off in much importance, and hugging 
 Polly. "I m so glad my sling is on, for I never d 
 gotten you up here without the old thing," and 
 she giggled as she told the story. 
 
 "Oh Alexia!" exclaimed Polly, quite shocked. 
 
 "Well, I may get a relapse in it, you don t 
 know," said Alexia coolly, "so you really ought 
 to be up here. Oh my goodness me! I forgot 
 this man," she brought up suddenly. "Do you 
 suppose he ll tell?" She peered around anx 
 iously past Polly. 
 
 "Ef you ll set still, I won t tell that teacher," 
 said the old man with a twinkle in his eye, "but 
 ef you get to carryin on, as I should think you 
 could ef you set out to, I ll up an give the whole 
 thing to her." 
 
THE PICNIC 193 
 
 "Oh, I ll sit as still as a mouse," promised 
 Alexia. " Oh Polly, isn t he a horrible old thing! " 
 in a stage whisper under cover of the noise going 
 on around them. 
 
 "Hush," said Polly. 
 
 "Well, I m not going to hush," cried Alexia 
 recklessly; "I m going to have a good time at 
 the picnic to-day, and do just everything I want 
 to, so there, Polly Pepper!" 
 
 "Very well," said Polly, "then when we get to 
 the Glen, I shall go off with the other girls, 
 Alexia," which had the desired effect. Alexia 
 curled up into her corner, and hanging to Polly 
 Pepper s arm, was just like a mouse for quiet. 
 And off they went; the old man s whip going 
 crack snap ! as he led the way with a grand 
 flourish, as much better than his efforts of former 
 years, as was possible! 
 
 The road led through winding, woodsy paths, 
 redolent of sweet fern; the girls never tired of 
 its delights, exclaiming ,t all the sights and 
 sounds of country life at all such moments as 
 were not filled to the brim with the songs that 
 ran over from their happy hearts. So on and up 
 they went to the Glen, a precipitous ravine some 
 fifteen miles out from the city. 
 
194 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 When the barges finally drew up with another 
 grand flourish at the entrance, a smooth grassy 
 plateau shaded by oaks and drooping elms, they 
 simply poured out a stream of girls from each 
 conveyance ; the old man and his companion driv 
 ers laughing to see them tumble out. "Pretty 
 quick work, eh, Bill?" said old man Kimball, 
 "no screaming for first places now." 
 
 "It s the same beautiful, dear old Glen!" ex 
 claimed Polly, with kindling eyes and dancing 
 feet. "Oh Alexia, come on!" and seizing the 
 well hand, they spun round and r^und, unable to 
 keep still, having plenty of company, all the other 
 girls following suit. 
 
 Polly looked at her little watch. "In five min 
 utes we must stop. It ll be time to get the 
 flowers." 
 
 "Oh, can we?" cried Alexia. "Misery me! 
 I m so tired cooped up in that barge, I reel stiff 
 as a jointed doll, Polly Pepper." 
 
 "Well, I don t," said Polly, dancing away for 
 dear life. " Oh Alexia, when Miss Salisbury 
 gives the signal to explore, won t it be just fun!" 
 
 "I should say," cried Alexia, unable to find 
 words that would just express the case. 
 
 There was always one routine to be observed 
 
THE PICNIC 195 
 
 in the annual picnic of the " Salisbury School," 
 and no one thought for a moment of deviating 
 from it. The maids collected the baskets taken 
 from the wagons, and set them in a cool, shady 
 place among the rocks just within the Glen. The 
 girls ran hither and thither to collect flowers and 
 ferns to drape Miss Salisbury s seat of honor, and 
 one as near like it as possible for Miss Anstice. 
 These were big crevices in the rocks, that were as 
 comfortable as chairs, and having backs to them 
 in the shape of boulders, they were truly luxu 
 rious. Indeed, Miss Salisbury had declared, 
 when the seats were discovered by Polly Pepper 
 at the first picnic after she joined the "Salisbury 
 School," that she never sat in one more comfort 
 able; and she was so pleased when she was led to 
 it and inducted therein, all flower-trimmed with 
 little vines trailing off, and arching over her head. 
 
 "Why, my dears!" she exclaimed, quite over 
 come. " Oh, how pretty ! and how did you think 
 of it?" 
 
 "It was Polly Pepper who thought of it," said 
 a parlor boarder. And Polly, blushing rosy red, 
 a new girl as she was, was led up, and Miss Salis 
 bury set a kiss on her round cheek. Polly never 
 forgot how happy she was that day. 
 
196 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 And afterward, when the girls were busy in 
 various little groups, Miss Salisbury had beck 
 oned Polly to her side where she reposed on her 
 throne; for it was beautiful and stately enough 
 for one, and quite worthy of royalty itself. 
 
 "Polly," said Miss Salisbury, in quite a low 
 tone only fitted for Polly s ear, "do you think you 
 could find a seat, like this beautiful one of mine, 
 for sister? I should really enjoy it so very much 
 more if sister had one also ; and she would prize 
 the attention very much, Polly, from you 
 girls." 
 
 So Polly, fired with the laudable desire to find 
 one exactly like Miss Salisbury s very own, for 
 "sister," at last was just so fortunate. So that 
 was also flo we :- trimmed, with trailing vines to 
 finish it off with. And every year, the first thing 
 the girls did after dancing around a bit to rest 
 their feet after the long drive, was to set to work 
 to collect the vines and ferns, and decorate the 
 two stone seats. 
 
 Then with quite a good deal of pomp and cere 
 mony, the girls escorted the two teachers to their 
 thrones, unpacked the little bag of books and 
 magazines, and arranged some cushions and 
 shawls about them. And then Miss Salisbury 
 
THE PICNIC 197 
 
 always said with a sweet smile, "Thank you, my 
 dears." And Miss Ansticc said the same; al 
 though, try as hard as she would, her smile never 
 could be sweet like Miss Salisbury s. And then 
 off the girls would go to "exploring," as they 
 called rambling in the Glen, the under-teachers 
 taking them, in charge. 
 
 And now Polly Pepper ran to her hamper, 
 which she saw in a pLe where the baskets had 
 been heaped by the maids. "There it is," point 
 ing to the tag sticking up; "oh, help me, not 
 you, Alexia," as Alexia ran up as usual, to help 
 forward any undertaking Polly Pepper might have 
 in mind. "Dear me! you might almost kill your 
 arm." 
 
 "This old arm," cried Alexia, "I m sick and 
 tired of it." 
 
 "Well, you better take care of it," cried Polly 
 gaily, "and then it won t be an old arm, but it 
 will be as good as brand new, Alexia. Oh, one 
 of the other girls, do come and help me." 
 
 "What do you want, Polly?" cried some of 
 the girls, racing up to her. 
 
 "I want to get out my hamper," said Polly, 
 pointing to the tag sticking up "high and dry" 
 amid a stack of baskets. "My tin botany case 
 
198 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 is in it; I must get the ferns I promised to bring 
 home to Phronsie." 
 
 "You stand away, all of ye." The old man 
 Kimball, his horses out of the shafts, and well 
 taken care of, now drew near, and swept off with 
 his ample hand the bunch of girls. "Which one 
 is t? Oh, that ere one with the tag," answering 
 his own question. "Well, now, I ll git that for 
 you jest as easy as rolling off a log. One two 
 three there she comes!" 
 
 And, one, two, three, and here she did come! 
 And in a trice Polly had the cover up, and out flew 
 the little green tin botany case; and within it being 
 an iron spoon and little trowel, off flew Poliy on 
 happy feet to unearth the treasures that were to 
 beautify Phronsie s little garden; a bunch of girls 
 following to see the operation. 
 
 The magazine fell idly to the lap of Miss 
 Salisbury. She sat dreamily back, resting her 
 head against the boulder. "Sister," she said 
 softly, "this is a happy custom we have started. 
 I trust nothing will ever prevent our holding our 
 annual picnic." 
 
 "Yes," said Miss Anstice absently. She was 
 very much interested in a story she had begun, 
 and she hated to have Miss Salisbury say a word- 
 
THE PICNIC 199 
 
 Although she had on a stiff, immaculate white 
 gown (for on such a festival as the annual picnic, 
 she always dressed in white), still she was not in 
 the same sweet temper that the principal was en 
 joying, and she held her thumb and finger in 
 the place. 
 
 "Yes, the picnic is very good," she said, feel 
 ing that something was expected of her, "if we 
 didn t get worms and bugs crawling over the 
 tablecloth." 
 
 "Oh sister!" exclaimed Miss Salisbury, quite 
 shocked; "it is no time to think of worms and 
 bugs, I m sure, on such a beautiful occasion as 
 this." 
 
 "Still, they are here," said Miss Anstice; "there 
 is one now," looking down at the hem of her 
 gown. " Ugh I go right away," slapping her book 
 at it. Then her thumb and finger (lew out, and 
 she lost her place, and the bug ran away, and 
 she added somewhat tartly, "For my own taste, 
 I should really prefer a festival in the school 
 room." 
 
 When it came to spreading the feast, not one 
 of the maids was allowed to serve. They could 
 unpack the hampers, and hand the dishes and 
 eatables to the girls, and run, and wait, and tend. 
 
200 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 But no one but the Salisbury girls must lay the 
 snowy cloth, dress it up with flowers, with little 
 knots at the corners, concealing the big stones 
 that kept the tablecloth from flapping in any 
 chance wind. And then they all took turns in 
 setting the feast forth, and arranging all the 
 goodies. And some one had to make the coffee, 
 with a little coterie to help her. The crotched 
 sticks were always there just as they had left 
 them where they hung the kettle over the stone 
 oven. And old man Kimball set one of the 
 younger drivers to make the fire and a rousing 
 good one it was where they roasted their corn 
 and potatoes. And another one brought up the 
 water from the spring that bubbled up clear and 
 cold in the rocky ravine, so when all was ready 
 it was a feast fit for a king, or rather the queen 
 and her royal subjects. 
 
 And then Miss Salisbury and "sister" were 
 escorted with all appropriate ceremonies down 
 from their stone thrones, and one had the head 
 and the other the foot of the feast spread on 
 the grass, to sit on a stone draped with a shawl, 
 and to be waited on lovingly by the girls, who 
 threw themselves down on the ground, surround 
 ing the snowy cloth. And they sat two or three 
 
THE PICNIC 201 
 
 rows deep; and those in the front row had to 
 pass the things, of course, to the back-row girls. 
 
 " Oh, you re spilling jelly-cake crumbs all down 
 my back," proclaimed Alexia, with a shudder. 
 "Rose Harding," looking at the girl just back 
 of her, "can t you eat over your own lap, pray 
 tell?" 
 
 "Well, give me your seat then," suggested Rose, 
 with another good bite from the crumbly piece 
 in her hand, "if you don t like what the back- 
 row girls do." 
 
 "No, I m not going to," said Alexia, "catch 
 me! but you needn t eat all over my hair. Ugh! 
 there goes another," and she squirmed so she 
 knocked off the things in her neighbor s as well 
 as her own lap. 
 
 "Oh dear me! Keep your feet to yourself, 
 Alexia Rhys," said the neighbor; "there goes 
 my egg in all the dirt and I d just gotten it 
 shelled." 
 
 "All the easier for the bugs," observed Alexia 
 sweetly; "see, they re already appropriating it. 
 And I guess you d kick and wriggle if some one 
 put jelly cake down your back," returning to her 
 grievance, "slippery, slimy jelly cake," twist 
 ing again at the remembrance. 
 
202 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Well, you needn t kick the things out of my 
 lap. I didn t put the jelly cake down your back," 
 retorted the neighbor, beginning to shell her sec 
 ond egg. 
 
 Oh dear! was ever anything quite so good in 
 all this world as that feast at the Salisbury 
 picnic! " 
 
 "I didn t suppose those baskets could bring 
 out so much, nor such perfectly delicious things," 
 sighed Polly Pepper, in an interval of rest before 
 attacking one of Philena s chocolate cakes. 
 
 "Polly, Polly Pepper," called a girl opposite, 
 "give me one of your little lemon tarts. You did 
 bring em this year, didn t you?" anxiously. 
 
 "Yes, indeed," answered Polly; "why, where 
 are they?" peering up and down the festal, not 
 "board," but tablecloth. 
 
 "Don t tell me they are gone," cried the girl, 
 leaning over to look for herself. 
 
 "I m afraid they are," said Polly; "oh, I m 
 so sorry, Agatha!" 
 
 "You should have spoken before, my child," 
 said a parlor boarder, who had eaten only three 
 of Mrs. Fisher s tarts, and adjusting her eye 
 glasses. 
 
 "Why, I ve only just gotten through eating 
 
THE PICNIC 203 
 
 bread and butter," said Agatha. "I can t eat 
 cake until that s done." 
 
 "A foolish waste of time," observed the par 
 lor boarder; "bread and butter is for every day; 
 cake and custards and flummery for high holi 
 days," she added with quite an air. 
 
 "Hush up, do," cried Alexia, who had small 
 respect for the parlor boarders and their graces, 
 "and eat what you like, Penelope. I m going to 
 ransack this table for a tart for you, Agatha." 
 
 She sent keen, bird-like glances all up and 
 down the length of the tablecloth. "Yes, no 
 yes, it is." She pounced upon a lemon tart hid 
 ing under a spray of sweet fern, and handed it 
 in triumph across. "There you arc, Agatha! 
 now don t say I never did anything for you." 
 
 "Oh, how sweet!" cried Agatha, burying her 
 teeth in the flaky tart. 
 
 "I should think it was sour," observed Amy 
 Garrett; "lemons usually are." 
 
 "Don t try to be clever, Amy child," said 
 Alexia, "it isn t expected at a picnic." 
 
 "It s never expected where you are," retorted 
 Amy sharply. 
 
 "Oh dear, dear! that s pretty good," cried 
 Alexia, nowise disconcerted, as she loved a joke 
 
204 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 just as much at herself as at the expense of any 
 one else, while the others burst into a merry 
 laugh. 
 
 " There s one good thing about Alexia Rhys," 
 the " Salisbury girls" had always said, "she can 
 take any amount of chaff, and not stick her 
 ringer in her eye and whimper." 
 
 So now she smiled serenely. "Oh dear, dear! 
 I wish I could eat some more," she said. "I 
 haven t tasted your orange jelly, Clem, nor as 
 much as looked at your French sandwiches, Sil 
 via. What is the reason one can eat so very 
 little at a picnic, I wonder?" She drew a long 
 breath, and regarded them all with a very injured 
 expression. 
 
 "Hear that, girls!" cried Silvia; "isn t that 
 rich, when Alexia has been eating every blessed 
 minute just as fast as she could!" 
 
 "I suppose that is what we all have been do 
 ing," observed Alexia placidly. 
 
 Miss Salisbury had been a happy observer of 
 all the fun and nonsense going on around her, 
 and renewing her youth when she had dearly 
 loved picnics; but it was not so with Miss An- 
 stice. At the foot of the festal tablecloth, she 
 had been viewing from the corners of her eyes the 
 
THE PICNIC 205 
 
 inroads of various specimens of the insect cre 
 ation and several other peripatetic creatures that 
 seemed to belong to no particular species but to 
 a new order of beings originated for this very 
 occasion. She had held herself in bravely, al 
 though eating little, being much too busy in keep 
 ing watch of these intruders, who all seemed 
 bent on running over her food and her person, 
 to hide in all conceivable folds of her white 
 gown. And she was now congratulating herself 
 on the end of the feast, which about this time 
 should be somewhere in sight, when a goggle- 
 eyed bug, at least so it seemed to her distraught 
 v>ion, pranced with agile steps directly for her 
 lap, to disappear at once. And it got on to her 
 nerves. 
 
 "Oh owl Take it off." Miss Anstice let 
 her plate fly, and skipped to her feet. But look 
 ing out for the goggle-eyed bug, she thought of 
 little else, and stepped into some more of the 
 jelly cake slipped, and precipitated herself into 
 the middle of the feast. 
 
XIV MISS SALISBURY S STORY 
 
 OH Miss Anstice!" cried the "Salisbury 
 girls," jumping to their feet. 
 
 "Sister! " exclaimed Miss Salisbury, dropping 
 her plate, and letting all her sweet, peaceful 
 reflections fly to the four winds. 
 
 "I never did regard picnics as pleasant af 
 fairs," gasped Miss Anstice, as the young hands 
 raised her, "and now they are quite quHe 
 detestable." She looked at her gown, alas! no 
 longer immaculate. 
 
 "If you could wipe my hands first, young 
 ladies," sticking out those members, on which 
 were plentiful supplies of marmalade and jelly 
 cake, "I should be much obliged. Never mind 
 the gown yet," she added with asperity. 
 
 "I ll do that," cried Alexia, flying at her with 
 two or three napkins. 
 
 "Alexia, keep your seat." Miss Anstice turned 
 on her. "It is quite bad enough, without your 
 heedless fingers at work on it." 
 206 
 
I NEVER DID REGARD PICNICS AS PLEASANT AFFAIRS," 
 GASPED MISS AN STICK. 
 
MISS SALISBURY S STORY 207 
 
 "I won t touch the old thing," declared Alexia, 
 in a towering passion, and forgetting it was not 
 one of the girls. "And I may be heedless, but I 
 can be polite," and she threw down the napkins, 
 and turned her back on the whole thing. 
 
 "Alexia!" cried Polly, turning very pale; and, 
 rushing up to her, she bore her away under the 
 trees. "Why, Alexia Rhys, you ve talked aw 
 fully to Miss Anstice just think, the sister of 
 our Miss Salisbury!" 
 
 "Was that old thing a Salisbury?" asked 
 Alexia, quite unmoved. "I thought it was a 
 rude creature that didn t know what it was to 
 have good manners." 
 
 "Alexia, Alexia!" mourned Polly, and for the 
 first time in Alexia s remembrance wringing her 
 hands, "to think you should do such a thing!" 
 
 Alexia, seeing Polly wring her hands, felt quite 
 aghast at herself. "Polly, don t do that," she 
 begged. 
 
 "Oh, I can t help it." And Polly s tears fell 
 fast. 
 
 Alexia gave her one look, as she stood there 
 quite still and pale, unable to stop the tears racing 
 over her cheeks, turned, and fled with long steps 
 back to the crowd of girls surrounding poor Miss 
 
208 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 Anstice, Miss Salisbury herself wiping the linen 
 gown with an old napkin in her deft fingers. 
 
 "I beg your pardon," cried Alexia gustily, 
 and plunging up unsteadily. "I was bad to say 
 such things." 
 
 "You were, indeed," Assented Miss Anstice 
 tartly. " Sister, that is quite enough; the gown 
 cannot possibly be made any better with your 
 incessant rubbing." 
 
 Miss Salisbury gave a sigh, and got up from 
 her knees, and put down the napkin. Then she 
 looked at Alexia. "She is very sorry, sister," 
 she said gently. "I am sure Alexia regrets ex 
 ceedingly her hasty speech." 
 
 " Hasty?" repeated Miss Anstice, with acri 
 mony, "it was quite impertinent; and I cannot 
 remember when one of our young ladies has done 
 such a thing." 
 
 All the blood in Alexia s body seemed to go to 
 her sallow cheeks when she heard that. That 
 she should be the first and only Salisbury girl to 
 be so bad, quite overcame her, and she looked 
 around for Polly Pepper to help her out. And 
 Polly, who had followed her up to the group, 
 begged, "Do, dear Miss Anstice, forgive her." 
 And so did all the girls, even those who did not 
 
MISS SALISBURY S STORY 209 
 
 , 
 like Alcxia one bit, feeling sorry for her now. 
 
 Miss Anstice relented enough to say, "Well, we 
 will say no more about it ; I dare say you did not 
 intend to be impertinent." And then they all 
 sat down again, and everybody tried to be as gay 
 as possible while the feast went on. 
 
 And by the time they sang the "Salisbury 
 School Songs,"- for they had several very fine 
 ones, that the different classes had composed, 
 there was such a tone of good humor prevailing, 
 everybody getting so very jolly, that no one look 
 ing on would have supposed for a moment that a 
 single unpleasant note had been struck. And 
 Miss Anstice tried not to look at her gown; and 
 Miss Salisbury had a pretty pink tinge in her 
 cheeks, and her eyes were blue and serene, with 
 out the tired look that often came into them. 
 
 "Now for the story oh, that is the best of 
 all!" exclaimed Polly Pepper, when at last, pro 
 testing that they couldn t eat another morsel, 
 they all got up from the feast, leaving it to the 
 maids. 
 
 "Isn t it!" echoed the girls. "Oh, dear Miss 
 Salisbury, I am so glad it is time for you to tell 
 it." All of which pleased Miss Salisbury very 
 much indeed, for it was the custom at this an- 
 
210 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 nual festival to wind up the afternoon with a 
 story by the principal, when all the girls would 
 gather at her feet to listen to it, as she sat in 
 state in her stone chair. 
 
 "Is it?" she cried, the pink tinge on her cheek 
 getting deeper. "Well, do you know, I think I 
 enjoy, as much as my girls, the telling of this 
 annual story." 
 
 "Oh, you can t enjoy it as much" said one 
 impulsive young voice. 
 
 Miss Salisbury smiled indulgently at her. 
 "Well, now, if you are ready, girls, I will begin." 
 
 " Oh, yes, we are we are," the bright groups, 
 scattered on the grass at her feet, declared. 
 
 "To-day I thought I would tell you of my 
 school days when I was as young as you," began 
 Miss Salisbury. 
 
 "Oh oh!" 
 
 "Miss Salisbury, I just love you for that!" 
 exclaimed the impulsive girl, and jumping out of 
 her seat, she ran around the groups to the stone 
 chair. "I do, Miss Salisbury, for I did so want 
 to hear all about when you were a schoolgirl." 
 
 "Well, go back to your place, Fanny, and you 
 shall hear a little of my school life," said Miss 
 Salisbury gently. 
 
MISS SALISBURY S STORY 211 
 
 "No no; the whole of it," begged Fanny 
 earnestly, going slowly back. 
 
 "My dear child, I could not possibly tell you 
 the whole," said Miss Salisbury, smiling; "it 
 must be one little picture of my school days." 
 
 "Do sit down, Fanny," cried one of the other 
 girls impatiently; "you are hindering it all." 
 
 So Fanny flew back to her place, and Miss Sal 
 isbury without any more interruptions, began: 
 
 "You see, girls, you must know to begin with, 
 that our father sister s and mine was a 
 clergyman in a small country parish; and as 
 there were a great many mouths to feed, and 
 young, growing minds to feed as well, besides 
 ours, why there was a great deal of considering 
 as to ways and means constantly going on at the 
 parsonage. Well, as I was the eldest, of course 
 the question came first, what to do with Amelia." 
 
 "Were you Amelia?" asked Fanny. 
 
 "Yes. Well, after talking it over a great deal, 
 and I suspect many sleepless nights spent by 
 my good father and mother, it was at last de 
 cided that I should be sent to boarding school; 
 for I forgot to tell you, I had finished at the 
 academy." 
 
 "Yes; sister was very smart," broke in Miss 
 
2i2 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 Anstice proudly "she won t tell you that; so 
 I must." 
 
 "Oh sister, sister," protested Miss Salisbury. 
 
 "Yes, she excelled all the boys and girls." 
 
 "Did they have boys at that school?" inter 
 rupted Philena, in amazement. "Oh, how very 
 nice, Miss Salisbury!" 
 
 "I should just love to go to school with boys," 
 declared ever so many of the girls ecstatically. 
 
 "Why don t you take boys at our school, Miss 
 Salisbury?" asked Silvia longingly. 
 
 Miss Anstice looked quite horrified at the very 
 idea; but Miss Salisbury laughed. "It is not 
 the custom now, my dear, in private schools. In 
 my day you must remember that was a long 
 time ago there were academies where girls and 
 boys attended what would be called a high school 
 now." 
 
 "Oh!" 
 
 "And I went to one in the next town until it 
 was thought best for me to be sent to boarding 
 school." 
 
 "And she was very smart; she took all the 
 prizes at the academy, and the principal said " 
 Miss Anstice was herself brought up quickly by 
 her sister. 
 
MISS SALISBURY S STORY 213 
 
 " If you interrupt so much, I never shall finish 
 my story, Ansticc," she said. 
 
 "I want the girls to understand this," said 
 Miss Anstice with decision. "The principal said 
 she was the best educated scholar he had ever 
 seen graduated from Hilltop Academy." 
 
 "Well, now if you have finished," said Miss 
 Salisbury, laughing, "I will proceed. So I was 
 despatched by my father to a town about thirty 
 miles away, to a boarding school kept by the 
 widow of a clergyman who had been a college 
 classmate. Well, I was sorry to leave all my 
 young brothers and sisters, you may be sure, 
 while my mother girls, I haven t even now for 
 gotten the pang it cost me to kiss my mother 
 good-bye." 
 
 Miss Salisbury stopped suddenly, and let her 
 gaze wander off to the waving tree- tops; and Miss 
 Anstice fell into a revery that kept her face 
 turned away. 
 
 "But it was the only way I could get an edu 
 cation; and you know I could not be fitted for a 
 teacher, which was to be my life work, unless I 
 went; so I stifled all those dreadful feelings which 
 anticipated my homesickness, and pretty soon I 
 found myself in the boarding school." 
 
2i 4 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "How many scholars were there, Miss Salis 
 bury?" asked Laura Page, who was very exact. 
 "Fifteen girls," said Miss Salisbury. 
 "Oh dear me, what a little bit of a school!" 
 exclaimed one girl. 
 
 "The schools were not as large in those days," 
 said Miss Salisbury. "You must keep in mind 
 the great difference between that time and this, 
 my dear. Well, and when I was once there, I 
 had quite enough to do to keep me from being 
 homesick, I can assure you, through the day; 
 because, in addition to lessons, there was the 
 sewing hour." 
 
 "Sewing? Oh my goodness me!" exclaimed 
 Alexia. "You didn t have to sew at that school, 
 did you, Miss Salisbury?" 
 
 "I surely did," replied Miss Salisbury, "and 
 very glad I have been, Alexia, that I learned so 
 much in that sewing hour. I have seriously 
 thought, sister and I, of introducing the plan into 
 our school." 
 
 "Oh, don t, Miss Salisbury," screamed the 
 girls. "Pie ase don t make us sew." Some 
 of them jumped to their feet in distress. 
 
 "I shall die," declared Alexia tragically, "if we 
 have to sew." 
 
MISS SALISBURY S STORY 215 
 
 There was such a general gloom settled over 
 the entire party that Miss Salisbury hastened to 
 say, "I don t think, girls, we can do it, because 
 something else equally important would have to 
 be given up to make the time." At which the 
 faces brightened up. 
 
 "Well, I was only to stay at this school a year," 
 went on Miss Salisbury, " because, you see, it was 
 as much as my father could do to pay for that 
 time; so it was necessary to use every moment to 
 advantage. So I studied pretty hard; and I pre 
 sume this is one reason why the incident I am 
 going to tell you about was of such a nature; for 
 I was over- tired, though that should be no ex 
 cuse," she added hastily. 
 
 "Oh sister," said Miss Anstice nervously, 
 14 don t tell them that story. I wouldn t." 
 
 "It may help them, to have a leaf out of an 
 other young person s life, Anstice," said Miss 
 Salisbury, gravely. 
 
 "Well, but" 
 
 "And so, every time when I thought I must 
 give up and go home, I was so hungry to see my 
 father and mother, and the little ones " 
 
 "Was Miss Anstice one of the little ones?" 
 asked Fanny, with a curious look at the crow s- 
 feet and faded eyes of the younger Miss Salisbury, 
 
216 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Yes, she was: there were two boys came in 
 between; then Anstice, then Jane, Harriett, 
 Lemuel, and the baby." 
 
 "Oh my!" gasped Alexia, tumbling over into 
 Polly Pepper s lap. 
 
 "Eight of us; so you see, it would never do 
 for the one who was having so much money 
 spent upon her, to waste a single penny of it. 
 When I once got to teaching, I was to pay it all 
 back." 
 
 "And did you did you?" demanded curious 
 Fanny. 
 
 "Did she? oh, girls!" It was Miss Anstice 
 who almost gasped this, making every girl turn 
 around. 
 
 "Never mind," Miss Salisbury telegraphed 
 over their heads, to " sister," which kept her 
 silent. But she meant to tell sometime. 
 
 Polly Pepper, all this time, hadn t moved, but 
 sat with hands folded in her lap. What if she 
 had given up and flown home to Mamsie and the 
 little brown house before Mr. King discovered 
 her homesickness and brought Phronsie! Sup 
 posing she hadn t gone in the old stagecoach that 
 day when she first left Badgertown to visit in 
 Jasper s home! Just supposing it! She turned 
 
MISS SALISBURY S STORY 217 
 
 quite pale, and held her breath, while Miss Salis 
 bury proceeded. 
 
 "And now comes the incident that occurred 
 during that boarding-school year, that I have in 
 tended for some time to tell you girls, because it 
 may perhaps help you in some experience where 
 you will need the very quality that I lacked on 
 that occasion." 
 
 "Oh sister!" expostulated Miss Anstice. 
 
 "It was a midwinter day, cold and clear and 
 piercing." Miss Salisbury shivered a bit, and 
 drew the shawl put across the back of her stone 
 seat, closer around her. "Mrs. Ferguson that 
 was the name of the principal had given the 
 girls a holiday to take them to a neighboring- 
 town; there was to be a concert, I remember, 
 and some other treats; and the scholars were, as 
 you would say, perfectly wild to go, 5 " and she 
 smiled indulgently at her rapt audience. "Well, 
 I was not going." 
 
 "Oh Miss Salisbury 1" exclaimed Amy Gar- 
 rctt in sorrow, as if the disappointment were not 
 forty years in the background. 
 
 "No. I decided it was not best for me to take 
 the money, although my father had written me 
 that I could, when the holiday had been planned 
 
218 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 some time before. And besides, I thought I 
 could do some extra studying ahead while the 
 girls were away. Understand, I didn t really 
 think of doing wrong then; although afterward I 
 did the wrong thing." 
 
 "Sister!" reproved Miss Anstice. She could 
 not sit still now, but got out of her stone chair, 
 and paced up and down. 
 
 "No; I did not dream that in a little while 
 after the party had started, I should be so sorely 
 tempted, and the idea would enter my head to 
 do the wrong thing. But so it was. I was study 
 ing, I remember, my philosophy lesson for some 
 days ahead, when suddenly, as plainly as if letters 
 of light were written down the page, it flashed 
 upon my mind, Why don t I go home to-day ? I 
 can get back to-night, and no one will know it; 
 at least, not until I am back again, and no harm 
 done.* And without waiting to think it out, I 
 clapped to my book, tossed it on the table, and 
 ran to get my poor little purse out of the bureau 
 drawer." 
 
 The girls, in their eagerness not to lose a word, 
 crowded close to Miss Salisbury s knees, forget 
 ting that she wasn t a girl with them. 
 
 "I had quite enough money, I could see, to 
 
MISS SALISBURY S STORY 219 
 
 take me home and back on the cars, and by the 
 stage." 
 
 " The stage ? " repeated Alexia faintly. 
 
 "Yes; you must remember that this time of 
 which I am telling you was many, many years 
 back. Besides, in some country places, it is still 
 the only mode of conveyance used." 
 
 Polly Pepper drew a long breath. Dear old 
 Badgertown, and Mr. Tisbett s stage. She could 
 see it now, as it looked when the Five Little Pep 
 pers would run to the windows of the little brown 
 house to watch it go lumbering by, and to hear 
 the old stage-driver crack his whip in greeting! 
 
 "The housekeeper had a day off, to go to her 
 daughter s, so that helped my plan along," Miss 
 Salisbury was saying. "Well would it have been 
 for me if the conditions had been less easy. 
 But I must hasten. I have told you that I did 
 not pause to think; that was my trouble in those 
 days : I acted on impulse often, as schoolgirls are 
 apt perhaps to do, and so I was not ready to 
 stand this sudden temptation. I tied on my bon 
 net, gathered up my little purse tightly in my 
 hand; and although the day was cold, the sun 
 was shining brightly, and my heart was so full of 
 hope and anticipation that I scarcely thought of 
 
220 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 what I was doing, as I took a thin little jacket 
 instead of the warm cloak my mother had made 
 me for winter wear. I hurried out of the house, 
 when there was no one to notice me, for the 
 maids were careless in the housekeeper s ab 
 sence, and had slipped off for the moment at 
 any rate, they said afterward they never saw me; 
 so off I went. 
 
 "I caught the eight o clock train just in time; 
 which I considered most fortunate. How often 
 afterward did I wish I had missed it! And rea 
 soning within myself as the wheels bore me away, 
 that it was perfectly right to spend the money to 
 go home, for my father had been quite willing for 
 me to take the tr?at with Mrs. Ferguson and the 
 others, I settled back in my seat, and tried not 
 to feel strange at travelling alone." 
 
 "Oh dear me!" exclaimed the girls, huddling 
 up closer to Miss Salisbury s knees. Miss An- 
 stice paced back and forth; it was too late to 
 stop the story now, and her nervousness could 
 only be walked off. 
 
 " But I noticed the farther I got from the board 
 ing school, little doubts would come creeping 
 into my mindj first, was it very wise for me 
 to have set out in this way ? then, was it right ? 
 
MISS SALISBURY S STORY 221 
 
 And suddenly in a flash, it struck me that I was 
 doing a very wrong thing, and that, if my father 
 and my mother knew it, they would be greatly 
 distressed. And I would have given worlds, if 
 I had possessed them, to be back at Mrs. Fer 
 guson s, studying my philosophy lesson. And I 
 laid my head on the back of the seat before me, 
 and cried as hard as I could." 
 
 Amy sniffed into her handkerchief, and two or 
 three other girls coughed as if they had taken 
 cold, while no one looked into her neighbor s 
 face. 
 
 "And a wild idea crossed my mind once, of 
 rushing up to the conductor and telling him of 
 my trouble, to ask him if I couldn t get off at the 
 next station and go back; but a minute s reflec 
 tion told me that this was foolish. There was 
 only the late afternoon train to take me to the 
 school. I had started, and must go on." 
 
 A long sigh went through the group. Miss 
 Anstice seemed to have it communicated to her, 
 for she quickened her pace nervously. 
 
 "At last, after what seemed an age to me, 
 though it wasn t really but half an hour since we 
 started, I made up my mind to bear it as well as 
 I could; father and mother would forgive me, 
 
222 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 I was sure, and would make Mrs. Ferguson 
 overlook it when I glanced out of the car win 
 dow. Little flakes of snow were falling fast. It 
 struck dismay to my heart. If it kept on like 
 this, and after watching it for some moments, 
 I had no reason to expect otherwise, for it was 
 of that fine, dry quality that seems destined to 
 last, I should not be able to get back to school 
 that afternoon. Oh dear me! And now I began 
 to open my heart to all sorts of fears: the train 
 might be delayed, the stagecoach slow in getting 
 through to Cherryfield. By this time I was in a 
 fine state of nerves, and did not dare to think 
 further." 
 
 One of the girls stole her hand softly up to 
 lay it on that of the principal, forgetting that she 
 had never before dared to do such a thing in 
 all her life. Miss Salisbury smiled, and closed it 
 within her own. 
 
 There was a smothered chorus of "Oh dears!" 
 "I sat there, my dears, in a misery that saw 
 nothing of the beauty of that storm, knew nothing, 
 heard nothing, except the occasional ejaculations 
 and remarks of the passengers, such as, It s 
 going to be the worst storm of the year/ and 
 It s come to stay. 
 
MISS SALISBURY S STORY 223 
 
 " Suddenly, without a bit of warning, there was 
 a bumping noise, then the train dragged slowly 
 on, then stopped. All the passengers jumped up, 
 except myself. I was too miserable to stir, for I 
 knew now that I was to pay finely for my wrong 
 doing in leaving the school without permission." 
 
 "Oh oh!" the girls gave a little scream. 
 
 "What is it what is it? the passengers 
 one and all cried, and there was great rushing to 
 the doors, and hopping outside to ascertain the 
 trouble. I never knew, for I didn t care to 
 ask. It was enough for me that something had 
 broken, and the train had stopped ; to start again 
 no one could tell when." 
 
 The sympathy and excitement now were in 
 tense. One girl sniffed out from behind her 
 handkerchief, "I I should have thought you 
 would have died Miss Salisbury." 
 
 "Ah!" said Miss Salisbury, with a sigh, "you 
 will find, Helen, as you grow older, that the only 
 thing you can do to repair in any way the mis 
 chief you have done, is to keep yourself well un 
 der control, and endure the penalty without wast 
 ing time on your suffering. So I just made up 
 my mind now to this; and I sat up straight, de 
 termined not to give way, whatever happened. 
 
224 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "It was very hard when the impatient pas 
 sengers would come back into the car to ask each 
 other, How soon do you suppose we will get to 
 Mayville? That was where I was to take the 
 stage. 
 
 "Not till night, if we don t start, one would 
 answer, trying to be facetious; but I would torture 
 myself into believing it. At last the conductor 
 came through, and he met a storm of inquiries, 
 all asking the same question, How soon will we 
 get to May ville ? 
 
 "It seemed to me that he was perfectly heart 
 less in tone and manner, as he pulled out his 
 watch to consult it. I can never see a big silver 
 watch to this day, girls, without a shiver." 
 
 The "Salisbury girls" shivered in sympathy, 
 and tried to creep up closer to her. 
 
 "Well, the conductor went on to say, that there 
 was no telling, the railroad officials never com 
 mit themselves, you know, they had tele 
 graphed back to town for another engine (he 
 didn t mention that, after that, we should be 
 sidetracked to allow other trains their right of 
 way), and as soon as they could, why, they 
 would move. Then he proceeded to move him 
 self down the aisle in great dignity. Well, mv 
 
MISS SALISBURY S STORY 225 
 
 dears, you must remember that this all happened 
 long years ago, when accidents to the trains were 
 very slowly made good. We didn t get into 
 Mayville until twelve o clock. If everything had 
 gone as it should, we ought to have reached there 
 three hours before." 
 
 "Oh my goodness me!" exploded Alexia. 
 
 "By this time, the snow had piled up fast. 
 What promised to be a heavy storm had become 
 a reality, and it was whirling and drifting dread 
 fully. You must remember that I had on my 
 little thin jacket, instead " 
 
 "Oh Miss Salisbury!" screamed several girls, 
 "I forgot that." 
 
 "Don t tell any more," sobbed another 
 "don t, Miss Salisbury." 
 
 "I want you to hear this story," said Miss 
 Salisbury quietly. "Remember, I did it all 
 myself. And the saddest part of it is what I 
 made others suffer; not my own distress." 
 
 " Sister, if you only won t proceed ! " Miss Ans- 
 tice abruptly leaned over the outer fringe of girls. 
 
 "I am getting on to the end," said Miss Salis 
 bury, with a smile. "W^ell, girls, I won t pro 
 long the misery for you. I climbed into that 
 stage, it seemed to me, more dead than alive. 
 
226 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 The old stage-driver, showing as much of his 
 face as his big fur cap drawn well over his ears 
 would allow, looked at me compassionately. 
 
 "Sakes alive! I can hear him now. Hain t 
 your folks no sense to let a young thing come 
 out in that way? 
 
 "I was so stiff, all I could think of was, that I 
 had turned into an icicle, and that I was liable 
 to break at any minute. But I couldn t let that 
 criticism pass. 
 
 " They they didn t let me I ve come from 
 school, I stammered. 
 
 "He looked at me curiously, got up from his 
 seat, opened a box under it, and twitched out a 
 big cape, moth-eaten, and well-worn otherwise; 
 but oh, girls, I never loved anything so much in 
 all my life as that horrible old article, for it 
 saved my life." 
 
 A long-drawn breath went around the circle. 
 "Here, you just get into this as soon as the 
 next one, said the stage-driver gruffly, handing 
 it over to me where I sat on the middle seat. I 
 needed no command, but fairly huddled myself 
 within it, wrapping it around and around me. 
 And then I knew by the time it took to warm me 
 up, how very cold I had been. 
 
MISS SALISBURY S STORY 227 
 
 "And every few minutes of the toilsome jour 
 ney, for we had to proceed very slowly, the stage- 
 driver would look back over his shoulder to say, 
 Be you gittin any warmer now ? And I 
 would say, Yes, thank you, a little. 
 
 "And finally he asked suddenly, Do your 
 folks know you re comin ? And I answered, 
 No, and I hoped he hadn t heard, and I pulled 
 the cape up higher around my face, I was so 
 ashamed. But he had heard, for he whistled; 
 and oh, girls, that made my head sink lower yet. 
 Oh my dears, the shame of wrong-doing is so 
 terrible to bear! 
 
 "Well, after a while we got into Cherry field, 
 along about half-past three o clock." 
 
 "Oh dear!" exclaimed the young voices. 
 
 "I could just distinguish our church spire 
 amid the whirling snow; and then a panic seized 
 me. I must get down at some spot where I 
 would not be recognized, for oh, I did not want 
 any one to tell that old stage-driver who I was, 
 and thus bring discredit upon my father, the 
 clergyman, for having a daughter who had come 
 away from school without permission. So I 
 mumbled out that I was to stop at the Four 
 Corners: that was a short distance from the 
 centre of the village, the usual stopping place. 
 
228 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "One of the passengers for I didn t think it 
 was necessary to prolong the story to describe 
 the two women who occupied the back seat 
 leaned forward and said, I hope, Mr. Cheese- 
 well, you ain t goin to let that girl get out, half 
 froze as she s been, in this snowstorm. You d 
 ought to go out o your beat, and carry her 
 home. 
 
 Oh, no no, I cried in terror, unwinding 
 myself from the big cape and preparing to de 
 scend. 
 
 " Stop there! roared Mr. Cheesewell at me. 
 Did ye s pose I d desert that child? he said to 
 the two women. I d take her home, ef I knew 
 where in creation twas. 
 
 "She lives at the parsonage she s th> 
 minister s daughter, said one of the women 
 quietly. 
 
 "I sank back in my seat oh, girls, the bit 
 terness of that moment ! and as well as I could 
 for the gathering mist in my eyes, and the blind 
 ing storm without, realized the approach to my 
 home. But what a home-coming! 
 
 "I managed to hand back the big cape, and to 
 thank Mr. Cheesewell, then stumbled up the 
 little pathway to the parsonage door, feeling 
 
MISS SALISBURY S STORY 229 
 
 every step a misery, with all those eyes watching 
 me; and lifting the latch, I was at home! 
 
 " Then I fell flat in the entry, and knew noth 
 ing more till I found myself in my own bed, with 
 my mother s face above me; and beyond her, 
 there was father." 
 
 Every girl was sobbing now. No one saw 
 Miss Anstice, with the tears raining down her 
 cheeks at the memory that the beautiful pros 
 perity of all these later years could not blot out. 
 
 "Girls, if my life was saved in the first place 
 by that old cape, it was saved again by one per 
 son." 
 
 "Your mother," gasped Polly Pepper, with 
 wet, shining eyes. 
 
 "No; my mother had gone to a sick parish 
 ioner s, and father was with her. There was no 
 one but the children at home; the bigger boys 
 were away. I owe my life really to my sister 
 Anstice." 
 
 " Don t 1" begged Miss Anstice hoarsely, and 
 trying to shrink away. The circle of girls whirled 
 around to see her clasping her slender hands 
 tightly together, while she kept her face turned 
 aside. 
 
 "Oh girls," cried Miss Salisbury, with sudden 
 
2 3 o FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 energy, u if you could only understand what that 
 sister of mine did for me! I never can tell you. 
 She kept back her own fright, as the small chil 
 dren were so scared when they found me lying 
 there in the entry, for they had all been in the 
 woodshed picking up some kindlings, and didn t 
 hear me come in. And she thought at first I 
 was dead, but she worked over me just as she 
 thought mother would. You see we hadn t any 
 near neighbors, so she couldn t call any one. 
 And at last she piled me all over with blankets 
 just where I lay, for she couldn t lift me, of 
 course, and tucked me in tightly; and telling the 
 children not to cry, but to watch me, she ran a 
 mile, or floundered rather for the snow was 
 now so deep to the doctor s house." 
 
 "Oh, that was fine!" cried Polly Pepper, with 
 kindling eyes, and turning her flushed face with 
 pride on Miss Anstice. When Miss Salisbury 
 saw that, a happy smile spread over her face, 
 and she beamed on Polly. 
 
 "And then, you know the rest; for of course, 
 when I came to myself, the doctor had patched 
 me up. And once within my father s arms, 
 with mother holding my hand why, I was for 
 given." 
 
MISS SALISBURY S STORY 231 
 
 Miss Salisbury paused, and glanced off over 
 the young heads, not trusting herself to speak. 
 
 "And how did they know at the school where 
 you were?" Fanny broke in impulsively. 
 
 "Father telegraphed Mrs. Ferguson; and luck 
 ily for me, she and her party were delayed by 
 the storm in returning to the school, so the mes 
 sage was handed to her as she left the railroad 
 station. Otherwise, my absence would have 
 plunged her in terrible distress." 
 
 "Oh, well, it all came out rightly after all." 
 Louisa Frink dropped her handkerchief in her 
 lap, and gave a little laugh. 
 
 " Came out rightly ! " repeated Miss Salisbury 
 sternly, and turning such a glance on Louisa 
 that she wilted at once. "Yes, if you can forget 
 that for days the doctor was working to keep me 
 from brain fever; that it took much of my father s 
 hard-earned savings to pay him; that it kept me 
 from school, and lost me the marks I had almost 
 gained; that, worst of all, it added lines of care 
 and distress to the faces of my parents; and that 
 my sister who saved me, barely escaped a long 
 fit of sickness from her exposure." 
 
 "Don t, sister, don t," begged Miss Anstice. 
 
 " Came out rightly ? Girls, nothing can ever 
 
232 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 come out rightly, unless the steps leading up to 
 the end are right." 
 
 "Ma am," Mr. Kimball suddenly appeared 
 above the fringe of girls surrounding Miss Salis 
 bury, " there s a storm brewin ; it looks as if 
 twas comin to stay. I m all hitched up, n I 
 give ye my pinion that we d better be movin ." 
 
 With that, everybody hopped up, for Mr. 
 KimbalPs " pinion" was law in such a case. 
 The picnic party was hastily packed into the 
 barges, Polly carrying the little green botany 
 case with the ferns for Phronsie s garden care 
 fully on her lap, and with many backward 
 glances for the dear Glen, off they went, as fast 
 as the horses could swing along. 
 
XV THE BROKEN VASE 
 
 BUT drive as they might, Mr. Kimball and 
 his assistants, they couldn t beat that storm 
 that was brewing. It came up rather slowly, to 
 be sure, at first, but very persistently. Evidently 
 the old stage-driver was right. It was "coming 
 to stay." 
 
 " Ye see, ma am, ef we hadn t started when we 
 did, like enough we couldn t a got home to-night," 
 he vouchsafed over his shoulder to Miss Salisbury, 
 as they rattled on. 
 
 "Dear me!" she exclaimed at thought of her 
 brood. Those young things were having the best 
 of times. It was "wildly exciting," as Clem For- 
 sythe said, to be packed in; those on the end seats 
 huddling away from the rain as much as possible, 
 under cover of the curtains buttoned down fast. 
 And hilarity ran high. They sang songs ; never 
 quite finishing one, but running shrilly off to 
 others, which were produced on several different 
 keys maybe, according to the mood of the singers. 
 233 
 
234 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 And as every girl wanted to sing her favorite song, 
 there were sometimes various compositions being 
 produced in different quarters of the big stage, 
 till no one particular melody could be said to have 
 the right of way. And Miss Salisbury sat in the 
 midst of the babel, and smiled as much as her 
 anxiety would allow, at the merriment. And as 
 it was in this stage, so the other stages were coun 
 terparts. And the gay tunes and merry laughter 
 floated back all along the cavalcade, mingling 
 harmoniously with the rainfall. 
 
 Suddenly an awful clap of thunder reverberated 
 in the sky. The songs ended in squeals of dis 
 may, and the laughter died away. 
 
 " Oh oh we re going to have a thunder 
 storm!" screamed more than one girl, huddling 
 up closer to her next neighbor, to clutch her 
 frantically. 
 
 "Oh, I m so afraid of the thunder!" screamed 
 Amy Garrett. 
 
 "You goose, it won t hurt you." Lucy Ben 
 nett, whom Amy had crouched against, gave her 
 a little push. 
 
 "It will. It will. My uncle was struck once," 
 said Amy, rebounding from the push to grasp 
 Lucy frantically around the neck. 
 
THE BROKEN VASE 235 
 
 "You nearly choked me to death," exclaimed 
 Lucy, untwisting the nervous hands; "don t get 
 so scared. Your uncle never was struck by the 
 thunder, and we haven t had any lightning yel; 
 so I wouldn t yell till we do." 
 
 "Well, there it is now," cried Amy, covering 
 her eyes. And there it was now, to be sure, in 
 a blinding flash; to le followed by deeper rolls 
 of thunder, drowning the screams of the fright 
 ened girls, and the plunging of the horses that 
 didn t like it much better. 
 
 Mr. Kimball peered out and squinted to the 
 right and to the left through the blinding storm; 
 then he turned his horses suddenly off from the 
 road, into a narrow lane. " Oh, why do you ?" 
 began Miss Salisbury. But this remonstrance 
 wouldn t have done any good had the old stage- 
 driver heard it. At the end of the lane, he knew 
 in a few moments they would all arrive at a big 
 old-fashioned mansion where shelter could not 
 be refused them under such circumstances. Al 
 though, and Mr. Kimball shook within him 
 self at his temerity, under any other condi 
 tions visitors would not be expected nor welcomed. 
 For Mr. John Clemcy and his sister, Miss Ophelia, 
 had never exhibited, since they settled down in 
 
236 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 this quiet spot after leaving their English home 
 many years ago, any apparent desire to make 
 friends. They were quite sufficient for them 
 selves ; and what with driving about, which 
 they did in a big basket phaeton, or behind their 
 solemn pair of black horses, and the still more 
 solemn coachman, Isaac, also black, and in 
 the care of the large estate and the big brick 
 mansion, they found ample occupation for their 
 time and thoughts. 
 
 Up to this big red brick mansion now plunged 
 Mr. Kimball with as much assurance as if he 
 were not quaking dreadfully. And the other 
 stages following suit, the sudden and unusual 
 uproar brought two faces to the windows, and 
 then to the door. 
 
 "May we all git out and go into your barn?" 
 roared Mr. Kimball, peering at them from be 
 neath his dripping hat. 
 
 There was an awful pause. Mr. Kimball 
 clutched his old leather reins desperately; and 
 Miss Salisbury, to whom had come faint rumors 
 of the chosen isolation of the brother and sister, 
 felt her heart sink woefully. 
 
 Mr. John Clemcy stepped out, slender, tall, 
 with white hair and beard, both closely cropped. 
 
THE BROKEN VASE 237 
 
 He had a pale, aristocratic face, and a pair of 
 singularly stern eyes, which he now bent upon 
 the old stage- driver. 
 
 Brother," remonstrated his sister, she 
 looked as much like him as possible in face and 
 figure, " do not venture out in this driving 
 storm." 
 
 "No," said Mr. Clemcy, "I cannot consent to 
 your going into my stable. I - 
 
 " Taint Christian," blurted out the old stage- 
 driver, "to leave human bein s out in sech a 
 pickle." 
 
 "No, I am aware of that," said Mr. John 
 Clemcy, without a change of countenance; "and 
 so I invite you all to come into my house." He 
 threw wide the door. "My sister, Miss Clemcy." 
 
 Miss Ophelia stepped forward and received 
 them as if she had specially prepared for their 
 visit, and with such an air of distinction that it 
 completely overwhelmed Miss Salisbury, so that 
 her own manners, always considered quite per 
 fect by parents and friends of her pupils, paled 
 considerably in contrast. It was quite like enter 
 ing an old baronial hall, as the courtly, aristo 
 cratic host ushered them in; and the girls, not 
 easily overawed by any change of circumstance, 
 
238 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 who had tumbled out laughingly from the stages 
 despite Miss Salisbury s nervous endeavors to 
 quiet them, were now instantly subdued. 
 
 " Isn t it solemn! 1 whispered Alexia, hanging 
 to Polly Pepper, her pale eyes roving over the 
 armor, and old family portraits almost completely 
 covering the walls of the wide hall. 
 
 "Hush," whispered Polly back again. 
 
 "But I can t breathe; oh, look at that old 
 horror in the ruff. Polly look!" she pinched 
 the arm she grasped. 
 
 Meantime, although there were so many girls, 
 the big red brick mansion seemed quite able to 
 contain them hospitably, as Mr. and Miss Clemcy 
 opened door after door into apartments that ap 
 peared to stretch out into greater space beyond. 
 When at last the company had been distributed, 
 Miss Salisbury found her voice. "I am pained 
 to think of all the trouble we are giving you, 
 Miss Clemcy." 
 
 "Do not mention it." Miss Ophelia put up 
 a slender arm, from which fell off a deep flounce 
 of rare old lace. The hand that thus came into 
 view was perfect; and Miss Salisbury, who could 
 recognize qualities of distinction, fell deeply in 
 love with the evidences before her. 
 
THE BROKEN VASE 239 
 
 "Do you suppose she dresses up like that every 
 day, Silvia?" whispered Lucy Bennett, in an 
 awe-struck voice. 
 
 Silvia, in matters of dress never being willing 
 to show surprise, preserved her composure. 
 "That s nothing," she managed to say indiffer 
 ently: "it can t be real, such a lot of it, and 
 around her neck too." 
 
 Down into the old colonial kitchen, with its 
 corner fireplace, wide and roomy, and bricked 
 to the ceiling, Mr. Clrncy led the way. It was 
 a big room, and not used for its original purpose; 
 being filled with cabinets, and shelves on which 
 reposed some of the most beautiful specimens of 
 china and various relics and curiosities and me 
 mentos of travel, Miss Salisbury thought she 
 had ever seen. And she had been about the 
 world a good bit; having utilized many of her 
 vacations, and once or twice taking a year off 
 from her school work, for that purpose. And 
 being singularly receptive to information, she was 
 the best of listeners, in an intelligent way, as Mr. 
 Clemcy moved about from object to object ex 
 plaining his collection. He seemed perfectly ab 
 sorbed in it, and, as the girls began to notice, in 
 his listener as well. 
 
240 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 Lucy Bennett was frightfully romantic, and 
 jumped to conclusions at once. "Oh, do you 
 suppose he will marry her?" she cried under 
 her breath to Silvia, as the two kept together. 
 
 "Who? What are you talking about?" de 
 manded Silvia, who was very matter-of-fact. 
 
 "Why, that old man Mr. Whatever his name 
 is," whispered Lucy. 
 
 "Mr. Clemcy? do get names into your head, 
 Lu," said Silvia crossly, who wanted to look at 
 things and not be interru] ted every minute. 
 
 "I can t ever remember names, if I do hear 
 them," said Lucy, "so what is the use of my 
 bothering to hear them, Sil?" 
 
 "Well, do keep still," said Silvia, trying to 
 twist away her arm, but Lucy clung to it. 
 
 "Well, I can t keep still either, for I m mortally 
 afraid he is that old man, whatever you call 
 him going to marry her." 
 
 "Who?" demanded Silvia sharply. 
 
 "Our Miss Salisbury, and" 
 
 "Lu Bennett!" Silvia sat down in the first 
 chair she could find. It was very fortunate that 
 the other groups were so absorbed that nobody 
 noticed them. 
 
 "Oh, you do say such perfectly silly things!" 
 
THE BROKEN VASE 241 
 
 declared Silvia, smothering the peal of laughter 
 that nearly escaped her. 
 
 "Well, it isn t silly," cried Lucy in an angry 
 whisper, "and it s going to happen, I know, and 
 she ll give up our school to Miss Anstice, and 
 come and live here. Oh my ! " She looked ready 
 to cry on the spot. "Look at them!" 
 
 Now, Silvia had called Lucy Bennett "silly" 
 hundreds of times, but now as she looked at Mr. 
 Clemcy and Miss Salisbury, she began to have 
 an uneasy feeling at her heart. "I won t go 
 to school to Miss Anstice," she declared pas 
 sionately. Then she began to plan immedi 
 ately. "I ll get mother to let me go to boarding 
 school." 
 
 "And I ll go with you," exclaimed Lucy radi 
 antly. All this was in stage whispers, such a 
 buzz going on around them that no one else 
 could possibly catch a word. And so in just 
 about two minutes, they had their immediate 
 future all planned. 
 
 "Well, you better get up out of that chair," 
 said Lucy presently, and picking at Silvia s sleeve. 
 
 "I guess I m not hurting the chair," said Sil 
 via, squinting sideways at the high, carved back. 
 "They asked us in here, at least he did." 
 
242 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Well, he didn t ask us to sit down," said Lucy 
 triumphantly. 
 
 "And if he s going to marry her," said Silvia, 
 in a convincing whisper, "I guess I can sit in all 
 the chairs if I want to." 
 
 "Hush!" warned Lucy, "here comes Miss 
 Anstice." 
 
 Miss Anstice, with her front breadth all stained 
 with jelly cake and marmalade, was wandering 
 around, quite subdued. It was pitiful to see how 
 she always got into the thickest of the groups to 
 hide her gown, trying to be sociable with the 
 girls. But the girls not reciprocating, she was 
 at last taken in tow by Miss Ophelia, who set 
 about showing her some rare old china, as a 
 special attention. 
 
 Now, Miss Anstice cared nothing for rare old 
 china, or indeed, for relics or curiosities of any 
 sort; but she was very meek on this occasion, 
 and so she allowed herself to be led about from 
 shelf to shelf; and though she said nothing, Miss 
 Ophelia was so enchanted by her own words and 
 memories, as she described in a fluent and loving 
 manner their various claims to admiration, that 
 she tnought the younger Miss Salisbury quite a 
 remarkable person. 
 
THE BROKEN VASE 243 
 
 "Show her the Lowestoft collection, sister," 
 called Mr. Jonn Clemcy, from across the apart 
 ment, and breaking off from his animated dis 
 cussion over an old Egyptian vase, in which Miss 
 Salisbury had carried herself brilliantly. 
 
 "I will, Brother John," assented Miss Clemcy, 
 with great affability. "Now here," and she 
 opened the door to its cabinet, "is what will in 
 terest you greatly, I think." 
 
 Suddenly, a crash as of breaking porcelain 
 struck upon the ear. Every one in the old room 
 jumped, save the persons who might be supposed 
 to be the most interested Mr. Clemcy and his 
 sister. Their faces did not change. 
 
 Miss Salisbury deserted the Egyptian vase. 
 "Who," she demanded, hurrying to the centre 
 of the apartment, a red spot on either cheek, 
 "has done this?" 
 
 Mr. John Clemcy followed her. "Do not, I 
 beg," he said quietly, "notice it." 
 
 "Notice it! after your extreme hospitality - 
 oh! which one of my scholars can have forgot 
 ten herself enough to touch a thing?" 
 
 The groups parted a little, just enough to dis 
 close a shrinking figure. It was Lily, whose curi 
 ous fingers were clasped in distress. 
 
244 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "She is very young," said Miss Clemcy softly, 
 as Miss Salisbury detached her from the group, 
 and passed into another room, crying as if her 
 heart would break. 
 
 Mr. John Clemcy then came up to his sister 
 and her visitor. " Your sister must not take it so 
 to heart," he said. 
 
 Miss Anstice was worn out by this time, what 
 with her gown, and now by this terrible thing 
 that would bring such discredit upon their school ; 
 and besides, it might take ever so much from their 
 savings to replace, for Lily was poor, and was 
 a connection, so they perhaps would have to help 
 her out. She therefore could find no words at 
 her command, except, "Oh dear me!" and raised 
 her poor eyes. 
 
 Mr. John Clemcy searched her face intently, 
 and actually smiled to reassure her. She thought 
 he was looking at her gown; so she mumbled 
 faintly, to draw off his attention, "I am afraid 
 it was very valuable." 
 
 He didn t tell her it was one of the oldest bits 
 in his collection; but while Miss Clemcy slipped 
 off, and quietly picked up every piece of the 
 broken treasure, he turned the conversation, and 
 talked rapidly and charmingly upon something, 
 
THE BROKEN VASE 245 
 
 for the life of her, Miss Anstice never could 
 tell what. 
 
 And he was still talking when Miss Salisbury 
 brought back Lily by the hand, red-eyed anc 1 still 
 sniffling, to stumble over her pleas for pardon. 
 And then, the storm having abated, there were 
 instant preparations for departure set in motion. 
 And Mr. Kimball and his associates helped them 
 into their vehicles, Miss Clemcy s beautiful old 
 lace showing off finely on the great porch as 
 she bade them good-bye. 
 
 "It is real, I guess," declared Silvia, looking 
 closely from her seat next to Lucy. "And, oh 
 dear me, isn t this too horrible, what Lily 
 Gushing has done?" 
 
 Mr. John Clemcy helped the ladies in, Miss 
 Anstice putting forth all her powers to enable her 
 to ascend the steep steps without disclosing the 
 front breadth of her gown. Despite her best en 
 deavors, she felt quite sure that the keen eyes of 
 both brother and sister had discovered every 
 blemish. 
 
 Miss Salisbury sank back in her seat, as the 
 barge rolled off, quite in despair; for she knew 
 quite well that the broken vase was one of the 
 gems of the collection. 
 
246 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Oh, see the lovely rainbow!" The girls 
 spirits rose, now that they were once more on 
 the move. What was one broken vase, after all ? 
 Anc 1 they began to laugh and talk once more. 
 
 u Oh dear!" Polly Pepper glanced back. 
 : Alexia, this will just about kill our dear Miss 
 Salisbury!" she exclaimed. 
 
 "Well, I m clear beat," Mr. Kimball was say 
 ing to himself, as nobody paid attention. "You 
 might knock me over with a feather! To think 
 o that old reeduse that won t know nobody, 
 him nor his sister, an is so hifalutin smart, a- 
 bustin out so polite all of a suddint." 
 
XVI NEW PLANS 
 
 POLLY," said Jasper, " could you come into 
 the den?" 
 
 "Why, yes, Jasper," she cried, in surprise at 
 his face. "Oh, has anything happened?" 
 
 "No," he said, but the gloomy look did not 
 disappear. " Oh Polly, it s too bad to ask, 
 were you going to study?" with a glance at her 
 armful of books. 
 
 "No that is, I can do them just as well after 
 dinner." Polly dropped her books on the hall 
 chair. "Oh, what is it, Jasper?" running after 
 him into the den. 
 
 "It s just this, Polly, I hate to tell you" 
 He paused, and gloom settled worse than ever 
 over his face. 
 
 "Jasper," said Polly quite firmly, and she laid 
 her hand on his arm, "I really think you ought 
 to tell me right away what is on your mind." 
 
 "Do you really, Polly?" Jasper asked eagerly. 
 
 "Yes, I do," said Polly, "unless you had 
 247 
 
248 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 rather tell Mamsie. Perhaps that would be best, 
 Jasper." 
 
 "No, I don t really think it would in this case, 
 Polly. I will tell you." So he drew up a chair, 
 and Polly settled into it, and he perched on the 
 end of the table. 
 
 "You see, Polly," he began, "I hate to tell 
 you, but if I don t, why of course you can t in 
 the least understand how to help." 
 
 "No, of course I can t," said Polly, clasping 
 her hands together tightly, and trying to wait 
 patiently for the recital. Oh, what could it be! 
 
 "Well, Pickering isn t doing well at school," 
 said Jasper, in a burst. It was so much better 
 to have it out at once. 
 
 "Oh dear me!" exclaimed Polly, in sorrow. 
 
 "No, he isn t," said Jasper decidedly; "it 
 grows worse and worse." 
 
 "Dear me!" said Polly again. 
 
 "And now Mr. Faber says there isn t much 
 hope for him, unless he picks up in the last half. 
 He called me into his study to tell me that to 
 day wants me to influence him and all that." 
 
 All the hateful story was out at last. Polly 
 sprang out of her chair. 
 
 "You don t mean you can t mean, that 
 
NEW PLANS 249 
 
 Pickering will be dropped, Jasper?" she cried as 
 she faced him. 
 
 "Worse than that," answered Jasper gloomily. 
 
 "Worse than dropped!" exclaimed Polly with 
 wide eyes. 
 
 "To be dropped a class wouldn t kill Pick; so 
 many boys have had that happen, although it is 
 quite bad enough." 
 
 "I should think so," breathed Polly. 
 
 " But Pick will simply be shot out of the school," 
 said Jasper desperately; "there s no use in min 
 cing matters. Mr. Faber has utterly lost pa 
 tience; and the other teachers as well." 
 
 "You don t mean that Pickering Dodge will 
 be expelled?" cried Polly in a little scream. 
 
 "Yes." Jasper nodded his head, unable to 
 utter another word. Then he sprang off from 
 the table- end, and walked up and down the 
 room, as Polly sank back in her chair. 
 
 "You see, it s just this way, Polly," he cried. 
 "Pick has had warning after warning you 
 know the teachers have a system of sending writ 
 ten warnings around to the boys when they fall 
 behind in their work and he hasn t paid any 
 attention to them." 
 
 "Won t he pay attention to what the teachers 
 
250 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 write to him, Jasper?" asked Polly, leaning for 
 ward in her big chair to watch him anxiously as 
 he paced back and forth. 
 
 "No, calls them rubbish, and tears them up; 
 and sometimes he won t even read them," said 
 Jasper. "Oh, it s awful, Polly." 
 
 "I should say it was," said Polly slowly. 
 "Very awful indeed, Jasper." 
 
 "And the last time he had one from Herr 
 Frincke about his German, Pick brought it into 
 the room where a lot of us boys were, and read 
 it out, with no end of fun over it, and it went 
 into the scrap-basket; and he hasn t tackled his 
 grammar a bit better since; only the translations 
 he s up a trifle on." 
 
 "Oh, now I know why you wouldn t go to 
 ride with me for the last week," cried Polly, 
 springing out of her chair to rush up to him, 
 "you ve been helping Pickering," she declared, 
 with kindling eyes. 
 
 "Never mind," said Jasper uneasily. 
 
 "And it was splendid of you," cried Polly, the 
 color flying over her cheeks. "Oh Jasper, I do 
 believe you can pull him through." 
 
 "No, I can t, Polly." Jasper stood quite still. 
 "No one can pull him through, but you, Polly." 
 
NEW PLANS 251 
 
 "I!" exclaimed Polly in amazement. "Why, 
 Jasper King!" and she tumbled back a few steps 
 to stare at him. "What do you mean?" 
 
 "It s just this way." Jasper threw back his 
 hair from his hot forehead. "Pick doesn t care 
 a bit for what I say: it s an old story; goes in at 
 one ear, and out at the other." 
 
 "Oh, he does care for what you say," contra 
 dicted Polly stoutly, "ever and ever so much, 
 Jasper." 
 
 "Well, he s heard it so much; perhaps I ve 
 pounded at him too hard. And then again 
 Jasper paused, turned away a bit, and rushed 
 back hastily, with vexation written all over his 
 face. "I must speak it: I can t help him any 
 more, for somehow Mr. Faber has found it out, 
 and forbids it; that s one reason of the talk this 
 morning in his study says I must influence 
 him, and all that. That s rubbish; I can t in 
 fluence him." Jasper dashed over to lay his 
 head on the table on his folded arms. 
 
 "Polly, if Pick is expelled, I" he couldn t 
 finish it, his voice breaking all up. 
 
 Polly ran over to lay a hand on his shaking 
 shoulders. 
 
 "What can I do, Jasper?" she cried brokenly. 
 "Tell me, and I ll do it, every single thing." 
 
252 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "You must talk to him," said Jasper, raising 
 his head. It filled Polly with dismay to see his 
 face. "Get him in here; I ll bring him over 
 and then clear out of the den." 
 
 "Oh Jasper!" exclaimed Polly, quite aghast. 
 "I couldn t talk to Pickering Dodge. Why, he 
 wouldn t listen to me." 
 
 "Yes, he would," declared Jasper eagerly; 
 "he thinks everything of you, Polly, and if you ll 
 say the word, it will do more good than anything 
 else. Do, Polly," he begged. 
 
 "But, Jasper," began Polly, a little white line 
 coming around her mouth, "what would he 
 think to have me talk to him about his lessons?" 
 
 "Think?" repeated Jasper, "why, he d like it, 
 Polly, and it will be the very thing that will help 
 him." 
 
 "Oh, I can t!" cried Polly, twisting her fin 
 gers. Then she broke out passionately, " Oh, he 
 ought to be ashamed of himself not to study; and 
 there s that nice Mr. Cabot, and his aunt " 
 
 "Aunt ! " exclaimed Jasper explosively. " Polly, 
 I do believe if he hadn t her picking at him all 
 the time, he would try harder." 
 
 "Well, his uncle is different," said Polly, her 
 indignation by no means dying out. 
 
NEW PLANS 253 
 
 "Yes, but it s his aunt who makes the mis 
 chief. Honestly, Polly, I don t believe I could 
 stand her," said Jasper, in a loyal burst. 
 
 "No, I don t believe I could either," confessed 
 Polly. 
 
 "And you see, when a boy has such a home, 
 no matter what they give him, why, he doesn t 
 have the ambition that he would if things were 
 different. Just think, Polly, not to have one s 
 own father or mother." 
 
 "Oh Jasper!" cried Polly, quite overcome. 
 "I ll do it, I will." 
 
 "Polly!" Jasper seized her hands, and held 
 them fast, his dark eyes glowing. "Oh Polly, 
 that s so awfully good of you!" 
 
 "And you better run right over, and get him 
 now," said Polly, speaking very fast, "or I may 
 run away, I shall get so scared." 
 
 "You won t run away, I ll be bound," cried 
 Jasper, bursting into a merry laugh, and rushing 
 off with a light heart. And presently, in less 
 time than one could imagine, though to Polly it 
 seemed an age, back he came, Picketing with 
 him, all alive with curiosity to know what Polly 
 Pepper wanted of him. 
 
 "It s about the play, I suppose," he began, 
 
254 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 lolling into an easy-chair; Jasper wouldn t tell 
 me what it s all about; only seized me by the ear, 
 and told me to come on. Draw up your chair, 
 Jasper, and why, hullo! where is the chap?" 
 swinging his long figure around to stare. 
 
 " Pickering," began Polly; and the den, usually 
 the pleasantest place in all the house, was now 
 like a prison, whose walls wouldn t let her breathe, 
 "I don t know what to say. Oh dear me!" 
 Poor Polly could get no farther, but sat there in 
 hopeless misery, looking at him. 
 
 " Eh what? Oh, beg pardon," exclaimed 
 Pickering, whirling back in his chair, "but things 
 are so very queer; first Jasper rushes off like a 
 lunatic 
 
 "And I am worse," said Polly, at last finding 
 her tongue. "I don t wonder you think it s 
 queer, Pickering, but Jasper does so love you, 
 and it will just kill him if you don t study." It 
 was all out now, and in the most dreadful way. 
 And feeling that she had quite destroyed all hope, 
 Polly sat up pale and stiff in her chair. 
 
 Picker ng threw his long figure out of the easy- 
 chair, rushed up and down the den with immense 
 strides, and came back to stand directly in front 
 of her. 
 
NEW PLANS 255 
 
 "Do you mean it, Polly?" His long face was 
 working badly, and his hands were clenched, 
 but as they were thrust deep within his pockets, 
 Polly couldn t see them. 
 
 "Yes," said Polly, "I do, Pickering." 
 
 He stalked off again, but was back once more, 
 Polly wondering how she could possibly bear to 
 tell Jasper of her failure, for of course Pickering 
 was very angry; when he said, "Polly, I want to 
 tell you something." 
 
 "What is it?" Polly looked at him sharply, 
 and caught her breath. 
 
 "I won t drag Jasper down, I tell you, with 
 me. I ll get through somehow at school. I prom 
 ise you that. Here!" He twitched out his right 
 hand from its pocket, and thrust it out at her. 
 
 "Oh Pickering Dodge!" exclaimed Polly in a 
 transport, and seizing his hand, it was shaken 
 vigorously. 
 
 "There, that s a bargain," declared Pickering 
 solemnly. "I ll get through someway. And say, 
 Polly, it was awfully good of you to speak." 
 
 "It was awfully hard," said Polly, drawing a 
 long breath. "Oh, are you sure you are not 
 vexed, Pickering ? Very sure?" And Polly s face 
 drooped anxiously. 
 
256 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Vexed?" cried Pickering. "I should rather 
 say not! Polly, I m lazy and selfish, and good 
 for nothing; but I couldn t be vexed, for twas 
 awfully hard for you to do." 
 
 "I guess it was," said Polly. Then she gave a 
 little laugh, for it was all bright and jolly again, 
 and she knew that Pickering would keep his 
 word. 
 
 And that evening, after Jasper and she had a 
 dance they were so happy, they couldn t keep 
 still in the wide hall, Jasper burst out suddenly 
 with a fresh idea. 
 
 "Polly," he said, drawing her off to rest on 
 one of the high, carved chairs, "there s one more 
 thing." 
 
 "Oh, what is it. Jasper?" she cried gaily, with 
 flushed cheeks. "Oh, wasn t that spin just de 
 licious?" 
 
 "Wasn t it?" cried Jasper heartily. "Well, 
 now, Polly," flinging himself down on the next 
 chair, "it s just this. Do you know, I don t 
 believe we ought to have our play." 
 
 "Not have our play?" Polly peered around 
 to look closely into his face. "What do you 
 mean, Jasper?" 
 
 "You sec, Polly, Pick was to take a prominent 
 
NEW PLANS 257 
 
 part, and he ought not to, you know; it will 
 take him from his lessons to rehearse and all 
 that. And he s so backward there s a whole lot 
 for him to make up." 
 
 "Well, but Pickering will have to give up his 
 part, then," said Polly decidedly, "for we ve 
 simply got to have that play, to get the money to 
 help that poor brakeman s family." 
 
 Jasper winced. "I know; we must earn it 
 somehow," he said. 
 
 "We must earn it by the play," said Polly. 
 "And besides, Jasper, we voted at the club 
 meeting to have it. So there, now," she brought 
 up triumphantly. 
 
 "We could vote to rescind that vote," said 
 Jasper. 
 
 "Well, we don t want to. Why, Jasper, how 
 that would look on our two record books 1" said 
 Polly in surprise, for Jasper was so proud of his 
 club and its records. 
 
 "Yes, of course; as our two clubs united that 
 evening, it must go down in both books," said 
 Jasper slowly. 
 
 "Yes, of course," assented Polly happily. 
 "Well, now, you see, Jasper, that we really can t 
 give it up, for we ve gone too far. Pickering 
 
258 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 will have to let some one else take the part of 
 the chief brigand." For the little play was al 
 most all written by Polly s fingers, Jasper filling 
 out certain parts when implored to give advice.; 
 and brigands, and highway robberies, and buried 
 treasures, and rescued maidens, and gallant 
 knights, figured generously, in a style to give 
 immense satisfaction. 
 
 "And the play is so very splendid!" cried 
 Jasper. "Oh dear me! what ought we to do, 
 Polly?" He buried his face in his hands a 
 moment. 
 
 "Pickering must give up his part," said Polly 
 again. 
 
 "But, Polly, you know he has been in all our 
 plays," said Jasper. "And he ll feel so badly, 
 and now he s got all this trouble about his les 
 sons on his mind," and Jasper s face fell. 
 
 Polly twisted uncomfortably on her chair. "Oh 
 dear me!" she began, "I suppose we must give it 
 up." 
 
 "And if we gave it up, not altogether, but 
 put it off till he catches up on his studies," sug 
 gested Jasper, "why, he wouldn t be dropped 
 out." 
 
 "But the poor brakeman s family, Jasper," 
 
NEW PLANS 259 
 
 said Polly, puzzled that Jasper should forget the 
 object of the play. 
 
 "Oh, I didn t mean that we should put off 
 earning the money, Polly," cried Jasper, quite 
 horrified at such a thought. "We must do some 
 thing eke, so that we can sell just as many tickets." 
 
 "But what will it be? " asked Polly, trying not 
 tc :1 crushed, and sighing at the disappearance 
 of the beautiful play, for a time at least. 
 
 1 Well, we could have recitations, for one 
 thing," said Jasper, feeling dreadfully to see 
 Polly s disappointment, and concealing his own, 
 for he had set his heart on the play too. 
 
 "Oh dear me!" exclaimed Polly, wrinkling up 
 her face in disdain. "Jasper, do you know, I 
 am so tired of recitations 1 " 
 
 "So am I," Jasper bobbed his head in sym 
 pathy, "but we boys have some new ones, 
 learned for last exhibition, so Pick won t have 
 tc take a moment from his lessons. And then 
 we can have music, and you will play, Polly." 
 
 "Oh Jasper, I ve played so much," said 
 Polly, "they re all tired of hearing me." 
 
 "They never would be tired of hearing you, 
 Polly," said Jasper simply. "Every one of us 
 thinks you play beautifully." 
 
260 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "And tableaux and an operetta take just as 
 much time to rehearse," mused Polly, thinking 
 very hard if there wasn t something to keep 
 them from the dreaded recitations. 
 
 "And I just loathe an operetta or tableaux," 
 exclaimed Jasper, with such venom that Polly 
 burst out laughing. 
 
 "Oh Jasper, if you could see your face! --he 
 cried. 
 
 "I shouldn t want to," he laughed too; "but 
 of all insipid things, an operetta is the worst; 
 and tableaux the way Miss Montague drilled 
 and drilled and drilled us, and then stuck us up 
 like sticks not to move for a half-hour or so, 
 nearly finished me." 
 
 "So it did me," confessed Polly. "And be 
 sides, it would take a great deal more time to go 
 through all that drilling than to rehearse the 
 play." 
 
 "Of course it would," said Jasper, "so ta 
 bleaux, thank fortune, are not to be thought of. 
 I think it will have to be recitations and music, 
 Polly." 
 
 "I suppose so," she said with a sigh. "Oh 
 Jasper!" then she sprang off from her chair, and 
 clapped her hands. "I ve thought of the very 
 
NEW PLANS 261 
 
 thing. I believe Mr. Hamilton Dyce would tell 
 some of his funny stories and help out the pro 
 gram." 
 
 "Capital!" shouted Jasper; and just at this 
 moment the big front door opened, and the 
 butler ushered in Miss Mary Taylor and Mr. 
 Dyce. 
 
 Polly and Jasper rushed up to the visitors, for 
 they were prime favorites with the young people, 
 and precipitated upon them all their woes. The 
 end was, that they both promised beautifully to 
 do whatever was wanted, for Miss Mary Taylor 
 sang delightfully. 
 
 "And Pickering is safe, Polly, for I know now 
 he ll go through the last half," cried Jasper as 
 they ran off to study their lessons for the next 
 day. 
 
XVII PHRONSIE 
 
 \ ND after that, there was no more trouble 
 -f~^ about that program, for as luck would 
 have it, the very next day a letter came from 
 Joel, saying that Dr. Marks had given them a 
 holiday of a week on account of the illness of 
 two boys in their dormitory, and, "May I bring 
 home Tom Beresford? He s no-end fine!" and, 
 "Please, Mamsie, let me fetch Sinbad! Do 
 telegraph Yes. " 
 
 And Mother Fisher, after consultation with 
 Mr. King, telegraphed "Yes;" and wild was the 
 rejoicing over the return of Joel and David and 
 Percy and Van, and Tom; for Mother Fisher was 
 ready to receive with open arms, and very glad 
 silently to watch, one of Joel s friends. 
 
 "And to think that Sinbad is coming!" cried 
 Polly, dancing about. "Just think, Phronsie, 
 Joel s dear dog that Dr. Marks let him take to 
 the little cobbler to keep for him!" And she 
 took Phronsie s hand, and they spun around the 
 hall. 
 
 262 
 
PHRON3IE 
 
 I shall get him a new pink ribbon, declared 
 Phronsie breathlessly, when the spin was over. 
 
 " Do," cried Polly. " Dear me ! that was a 
 good spin, Phronsie!" 
 
 "I should think it was," said Ben. "Good 
 ness me! Polly, Phronsie and you made such a 
 breeze!" 
 
 "Didn t we, Pet! " cried Polly, with a last 
 kiss. "Oh Ben and Jasper, to think those boys 
 will be here for our entertainment!" 
 
 "I know Tom is made of the right stuff," 
 Mamsie said proudly to Father Fisher, "else my 
 boy would not choose him." 
 
 "That s a fact, wife," the little doctor responded 
 heartily. "Joel is all right; may be a bit heed 
 less, but he has a good head on his shoulders." 
 
 The five boys bounded into the wide hall that 
 evening Joel first ; and in his arms, a yellow 
 dog, by no means handsome, with small, beady 
 eyes, and a stubby tail that he was violently en 
 deavoring to wag, under the impression that he 
 had a good deal of it. 
 
 "Mamsie!" shouted Joel, his black eyes glow 
 ing, and precipitating himself into her arms, dog 
 and all, "See Sinbad! See, Mamsie!" 
 
 "It s impossible not to see him," said Ben. 
 
264 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Goodness me, Joe, what a dog!" which luckily 
 Joel did not hear for the babel going on around. 
 Besides, there was Phronsie trying to put her 
 arms around the dog, and telling him about the 
 pink ribbon which she held in her hand. 
 
 "Joe," said Dr. Fisher, who had been here, 
 there, and everywhere in the group, and coming 
 up to nip Joel s jacket, "introduce your friend. 
 You re a pretty one, to bring a boy home, 
 and" 
 
 "I forgot you, Tom," shouted Joel, starting 
 off, still hanging to his dog; "oh, there you are!" 
 seeing Tom in the midst of the circle, and talk 
 ing away to Grandpapa and Polly. 
 
 "As if I couldn t introduce Tom!" sniffed 
 Percy importantly, quite delighted at Joel s social 
 omissions. "I ve done it ages ago." 
 
 "All right," said Joel, quite relieved. "Oh 
 Phronsie, Sinbad doesn t want that ribbon on," 
 as Phronsie was making violent efforts to get it 
 around the dog s neck. 
 
 "I would let her, Joel," said Mother Fisher, 
 "if I were you." 
 
 "But he hates a ribbon," said Joel in disgust, 
 "and besides, he ll chew it up, Phronsie." 
 
 "I don t want him to chew it up, Joel," said 
 
PHRONSIE 265 
 
 Phronsie slowly, and pausing in her endeavors. 
 And she looked very sober. 
 
 "I ll tell you, Phronsie." Mrs. Fisher took 
 the pink satin ribbon that Phronsie had bought 
 with her own money. "Now, do you want 
 mother to tie it on?" 
 
 "Do, Mamsie," begged Phronsie, smoothing 
 her gown in great satisfaction. And presently 
 there was a nice little bow standing up on the 
 back of Sinbad s neck; and as there didn t seem 
 to be any ends to speak of, there was nothing to 
 distract his attention from the responsibility of 
 watching all the people. 
 
 "Oh, isn t he beautiful! " cried Phronsie in a 
 transport, and hopping up and down to clap her 
 hands. "Grandpapa dear, do look; and I ve 
 told Princey all about him, and given him a 
 ribbon too, so he won t feel badly." 
 
 And after this excitement had died down, Joel 
 whirled around. "Tom s brought his banjo," he 
 announced. 
 
 "Oh!" exclaimed Polly. 
 
 "And he can sing," cried Joel, thinking it best 
 to mention all the accomplishments at once. 
 
 " Don t, Joe," begged Tom, twitching his sleeve. 
 
 Polly looked over at Jasper, with sparkling 
 eyes, and the color flew into her cheeks. 
 
266 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 " Splendid!" his eyes signalled back. 
 
 "What is it?" cried Joel, giving each a sharp 
 glance. " Now you two have secrets; and that s 
 mean, when we ve just got home. What is it, 
 Polly?" He ran to her, shaking her arm. 
 
 "You ll see in time," said Polly, shaking him 
 off, to dance away. 
 
 "I don t want to know in time," said Joel, "I 
 want to know now. Mamsie, what is it?" 
 
 "I m sure I haven t the least idea," said 
 Mother Fisher, who hadn t heard Joel s announce 
 ment. "And I think you would do better, Joey, 
 to take care of your guest, and let other things 
 wait." 
 
 "Oh, Tom doesn t want to be fussed over," 
 said Joel carelessly; yet he went back to the tall 
 boy standing quite still, in the midst of the gen 
 eral hilarity. "That s just the way Ben and 
 Polly used to do in the little brown house," he 
 grumbled "always running away, and hiding 
 their old secrets from me, Tom." 
 
 "Well, we had to, if we ever told each other 
 anything," said Ben coolly. "Joel everlastingly 
 tagged us about, Beresford." 
 
 "Well, I had to, if I ever heard anything," 
 burst out Joel, with a laugh. "Come on, Tom," 
 and he bore him off together with Sinbad. 
 
PHRONSIE 267 
 
 "Polly," Jasper was saying, the two now being 
 off in a corner, "how fine! Now, perhaps Tom 
 Beresford will sing." 
 
 "And play," finished Polly, with kindling face. 
 "Oh Jasper, was anything ever so gorgeous!" 
 she cried joyfully, for Polly dearly loved high- 
 sounding words; "and we ll sell a lot more tick 
 ets, because he s new, and people will want to 
 hear him." 
 
 "If he will do it," said Jasper slowly, not want 
 ing to dampen her anticipation, but dreadfully 
 afraid that the new boy might not respond. 
 
 "Oh, he ll do it, I do believe," declared Polly 
 confidently; "he must, Jasper, help about that 
 poor brakeman s family." 
 
 And he did. Tom Beresford evidently made 
 up his mind, when he went home with Joel, to do 
 everything straight through that the family asked 
 him, for he turned out to be the best visitor they 
 had entertained, and one and all pronounced 
 him capital. All but Joel himself, who told him 
 very flatly the second day that he wasn t half as 
 nice as at school, for he was now running at 
 everybody s beck and nod. 
 
 "Instead of yours," said Tom calmly. Then 
 he roared. 
 
268 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Hush up," cried Joel, very uncomfortable, 
 and getting very red. " Well, you must acknowl 
 edge, Tom, that I want to see something of you, 
 else why would I have brought you home, pray 
 tell?" 
 
 "Nevertheless, I shall do what your sister 
 Polly and your mother and Jasper and Mr. King 
 ask me to do," said Tom composedly, which 
 was all Joel got for his fuming. And the most 
 that he saw of Tom after that was a series of 
 dissolving views, for even Phronsie began to 
 monopolize him, being very much taken with his 
 obliging ways. 
 
 At last Joel took to moping, and Ben found 
 him thus in a corner. 
 
 "See here, old fellow, that s a nice way, to 
 come home on a holiday, and have such a face. 
 I don t wonder you want to sneak in here." 
 
 "It s pretty hard," said Joel, trying not to 
 sniffle, "to have a fellow you bring home from 
 school turn his back on you." 
 
 "Well, he couldn t turn his back on you," said 
 Ben, wanting very much to laugh, but he re 
 strained himself, "if you went with him." 
 
 "I can t follow him about," said Joel, in a 
 loud tone of disgust. "He s twanging his old 
 
PHRONSIE 269 
 
 banjo all the time, and Polly s got him to sing, 
 and he s practising up. I wish twas smashed." 
 
 "What?" said Ben, only half comprehending. 
 
 "Why, his old banjo. I didn t think he d 
 play it all the time," said Joel, who was secretly 
 very proud of his friend s accomplishments; and 
 he displayed a very injured countenance. 
 
 "See here, now, Joe," said Ben, laying a very 
 decided hand on Joel s jacket, "do you just 
 drop all this, and come out of your hole. Aren t 
 you ashamed, Joe! Run along, and find Beres- 
 ford, and pitch into whatever he s doing." 
 
 "I can t do anything for that old concert," 
 said Joel, who obeyed enough to come "out of 
 the old hole," but stood glancing at Ben with 
 sharp black eyes. 
 
 "I don t know about that," said Ben, "you 
 can at least help to get the tickets ready." 
 
 "Did Polly say so?" demanded Joel, all in a 
 glow. "Say, Ben, did she?" advancing on him. 
 
 "No, but I do; for Polly asked me to do them; 
 and you know, Joe, how busy I am all day." 
 
 He didn t say "how tired" also, but Joel knew 
 how Ben was working at Cabot and Van Meter s, 
 hoping to get into business life the sooner, to 
 begin to pay Grandpapa back for all his kindness. 
 
270 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Ben, if I can help you with those tickets I ll 
 do it." Every trace of Joel s grumpiness had 
 flown to the four winds. "Let me, will you?" 
 he begged eagerly. 
 
 "All right." Ben had no need to haul him 
 along, as Joel raced on ahead up to Ben s room 
 to get the paraphernalia. 
 
 "I can t think what s become of Joel," said 
 Polly, flying down the long hall in great per 
 plexity, "we want him dreadfully. Have you 
 seen him, Phronsie?" 
 
 "No," said Phronsie, "I haven t, Polly," and 
 a look of distress came into her face. 
 
 "Never mind, Pet," said Polly, her brow clear 
 ing, "I ll find him soon." 
 
 But Phronsie watched Polly fly off, with a 
 troubled face. Then she said to herself, "I 
 ought to find Joey for Polly," and started on a 
 tour of investigation to suit herself. 
 
 Meanwhile Ben was giving Joel instructions 
 about the tickets; and Joel presently was so ab 
 sorbed he wouldn t have cared if all the Tom 
 Beresfords in the world had deserted him, as he 
 bent over his task, quite elated that he was help 
 ing Polly, and becoming one of the assistants to 
 make the affair a success. 
 
PHRONSIE 271 
 
 "I guess it s going to be a great thing, Ben," 
 he said, looking up a moment from the pink and 
 yellow pasteboard out of which he was cutting 
 the tickets. 
 
 "You better believe so," nodded Ben, hugely 
 delighted to see Joe s good spirits, when the door 
 opened, and in popped Phronsie s yellow head. 
 
 She ran up to Joel. "Oh Joey!" she hummed 
 delightedly, "I ve found you," and threw herself 
 into his arms. 
 
 Joel turned sharply, knife in hand. It was 
 all done in an instant. Phronsie exclaimed, 
 "Oh!" in such a tone that Ben, off in the corner 
 of the room, whirled around, to see Joel, white as 
 a sheet, holding Phronsie. "I ve killed her," he 
 screamed. 
 
 Ben sprang to them. The knife lay on the 
 table, where Joel had thrown it, a little red tinge 
 along the tip. Ben couldn t help seeing it as he 
 dashed by, with a groan. 
 
 "Give her to me," he commanded hoarsely. 
 
 "No, no I ll hold her," persisted Joel, 
 through white lips, and hanging to Phronsie. 
 
 "Give her to me, and run down for Father 
 Fisher." 
 
 "It doesn t hurt much, Joey," said Phronsie, 
 
272 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 holding up her little arm. A small stream of 
 blood was flowing down, and she turned away 
 her head. 
 
 Joel took one look, and fled with wild eyes. 
 "I don t believe it s very bad," Ben made him 
 self call after him hoarsely. "Now, Phronsie, 
 you ll sit in my lap there; and I ll keep this 
 old cut together as well as I can. We must hold 
 your arm up, so, child." Ben made himself talk 
 as fast as he could to keep Phronsie s eyes on him. 
 
 "I got cut in the little brown house once, 
 didn t I, Bensie?" said Phronsie, and trying to 
 creep up further into Ben s lap. 
 
 "You must sit straight, child," said Ben. Oh, 
 would Father Fisher and Mamsie ever come! for 
 the blood, despite all his efforts, was running 
 down the little arm pretty fast. 
 
 "Why, Ben?" asked Phronsie, with wide eyes, 
 and wishing that her arm wouldn t ache so, for 
 now quite a smart pain had set in. "Why, Ben 
 sie?" and thinking if she could be cuddled, it 
 wouldn t be quite so bad. 
 
 "Why, we must hold your arm up stiff," said 
 Ben, just as Mamsie came up to her baby, and 
 took her in her arms; and then Phronsie didn t 
 care whether the ache was there or not. 
 
PHRONSIE 
 
 273 
 
 "Joe couldn t help it," said Ben brokenly. 
 
 "I believe that," Mother Fisher said firmly. 
 "Oh Ben, the doctor is away." 
 
 Ben started. "I ll go down to the office; per 
 haps he s there." 
 
 "No; there s no chance. I ve sent for Dr. 
 Pennell. Your father likes him. Now Phron- 
 sie" -Mrs. Fisher set her white lips together 
 tightly "you and I and Ben will see to this 
 arm of yours. Ben, get one of your big handker 
 chiefs." 
 
 "It doesn t ache so very much, Mamsie," said 
 Phronsie, "only I would like to lay it down." 
 
 "And that is just what we can t do, Phronsie," 
 said Mother Fisher decidedly. "All right," to 
 Ben, "now tear it into strips." 
 
 Old Mr. King was not in the library when 
 Joel had rushed down with his dreadful news, 
 but was in Jasper s den, consulting with him 
 and Polly about the program for the enter 
 tainment, as Polly and Jasper, much to the old 
 gentleman s delight, never took a step without 
 going to him for advice. The consequence was 
 that these three did not hear of tlic accident till 
 a little later, when the two Whitney beys dashed 
 in with pale faces. " Phronsie s hurt," was their 
 
274 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 announcement, which wouldn t have been given 
 so abruptly had not each one been so anxious to 
 get ahead of the other. 
 
 Old Mr. King, not comprehending, had turned 
 sharply in his chair to stare at them. 
 
 "Hush, boys," warned Polly, hoarsely point 
 ing to him; "is Mamsie with her?" She didn t 
 dare to speak Phronsie s name. 
 
 "Yes," said Van, eager to communicate all 
 the news, and hoping Percy would not cut in. 
 But Percy, after Polly s warning, had stood quite 
 still, afraid to open his mouth. 
 
 Jasper was hunting in one of his drawers for 
 an old book his father had wished to see. So of 
 course he hadn t heard a word. 
 
 "Here it is, father," he cried, rushing back and 
 whirling the leaves "why, what?" for he saw 
 Polly s face. 
 
 "Oh Jasper don t," said Polly brokenly. 
 
 "Why do you boys rush in, in this manner?" 
 demanded old Mr. King testily. "And, Polly, 
 child, what is the matter?" 
 
 "Grandpapa," cried Polly, rushing over to 
 him to put her arms around his neck, "Phronsie 
 is hurt someway. 1 don t believe it is much," 
 she gasped, while Jasper ran to his other side. 
 
PHRONSIE 275 
 
 "Phronsie hurt!" cried old Mr. King in sharp 
 distress. "Where is she?" 
 
 Then Percy, seeing it was considered time for 
 communication of news, struck in boldly; and 
 between the two, all that was known of Joel s 
 wild exclamations was put before them. All 
 this was told along the hall and going over the 
 stairs; for Grandpapa, holding Polly s hand, with 
 Jasper hurrying fast behind them, was making 
 good time up to Ben s room. 
 
 "And Dr. Fisher can t be found," shouted 
 Van, afraid that the whole would not be told. 
 Polly gave a shiver that all her self-control could 
 not help. 
 
 u But Joel s gone for Dr. Pennell," screamed 
 Percy; "Mrs. Fisher sent him." 
 
 "He s very good," said Jasper comfortingly. 
 So this is the way they came into Ben s room. 
 
 "Oh, here s Grandpapa!" cooed Phronsie, try 
 ing to get down from Mamsie s lap. 
 
 "Oh, no, Phronsie," said Mrs. Fisher, "you 
 must sit still; it s better for your arm." 
 
 "But Grandpapa looks sick," said Phronsie. 
 
 "Bless me oh, you poor lamb, you!" Old 
 Mr. King went unsteadily across the room, and 
 knelt down by her side. 
 
276 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 " Grandpapa," said Phronsie, stroking his 
 white face, "see, it s all tied up high." 
 
 "Sit still, Phronsie," said Mrs. Fisher, keeping 
 her fingers on the cut. Would the doctor ever 
 come? Besides Joel, Thomas and several more 
 messengers were despatched with orders for Dr. 
 Pennell and to find Dr. Fisher, with the names 
 of other doctors if these failed. God would send 
 some one of them soon, she knew. 
 
 Phronsie obediently sat quite still, although 
 she longed to show Grandpapa the white ban 
 dages drawn tightly around her arm. And she 
 smoothed his hair, while he clasped his hands in 
 her lap. 
 
 "I want Polly," she said presently. 
 
 "Stay where you are, Polly," said her mother, 
 who had telegraphed this before with her eyes, 
 over Phronsie s yellow hair. 
 
 Polly, at the sound of Phronsie s voice, had 
 leaned forward, but now stood quite still, clasp 
 ing her hands tightly together. 
 
 "Speak to her, Polly," said Jasper. 
 
 But Polly shook her head, unable to utter a 
 sound. 
 
 "Polly, you must," said Jasper, for Phronsie 
 was trying to turn in her mother s lap, and saying 
 
PHRONSIE 277 
 
 in a worried way, "Where s Polly? I want 
 Polly." 
 
 "Polly is over there," said Mamsie, "but I do 
 not think it s best for her to come now. But 
 she ll speak to you, Phronsie." 
 
 "How funny!" laughed Phronsie. "Polly 
 can t come, but she ll talk across the room." 
 
 Everything turned black before Polly s eyes; 
 but she began, "Yes, Pet, I m here," very bravely. 
 
 "I am so glad you are there, Polly," said 
 Phronsie, easily satisfied. 
 
 Footsteps rapid and light were heard on the 
 stairs. Polly and Jasper flew away from the 
 doorway to let Dr. Pennell, his little case in his 
 hand, come in. 
 
 "Well, well!" he exclaimed cheerily, "so now 
 it s Phronsie; I m coming to her this time," for 
 he had often dropped in to call or to dine since 
 the railway accident. 
 
 "Yes," said Phronsie, with a little laugh of 
 delight, for she very much liked Dr. Pennell. 
 He always took her on his lap, and told her 
 stories; and he had a way of tucking certain 
 little articles in his pockets to have her hunt for 
 them. So they had gotten on amazingly well. 
 
 "Why, where - " Phronsie began in a puzzled 
 way. 
 
2 7 3 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Is Dr. Fisher?" Dr. Pennell finished it for 
 her, rapidly going on with his work. "Well, he ll 
 be here soon, I think. And you know he always 
 likes me to do things when he isn t on hand. So 
 I ve come." 
 
 ; And I like you very much," said Phronsie, 
 wriggling her toes in satisfaction. 
 
 "I know that; we are famous friends, Phron 
 sie," said the doctor, with one of those pleasant 
 smiles of his that showed his white teeth. 
 
 " What s famous?" asked Phronsie, keeping 
 her grave eyes on his face. 
 
 "Oh, fine; it means first-rate. We are fine 
 friends, aren t we, Phronsie?" 
 
 "Yes, we are," declared Phronsie, bending for 
 ward to see his work the better, and taking her 
 eyes from his face. 
 
 "There, there, you must sit quite straight. 
 That s a nice child, Phronsie. And see here! I 
 must take you sometime in my carriage when I 
 go on my calls. Will you go, Phronsie?" and 
 Dr. Pennell smiled again. 
 
 "Yes, I will." Phronsie nodded her yellow 
 head, while she fastened her eyes on his face. 
 "I used to go with Papa Fisher when I was at 
 the little brown house, and I liked it; I did." 
 
PHRONSIE 279 
 
 "Well, and now you will go with me," laughed 
 Dr. Pcnnell. "Now, Phronsie, I think you are 
 fixed up quite nicely," slipping the various ar 
 ticles he had used, deftly into his little bag, and 
 snapping it to. 
 
 "Not a very bad affair," he said, whirling 
 around to old Mr. King, drawn deeply within a 
 big chair, having already telegraphed the same to 
 Mother Fisher over Phronsie s head. 
 
 "Thank the Lord!" exclaimed the old gentle 
 man. 
 
 "Well, now I m going to send every one out 
 of the room," announced Dr. Pennell, authorita 
 tively. "Hurry now!" he clapped his hands and 
 laughed. 
 
 Old Mr. King sat quite still, fully determined 
 not to obey. But the doctor, looking over him 
 fixedly, seemed to expect him to leave; and al 
 though he still had that pleasant smile, he didn t 
 exactly give the impression that his medical 
 authority could be tampered with. So the old 
 gentleman found himself outside the door. 
 
 "And now, we must find Joel," Polly was 
 saying to Jasper. 
 
XVIII TOM S STORY 
 
 JOEL had no cause to complain now that Tom 
 Beresford did not stick to him, for there he 
 was hanging over him as he crouched into as 
 small a heap as possible into a corner of Mam- 
 sie s sofa. 
 
 And there he had been ever since Joel had 
 rushed in with Dr. Pennell; when, not daring to 
 trust himself up in Ben s room, he had dashed 
 for refuge to Mainsie s old sofa. 
 
 Tom had not wasted many words, feeling sure 
 under similar circumstances he shouldn t like to 
 be talked to; but he had occasionally patted Joel s 
 stubby head in a way not to be misunderstood, 
 and once in a while Joel thrust out a brown hand 
 which Tom had gripped fast. 
 
 "It s all right, old boy, I verily believe," Tom 
 cried with sudden energy, "so brace up; what s 
 the use of your going to pieces, anyway?" 
 
 "It s Phronsie," gasped Joel, and burrowing 
 deeper into the cushion. 
 280 
 
TOM S STORY 281 
 
 "Well, I know it," said Tom, gulping down 
 his sorrow, for he had petted Phronsie a good 
 deal; so he was feeling the blow quite sharply 
 himself, "but you won t help matters along any, 
 I tell you, by collapsing." 
 
 "Go out into the hall, will you, Tom," begged 
 Joel, huddling down, unwilling to listen himself, 
 "and see if you can hear anything." 
 
 So Tom skipping out into the wide upper hall, 
 thankful for any action, but dreading the errand, 
 stole to the foot of the stairs, and craned his ear 
 to catch the faintest sound from above. 
 
 There was only a little murmur, for Dr. Pennell 
 was in the midst of operations, and not enough 
 to report. Thankful that it was no worse, 
 Tom skipped back. "All s quiet along the 
 Potomac." 
 
 "Ugh!" exclaimed Joel, burrowing deeper. 
 Suddenly he threw himself up straight and re 
 garded Tom out of flashing eyes. "I ve killed 
 Phronsie," he cried huskily, "and you know it, 
 and won t tell me!" 
 
 "Joel Pepper!" cried Tom, frightened half out 
 of his wits, and rushing to him; "lie down again," 
 laying a firm hand on his shoulder. 
 
 "I won t," roared Joel wildly, and shaking 
 
282 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 him off. "You re keeping something from me, 
 Tom." 
 
 "You re an idiot," declared Tom, thinking it 
 quite time to be high-handed, "a first-class, howl 
 ing idiot, Pepper, to act so. If you don t be 
 lieve me, when I say I haven t anything to keep 
 back from you, I ll go straight upstairs. Some 
 one will tell me." 
 
 " Hurry along," cried Joel feverishly. But 
 Tom had gotten no further than the hall, when 
 Joel howled, "Come back, Tom, I ll try to 
 -to bear it." And Tom flying back, Joel 
 was buried as far as his face went, in Mamsie s 
 cushion, sobbing as if his heart would break. 
 
 "It will disturb them," he said gustily, in 
 between his sobs. 
 
 Tom Beresford let him cry on, and thrust his 
 hands in his pockets, to stalk up and down the 
 room. He longed to whistle, to give vent to his 
 feelings; but concluding that wouldn t be under 
 stood, but be considered heartless, he held him 
 self in check, and counted the slow minutes, for 
 this was deadly tiresome, and beginning to get 
 on his nerves. "I shall screech myself before 
 long, I m afraid." 
 
 At last Joel rolled over. "Come here, do, 
 
TOM S STORY 283 
 
 Tom," and when Tom got there, glad enough to 
 be of use, Joel pulled him down beside the sofa, 
 and gripped him as only Joel could. "Do you 
 mind, Tom? I want to hang on to something." 
 
 "No, indeed," said Tom heartily, vastly pleased, 
 although he was nearly choked. "Now you re 
 behaving better." He patted him on the back. 
 "Hark, Joe! The doctor s laughing!" 
 
 They could hear it distinctly now, and as long 
 as he lived, Joel thought, he never heard a sweeter 
 sound. He sprang to his feet, upsetting Tom, 
 who rolled over on his back to the floor. 
 
 Just then in rushed Polly and Jasper, surround 
 ing him, and in a minute, "Oh, is Tom sick?" 
 
 "No," said Tom, picking himself up grimly, 
 "only Joe s floored me, he was so glad to hear 
 the doctor laugh." 
 
 " Oh, you poor, poor boy ! " Polly was mother 
 ing Joel now, just as Mamsie would have done; 
 and Tom looking on with all his eyes, as he 
 thought of his own home, with neither mother 
 nor sister, didn t hear Jasper at first. So Jasper 
 pulled his arm. 
 
 "See here, Beresford, you and I will go down 
 ;o the library, I think." 
 
 "All right," said Tom, allowing himself to be 
 
284 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 led off, though he would much have preferred 
 remaining. 
 
 "Now, Joel," said Polly, after they had gone, 
 and the petting had continued for some minutes, 
 "you must just be a brave boy, and please 
 Mamsie, and stop crying," for Joel had been 
 unable to stop the tears. 
 
 "I I didn t see Phronsie coming," 
 wailed Joel afresh. 
 
 "Of course you didn t," said Polly, stroking 
 his black curls. "Why, Joey Pepper, did you 
 think for an instant that any one blamed you?" 
 She leaned over and set some kisses, not dis 
 turbing Joel that some of them fell on his stubby 
 nose. 
 
 "N-no," said Joel, through the rain of drops 
 down his cheeks, "but it; was Phronsie, Polly." 
 It was no use to try to check him yet, for the 
 boy s heart was almost broken, and so Polly let 
 him cry on. But she bestowed little reassur 
 ing pats on his shaking shoulders, all the while 
 saying the most comforting things she could 
 think of. 
 
 "And just think, Joey," she cried suddenly, 
 "you were the one who found Dr. Pennell. Oh, 
 I should think you d be so glad!" 
 
TOM S STORY 285 
 
 "I am glad," said Joel, beginning to feel a 
 ray of comfort. 
 
 "And how quickly you brought him, Joe!" 
 said Polly, delighted at the effect of her last 
 remark. 
 
 "Did I?" said Joel in a surprised way, and 
 roused out of his crying; "I thought it was ever 
 so long, Polly." 
 
 "I don t see how you ever did it, Joel, in all 
 this world," declared Polly positively. 
 
 Joel didn t say that it was because he was a 
 sprinter at school, he found himself equal to the 
 job; nor did he think it of enough importance to 
 mention how many people he had run into, leav 
 ing a great amount of vexation in his rear as he 
 sped on. 
 
 "He was just going out of his door," he an 
 nounced simply. 
 
 "Oh Joey!" gasped Polly. Then she hugged 
 him rapturously. "But you caught him." 
 
 "Yes, I caught him, and we jumped into his 
 carriage; and that s all." 
 
 "But it was something to be always proud of," 
 cried Polly, in a transport. 
 
 Joel, feeling very glad that there was some 
 thing to be proud of at all in this evening s 
 
286 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 transactions, sat up quite straight at this, and 
 wiped his eyes. 
 
 "Now that s a good boy," said Polly encour 
 agingly. "Mamsie will be very glad." And she 
 ran over to get a towel, dip it in the water basin, 
 and bring it back. 
 
 "Oh, that feels so good!" said Joel, with a 
 wintry smile, as she sopped his red eyelids and 
 poor, swollen nose. 
 
 "So it must," said Polly pitifully, "and I m 
 going to bring the basin here, and do it some 
 more." Which she did; so that by the time 
 Phronsie was brought downstairs to sleep in Mrs. 
 Fisher s room, Joel was quite presentable. 
 
 "Here they come!" announced Polly radiantly, 
 hearing the noise on the stairs, and running back 
 to set the basin and towel in their places. "Now, 
 Joey, you can see for yourself that Phronsie is all 
 right." 
 
 And there she was, perched on Dr. PennelPs 
 shoulder, to be sure, and Mamsie hurrying in 
 to her boy, and everything was just as beautiful 
 as it could be! 
 
 "See, Joel, I m all fixed up nice," laughed 
 Phronsie from her perch. 
 
 Joel s mouth worked dreadfully, but he saw 
 
"SEE, JOEL, I M ALT, FIXED UP NICK," LAUGHED PHRONSIE 
 FROM HER PERCH. 
 
TOM S STORY 287 
 
 Mamsie s eyes, so he piped up bravely, "I m so 
 glad, Phronsie." It sounded very funnily, for it 
 died away in his throat, and he couldn t have 
 said another word possibly; but Phronsie was 
 sleepy, and didn t notice. And then the doctor 
 said they must go out; so with a last glance at 
 Phronsie, to be sure that she was all right, Joel 
 went off, Polly holding his hand. 
 
 The next evening they were all drawn up be 
 fore the library fire; Polly on the big rug with 
 Joel s head in her lap, his eyes fixed on Phronsie, 
 who was ensconced in an easy-chair, close to 
 which Grandpapa was sitting. 
 
 "Tell stories, do, Polly," begged Van. 
 
 "Yes, do, Polly," said little Dick, who had 
 spent most of the day in trying to get near to 
 Phronsie, keeping other people very much oc 
 cupied in driving him off, as she had to be very 
 quiet. "Do, Polly," he begged. 
 
 "Oh, Polly s tired," said Jasper, knowing that 
 she had been with Phronsie all her spare time, 
 and looking at the brown eyes which were droop 
 ing a bit in the firelight. 
 
 "Oh, no, I will," said Polly, rousing herself, 
 and feeling that she ought not to be tired, when 
 Phronsie was getting well so fast, and everything 
 
288 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 was so beautiful "I ll tell you one. Let me 
 see, what shall it be about?" and she leant her 
 head in her hands to think a bit. 
 
 "Let her off," said Jasper; "do, boys. I ll 
 tell you one instead," he said. 
 
 "No, we don t want yours," said Van, not 
 very politely. "We want Polly s." 
 
 "For shame, Van!" said Percy, who dearly 
 loved to reprove his brother, and never allowed 
 the occasion to slip when he could do so. 
 
 "For shame yourself!" retorted Van, flinging 
 himself down on the rug. "You re everlastingly 
 teasing Polly to do things when she s tired to 
 death. So there, Percy Whitney." 
 
 "Oh, I ll tell the story," Polly said, hastily 
 bringing her brown head up, while Phronsie be 
 gan to look troubled. 
 
 "I d like to tell a story," said Tom Beresford 
 slowly, where he sat just back of the big rug. 
 
 All the young folks turned to regard him, and 
 Van was just going to say, "Oh, we don t want 
 yours, Tom," when Polly leaned forward, "Oh, 
 will you will you, Tom?" so eagerly that 
 Van hadn t the heart to object. 
 
 "Yes, I will," promised Tom, nodding at her. 
 "Well, get down on the rug, then," said Jas- 
 
TOM S STORY 289 
 
 per, moving up; "the story-teller always has to 
 have a place of honor here." 
 
 "That so?" cried Tom; "well, here goes," 
 and he precipitated himself at once into the 
 midst of things. 
 
 "Ow! get out," cried Van crossly, and giving 
 him a push. 
 
 "Oh Vanny!" said Polly reprovingly. 
 
 "Well, he s so big and long," grumbled Van, 
 who didn t fancy anybody coming between him 
 and Polly. 
 
 "I might cut off a piece of my legs," said 
 Tom, "to oblige you, I suppose. They are 
 rather lengthy, and that s a fact," regarding them 
 as they stretched out in the firelight. "I ll curl 
 em up in a twist like a Turk," which he did. 
 
 "Well, now," said Jasper, "we are ready. So 
 fire ahead, Beresford." 
 
 Joel, who all this time had been regarding his 
 friend curiously, having never heard him tell a 
 story at Dr. Marks school, couldn t keep his 
 eyes from him, but regarded him with a fixed 
 stare, which Tom was careful to avoid, by look 
 ing steadily into the fire. 
 
 "Well, now, I m not fine at expressing my 
 self," he began. 
 
2 9 o FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "I should think not," put in Joel uncompli- 
 mentarily. 
 
 "Joe, you beggar, hush up!" said Jasper, with 
 a warning pinch. 
 
 "Yes, just sit on that individual, will you, 
 Jasper?" said Tom, over his shoulder, "or I 
 never will even begin." 
 
 So, Jasper promising to quench all further dis 
 turbance on Joel s part, the story was taken up. 
 
 "I can only tell a plain, unvarnished tale," 
 said Tom, "but it s one that ought to be told, 
 and in this very spot. Perhaps you don t any 
 of you know, that in Dr. Marks school it s 
 awfully hard to be good." 
 
 "Is it any harder than in any other school, 
 Tom?" asked Mrs. Fisher quietly. 
 
 Tom turned, to reply: "I don t know, Mrs. 
 Fisher, because I haven t been at any other 
 school. But I can t imagine a place where every 
 thing is made so hard for a boy. To begin with, 
 there is old Fox." 
 
 "Oh Tom!" exclaimed Phronsie, leaning for 
 ward, whereat old Mr. King laid a warning 
 hand upon the well arm. "There, there, Phron 
 sie; sit back, child;" so she obeyed. "But, 
 Grandpapa, he said there was an old fox at 
 
TOM S STORY 291 
 
 Joey s school," she declared, dreadfully excited, 
 and lifting her face to his. 
 
 "Well, and so she is, Phronsie," declared Tom, 
 whirling his long body suddenly around, thereby 
 receiving a dig in the back from Van, who con 
 sidered him intruding on his space, "a fox by 
 name, and a fox by nature; but we ll call her, 
 for convenience, a person." 
 
 "She s the matron," said Percy, feeling called 
 upon to explain. 
 
 "Oh!" said Phronsie, drawing a long breath, 
 "but I thought Tom said she was a fox, Grand 
 papa." 
 
 "That s her name," said Tom, nodding at her; 
 "Jemima Fox isn t that a sweet name, Phron 
 sie?" 
 
 "I don t think it is a very sweet one, Tom," 
 said Phronsie, feeling quite badly to be obliged 
 to say so. 
 
 "I agree with you," said Tom, while the 
 others all laughed. "Well, Phronsie, she s just 
 as far from being nice as her name is." 
 
 "Oh dear me!" exclaimed Phronsie, looking 
 quite grieved. 
 
 "But I have something nice to tell you," said 
 Tom quickly, "so I ll hurry on, and let the other 
 
292 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 personages at Dr. Marks slide. Well, but I 
 want you all to understand, though" and he 
 wrinkled up his brows, " that when a fellow 
 does real, bang-up, fine things at that school, it 
 means something. You will, won t you?" He 
 included them all now in a sweeping glance, 
 letting his blue eyes rest the longest on Mrs. 
 Fisher s face; while Phronsie broke in, "What s 
 bang-up, Grandpapa?" 
 
 "You must ask Tom," replied Grandpapa, 
 with a little laugh. 
 
 "Oh, that s just schoolboy lingo," Tom made 
 haste to say, as his face got red. 
 
 "What s lingo?" asked Phronsie, more puz 
 zled than before. 
 
 "That s that s oh, dear!" Tom s face 
 rivalled the firelight by this time, for color. 
 
 "Phronsie, I wouldn t ask any more questions 
 now," said Polly gently. "Boys say so many 
 things; and it isn t necessary to know now. Let s 
 listen to the story." 
 
 "I will," said Phronsie, feeling quite relieved 
 
 that it wasn t really incumbent on her to ask for 
 
 explanations. So she sat back quietly in her big 
 
 chair, while Tom shot Polly a grateful look. 
 
 "Well, there are lots of chaps at our school," 
 
TOM S STORY 293 
 
 went on Tom "i suppose there are at all 
 schools, but at any rate we have them in a big 
 quantity, who are mad when they see the 
 other boys get on." 
 
 "Oh, Tom!" exclaimed Polly. 
 "Yes, they are mad clear through," declared 
 Tom positively. "And it s principally in athlet 
 ics." Phronsic made a little movement at this 
 word, but, remembering that she was not to ask 
 questions, for Polly had said so, she became quiet 
 again. 
 
 "They simply can t bear that a boy gets ahead 
 of em; it just knocks em all up." Tom was 
 rushing on, with head thrown back and gazing 
 into the fire. 
 
 "Tom," said Joel, bounding up suddenly to 
 take his head out of Polly s lap, and to sit quite 
 straight, "I wouldn t run on like this if I were 
 you." 
 
 "You hush up, Pepper," said Tom coolly. "I 
 haven t said a word about you. I shall say what 
 I like. I tell you, it does just knock em all up. 
 I know, for I ve been that way myself." 
 
 This was getting on such dangerous ground, 
 that Joel opened his mouth to remonstrate, but 
 Polly put her hand over it. " I d let Torn tell his 
 
294 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 story just as he wants to," which had the effect 
 of smothering Joel s speech for the time being. 
 
 "I thought, Jasper, you were going to quench 
 Joe," observed Tom, who seemed to have the 
 power to see out of the back of his head, and 
 now was conscious of the disturbance. "You 
 don t seem to be much good." 
 
 "Oh, Polly s doing it this time," said Jasper; 
 "I ll take him in tow on the next offence." 
 
 "Yes, I have, 1 declared Tom, "been that way 
 myself. I m going to tell you how, and then I ll 
 feel better about it." His ruddy face turned 
 quite pale now, and his eyes shone. 
 
 "Stop him," howled Joel, all restraint thrown 
 to the winds, and shaking off Polly s fingers. 
 
 Jasper leaned forward. "I m bound to make 
 you keep the peace, Joe," he said, shaking his 
 arm. 
 
 "But he s going to tell about things he ought 
 not to," cried Joel, in an agony. "Do stop him, 
 Jasper." 
 
 Mother Fisher leaned forward, and fastened 
 
 her black eyes on Joel s face. "I think Tom 
 
 better go on, Joel," she said. "I want to hear 
 
 it." 
 
 That settled the matter; and Joel threw him- 
 
TOM S STORY 295 
 
 self down, his face buried in Polly s lap, while he 
 stuck his fingers in his ears. 
 
 "I m going to tell you all this story," Tom 
 was saying, "because I ought to. You won t 
 like me very well after it, but it s got to come 
 out. Well, I might as well mention names now, 
 since Joe has got to keep still. You can t guess 
 how he s been tormented by some of those cads, 
 simply because he s our best tennis player, and 
 on the football team. They ve made things hum 
 for him!" Tom threw back his head, and 
 clenched his fist where it lay in his lap. "And 
 the rest of us boys got mad, especially at one of 
 them. He was the ringleader, and the biggest 
 cad and bully of them all." 
 
 No one said a word. 
 
 "I hate to mention names; it seems awfully 
 mean." Tom s face got fiery red again. "And 
 yet, as you all know, why, it can t be helped. 
 Jenkins well there, a fellow would want to be 
 excused from speaking to him. And yet" 
 down fell Tom s head shamefacedly "I let 
 him show me how he was going to play a das 
 tardly trick on Joe, the very day of the tennis 
 tournament. I did, that s a fact." 
 
 No one spoke; but Tom could feel what might 
 
296 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 have been said had the thoughts all been ex 
 pressed, and he burst out desperately, "I let 
 that cad take Joe s racket." 
 
 A general rustle, as if some speech were coming, 
 made him forestall it by plunging on, "His beau 
 tiful racket he d been practising with for this 
 tournament; and I not only didn t knock the 
 scoundrel down, but I helped the thing along. I 
 wouldn t have supposed I could do it. Joe was 
 to play with Ricketson against Green and me; 
 and two minutes after it was done, I d have 
 given everything to have had it back on Joe s 
 table. But the boys were pouring up, and it 
 was hidden." 
 
 Tom could get no further, but hung his head 
 for the reaction sure to set in against him by all 
 this household that had welcomed and enter 
 tained him so handsomely. 
 
 "Has he got through? has the beggar fin 
 ished?" cried Joel lustily. 
 
 "Yes," said Polly, in a low voice, "I think he 
 has, Joel." 
 
 "Then I want to say" -Joel threw himself 
 over by Tom, his arms around him "that he*s 
 the biggest fraud to spring such a trap on me, 
 and plan to get off that yarn here." 
 
TOM S STORY 297 
 
 "I didn t intend to when I came," said Tom, 
 thinking it necessary to tell the whole truth. 
 "I hadn t the courage." 
 
 "Pity you had now!" retorted Joel. "Oh, you 
 beggar! " He laid his round cheek against Tom s. 
 "Mamsie, Grandpapa, Polly," his black eyes 
 sweeping the circle, "if I were to tell you all 
 that this chap has done for me, why, he took 
 me to the place where Jenk hid the racket." 
 
 "Pshaw! that was nothing," said Tom curtly. 
 
 "Nothing? Well, I got it in time for the tour 
 nament. You saw to that. And when Jenk and 
 I were having it out in the pine grove that night, 
 Tom thought he better tell Dave; though I can t 
 say I thank you for that," brought up Joel re 
 gretfully, "for I was getting the best of Jenk." 
 
 Old Mr. King had held himself well in check 
 up to this point. "How did you know, Tom, 
 my boy, that Joel and er this 
 
 "Jenk," furnished Joel. 
 
 "Yes er Jenk, were going to settle it that 
 night?" 
 
 "Why, you see, sir," Tom, in memory of the 
 excitement and pride over Joel s prowess, so far 
 recovered himself as to turn to answer, "Joel 
 couldn t very well finish it there, for the dormi- 
 
298 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 tory got too hot for that sort of thing; although 
 it would have been rare good sport for all the 
 fellows to have seen Jenk flat, for he was always 
 beating other chaps I mean little ones, not 
 half his size." 
 
 "Oh dear me!" breathed Polly indignantly. 
 
 "Yes; well, Joe promised Jenk he would finish 
 it some other time; and Jenk dared him, and 
 taunted him after the tournament. He was wild 
 with rage because Joel won; and he lost his head, 
 or he would have let Joe alone." 
 
 "I see," exclaimed Grandpapa, his eyes shin 
 ing. "Well, and so you sat up and watched the 
 affair." 
 
 "I couldn t go to bed, you know," said Tom 
 simply. 
 
 "And he would have saved us, Dave and me, 
 if that Jenk hadn t locked the door on us when 
 he slipped in." 
 
 "Cad!" exclaimed Tom, between his teeth. 
 "He ought to have been expelled for that. And 
 then Joe shinned up the conductor and you 
 know the rest." 
 
 Mother Fisher shivered, and leaned over in 
 voluntarily toward her boy. 
 
 "Mamsie," exclaimed Joel, "you don t know 
 
TOM S STORY 299 
 
 what Tom is to me, in that school. He s just 
 royal that s what he is!" with a resounding 
 slap on his back. 
 
 "And I say so too," declared Mother Fisher, 
 with shining eyes. 
 
 "What?" roared Tom, whirling around so 
 suddenly that Van this time got out of the way 
 only by rolling entirely off from the rug. "Mrs. 
 Fisher you can t, after I ve told you this, al 
 though I m no-end sorry about the racket. I 
 didn t want to tell, fought against it, but I had 
 to." 
 
 "I stand by what I ve said, Tom," said Mrs. 
 Fisher, putting out her hand, when Tom imme 
 diately laid his big brown one within it. At this, 
 Joel howled with delight, which he was unable 
 to express enough to meet his wishes; so he 
 plunged off to the middle of the library floor, 
 and turned a brace of somersaults, coming up 
 red and shining. 
 
 "I feel better now," he said; " that s the way 
 I used to do in the little brown house when I 
 liked things." 
 
XIX THE GRAND ENTERTAINMENT 
 
 OUGHT we to, Mamsie?" asked Polly. 
 Jasper and she were in Mrs. Fisher s 
 room, and they both waited for the reply anx 
 iously. 
 
 "Yes, Polly, I think you ought," said Mother 
 Fisher. 
 
 "Oh dear me! Phronsie can t have only a lit 
 tle bit of it," said Polly. 
 
 "I know it. But think, Polly, the boys have 
 to go back to school so soon that even if other 
 people didn t care if it were postponed, they 
 would lose it. Besides, Tom is to be one of 
 the chief people on the program. No, no, Polly, 
 there are others to think of outside of ourselves. 
 You must have your entertainment just as it 
 is planned," Mrs. Fisher brought up very de 
 cidedly. 
 
 "Well," sighed Polly, "I am glad that Papa 
 Fisher says that Phronsie can hear a little part of 
 it, anyway." 
 
 300 
 
THE GRAND ENTERTAINMENT 301 
 
 " Yes," said her mother cheerfully, "and Helen 
 Fargo is to sit next to her. Mrs. Fargo is to 
 take her home early, as she has not been very 
 well. So you see, Polly, it will all turn out very 
 good after all." 
 
 "But I did so want Phronsie to be there 
 through the whole," mourned Polly. 
 
 "So did I," echoed Jasper. Then he caught 
 Mother Fisher s ey?. "But, Polly, the boys 
 would lose it then," he added quickly. 
 
 "Oh!" cried Polly, "so they would; I keep 
 forgetting that. Dear me! why isn t everything 
 just right, so that they all could hear it?" And 
 she gave a little flounce. 
 
 "Everything is just right, Polly," said Mrs. 
 Fisher gravely; "don t let me hear you complain 
 of things that no one can help." 
 
 "I didn t mean to complain, Mamsie," said 
 Polly humbly; and she crept up to her, while 
 Jasper looked very much distressed. 
 
 "Mother knows you didn t," said Mrs. Fisher, 
 putting her arm around her, "but it s a bad 
 habit, Polly, to be impatient when things don t 
 go rightly. Now run away, both of you," she 
 finished brightly, "and work up your program," 
 and she set a kiss on Polly s rosy cheek. 
 
302 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Jasper," cried Polly, with happiness once 
 more in her heait as they raced off, "I tell you 
 what we can do. We must change the pro 
 gram, and put those things that Phronsie likes, up 
 first." 
 
 "That s so," cried Jasper, well pleased. " Now, 
 what will they be, Polly?" 
 
 "Why, Mr. Dyce s story of the dog," said 
 Polly, "for one thing; Phronsie thinks that s per 
 fectly lovely, and always asks him for it when he 
 tells her stories." 
 
 "All right," said Jasper. "What next?" 
 
 "Why, Tom must sing one of his funny songs." 
 
 "Yes, of course. That will please her ever so 
 much," cried Jasper. " Don t you know how she 
 claps her hands when he s rehearsing, Polly?" 
 
 "Yes; oh, I wouldn t have her miss that for 
 anything, Jasper," said Polly. 
 
 "No, indeed," cried Jasper heartily. "Well, 
 Polly, then what ought to come next? Let s 
 come into the den and fix it up now." 
 
 So they ran into the den; and Jasper got out 
 the long program all ready to be pinned up be 
 side the improvised stage, on the evening of the 
 great event, and spread it on the table, Polly 
 meanwhile clearing off the books. 
 
THE GRAND ENTERTAINMENT 303 
 
 "Let s see." He wrinkled up his brow, run 
 ning his finger down the whole length. "Now, 
 when I make the new program, Mr. Dyce goes 
 first." 
 
 Polly stood quite still at that. "Oh, Jasper, 
 we can t do it no, never in all this world." 
 
 "Why, Polly," he turned suddenly " yes, 
 we can just as easily. See, Polly." 
 
 "We can t spoil that lovely program that took 
 you so long to make, for anything," said Polly, 
 in a decisive fashion. "Phronsie wouldn t want 
 it," she added. 
 
 "Phronsie isn t to know anything about it," 
 said Jasper, just as decidedly. 
 
 "Well, but Jasper, you can t make another; 
 you haven t the time," said Polly in great distress, 
 and wishing she hadn t said anything about the 
 changes. "I didn t think there would have to 
 be a new program made." 
 
 "Oh, Polly, I think we d better have a new 
 one," said Jasper, who was very particular about 
 everything 
 
 "I thought we were going to have changes 
 announced from the stage," said Polly. "Oh, 
 why can t we, Jasper? I m sure they do that 
 very often." 
 
304 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Well, that s when the changes come at the 
 last moment," said Jasper reluctantly. 
 
 "Well, I m sure this is the last moment," said 
 Polly. "The entertainment is to-morrow night, 
 and we ve ever so much to do yet. Please, Jas 
 per." That "please, Jasper," won the day. 
 
 "All right, Polly," he said. "Well, now let s 
 see what ought to come after Tom s song." 
 
 "Well, Phronsie is very anxious to hear Pick 
 ering s piece; I know, because I heard her tell 
 Mamsie so." 
 
 "Why, she has heard Pick recite that ever so 
 many times since he learned it for our school ex 
 hibition," said Jasper. 
 
 "And don t you know that s just the very 
 reason why she wants it again?" said Polly, 
 with a little laugh. 
 
 "Yes, of course," said Jasper, laughing too. 
 "Well, she must have it then. So down goes 
 Pick." He ran to the table drawer and drew out 
 a big sheet of paper. "First, Mr. Dyce, then 
 Tom Beresford, then Pickering Dodge," writing 
 fast. 
 
 "And then," said Polly, running up to look 
 over his shoulder, "Phronsie wants dreadfully to 
 hear Tom play on his banjo." 
 
THE GRAND ENTERTAINMENT 305 
 
 "Oh, Polly," - Jasper threw back his head to 
 look at her "I don t believe there ll be time 
 for all that; you know the music by Miss Taylor 
 comes first as an overture. We can t change 
 that." 
 
 "Why," exclaimed Polly in dismay, "we must, 
 Jasper, get Tom s banjo in; and there s Percy s 
 piece. Phronsie wouldn t miss that for any 
 thing." 
 
 u Why, we shall have the whole program in if we 
 keep on," said Jasper, looking at her in dismay. 
 
 "Oh, Jasper, Papa Fisher says that Phronsie 
 may stay in twenty minutes. Just think; we 
 can do a lot in twenty minutes." 
 
 "But somebody is bound to be late, so we 
 can t begin on time. Nobody ever does, Polly." 
 
 "We must," said Polly passionately, "begin 
 on time to-morrow night, Jasper." 
 
 "We ll try," said Jasper, as cheerfully as he 
 could manage. 
 
 "And there s your piece. Why, Jasper, Phron 
 sie told me herself that she must hear yours." 
 
 "Well, and so she told me that she d rather 
 hear you play your piece," said Jasper; "but you 
 and I, Polly, as long as we change the program, 
 can t come in among the first." 
 
306 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "No, of course not," said Polly. "But, oh, 
 Jasper," and she gave a sigh, "it s too bad that 
 you can t recite yours, for it is most beautiful!" 
 Polly clasped her hands and sighed again. 
 
 "Well, that s not to be thought of," said Jas 
 per. "Now I tell you how we ll fix it, Polly," 
 he said quickly. 
 
 "How?" asked Polly gloomily. 
 
 "Why, we have twenty minutes that Phronsie 
 can stay in. Now, let s mark off all those things 
 that she wants, except yours and mine, even if 
 they come beyond the time; and then we ll draw 
 just those that will get into the twenty minutes." 
 
 "Oh, Jasper, what a fine idea!" exclaimed 
 Polly, all her enthusiasm returning. 
 
 "Well, mark off half of em, and I ll write the 
 others," said Jasper, tearing off strips from his 
 big sheet of paper. So Polly and he fell to work ; 
 and presently "Pick," and "Tom" ("that s for 
 the song," said Polly), and "Banjo," and "Mr. 
 Dyce," and "Percy," went down on the little 
 strips. 
 
 "Oh, and I forgot," said Polly, raising her 
 head from her last strip, "Phronsie wanted to 
 hear Clare very much indeed." 
 
 "Well, we should have had the whole program 
 
"()H, I DO HOPE I SHALL DRAW THE RIGHT ONE, JASPER." 
 
THE GRAND ENTERTAINMENT 307 
 
 with a vengeance," said Jasper, bursting into a 
 laugh. "Well, put him down, Polly." 
 
 So "Clare" went down on another strip, and 
 then they were all jumbled up in a little Chinese 
 bowl on the bookcase. 
 
 "Now, you draw first, Polly," said Jasper. 
 
 "Oh, no, let us choose for first draw," said 
 Polly; "that s the way to be absolutely right." 
 
 So she ran back to the table and tore off two 
 more strips, one short and the other long, and 
 fixed them in between her hands. 
 
 "You didn t see ? " she asked over her shoulder. 
 
 "Not a wink," said Jasper, laughing. 
 
 So Polly ran back, and Jasper drew the short 
 one. "There; you have it, Polly!" he cried 
 gleefully. "Oh, that s good!" 
 
 "Oh, I do hope I shall draw the right one, 
 Jasper," she said, standing on tiptoe, her fingers 
 trembling over the bowl. 
 
 "They are all of them good," said Jasper en 
 couragingly. So Polly suddenly picked out one; 
 and together they read, "Tom." 
 
 "Fine!" they shouted. 
 
 "Oh, isn t that perfectly splendid?" cried 
 Polly, "because, you see, Phronsie did so very 
 much wish to hear Tom sing," just as if she 
 
3 o8 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 hadn t mentioned that fact before, "Now Tas- 
 
 * "^ 
 
 per." 
 
 "I m in much the same predicament as you 
 were," said Jasper, pausing, his hand over the 
 bowl. "If I shouldn t choose the right one 
 Polly!" 
 
 "They are all of them good," said Polly, laugh 
 ing at his face. 
 
 "Oh, I know, but it is a fearful responsibility," 
 said Jasper, wrinkling his brows worse yet. 
 "Well, here goes!" 
 
 He plunged his fingers in, and out they came 
 with the strip, " Percy." 
 
 " Now, Jasper, you couldn t possibly have chosen 
 better," declared Polly, hopping up and down, 
 "for Phronsie did so want to hear Percy speak. 
 And it will please Percy so. Oh, I m so glad!" 
 
 "Well, I m thankful I haven t to draw again," 
 declared Jasper, "for we can t have but three 
 pieces beside the overture, you know. So it s 
 your turn now, Polly." 
 
 "Oh dear me!" exclaimed Polly, the color 
 
 dying down in her cheek, "if I shouldn t draw 
 
 the right one, Jasper King; and it s the last 
 
 chance." 
 
 She stood so long with her hand poised over 
 
THE GRAND ENTERTAINMENT 309 
 
 the Chinese bowl, that Jasper finally laughed out. 
 "Oh, Polly, aren t your tiptoes tired?" 
 
 "Not half so tired as I am," said Polly grimly. 
 "Jasper, I m going to run across Uie room, and 
 then run back and draw suddenly without stop 
 ping to think." 
 
 "Do," cried Jasper. 
 
 So Polly ran into the further corner, and came 
 flying up, to get on her tiptoes, thrust in her fin 
 gers, and bring out the third and last strip. 
 
 "The deed is done!" exclaimed Jasper. 
 " Now, Polly, let s see who it is." 
 
 "Pick!" he shouted. 
 
 And "Pickering!" screamed Polly. And they 
 took hold of hands and spun round and round 
 the den. 
 
 "Oh, dear, we re knocking off your beautiful 
 program," cried Polly, pausing in dismay. 
 
 " It hasn t hurt it any our mad whirl hasn t," 
 said Jasper, picking up the long program where 
 it had slipped off the table to the floor. "Polly, 
 you can t think how I wanted Pick to be chosen. 
 It will do him so much good." 
 
 "And only think, if I hadn t chosen him out 
 of that bowl!" cried Polly, in dismay at the 
 very thought. 
 
310 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Well, you did, Polly, so it s all right," said 
 Jasper. "Now everything is fixed, and it s going 
 to be the finest affair that ever was," he added 
 enthusiastically; "and the best of it is I can t 
 help it, Polly that Mrs. Chatterton isn t to 
 come back till next week," he brought up in 
 great satisfaction. 
 
 Mrs. Chatterton had gone to New York for 
 some weeks, but was to return to finish her visit 
 at "Cousin Horatio s." 
 
 "And I am so glad too," confessed Polly, but 
 feeling as if she oughtn t to say it. "And isn t 
 everything just beautiful, Jasper!" 
 
 "I should think it was!" cried Jasper jubi 
 lantly. "Just as perfect as can be, Polly." 
 
 And the next afternoon, when the last prepara 
 tions for the grand entertainment were made, and 
 everybody was rushing off to dress for dinner, a 
 carriage drove up the winding driveway. There 
 were big trunks on the rack, and two people inside. 
 
 Joel, racing along the hall with Tom at his 
 heels, took one look. "Oh, whickets!" he ejacu 
 lated, stopping short, to bring his feet down with 
 a thud. 
 
 "What s the row?" asked Tom, plunging up 
 to him in amazement. 
 
THE GRAND ENTERTAINMENT 311 
 
 "That person." Joel pointed a finger at the 
 carriage. "I must tell Polly," and off he 
 darted. 
 
 Tom, not feeling at all sure that he ought to 
 wait to see "that person," wheeled about and 
 followed. 
 
 "Polly," roared Joel, long before he got to her. 
 "She s come!" 
 
 "Has she?" Polly called back, supposing he 
 meant Alexia. "Well, tell her to come up here, 
 Joe, in my room." 
 
 Joel took the stairs two at a time, Tom waiting 
 below, and dashed into the blue and white room 
 without ceremony. 
 
 "Polly, you don t understand," he blurted out; 
 "she s come!" 
 
 Polly had her head bent over a drawer, picking 
 out some ribbons. At the sound of Joel s voice 
 she drew it out and looked at him. 
 
 "Why, how funny you look, Joe!" she said. 
 "What is the matter?" 
 
 "I guess you d look funny," said Joel glumly, 
 "if you d seen Mrs. Chatterton." 
 
 " Not Mrs. Chatterton!" exclaimed Polly aghast; 
 and jumping up, her face very pale, and upset 
 ting her box of ribbons, she seized Joel s arm. 
 
> 12 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Tell me this very minute, Joel Pepper," she 
 commanded, "what do you mean?" 
 
 "Mrs. Chatterton has just come. I saw her 
 coming up the drive. There s Johnson now let 
 ting her in." Joel had it all out now in a burst, 
 ready to cry at sight of Polly s face, as the bustle 
 in the hall below and the thin, high voice pro 
 claimed the worst. 
 
 "Oh, Joel, Joel!" mourned Polly, releasing his 
 arm to wring her hands. "What shall we do?" 
 
 "She s an old harpy," declared Joel; "mean, 
 horrid, old thing!" 
 
 "Oh, stop, Joel!" cried Polly, quite horrified. 
 
 "Well, she is," said Joel vindictively, "to come 
 before we d got jack to school." 
 
 "W 7 ell, don t say so," begged Polly, having 
 hard work to keep back her own words, crow r ding 
 for utterance. "Mamsie wouldn t like it, Joey." 
 
 Joel, with this thought on his mind, only grum 
 bled out something so faintly that really Polly 
 couldn t hear as she ran out into the hall. 
 
 "Oh, Jasper!" 
 
 "Polly, did you know? What can we do?" 
 It was impossible for him to conceal his vexation. 
 And Polly lost sight of her own discomfiture, in 
 the attempt to comfort him. 
 
THE GRAND ENTERTAINMENT 313 
 
 "And father it will just make him as miser 
 able as can be," said Jasper gloomily. "And 
 he was so happy over the beautiful time we were 
 going to have this evening." He was so vexed 
 he could do nothing but prance up and down the 
 hall. 
 
 "Well, we must make him forget that she is 
 here," said Polly, swallowing her own distress at 
 the change of all the conditions. 
 
 "How can we, Polly?" Jasper stopped for a 
 minute and stared at her. 
 
 "I mean," said Polly, feeling that it was a very 
 hopeless case after all, "that we mustn t show 
 that we mind it, her coming back, and must act as 
 if we forgot it ; and then that will keep him happy 
 perhaps." 
 
 "If you only will, Polly," cried Jasper, seizing 
 both of her hands, "it will be the best piece of 
 work you ever did." 
 
 "Oh, I can t do it alone," exclaimed Polly, in 
 consternation. "Never in all this world, Jasper, 
 unless you help too." 
 
 "Then we ll both try our very best," said Jas 
 per. "I m sure I ought to; twould be mean 
 enough to expect you to go at such a task 
 alone." 
 
314 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Oh, you couldn t be mean, Jasper," declared 
 Polly, in horror at the very thought. 
 
 "Well, I should be if I left you to tackle this 
 by yourself," said Jasper, with a grim little laugh. 
 "So Polly, there s my hand on it. I ll help you." 
 
 And Polly ran back to pick up her ribbons 
 and dress for dinner, feeling somehow very happy 
 after all, that there was something she could do 
 for dear Grandpapa to help him bear this great 
 calamity. 
 
 Tom Beresford, meanwhile, withdrew from the 
 great hall when Johnson ushered in the tall, 
 stately woman and her French maid, and took 
 shelter in the library. And Mrs. Whitney, com 
 ing over the stairs, saying, "Well, Cousin Eunice, 
 did you have a pleasant journey?" in the gentle 
 voice Tom so loved, gave him the first inkling 
 of the relationship. But he wrinkled his brows 
 at Joel s exclamation, and his queer way of rush 
 ing off. 
 
 "You know journeys always tire me, Marian. 
 So that your question is quite useless. I will sit 
 in the library a moment to recover myself. Hor- 
 tense, go up and prepare my room," and she 
 sailed into the apartment, her heavy silk gown 
 swishing close to Tom s chair. 
 
THE GRAND ENTERTAINMENT 315 
 
 "Who is that boy?" she demanded sharply. 
 Then she put up her lorgnette, and examined 
 him closely as if of a new and probably danger 
 ous species. 
 
 Tom slipped off from his chair and stiffened 
 up. 
 
 "It s one of Joel s friends," said Mrs. Whit 
 ney, slipping her hand within the tall boy s arm. 
 "The boys a.re at home from school for a week." 
 
 "Joel s friends," repeated Mrs. Chatterton, pay 
 ing scant attention to the rest of the information. 
 Then she gave a scornful cackle. "Haven t you 
 gotten over that nonsense yet, Marian?" she 
 asked. 
 
 "No; and I trust I never shall," replied Mrs. 
 Whitney with a happy smile. "Now, Cousin 
 Eunice, as you wish to rest, we will go," and she 
 drew Tom off. 
 
 "My boy," she said, releasing him in the hall, 
 to give a bright glance up at the stormy, aston 
 ished face above her, " I know you and Joel will 
 get dressed as rapidly as possible for dinner, for 
 my father will not want to be annoyed by a lack 
 of promptness to-night." She did not say, "be 
 cause he will have annoyance enough," but Tom 
 guessed it all. 
 
3i6 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "I will, Mrs. Whitney," he promised heartily. 
 And, thinking he would go to the ends of the 
 earth for her, to be smiled on like that, he plunged 
 off over the stairs. 
 
 "I ve seen the old cat," he cried in smothered 
 wrath to Joel, rushing into his room. 
 
 Joel sat disconsolately on the edge of his bed, 
 kicking off his heavy shoes, to replace with his 
 evening ones. 
 
 "Have you?" said Joel grimly. "Well, isn t 
 she a- then he remembered Mamsie, and 
 snapped his lips to. 
 
 "A," exclaimed Tom, in smothered wrath, 
 as he closed the door. "She isn t a at all, Joe. 
 She s the. " 
 
 "Well, do be still," cried Joel, putting on his 
 best shoes nervously, "or you ll have me saying 
 something. And she s visiting here; and Mamsie 
 wouldn t like.it. Don t, Tom," he begged. 
 
 "I won t," said Tom, with a monstrous effort, 
 "but oh dear me!" Then he rushed into his 
 own room and banged about, getting his best 
 clothes out. 
 
 "Shut the door," roared Joel after him, "or 
 you ll begin to fume, and I can t stand it, Tom; 
 it will set me off." 
 
THE GRAND ENTERTAINMENT 317 
 
 So Tom shut the door; and with all these 
 precautions going on over the house, all the 
 family in due time appeared at dinner, prepared 
 as best they could be to bear the infliction of 
 Mrs. Chatterton s return. 
 
 And after the conclusion of the meal, why, 
 everybody tried to forget it as much as possible, 
 and give themselves up to the grand affair of 
 the evening. 
 
 And old Mr. King, who had been consumed 
 with fear that it would have a disastrous effect 
 on Polly and Jasper, the chief getters- up of the 
 entertainment, came out of his fright nicely; for 
 there they were, as bright and jolly as ever, and 
 fully equal to any demands upon them. So he 
 made up his mind that, after all, he could put up 
 with Cousin Eunice a bit longer, and that the 
 affair was to be an immense success and the 
 very finest thing possible. 
 
 And everybody else who was present on the 
 eventful occasion, said so too! And it seemed 
 as if Mr. King s spacious drawing-room, famous 
 for its capacity at all such times, couldn t pos 
 sibly have admitted another person to this enter 
 tainment for the benefit of the poor brakeman s 
 family. 
 
3 i8 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 And Joel, who wasn t good at recitations, and 
 who detested all that sort of thing, and Van, for 
 the same reason, were both in their element as 
 ticket takers. And the little pink and yellow 
 squares came in so thick and fast that both boys 
 had all they could do for a while which was 
 saying a good deal to collect them. 
 
 And everybody said that Miss Mary Taylor 
 had never played such a beautiful overture 
 and she was capable of a good deal along that 
 line in all her life; and Phronsie, sitting well 
 to the front, between old Mr. King and Helen 
 Fargo, forgot that she ever had a hurt arm, and 
 that it lay bandaged up in her lap. 
 
 And little Dick, when he could lose sight of 
 the fact that he wasn t next to Phronsie instead 
 of Helen Fargo, snuggled up contentedly against 
 Mother Fisher, and applauded everything straight 
 through. 
 
 And old Mr. King protested that he was per 
 fectly satisfied with the whole thing, which was 
 saying the most that could be expressed for the 
 quality of the entertainment; and he took par 
 ticular pains to applaud Tom Beresford, who 
 looked very handsome, and acquitted himself 
 well. 
 
THE GRAND ENTERTAINMENT 319 
 
 "I must," said Tom to himself, although quak 
 ing inwardly, "for they ve all been so good to 
 me and for Joel s sake!" So he sang at his 
 very best. And he played his banjo merrily, and 
 he was encored and encored; and Joel was as 
 proud as could be, which did Tom good to see. 
 
 And Percy well, the tears of joy came into 
 his mother s eyes, for it wasn t easy for him to 
 learn pieces, nor in fact to apply himself to study 
 at all. But no one would have suspected it to 
 see him now on that stage. And Grandpapa 
 King was so overjoyed that he called "Bravo 
 bravo!" ever so many times, which carried Percy 
 on triumphantly over the difficult spots where he 
 had been afraid he should slip. 
 
 "If only his father could hear him!" sighed 
 Mrs. Whitney in the midst of her joy, longing as 
 she always did for the time when the father could 
 finish those trips over the sea, for his business 
 house. 
 
 Polly had made Jasper consent, which he did 
 reluctantly, to give his recitation before she 
 played; insisting that music was really better 
 for a finale. And she listened with such delight 
 to the applause that he received for ever so 
 many of the audience said it was the gem of the 
 
320 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 whole that she quite forgot to be nervous about 
 her own performance; and she played her noc 
 turne with such a happy heart, thinking over the 
 lovely evening, and how the money would be, 
 oh, such a heap to take down on the morrow to 
 the poor brakeman s home, that Jasper was turn 
 ing the last page of her music and the enter 
 tainment was at an end! 
 
 Polly hopped off from the music stool. There 
 was a great clapping all over the room, and 
 Grandpapa called out, " Yes, child, play again," 
 so there was nothing for Polly to do but to hop 
 back again and give them another selection. And 
 then they clapped harder yet; but Polly shook 
 her brown head, and rushed off the stage. 
 
 And then, of course. Grandpapa gave them, as 
 he always did, a fine party to wind up the evening 
 with. And the camp chairs were folded up and 
 carried off, and a company of musicians came 
 into the alcove in the spacious hall, and all 
 through the beautiful, large apartments festivity 
 reigned! 
 
 "Look at the old cat," said Tom in a smoth 
 ered aside to Joel, his next neighbor in the "Sir 
 Roger de Covcrley." "Isn t she a sight!" 
 
 "I don t want to," said Joel, with a grimace, 
 
THE GRAND ENTERTAINMENT 321 
 
 "and it s awfully mean in you, Tom, to ask 
 me." 
 
 "I know it," said Tom penitently, "but I 
 can t keep my eyes off from her. How your 
 grandfather can stand it, Pepper, I don t see." 
 
 And a good many other people were asking 
 themselves the same question, Madam Dyce 
 among the number, to whom Mrs. Chatterton 
 was just remarking, "Cousin Horatio is certainly 
 not the same man." 
 
 "No," replied Madam Dyce distinctly, "he is 
 infinitely improved; so approachable now." 
 
 "You mistake me," Mrs. Chatterton said an 
 grily, "I mean there is the greatest change come 
 over him; it s lamentable, and all brought about 
 by his inexplicable infatuation over those low 
 born Pepper children and their designing mother." 
 
 "Mrs. Chatterton," said Madam Dyce she 
 could be quite as stately as Mr. King s cousin, 
 and as she felt in secure possession of the right 
 in the case, she was vastly more impressive - 
 "1 am not here to go over this question, nor shall 
 I discuss it anywhere with you. You know my 
 mind about it. I only wish I had the Peppers 
 - yes, every single one of them," warmed up 
 the old lady, "in my house, and that fine 
 woman, their mother, along with them." 
 
XX THE CORCORAN FAMILY 
 
 AND on the morrow oh, what a heap of 
 money there was for the poor brakeman s 
 family ! four hundred and twelve dollars. For 
 a good many people had fairly insisted on pay 
 ing twice the amount for their tickets; and a 
 good many more had paid when they couldn t 
 take tickets at all, going out of town, or for 
 some other good reason. 
 
 And one old lady, a great friend of the family, 
 sent for Polly Pepper the week before. And 
 when Polly appeared before the big lounge, - 
 for Mrs. Sterling was lifted from her bed to lie 
 under the sofa-blankets all day, she said, 
 "Now, my dear, I want to take some tickets for 
 that affair of yours. Gibbons, get my check 
 book." 
 
 So Gibbons, the maid, brought the check-book, 
 and drew up the little stand with the writing- 
 case upon it close to the lounge, and Mrs. Sterling 
 did a bit of writing; and presently she held out a 
 long green slip of paper. 
 322 
 
THE CORCORAN FAMILY 323 
 
 "Oh!" cried Polly, in huge delight, "I ve 
 never had one for my very own self before." 
 There it was, " Polly Pepper," running clear 
 across its face. And "Oh!" with wide eyes, 
 when she saw the amount, "twenty-five dollars!" 
 
 "Haven t you so?" said Mrs. Sterling, greatly 
 pleased to be the first in one of Polly s pleasures. 
 
 "Oh!" cried Polly again, "twenty-five dol 
 lars!" And she threw herself down before the 
 lounge, and dropped a kiss upon the hand that 
 had made all this happiness for the brakeman s 
 poor children. 
 
 "Well now, Polly, tell me all about it," said 
 Mrs. Sterling, with a glow at her heart warm 
 enough to brighten many a long invalid day. 
 " Gibbons, get a cricket for Miss Mary." 
 
 "Oh, may I sit here?" begged Polly eagerly, as 
 Gibbons, placing the little writing-case back into 
 position, now approached with the cricket; "it s 
 so cosey on the floor." 
 
 "Why, yes, if you don t wish the cricket," 
 said Mrs. Sterling with a little laugh, "and I 
 remember when I was your age it was my great 
 est delight to sit on the floor." 
 
 "It is mine," said Polly, snuggling up to the 
 sofa-blankets. 
 
3 2 4 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 Mrs. Sterling put out her thin hand, and took 
 Polly s rosy palm. "Now begin, dear," she said, 
 with an air of content, and looking down into 
 the bright face. 
 
 So Polly, realizing that here perhaps was need 
 for help, quite as much as in the poor brake- 
 man s home, though in a different way, told the 
 whole story, how the two clubs, the Salisbury 
 School Club and the boys club, had joined to 
 gether to help Jim Corcoran s children; how they 
 had had a big meeting at Jasper s house, and 
 promised each other to take hold faithfully and 
 work for that object. 
 
 "We were going to have a little play," ob 
 served Polly, a bit sorrowfully, "but it was thought 
 best not, so it will be recitations and music." 
 
 "Those will be very nice, I am quite sure, 
 Polly," said Mrs. Sterling; "how I should love 
 to hear some of them!" It was her turn to look 
 sad now. 
 
 "Why- Polly sat up quite straight now, 
 and her cheeks turned rosy. 
 
 "What is it, my child?" asked Mrs. Sterling. 
 
 "W T ould you I mean, do you want oh, 
 Mrs. Sterling, would you like us to come here 
 some time to recite something to you?" 
 
THE CORCORAN FAMILY 3 2 5 
 
 Mrs. Sterling turned an eager face on her 
 pillow. 
 
 "Are you sure, Polly," a light coming into her 
 tired eyes, "that you young people would be 
 willing to come to entertain a dull, sick, old 
 woman?" 
 
 "Oh, I am sure they would," cried Polly, "if 
 you would like it, dear Airs. Sterling." 
 
 "Like it I" Mrs. Sterling turned her thin face 
 to the wall for a moment. When she looked 
 again at Polly, there were tears trickling down 
 the wasted cheeks. "Polly, you don t know," 
 she said brokenly, "how I just long to hear 
 young voices here in this dreary old house. To 
 lie here day after day, child - 
 
 "Oh!" cried Polly suddenly, "it must be so 
 very dreadful, Mrs. Sterling." 
 
 "Well, don t let us speak of that," said Mrs. 
 Sterling, breaking off quickly her train of thought, 
 "for the worst isn t the pain and the weakness, 
 Polly. It s the loneliness, child." 
 
 "Oh!" said Polly. Then it all rushed over 
 her how she might have run in before, and taken 
 the other girls if she had only known. "But we 
 will come now, clear Mrs. Sterling," she said 
 aloud. 
 
326 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Do," cried Mrs. Sterling, and a faint color 
 began to show itself on her thin face, "but not 
 unless you are quite sure that the young people 
 will like it, Polly." 
 
 "Yes, I am sure," said Polly, with a decided 
 nod of her brown head. 
 
 "Then why couldn t you hold some of your 
 rehearsals here?" proposed Mrs. Sterling. 
 "Shouldn t we tire you? " asked Polly. 
 "No, indeed!" declared Mrs. Sterling, with 
 sudden energy, "I could bear a menagerie up 
 here, Polly," and she laughed outright. 
 
 Gibbons, at this unwonted sound, popped her 
 head in from the adjoining room where she was 
 busy with her sewing, to gaze in astonishment at 
 her mistress. 
 
 "I am not surprised at your face, Gibbons," 
 said Mrs. Sterling cheerily, "for you have not 
 heard me laugh for many a day." 
 
 "No, madam, I haven t," said Gibbons, "but 
 I can t help saying I m rejoiced to hear it now," 
 with a glance of approval on Folly Pepper. 
 
 "So, Polly, you see there is no danger of your 
 bringing me any fatigue, and I should be only 
 too happy to see you at your next rehearsal." 
 "We can come, I am almost sure," said Polly, 
 
THE CORCORAN FAMILY 327 
 
 "those of us who want to rehearse at all. Some 
 of us, you see, are quite sure of our pieces: Pick 
 ering Dodge is, for one; he spoke at his last 
 school exhibition. But I ll tell the others. Oh, 
 thank you for asking us, Mrs. Sterling." 
 
 "Thank you for giving your time, dear, to a 
 dull old woman," said Mrs. Sterling. "Oh, 
 must you go?" She clung to her hand. "I 
 suppose you ought, child." 
 
 "Yes," said Polly, "I really ought to go, Mrs. 
 Sterling. And you are not dull, one single bit, 
 and I like you very much," she added as simply 
 as Phronsie would have said it. 
 
 "Kiss me good-bye, Polly," said Mrs. Sterling. 
 So Polly laid her fresh young cheek against the 
 poor, tired, wasted one; hopped into her jacket, 
 and was off on happy feet. 
 
 And the others said "Yes," when they saw 
 Polly s enthusiasm over the plan of holding 
 a rehearsal at Mrs. Sterling s; and Jasper pro 
 posed, "Why couldn t we repeat the whole thing 
 after our grand performance, for her sometime?" 
 and, before any one could quite tell how, a warm 
 sympathy had been set in motion for the rich, 
 lonely old lady in the big, gloomy stone mansion 
 most of them passed daily on their way to school 
 
328 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 Well, the grand affair was over now, and a 
 greater success than was ever hoped for. Now 
 came the enjoyment of presenting the money! 
 
 "Grandpapa," said Polly, "we are all here." 
 
 "So I perceive," looking out on the delegation 
 in the hall. For of course all the two clubs 
 couldn t go to the presentation, so committees 
 were chosen to represent them Polly, Clem, 
 Alexia, and Silvia, for the Salisbury Club, and 
 Jasper, Clare, Pickering, and Richard Burnett 
 for the boys club; while old Mr. King on his 
 own account had invited Joel, Percy and Van, 
 and, of course, Tom Beresford. 
 
 "My! What shall we do with such a lot of 
 boys?" exclaimed Alexia, as they all met in the 
 hall. 
 
 "You don t have to do anything at all with 
 us, Alexia," retorted Joel, who liked her the best 
 of any of Polly s friends, and always showed it 
 by sparring with her on every occasion, "only 
 let us alone." 
 
 "Which I shall proceed to do with the great 
 est pleasure," said Alexia. "Goodness me! Joe, 
 as if I d be bothered with you tagging on. You re 
 much worse than before you w r ent away to 
 school." 
 
THE CORCORAN FAMILY 329 
 
 "Come, you two, slop your quarrelling," said 
 Jasper, laughing. "A pretty example you d 
 make to those poor Corcoran children." 
 
 "Oh, we sha n t fight there," said Alexia 
 sweetly; "we ll have quite enough to do to see 
 all that is going on. Oh, Polly, when do you 
 suppose we can ever start?" 
 
 "Father has the bank-book," announced Jas 
 per; "I saw him put it in his pocket, Polly." 
 
 Polly gave a little wriggle under her coat. 
 "Oh, Jasper, isn t it just too splendid for any 
 thing!" she cried. 
 
 "I m going to walk with Polly," announced 
 Clem, seizing Polly s arm, "so, Alexia Rhys, I 
 give you fair warning this time." 
 
 "Indeed, you re not," declared Alexia stoutly. 
 "Why, I always walk with Polly Pepper." 
 
 "And that s just the reason why I m going to 
 to-day," said Clem, hanging to Polly s arm for 
 dear life. 
 
 "Well, I m her dearest friend," added Alexia, 
 taking refuge in that well-worn statement, "so 
 there now, Clem Forsythe." 
 
 "No, you re not," said Clem obstinately; 
 "we re all her dearest friends, aren t we, Polly? 
 Say, Polly, aren t we?" 
 
330 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Hush!" said Jasper. "Father s coming." 
 
 "Well, I can t help it. I m tired of hearing 
 Alexia Rhys everlastingly saying that, and push 
 ing us all away from Polly." 
 
 "Do hear them go on!" exclaimed Tom Beres- 
 ford, off on the edge of the group. "Does she 
 always have them carrying around like that?" 
 
 "Yes," said Joel, "a great deal worse. Oh, 
 they re a lot of giggling girls; I hate girls!" he 
 exploded. 
 
 "So do I," nodded Tom. "Let s keep clear 
 of the whole lot, and walk by ourselves." 
 
 "Indeed, we will," declared Joel. "You won t 
 catch me walking with girls when I can help it." 
 
 "Well, I wonder which of those two will get 
 your sister, Polly, this time," said Tom, craning 
 his long neck to see the contest. 
 
 "Oh, Alexia, of course," said Joel carelessly; 
 "she always gets her in the end." 
 
 But Joel was wrong. Neither of the girls car 
 ried off Polly. Old Mr. King marched out of 
 his reading-room. "Come, Polly, my child, you 
 and I will walk together," and he waited on her 
 handsomely out, and down the walk to the car. 
 
 Tom and Joel burst into a loud laugh, in which 
 the others joined, at the crestfallen faces. 
 
THE CORCORAN FAMILY 331 
 
 "Well, at least you didn t get her, Clem," said 
 Alexia airily, coming out of her discomfiture. 
 
 "Neither did you," said Clem happily. 
 
 "And you are horrid boys to laugh," said 
 Alexia, looking over at the two. "But then, all 
 boys are horrid." 
 
 "Thank you," said Tom, with his best bow. 
 
 "Alexia Rhys, aren t you perfectly ashamed to 
 be fighting with that new boy?" cried Clem. 
 
 "Come on, Alexia," said Jasper. "I shall 
 have to walk with you to keep you in order," 
 and the gay procession hurrying after old Mr. 
 King and Polly, caught up with them turning out 
 of the big stone gateway. 
 
 And then, what a merry walk taey .iaa to the 
 car! and that being nearly full, they had to wait 
 for the next one, which luckily had only three 
 passengers; and Mr. King and his party clam 
 bered on, to ride down through the poor 
 quarters of the town, to the Corcoran house. 
 
 "Oh, misery me" exclaimed Alexia, looking 
 out at the tumble-down tenements, and garbage 
 heaps up to the very doors. "Where are we 
 going?" 
 
 "Did you suppose Jim Corcoran lived in a 
 palace?" asked Pickering lazily. 
 
332 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Well, I didn t suppose anybody lived like 
 that," said Alcxia, wrinkling up her nose in 
 scorn. "Dear me, look at all those children!" 
 
 Interesting, aren t they?" said Pickering, with 
 a pang for the swarm of ragged, dirty little crea 
 tures, but not showing it in the least on his im 
 passive face. 
 
 "Oh, I don t want to see it," exclaimed Alexia, 
 and I m not going to either," turning her back 
 on it all. 
 
 "It goes on just the same," said Pickering. 
 
 "Then I am going to look." Alexia whirled 
 around again, and gazed up and down the ugly 
 thoroughfare, taking it all in. 
 
 "Ugh, how can you!" exclaimed Silvia Home, 
 in disgust. "I think it s very disagreeable to 
 even know that such people live." 
 
 "Perhaps twould be better to kill em off," 
 said Tom Beresford bluntly. 
 
 "Ugh, you dreadful boy!" cried Clem F or - 
 sythe. 
 
 "Who s fighting now with the new boy?" 
 asked Alexia sweetly, tearing off her gaze from 
 the street. 
 
 "Well, who wouldn t?" retorted Clem, "he s 
 saving such perfectly terrible things." 
 
THE CORCORAN FAMILY 333 
 
 Pickering Dodge gave a short laugh. "Beres- 
 ford, you re in for it now," he said. 
 
 Tom shrugged his shoulders, and turned his 
 back on them. 
 
 "What did you bring him home for, Joe?" 
 asked Alexia, leaning over to twitch Joel s arm. 
 
 "To plague you, Alexia," said Joel, with a 
 twinkle in his black eyes. 
 
 "Oh, he doesn t bother me," said Alexia 
 serenely. "Clem is having all the trouble now. 
 Well, we must put up with him, I suppose," she 
 said with resignation. 
 
 "You don t need to," said Joel coolly, "you 
 can let us alone, Alexia." 
 
 "But I don t want to let you alone," said 
 Alexia; "that s all boys are good for, if they re 
 in a party, to keep em stirred up. Goodness 
 me, Mr. King and Polly are getting out!" as the 
 car stopped, and Grandpapa led the way down 
 the aisle. 
 
 When they arrived at the Corcoran house, 
 which was achieved by dodging around groups of 
 untidy women gossiping with their neighbors, 
 and children playing on the dirty pavements, 
 with the occasional detour caused by a heap of 
 old tin cans, and other debris, Mr. King drew a 
 
334 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 long breath. "I don t know that I ought to have 
 brought you young people down here. It didn t 
 strike me so badly before." 
 
 "But it s no worse for us to see it than for 
 the people to live here, father," said Jasper 
 quickly. 
 
 " That s very true but faugh!" and the old 
 gentleman had great difficulty to contain himself. 
 "Well, thank fortune, the Corcoran family are to 
 move this week." 
 
 "Oh, Grandpapa," cried Polly, hopping up and 
 down on the broken pavement, and "Oh, father!" 
 from Jasper. 
 
 "Polly Pepper," exclaimed Alexia, twitching 
 her away, "you came near stepping into that old 
 mess of bones and things." 
 
 Polly didn t even glance at the garbage heap 
 by the edge of the sidewalk, nor give it a thought. 
 "Oh, how lovely, Alexia," she cried, "that they 
 won t have but a day or two more here!" 
 
 "Well, we are going in," said Alexia, holding 
 her tightly, "and I m glad of it, Polly. Oh, 
 misery me!" as they followed Mr. King into the 
 poor little house that Jim the brakeman had 
 called home. 
 The little widow, thanks to Mr. King and 
 
THE CORCORAN FAMILY 335 
 
 several others interested in the welfare of the 
 brakeman s family, had smartened up consider 
 ably, so that neither she nor her dwelling pre 
 sented such a dingy, woe-begone aspect as on the 
 previous visit. And old Mr. King, being very 
 glad to see this, still further heartened her up 
 by exclaiming, "Well, Mrs. Corcoran, you ve ac 
 complished wonders." 
 
 "I ve tried to," cried the poor woman, "and 
 I m sure twas no more than I ought to do, and 
 you being so kind to me and mine, sir." 
 
 "Well, I ve brought some young people to see 
 you," said the old gentleman abruptly, who never 
 could bear to be thanked, and now felt much 
 worse, as there were several spectators of his 
 bounty; and he waved his hand toward the 
 representatives of the two clubs. 
 
 They all huddled back, but he made them 
 come forward. "No, it s your affair to-day; I 
 only piloted you down here," laughing at their 
 discomfiture. 
 
 Meanwhile the whole Corcoran brood had all 
 gathered about the visitors, to rivet their gaze 
 upon them, and wait patiently for further devel 
 opments. 
 
 "Polly, you tell her," cried Alexia. 
 
336 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Yes, Polly, do," cried the other girls. 
 
 "Yes, Polly," said Pickering, "you can tell it 
 the best." 
 
 "Oh, I never could," said Polly in dismay. 
 "Jasper, you, please." 
 
 "No, no, Polly," said Van; "she s the best." 
 
 "But Polly doesn t wish to," said Jasper in a 
 low voice. 
 
 : A11 right, then, Jappy, go ahead," said 
 Percy. 
 
 There was a little pause, Mrs. Corcoran filling 
 it up by saying, "I can t ask you to sit down, for 
 there ain t chairs enough," beginning to wipe off 
 one with her apron. "Here, sir, if you d please 
 to sit," taking it over to Mr. King. 
 
 "Thank you," said the old gentleman, accept 
 ing it with his best air. "Now then, Jasper" 
 he had handed a small parcel to him under cover 
 of the chair- wiping "go ahead, my boy." 
 
 So Jasper, seeing that there was no help for it, 
 but that he was really to be the spokesman, 
 plunged in quite bravely. 
 
 "Airs. Corcoran, some of us girls and boys 
 we belong to two clubs, you know," - waving 
 his hand over to the representatives "wanted 
 to show your boys and girls, that we were grate- 
 
THP: CORCORAN FAMILY 337 
 
 ful to their father for being so good and kind to 
 the passengers that night of the accident." 
 
 Here the little widow put the corner of her 
 apron up to her eye, so Jasper hurried on: "And 
 we wanted to help them to get an education. 
 And so we had a little entertainment, and sold 
 the tickets and here is our gift!" Jasper ended 
 desperately, thrusting the package out. 
 
 "Take it, Arethusa," was all Mrs. Corcoran 
 could say; "and may the Lord bless you all!" 
 Then she put the apron over her head and 
 sobbed aloud. 
 
 "Bless me!" exclaimed old Mr. King, fum 
 bling for his handkerchief, "don t, my good 
 woman, I beg of you." 
 
 "And, oh, I do hope you ll learn to play on 
 the piano," breathed Polly, as Arethusa took the 
 package from Jasper, and slid back to lay it in 
 her mother s hand. 
 
 " Oh me! I m going to cry," exclaimed Alexia, 
 backing off toward the door. 
 
 "If you do, I ll throw you out," said Joel 
 savagely. 
 
 "Well, I shall; I feel so sniffy and queer. Oh, 
 Joel, what shall I do? I shall be disgraced for 
 life if I cry here." 
 
338 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Hang on to me," said Joel stoutly, thrusting 
 out his sturdy arm. 
 
 So Alexia hung on to it, and managed to get 
 along very well. And one of the children, the 
 littlest one next to the baby, created a diversion 
 by bringing up a mangy cat, and laying it on 
 Mr. King s knees. This saved the situation as 
 far as crying went, and brought safely away 
 those who were perilously near the brink of 
 tears. 
 
 "Oh dear me!" exclaimed Polly, starting for 
 ward, knowing how Grandpapa detested cats. 
 But Jasper was before her. 
 
 "Let me take it, father," and he dexterously 
 brought it off. 
 
 "Give it to me," said Polly. Oh, what is its 
 name?" 
 
 The little thing who seemed to own the cat 
 toddled over, well pleased, and stuck his finger 
 in his mouth, which was the extent to which he 
 could go in conversation. But the other children, 
 rinding the ice now broken, all came up at this 
 point, to gather around Polly and the cat. 
 
 "It s lucky enough that Phronsie isn t here," 
 said Jasper in a low voice, "for she would never 
 want to leave that cat." 
 
THE CORCORAN FAMILY 339 
 
 "Just see Polly Pepper!" exclaimed Alexia, 
 with a grimace. "Why doesn t she drop that 
 dirty old cat?" 
 
 "Because she ought not to," howled Joel 
 sturdily. Then he rushed over to Polly; and al 
 though he had small love for cats in general, this 
 particular one, being extremely ill-favored and lean, 
 met with his favor. He stroked her poor back. 
 
 Arethusa drew near and gazed into Polly s face; 
 seeing which, the cat was safely transferred to 
 Joel, and Polly turned around to the girl. 
 
 "Oh, do you want to learn to play on the 
 piano?" asked Polly breathlessly, under cover of 
 the noise going on, for all the other members of 
 the two clubs now took a hand in it. Even 
 Percy unbent enough to interview one of the 
 Corcoran boys. 
 
 "Yes, I do," said Arethusa, clasping her small 
 red hands tightly. 
 
 Her eyes widened, and her little thin face, 
 which wasn t a bit pretty, lightened up now in a 
 way that Polly thought was perfectly beautiful. 
 
 "Well, I did, when I was a little girl like you" 
 - Polly bent her rosy face very close to Arethu- 
 sa s O h ? dreadfully ; and I used to drum on 
 the table to make believe I could play." 
 
340 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "So do I," cried Arethusa, creeping up close to 
 Polly s neck, "an th boys laugh at me. But I 
 keep doin it." 
 
 "And now, Arethusa, you are really going to 
 learn to play on the piano." Polly thrilled all 
 over at the announcement, just as she had done 
 when told that she was to take music lessons. 
 
 "Not a really and truly piano?" exclaimed 
 Arethusa, lost in amazement. 
 
 "Yes, a really and truly piano," declared Polly 
 positively. "Just think, Arethusa, you can give 
 music lessons and help to take care of your 
 mother." 
 
 And just then Grandpapa, who had been talk 
 ing to Mrs. Corcoran, was saying, "Well, well, 
 it s time to be going, young people." And Joel 
 put the cat down, that immediately ran between 
 his legs, tripping him up as he turned, thereby 
 making everybody laugh; and so the exit was 
 made merrily. 
 
 "Wasn t that fun!" cried Alexia, dancing off 
 down the broken pavement. "Oh, I forgot, I m 
 going to walk home with Polly," and she flew back. 
 
 "You take yourself away," cried old Mr. King, 
 with a laugh. "I m to have Polly to myself on 
 this expedition." 
 
THE CORCORAN FAMILY 341 
 
 "Well, at any rate, Clem, you haven t Polly," 
 announced Alexia as before, running up to her. 
 
 "Neither have you," retorted Clem, in the 
 same way. 
 
 "So we will walk together," said Alexia, coolly 
 possessing herself of Clem s arm. "Those two 
 boys can walk with each other; they re just 
 dying to." 
 
 "How do you know I want to walk with you?" 
 asked Clem abruptly. 
 
 "Oh, but do, you sweet thing you! Come 
 on!" and Alexia dragged her off at a smart pace. 
 
 "Grandpapa," cried Polly, hopping up and 
 down by his side, too happy to keep still, while 
 she clung to his hand just as Phronsie would 
 have done, "you are going to have the piano 
 put into the house the very first thing after il is 
 cleaned and ready the very first thing? " She 
 peered around into his face anxiously. 
 
 "The very first thing," declared the old gentle 
 man. "Take my word for it, Polly Pepper, 
 there sha n t another article get in before it." 
 
 "Oh, Grandpapa!" Polly wished she could 
 go dancing off into the middle of the thorough 
 fare for a regular spin. 
 
 "Take care, Polly," laughed old Mr. King, 
 
342 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 successfully steering her clear of an ash barrel, 
 "this isn t the best dancing place imaginable." 
 
 "Oh, I beg your pardon, Grandpapa," said 
 Polly, trying to sober down, "I didn t mean to; 
 but oh, isn t it perfectly beautiful that Arethusa 
 is going to take music lessons!" 
 
 "It is, indeed," said Grandpapa, with a keen 
 glance down at her flushed face. "And it really 
 does seem to be an assured fact, for Miss Brown 
 is engaged to begin as soon as the family move 
 into their new home." 
 
 " Oh oh ! " Polly could get no further. 
 
 Jasper, ahead with Pickering Dodge, looked 
 back longingly. 
 
 "Oh, I do wish, Grandpapa," said Polly, 
 that Jasper could walk home with us." 
 
 "So do I, Polly," said the old gentleman; 
 "but you see he can t, for then I should have 
 the whole bunch of those chattering creatures 
 around me," and he laughed grimly. "You 
 must tell him all about what we are talking of, 
 as soon as you get home." 
 
 "Yes, I will," declared Polly, "the very first 
 thing. Now, Grandpapa, please go on." 
 
 "Well, I had told Mrs. Corcoran all about the 
 new house, you know, Polly, before." 
 
THE CORCORAN FAMILY 343 
 
 "Yes, I know, Grandpapa," said Polly, with a 
 happy little wriggle. 
 
 "And so to-day I explained about the bank 
 book; told her where the money was deposited, 
 and showed her how to use it. By the way, 
 Polly, Jasper made a good speech now, didn t 
 he?" The old gentleman broke off, and fairly 
 glowed with pride. 
 
 "Oh, didn t he!" cried Polly, in a burst. "I 
 thought it was too splendid for anything! And 
 he didn t know in the least that he had to do it. 
 He thought you were going to give the bank 
 book, Grandpapa." 
 
 "I know it," chuckled Mr. King. "Well now, 
 Polly, I thought I d try my boy without warning. 
 Because, you see, that shows what stuff a person 
 is made of to respond at such a time, and he s 
 all right, Jasper is; he came up to the demand 
 nicely." 
 
 "It was perfectly elegant!" cried Polly, with 
 glowing cheeks. 
 
 "And those two boys the largest ones are 
 to begin in the other public school next week," 
 continued the old gentleman. 
 
 "Everything begins next week, doesn t it, 
 Grandpapa?" cried Polly. 
 
344 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "It seems so," said Mr. King, with a laugh. 
 "Well, Polly, here we are at our car." 
 
 And having the good luck to find it nearly 
 empty, the whole party hopped on, and began 
 the ride back again. 
 
 "Now," said Jasper, when they had reached 
 home, "for some comfort," and he drew Polly 
 off into a quiet corner in the library. "Let s 
 have the whole, Polly. You said you d tell me 
 what you and father were talking of all the way 
 home." 
 
 "And so I will," cried Polly, too elated to 
 begin at the right end. "Well, Jasper, you must 
 know that Arcthusa s piano is actually engaged." 
 
 "It is!" exclaimed Jasper. "Hurrah!" 
 
 "Yes," said Polly, with shining eyes, "and it s 
 going into the new home the very first thing. 
 Grandpapa promised me that." 
 
 "Isn t father good!" cried Jasper, a whole 
 world of affection in his dark eyes. 
 
 "Good?" repeated Polly, "he s as good as 
 good can be, Jasper King!" 
 
 "Well, what else?" cried Jasper. 
 
 "And the boys the two biggest ones are 
 going into the other public school, the one near 
 est their new home, you know." 
 
THE CORCORAN FAMILY 345 
 
 "Yes, I see," said Jasper, "that s fine. That 
 will bring them in with better boys." 
 
 "Yes, and Grandpapa told Mrs. Corcoran all 
 about the money we made at the entertainment, 
 and that he put it in the bank for her this morn 
 ing. And he showed her how to use the check 
 book." 
 
 "Polly," said Jasper, very much excited, "what 
 if we girls and boys hadn t done this for those 
 children! Just think, Polly, only suppose it!" 
 
 "I know it," cried Polly. "Oh, Jasper!" 
 drawing a long breath. "But then, you see, we 
 did do it." 
 
 "Yes," said Jasper, bursting into a laugh, "we 
 surely did, Polly." 
 
XXI AT THE PLAY 
 
 , Cathie!" Polly rushed out to meet the 
 girl that Johnson was just ushering in. 
 "I am so glad you ve come!" 
 
 A pleased look swept over the girl s face, but 
 she didn t say anything. 
 
 "Now come right upstairs; never mind the 
 bag, Johnson will bring that for you." 
 
 "I will take it up, Miss," said Johnson, secur 
 ing it. 
 
 "Mamsie is waiting to see you," cried Polly, 
 as they ran over the stairs, Cathie trying to still 
 the excited beating of her heart at the thought 
 that she was really to visit Polly Pepper for three 
 whole days! "Oh, Mamsie, here she is!" 
 
 "I am glad to see you, Cathie," said Mrs. 
 Fisher heartily, taking her cold hand. " Now, you 
 are to have the room right next to Polly s." 
 
 "Yes, the same one that Alexia always has 
 when she stays here," said Polly. "See, Cathie," 
 bearing her off down the hall. "Oh, it is so 
 346 
 
AT THE PLAY 347 
 
 good to get you here," she cried happily. "Well, 
 here we are!" 
 
 "You can t think," began Cathie brokenly; 
 then she turned away to the window "it s so 
 good of you to ask me, Polly Pepper!" 
 
 "It s so good of you to come," said Polly mer 
 rily, and running over to her. "There, Johnson 
 has brought your bag. Aren t you going to un 
 pack it, Cathie? that is, I mean" with a 
 little laugh "after you ve got your hat and 
 jacket off. And then, when your things are all 
 settled, we can go downstairs, and do whatever 
 you like. Perhaps we ll go in the greenhouse." 
 
 " Oh, Polly!" exclaimed Cathie, quite forget 
 ting herself, and turning around. 
 
 "And can t I help you unpack?" asked Polly, 
 longing to do something. 
 
 "No," said Cathie, remembering her plain 
 clothes and lack of the pretty trifles that girls 
 delight in; then seeing Polly s face, she thought 
 better of it. "Yes, you may," she said sud 
 denly. 
 
 So Polly unstrapped the bag, and drew out 
 the clothes, all packed very neatly. "Why, 
 Cathie Harrison!" she exclaimed suddenly. 
 
 "What?" asked Cathie, hanging up her jacket 
 
348 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 in the closet, and putting her head around the 
 door. 
 
 "Oh, what a lovely thing!" Polly held up a 
 little carved box of Chinese workmanship. 
 
 "Isn t it?" cried Cathie, well pleased that she 
 had anything worthy of notice. "My uncle 
 brought that from China to my mother when 
 she was a little girl, and she gave it to me." 
 
 "Well, it s too lovely for anything," declared 
 Polly, running to put it on the toilet table. "I 
 do think Chinese carvings are so pretty!" 
 
 "Do you?" cried Cathie, well pleased. "My 
 mother has some really fine ones, I ll show you 
 sometime, if you d like to see them, Polly." 
 
 "Indeed, I should," said Polly warmly. So 
 Cathie, delighted that she really had something 
 that could interest Polly Pepper, hurried through 
 her preparations; and then the two went down 
 stairs arm in arm, and out to the greenhouse. 
 
 "Polly Pepper!" exclaimed Cathie on the 
 threshold, "I don t think I should ever envy you 
 living in that perfectly beautiful house, because 
 it just scares me to set foot in it." 
 
 "Well, it needn t," said Polly, with a little 
 laugh. "You must just forget all about its being 
 big and splendid." 
 
AT THE PLAY 
 
 349 
 
 "But I can t," said Cathie, surprised at her 
 self for being so communicative, "because, you 
 see, I live in such a little, tucked-up place." 
 
 "Well, so did I," said Polly, with a bob of 
 her brown head, "before we came here to Grand 
 papa s; but oh, you can t think how beautiful it 
 was in the little brown house you can t begin 
 to think, Cathie Harrison " 
 
 "I know," said Cathie, who had heard the 
 story before. "I wish you d tell it all to me 
 now, Polly." 
 
 "I couldn t tell it all, if I talked a year, I 
 guess," said Polly merrily, and there is Turner 
 waiting to speak to me. Come on, Cathie." 
 And she ran down the long aisle between the 
 fragrant blossoms. 
 
 But Cathie stopped to look and exclaim so 
 often to herself that she made slow progress. 
 
 "Shall I make her up a bunch, Miss Mary?" 
 asked old Turner, touching his cap respectfully, 
 and looking at the visitor. 
 
 "Oh, if you please," cried Polly radiantly; 
 "and do put some heliotrope in, for Cathie is so 
 fond of that. And please let her have a bunch 
 every morning when I have mine, Turner, for 
 she is to stay three days." 
 
350 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "It shall be as you wish, Miss Mary," said 
 Turner, quite delighted at the order. 
 
 "And please let it be very nice, Turner," said 
 Polly hastily. 
 
 "I will, Miss; don t fear, Miss Mary, I ll have 
 it as nice as possible," as Polly ran off to meet 
 Cathie. 
 
 "I should stay here every single minute I was 
 at home if I lived here, Polly Pepper," declared 
 Cathie. "Oh, oh!" sniffing at each discovery of 
 a new blossom. 
 
 "Oh, no, you wouldn t, Cathie," contradicted 
 Polly, with a laugh; "not if you had to get your 
 lessons, and practise on the piano, and go out 
 riding and driving, and play with the boys." 
 
 "Oh dear me!" cried Cathie, "I don t care very 
 much for boys, because, you see, Polly, I never 
 know what in this world to say to them." 
 
 " That s because you never had any brothers," 
 said Polly, feeling how very dreadful such a 
 state must be. "I can t imagine anything with 
 out Ben and Joel and Davie." 
 
 "And now you ve such a lot of brothers, with 
 Jasper and all those Whitney boys; oh, Polly, 
 don t they scare you to death sometimes?" 
 
 Polly burst into such a merry peal of laughter, 
 
AT THE PLAY 351 
 
 that they neither of them heard the rushing feet, 
 until Cathie glanced up. "Oh dear me! there 
 they are now!" 
 
 "Well, to be sure; we might have known you 
 were here, Polly," cried Jasper, dashing up with 
 Clare. "How do you do, Cathie?" putting out 
 his hand cordially. 
 
 Clare gave her a careless nod, then turned to 
 Polly. "It s to be fine," he said. 
 
 "What?" asked Polly wonderingly. 
 
 "Hold on, old chap." Jasper gave him a clap 
 on the back. "Father is going to tell her 
 himself. Come on, Polly and Cathie, to his 
 room." 
 
 "Come, Cathie," cried Polly. "Let s beat 
 those boys," she said, when once out of the 
 greenhouse. "We re going to race," she cried 
 over her shoulder. 
 
 "Is that so?" said Jasper. "Clare, we must 
 beat them," and they dashed in pursuit. 
 
 But they couldn t; the two girls flew over the 
 lawn, and reached the stone steps just a breath 
 ing space before Jasper and Clare plunged up. 
 
 "Well done," cried Jasper, tossing back the 
 hair from his forehead. 
 
 "I didn t know you could run so well," ob- 
 
352 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 served Clare, with some show of interest in 
 Cathie. 
 
 "Oh, she runs splendidly," said Polly, with 
 sparkling eyes. "Let s try a race sometime, Jas 
 per; we four, down the Long Path, while Cathie s 
 here." 
 
 "Capital! We will," assented Jasper, "but 
 now for father s room." 
 
 There sat old Mr. King by his writing table. 
 "Well, Polly how do you do, Cathie? I am 
 glad to see you," he said, putting out his hand 
 kindly. 
 
 As well as she could for her terror at being 
 actually in that stately Mr. King s presence, 
 Cathie stumbled forward and laid her hand in his. 
 
 "Now, Polly," said the old gentleman, turning 
 off to pick up a little envelope lying on the table, 
 "I thought perhaps you would like to take your 
 young friend to the play to-night, so I have the 
 tickets for us five," with a sweep of his hand over 
 to the two boys. 
 
 "Grandpapa!" cried Polly, precipitating her 
 self into his arms, "oh, how good you are!" 
 which pleased the old gentleman immensely. 
 
 "Isn t that no-end fine!" cried Jasper in de 
 light. "Father, we can t thank you!" 
 
AT THE PLAY 353 
 
 "Say no more, my boy," cried the old gentle 
 man. "I m thanked enough. And so, Polly, 
 my girl, you like it," patting her brown hair. 
 
 "Like it!" cried Polly, lifting her glowing 
 cheeks, "oh, Grandpapa!" 
 
 "Run along with you then, all of you. Clare, 
 be over in time." 
 
 "Yes, sir," cried Clare. "Oh, thank you, Mr. 
 King, ever so much!" as they all scampered off 
 to get their lessons for the next day; for going to 
 a play was always a special treat, on condition 
 that no studies were neglected. 
 
 "Oh, Cathie," cried Polly, before she flew into 
 the window-seat to curl up with her books, her 
 favorite place for studying her lessons, " Grand 
 papa is taking us to the play because you are 
 here." 
 
 "And I ve never been to a play, Polly," said 
 Cathie, perfectly overwhelmed with it all. 
 
 "Haven t you? Oh, I m so glad I mean, 
 I m glad you re going with us, and that Grand 
 papa is to take you to the first one. But, oh 
 me!" and Polly rushed off to attack her books. 
 "Now, don t let us speak a single word, Cathie 
 Harrison," as Cathie picked out a low rocker for 
 her choice of a seat; and pretty soon, if Miss 
 
354 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 Salisbury herself had come into the room, she 
 would have been perfectly satisfied with the dili 
 gent attention the books were receiving. 
 
 But Miss Salisbury was not thinking of her 
 pupils this afternoon. She was at this moment 
 closeted with Miss Anstice, and going over a 
 conversation that they frequently held, these past 
 days, without much variation in the subject or 
 treatment. 
 
 "If there were anything we could do to repay 
 him, sister," said Miss Anstice mournfully, "I d 
 do it, and spend my last cent. But what is 
 there? 7 Then she paced the floor with her 
 mincing little steps, now quite nervous and flur 
 ried. 
 
 "Sister," said Miss Salisbury, doing her best 
 to b quite calm, "it isn t a matter of payment; 
 for whatever we did, we never could hope to re 
 place that exquisite little vase. Miss Clemcy had 
 pointed out to me the fact that it was quite the 
 gem in his collection." 
 
 "I know; I thought my heart would stop when 
 I heard the crash." Miss Anstice wrung her 
 little hands together at the memory. "Oh, that 
 careless Lily!" 
 
 "Sister, pray let us look at this matter 
 
AT THE PLAY 355 
 
 "I am looking at it. I see nothing but that 
 vase, smashed to pieces; and I cannot sleep at 
 night for fear I ll dream how it looked in those 
 very little bits." 
 
 " Sister pray pray - 
 
 "And if you want me to tell you what I think 
 should be done, I m sure I can t say," added 
 Miss Anstice helplessly. 
 
 "Well, then, I must think," declared Miss 
 Salisbury, with sudden energy, "for some repay 
 ment must surely be made to him, although they 
 utterly refused it when you and I called and 
 broached the subject to them." 
 
 "It was certainly a most unfortunate day from 
 beginning to end," said Miss Anstice, with a sug 
 gestion of tears in her voice, and a shiver at the 
 remembrance of the front breadth of her gown. 
 "Sister, I hope and pray that you will never 
 have another picnic for the school." 
 
 "I cannot abolish that annual custom, An 
 stice," said Miss Salisbury firmly, "for the girls 
 get so much enjoyment out of it. They are al 
 ready talking about the one to come next year." 
 
 "Ugh!" shuddered Miss Anstice. 
 
 "And anything that holds an influence over 
 them, I must sustain. You know that yourself, 
 
356 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 sister. And it is most important to give them 
 some recreations." 
 
 "But picnics! Miss Anstice held up her lit 
 tle hands, as if quite unequal to any words. 
 
 "And I am very sorry that we were out when 
 Mr. Clemcy and his sister called yesterday after 
 noon, for I am quite sure I could have arranged 
 matters so that we need not feel under obliga 
 tions to them." 
 
 Miss Anstice, having nothing to say, kept her 
 private reflections mournfully to herself; and it 
 being the hour for the boarding pupils to go out 
 to walk, and her duty to accompany them, the 
 conference broke up. 
 
 "Polly," called Mrs. Chatterton, as Polly ran 
 past her door, her opera glasses Grandpapa had 
 given her last Christmas in the little plush bag 
 dangling from her arm, and a happy light in her 
 eyes. Cathie had gone downstairs, and it was 
 getting nearly time to set forth for that enchanted 
 land the playhouse! 
 
 Polly ran on, scarcely conscious that she was 
 called. "Did you not hear me?" asked Mrs. 
 Chatterton angrily, coming to her door. 
 
 "Oh, I beg pardon," said Polly, really glad 
 ever since that dreadful time when Mrs. Chatter- 
 
AT THE PLAY 357 
 
 ton was ill, to do anything for her. "For I 
 never shall forget how naughty I was to her," 
 Polly said over to herself now as she turned back. 
 "You may well beg my pardon," said Mrs. 
 Chatterton, "for of all ill-bred girls, you are cer 
 tainly the worst. I want you." Then she dis 
 appeared within her room. 
 
 "What is it?" asked Polly, coming in. "I 
 shall be so glad to help." 
 
 "Help!" repeated Mrs. Chatterton in scorn. 
 She was standing over by her toilet table. " You 
 can serve me; come here." 
 
 The hot blood mounted to Polly s brow. Then 
 she thought, "Oh, what did I say? That I 
 would do anything for Mrs. Chatterton if she 
 would only forgive me for those dreadful words 
 I said to her." And she went over and stood by 
 the toilet table. 
 
 "Oh, you have concluded to come?" observed 
 Mrs. Chatterton scornfully. "So much the bet 
 ter it would be if you could always learn what 
 your place is in this house. There, you see this 
 lace?" She shook out her flowing sleeve, glad 
 to display her still finely moulded arm, that had 
 been one of her chief claims to distinction, even 
 if nobody but this little country-bred girl saw it. 
 
358 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 Polly looked at the dangling lace, evidently 
 just torn, with dismay; seeing which, Mrs. Chat- 
 terton broke out sharply, "Get the basket, girl, 
 over there on the table, and sew it as well as you 
 can." 
 
 "Polly!" called Jasper over the stairs, "where 
 are you?" 
 
 Polly trembled all over as she hurried across 
 the room to get the sewing basket. Grandpa pp. 
 was not ready, she knew; but she always ran 
 down a little ahead for the fun of the last mo 
 ments waiting with Jasper, when old Mr. King 
 was going to take them out of an evening. And 
 in the turmoil in her mind, she didn t observe 
 that Hortense had misplaced the basket, putting 
 it on the low bookcase, and was still searching 
 all over the table as directed, when Mrs. Chatter- 
 ton s sharp voice filled her with greater dismay. 
 
 "Stupid! if you would put heart into your 
 search, it would be easy enough to find it." 
 
 "Polly, where are you!" Polly, in her haste 
 not to displease Mrs. Chatterton by replying to 
 Jasper before finding the basket, knocked over 
 one of the small silver-topped bottles with which 
 the dressing table seemed to be full, and before 
 she could rescue it, it fell to the floor. 
 
AT THE PLAY 359 
 
 "Go out of this room," commanded Mrs. 
 Chatterton, with blazing eyes. "I ought to have 
 known better than to call upon a heavy-handed, 
 low-born country girl, to do a delicate service." 
 
 "I didn t mean- " began poor Polly. 
 
 "Go out of this room!" Mrs. Chatterton, 
 now thoroughly out of temper, so far forgot her 
 self as to stamp her foot; and Polly, feeling 
 as if she had lost all chance in her future en 
 counters with Mrs. Chatterton, of atoning for 
 past short-comings, went sadly out, to meet, just 
 beside the door, Jasper, with amazement on his 
 face. 
 
 "Oh, Polly, I thought you were never coming." 
 Then he saw her face. 
 
 "That old " he said under his breath. 
 "Polly, don t ever go into her room again. I 
 wouldn t," as they hurried off downstairs. 
 
 "She won t let me," said Polly, her head 
 drooping, and the brightness all gone from her 
 face. "She won t ever let me go again, I know." 
 
 "Won t let you? Well, I guess you ll not give 
 her a chance," cried Jasper hotly. "Polly, I 
 do really wish that father would tell her to go 
 away," 
 
 "Oh, Jasper," cried Polly, in alarm, "don t say 
 
360 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 one word to Grandpapa. Promise me you won t, 
 Jasper." 
 
 "Well, father is tired of her. She wears on 
 him terribly, Polly," said Jasper gloomily. 
 
 "I know," said Polly sadly. "And oh, Jasper, 
 if you say one word, he will really have her go. 
 And I was so bad to her, you know," and the 
 tears came into Polly s brown eyes. 
 
 "Well, she must have been perfectly terrible to 
 you," said Jasper. 
 
 "Polly Jasper where are you?" came in 
 old Mr. King s voice. 
 
 "Here, father," and "Here, Grandpapa," and 
 Clare running up the steps, the little party was 
 soon in the carriage. 
 
 "Promise me, Jasper, do," implored Polly, 
 when Grandpapa was explaining to Cathie about 
 the great actor they were to see, and Clare was 
 listening to hear all about it, too. 
 
 "Oh, I won t," promised Jasper, "if you don t 
 wish me to." 
 
 "I really wouldn t have you for all the world," 
 declared Polly; and now that this fear was off 
 from her mind, she began to pick up her old, 
 bright spirits, so that by the time the carriage 
 stopped at the theatre, Polly was herself again. 
 
AT THE PLAY 361 
 
 Jasper watched her keenly, and drew a long 
 breath when he saw her talking and laughing 
 with Grandpapa. 
 
 "You are going to sit next to me, Polly," said 
 the old gentleman, marshalling his forces when 
 well within. "And Jasper next. Then, Cathie, 
 you will have a knight on either side." 
 
 "Oh, I can t sit between two boys," cried 
 Cathie, forgetting herself in her terror. 
 
 "I won t bite you," cried Clare saucily. 
 
 "I will see that Clare behaves himself," said 
 Jasper. 
 
 "You ll do nicely, my dear," said Mr. King 
 encouragingly to her; then proceeded down the 
 aisle after the usher. So there was nothing to 
 do but to obey. And Cathie, who would have 
 found it a formidable thing to be stranded on 
 the companionship of one boy, found herself be 
 tween two, and Polly Pepper far off, and not the 
 least able to help. 
 
 "Now, then," said Jasper, taking up the pro 
 gram, "I suppose father told you pretty much 
 all that was necessary to know about Irving. 
 Well " And then, without waiting for a reply, 
 Jasper dashed on about the splendid plays in 
 which he had seen this wonderful actor, and the 
 
362 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 particular one they were to enjoy to-night; and 
 from that he drifted off to the fine points to be 
 admired in the big playhouse, with its striking 
 decorations, making Cathie raise her eyes to 
 take it all in, until Clare leaned over to say: 
 
 "I should think you might give Cathie and me 
 a chance to talk a little, Jasper." 
 
 "Oh, I don t want to talk," cried Cathie in 
 terror. "I don t know anything to say." 
 
 "Well, I do," said Clare, in a dudgeon, "only 
 Jasper goes on in such a streak to-night." 
 
 "I believe I have been talking you both blue," 
 said Jasper, with a laugh. 
 
 "You certainly have," said Clare, laughing 
 too. 
 
 And then Cathie laughed, and Polly Pepper, 
 looking over, beamed at her, for she had begun 
 to be worried. 
 
 "The best thing in the world," said old Mr. 
 King, "was to turn her over to those two boys. 
 Now, don t give her another thought, Polly; she ll 
 get on." 
 
 And she did; so well, that before long, she and 
 Clare were chatting away merrily; and Cathie 
 felt it was by no means such a very terrible 
 experience to be sitting between two boys at a 
 
AT THE PLAY 363 
 
 play; and by the time the evening was half over, 
 she was sure that she liked it very much. 
 
 And Polly beamed at her more than ever, and 
 Jasper felt quite sure that he had never enjoyed 
 an evening more than the one at present flying 
 by so fast. And old Mr. King, so handsome and 
 stately, showed such evident pride in his young 
 charges, as he smiled and chatted, that more 
 than one old friend in the audience commented 
 on it. 
 
 "Did you ever see such a change in any one?" 
 asked a dowager, levelling her keen glances from 
 her box down upon the merry party. 
 
 "Never; it was the one thing needed to make 
 him quite perfect," said another one of that set. 
 "He is approachable now absolutely fascinat 
 ing, so genial and courteous." 
 
 "His manners were perfect before," said a 
 third member of the box party, "except they 
 needed thawing out a bit too icy." 
 
 "You are too mild. I should say they were 
 quite frozen. He never seemed to me to have 
 any heart." 
 
 "Well, it s proved he has," observed her hus 
 band. "I tell you that little Pepper girl is going 
 to make a sensation when she comes out," lean- 
 
364 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 ing over for a better view of the King party, "and 
 the best of it is that she doesn t know it her 
 self." 
 
 And Clare made up his mind that Cathie Har 
 rison was an awfully nice girl; and he was real 
 glad she had moved to town and joined the 
 Salisbury School. And as he had two cousins 
 there, they soon waked up a conversation over 
 them. 
 
 "Only I don t know them much," said Cathie. 
 "You see I haven t been at the school long, and 
 besides, the girls didn t have much to say to me 
 till Polly Pepper said nice things to me, and then 
 she asked me to go to the bee." 
 
 "That old sewing thing where they make 
 clothes for the poor little darkeys down South?" 
 asked Clare. 
 
 "Yes; and it s just lovely," said Cathie, "and 
 I never supposed I d be asked. And Polly Pepper 
 came down to my desk one day, and invited me 
 to come to the next meeting, and I was so scared, 
 I couldn t say anything at first; and then Polly 
 got me into the Salisbury Club." 
 
 "Oh, yes, I know." Clare nodded, and wished 
 he could forget how he had asked one of the 
 other boys on that evening when the two clubs 
 
AT THE PLAY 365 
 
 united, why in the world the Salisbury Club 
 elected Cathie Harrison into its membership. 
 
 "And then Polly Pepper s mother invited me 
 
 to visit her Polly, I mean and so here I am" 
 
 she forgot she was talking to a dreaded boy, 
 
 and turned her happy face toward him "and 
 
 it s just lovely. I never visited a girl before." 
 
 "Never visited a girl before!" repeated Clare, 
 in astonishment. 
 
 "No," said Cathie. "You see, my father was 
 a minister, and we lived in the country, and 
 when I visited anybody, which was only two 
 or three times in my life, it was to papa s old 
 aunts." 
 
 "Oh dear me!" exclaimed Clare faintly, quite 
 gone in pity. 
 
 "And so your father moved to town," he said; 
 and then he knew that he had made a terrible 
 mistake. 
 
 : Now she won t speak a word perhaps 
 burst out crying," he groaned within himself, as 
 he saw her face. But Cathie sat quite still. 
 
 "My papa died," she said softly, "and he 
 told mamma before he went, to take me to town 
 and have me educated. And one of those old 
 aunts gave the money. And if it hadn t been 
 
3 66 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 for him, I d have run home from the Salis 
 bury School that first week, it was so perfectly 
 awful." 
 
 Clare sat quite still. Then he burst out, 
 "Well, now, Cathie, I think it was just splendid 
 in you to stick on." 
 
 "Do you?" she cried, quite astonished to think 
 any one would think she was "just splendid" in 
 anything. "Why, the girls call me a goose over 
 and over. And sometimes I lose my temper, be 
 cause they don t say it in fun, but they really 
 mean it." 
 
 "Weil, they needn t," said Clare indignantly, 
 "because I don t think you are a goose at all." 
 
 "Those two are getting on quite well," said 
 Jasper to Polly. "I don t think we need to 
 worry about Cathie any more." 
 
 "And isn t she nice?" asked Polly, in great 
 delight. 
 
 "Yes, I think she is, Polly," said Jasper, in a 
 way that gave Polly great satisfaction. 
 
 But when this delightful evening was all over, 
 and the good nights had been said, and Mother 
 Fisher, as was her wont, had come into Polly s 
 room to help her take off her things, and to say a 
 few words to Cathie too, Polly began to remera- 
 
AT THE PLAY 367 
 
 ber the scene in Mrs. Chatterton s room; and a 
 sorry little feeling crept into her heart. 
 
 And when Mamsie had gone out and every 
 thing was quiet, Polly buried her face in her 
 pillow, and tried not to cry. "I don t believe 
 she will ever forgive me, or let me help her again." 
 
 "Polly," called Cathie softly from the next 
 room, "I did have the most beautiful time!" 
 
 "Did you?" cried Polly, choking back her 
 sobs. "Oh, I am so glad, Cathie!" 
 
 "Yes," said Cathie, "I did, Polly, and I m 
 not afraid of boys now; I think they are real 
 nice." 
 
 "Aren t they!" cried Polly, "and weren t our 
 seats fine! Grandpapa didn t want a box to 
 night, because we could see the play so much 
 better from the floor. But we ought to go to 
 sleep, Cathie, for Mamsie wouldn t like us to 
 talk. Good night." 
 
 "Good night," said Cathie. "A box!" she said 
 to herself, as she turned on her pillow, "oh, I 
 should have died to have sat up in one of those. 
 It was quite magnificent enough where I was." 
 
XXII PICKERING DODGE 
 
 JASPER!" 
 
 J Jasper, rushing down the long hall of the 
 Pemberton School, books in hand, turned to see 
 Mr. Faber standing in the doorway of his private 
 room. 
 
 "I want to see you, Jasper." 
 
 Jasper, with an awful feeling at his heart, 
 obeyed and went in. "It s all up with Pick," he 
 groaned, and sat down in the place indicated on 
 the other side of the big round table, Mr. Faber 
 in his accustomed seat, the big leather chair. 
 
 "You remember the conversation I had with 
 you, Jasper," he said slowly; and picking up a 
 paper knife he began playing with it, occasion 
 ally glancing up over his glasses at the boy. 
 
 Jasper nodded, unable to find any voice. Then 
 he managed to say, "Yes, sir." 
 
 "Well, now, Jasper, it was rather an unusual 
 thing to do, to set one lad, as it were, to work 
 upon another in just that way. For I am sure 
 368 
 
PICKERING DODGE 369 
 
 I haven t forgotten my boyhood, long past as it 
 is, and I realize that the responsibilities of school 
 life are heavy enough, without adding to the 
 burden." 
 
 Mr. Faber, well pleased with this sentiment, 
 waited to clear his throat. Jasper, in an agony, 
 as he saw Pickering Dodge expelled, and all the 
 dreadful consequences, sat quite still. 
 
 "At the same time, although I disliked to take 
 you into confidence, making you an assistant in 
 the work of reclaiming Pickering Dodge from 
 his idle, aimless state, in which he exhibited such 
 a total disregard for his lessons, it appeared after 
 due consideration to be the only thing left to be 
 done. You understand this, I trust, Jasper." 
 
 Jasper s reply this time was so low as to be 
 scarcely audible. But Mr. Faber, taking it for 
 granted, manipulated the paper knife a few times, 
 and went on impressively. 
 
 "I am very glad you do, Jasper. I felt sure, 
 knowing you so well, that my reasons would ap 
 peal to you in the right way. You are Picker 
 ing s best friend among my scholars." 
 
 "And he is mine," exploded Jasper, thinking 
 wildly that it was perhaps not quite too late to 
 save Pickering. "I ve known him always, sir." 
 
370 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 He was quite to the edge of his chair now, his 
 dark eyes shining, and his hair tossed back. 
 "Beg pardon, Mr. Faber, but I can t help it. 
 Pickering is so fine; he s not like other boys." 
 
 "No, I believe you." Mr. Faber smiled grimly 
 and gave the paper knife another whirl. And 
 much as Jasper liked him, that smile seemed 
 wholly unnecessary, and to deal death to his 
 hopes. 
 
 "He certainly is unlike any other boy in my 
 school in regard to his studying," he said. "His 
 capacity is not wanting, to be sure; there was 
 never any lack of that. For that reason I was 
 always hoping to arouse his ambition." 
 
 "And you can oh, you can, sir! " cried Jas 
 per eagerly, although he felt every word he said 
 to be unwelcome, "if you will only try him a bit 
 longer. Don t send him off yet, Mr. Faber." 
 
 He got off from his chair, and leaned on the 
 table heavily. 
 
 "Don t send him off?" repeated Mr. Faber, 
 dropping the paper knife, "what is the boy talk 
 ing of! Why, Jasper I ve called you in here 
 to tell you how much Pickering has improved 
 and" 
 
 Jasper collapsed on his chair. "And is it 
 
PICKERING DODGE 37 1 
 
 possible that you haven t seen it for yourself, 
 Jasper?" exclaimed Mr. Faber. "Why, every 
 teacher is quite delighted. Even Mr. Dinsmore -- 
 and he was in favor of at least suspending Pick 
 ering last half has expressed his opinion that I 
 did well to give the boy another trial." 
 
 "I thought" mumbled Jasper, "I was 
 afraid. " Then he pulled himself together, and 
 somehow found himself standing over by Mr. 
 Faber s chair, unbosoming himself of his fright 
 and corresponding joy. 
 
 "Pull your chair up nearer, Jasper," said Mr. 
 Faber, when, the first transport having worked 
 off, Jasper seemed better fitted for conversation, 
 "and we will go over this in a more intelligent 
 fashion. I am really more pleased than I can 
 express at the improvement in that boy. As I 
 said before" Mr. Faber had long ago thrown 
 aside the paper knife, and now turned toward 
 Jasper, his whole attention on the matter in 
 hand " Pickering has a fine capacity; take 
 it all in all, perhaps there is none better in 
 the whole school. It shows to great advantage 
 now, because he has regained his place so rap 
 idly in his classes. It is quite astonishing, Jas 
 per." And he took off his glasses and polished 
 
372 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 them up carefully, repeating several times during 
 the process, "Yes, very surprising indeed!" 
 
 "And he seems to like to study now," said 
 Jasper, ready to bring forward all the nice things 
 that warranted encouragement. 
 
 "Does he so?" Mr. Faber set his glasses on 
 his nose, and beamed at him over them. The 
 boys at the Pemberton School always protested 
 that this was the only use they could be put 
 to on the master s countenance. "Well, now, 
 Jasper, I really believe I am justified in enter 
 taining a very strong hope of Pickering s future 
 career. And I see no reason why he should not 
 be ready for college with you, and without con 
 ditions, if he will only keep his ambition alive 
 and active, now it is aroused." 
 
 "May I tell him so?" cried Jasper, almost 
 beside himself with joy. " Oh, may I, Mr. Faber ? " 
 
 "Why, that is what I called you in here for, 
 Jasper," said the master. "It seemed so very 
 much better for him to hear it from a boy, for 
 I remember my own boyhood, though so very 
 long since; and the effect will, I feel sure, be 
 much deeper than if Pickering hears it from me. 
 He is very tired of this study, Jasper," and Mr. 
 Faber glanced around at the four walls, and 
 
PICKERING DODGE 373 
 
 again came that grim smile. "And even to hear 
 a word of commendation, it might not be so 
 pleasing to be called in. So away with you. At 
 the proper time, I shall speak to him myself." 
 
 jasper, needing no second bidding, fled pre 
 cipitately dashed in again. " Beg pardon, I d 
 forgotten my books." He seized them from the 
 table, and made quick time tracking Pickering. 
 
 "Where is Pick?" rushing up to a knot of 
 boys on a corner of the playground, just sepa 
 rating to go home. 
 
 " Don t know; what s up, King?" 
 
 "Can t stop," said Jasper, flying back to the 
 schoolroom. "I must get Pick." 
 
 "Dodge has gone," shouted a boy clearing the 
 steps, who had heard the last words. So Jasper, 
 turning again, left school and playground far 
 behind, to run up the steps of the Cabot mansion. 
 
 "Pickering here?" 
 
 "Yes." The butler had seen him hurrying 
 over the stairs to his own room just five min 
 utes ago. And in less than a minute Jasper was 
 up in that same place. 
 
 There sat Pickering by his table, his long legs 
 upon its surface, and his hands thrust into his 
 pockets. His books sprawled just where he 
 
374 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 had thrown them, at different angles along the 
 floor. 
 
 "Hullo!" cried Jasper, flying in, to slop aghast 
 at this. 
 
 "Yes, you see, Jasper, I m played out," said 
 Pickering. "It isn t any use for me to study, 
 and there are the plaguey things," pulling out 
 one set of fingers to point to the sprawling books. 
 kk l can t catch up. Every teacher looks at me 
 squint-eyed as if I were a hopeless case, which 
 lam!" 
 
 "Oh, you big dunce!" Jasper clapped his 
 books on the table with a bang, making Pick 
 ering draw down his long legs, rushed around to 
 precipitate himself on the rest of the figure in 
 the chair, when he pommelled him to his heart s 
 content. 
 
 "If you expect to beat any hope into me, old 
 boy," cried Pickering, not caring in the least for 
 the onslaught, "you ll miss your guess." 
 
 "I m hoping to beat sense into you," cried 
 Jasper, pounding away, "though it looks almost 
 impossible now," he declared, laughing. "Pick, 
 you ve won! Mr. Faber says you ve come up in 
 classes splendidly, and - 
 
 Pickering sprang to his feet. "What do you 
 
PICKERING DODGE 375 
 
 mean, Jasper?" he cried hoarsely, his face white 
 as a sheet. 
 
 "Just what I say." 
 
 "Say it again." 
 
 So Jasper went all over it once more, adding 
 the other things about getting into college and 
 all that, as much as Pickering would hear. 
 
 "Honest?" he broke in, his pale face getting 
 a dull red, and seizing Jasper by the shoulders. 
 
 "Did I ever tell you anything that wasn t so, 
 Pick?" 
 
 "No; but I can t believe it, Jap. It s the first 
 time in my life I ve I ve- And what in 
 cessant blame could not do, praise achieved. 
 Pickering rushed to the bed, flung himself face 
 down upon it, and broke into a torrent of sobs. 
 
 Jasper, who had never seen Pickering cry, had 
 wild thoughts of rushing for Mrs. Cabot; the 
 uncle was not at home. But remembering how 
 little good this could possibly do, ht bent all his 
 energies to stop this unlooked-for flood. 
 
 But he was helpless. Having never given way 
 in this manner before, Pickering seemed deter 
 mined to make a thorough job of it. And it was 
 not till he was quite exhausted that he rolled 
 over, wiped his eyes, and looked at Jasper. 
 
376 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "I m through," he announced. 
 
 "I should think you might well be," retorted 
 Jasper; "what with scaring me almost to death, 
 you ve made yourself a fright, Pick, and you ve 
 just upset all your chances to study to-day." 
 
 Pickering flung himself off the bed as sum 
 marily as he had gone on. 
 
 "That s likely, isn t it?" he cried mockingly, 
 and shamefacedly scrabbling up the books from 
 the floor. "Now, then," and he was across the 
 room, pouring out a basinful of water, to thrust 
 his swollen face within it. 
 
 "Whew! I never knew it used a chap up so 
 to cry," he spluttered. "Goodness me!" He 
 withdrew his countenance from the towel to re 
 gard Jasper. 
 
 "How you look!" cried Jasper, considering it 
 better to rail at him. 
 
 Whereupon Pickering found his way to the 
 long mirror. "I never was a beauty," he said. 
 
 "And now you are less," laughed Jasper. 
 
 "But I m good," said Pickering solemnly, and 
 flinging himself down to his books. 
 
 "You can t study with such eyes," cried Jas 
 per, tugging at the book. 
 
 "Clear out!" 
 
PICKERING DODGE 377 
 
 "I m not going. Pick, your eyes aren t much 
 bigger than pins." 
 
 "But they re sharp just as pins are. Leave 
 me alone." Pickering squirmed all over his 
 chair, but Jasper had the book. 
 
 "Never mind, I ll fly at my history, then," said 
 Pickering, possessing himself of another book; 
 "that s the beauty of it. I m as backward in 
 all of my lessons as I am in one. I can strike 
 in anywhere." 
 
 "You are not backward in any now," cried 
 Jasper in glee, and performing an Indian war 
 dance around the table. "Forward is the word 
 henceforth," he brought up dramatically with 
 another lunge at Pickering. 
 
 "Get out. You better go home." 
 
 "I haven t the smallest intention of going," 
 replied Jasper, and successfully coming off with 
 a second book. 
 
 "Here s for book number three," declared 
 Pickering but too late. Jasper seized the re 
 maining two, tossed them back of him, then 
 squared off. 
 
 "Come on for a tussle, old fellow. You re 
 not fit to study ruin your eyes. Come on!" 
 his whole face sparkling. 
 
378 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 It was too much. The table was pushed one 
 side; books and lessons, Mr. Faber and college, 
 were as things never heard of. And for a good 
 quarter of an hour, Pickering, whose hours of 
 exercise had been much scantier of late, was hard 
 pushed to parry all Jasper s attacks. At the 
 last, when the little clock on the mantel struck 
 four, he came out ahead. 
 
 "I declare, that was a good one," he exclaimed 
 in a glow. 
 
 " Particularly so to you," said Jasper ruefully. 
 "You gave me a regular bear-hug, you scamp." 
 
 "Had to, to pay you up." 
 
 " And now you may study," cried Jasper gaily; 
 and snatching his books, he ran off. 
 
 "Oh, Pick," putting his head in at the door. 
 
 "Yes?" 
 
 "If the lessons are done, come over this even 
 ing, will you?" 
 
 "All right." The last sound of Jasper s feet 
 on the stairs reached Pickering, when he sud 
 denly left his chair and flew into the hall. 
 
 "Jap oh, I say, Jap!" Then he plunged 
 back into his room to thrust his head out of the 
 window. "Jap!" he howled, to the consterna 
 tion of a fat old gentleman passing beneath, who 
 
PICKERING DODGE 379 
 
 on account of his size, finding it somewhat in 
 convenient to look up, therefore waddled into 
 the street, and surveyed the house gravely. 
 
 Pickering slammed down the window, leaving 
 the old gentleman to stare as long as he saw lit. 
 
 "I can t go over there to-night, looking like 
 this." He pranced up to the mirror again, fum 
 ing every step of the way, and surveyed himself 
 in dismay. There was some improvement in the 
 appearance of his countenance, to be sure, but 
 not by any means enough to please him. His 
 pale blue eyes were so small, and their surround 
 ings so swollen, that they reminded him of noth 
 ing so much as those of a small pig he had made 
 acquaintance with in a visit up in the country. 
 While his nose, long and usually quite aristo 
 cratic-looking, had resigned all claims to distinc 
 tion, and was hopelessly pudgy. 
 
 "Jasper knows I can t go in this shape," he 
 cried in a fury. "Great Caesar s ghost I I never 
 supposed it banged a fellow up so, to cry just 
 once!" And the next moments were spent in 
 sopping his face violently with the wet towel, 
 which did no good, as it had been plentifully 
 supplied with that treatment before. 
 
 At last he flung himself into his chair. "If I 
 
380 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 don t go over, Jap will think I haven t my les 
 sons, so that s all right. And I won t have them 
 anyway if I don t tackle them pretty quick. 
 So here goes!" And presently the only sound to 
 be heard was the ticking of the little clock, varied 
 by the turning of his pages, or the rattling of the 
 paper on which he was working out the problems 
 for to-morrow. 
 
 "Oh dear me! Jasper," Polly exclaimed about 
 half-past seven, "I don t believe Pickering is 
 coming." 
 
 "He hasn t his lessons, I suppose," said Jasper. 
 "You know I told him to come over as soon as 
 they were done. Well, Polly, we agreed, you 
 know, to let him alone as to invitations until the 
 lessons were out of the way, so I won t go over 
 after him." 
 
 "I know," said Polly, "but oh, Jasper, isn t it 
 just too elegant for anything, to think that Mr. 
 Faber says it s all right with him?" 
 
 "I should think it was," cried Jasper. "Now 
 if he only keeps on, Polly." 
 
 "Oh, he must; he will," declared Polly con 
 fidently. "Well, we can put off toasting marsh- 
 mallows until to-morrow night." 
 
 About this time, Pickering, whose lessons were 
 
PICKERING DODGE 3 8 * 
 
 all done, for he had, as Mr. Faber had said, "a 
 fine capacity" to learn, was receiving company 
 just when he thought he was safe from showing 
 his face. 
 
 " Let s stop for Pickering Dodge," proposed 
 Alexia, Clare having run in for her to go over 
 to Polly Pepper s, "to toast marshmallows and 
 have fun generally." 
 
 "All right; so we can," cried Clare. So they 
 turned the corner and went down to the Cabot 
 mansion, and were let in before the old butler 
 could be stopped. 
 
 Pickering, whose uncle and aunt were out for 
 the evening, had felt it safe to throw himself 
 down on the library sofa. When he saw that 
 John had forgotten what he told him, not to let 
 anybody in, he sprang up; but not before Alexia, 
 rushing in, had cried, "Oh, here you are! Come 
 on with us to Polly Pepper s!" Clare dashed in 
 after her. 
 
 "O\v!" exclaimed Pickering, seizing a sofa 
 pillow, to jam it against his face. 
 
 "What is the matter?" cried Alexia. "Oh, 
 have you a toothache?" 
 
 "Worse than that," groaned Pickering behind 
 his pillow. 
 
382 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Oh, my goodness me!" exclaimed Alexia, 
 tumbling back. "What can it be?" 
 
 "You haven t broken your jaw, Pick?" ob 
 served Clare. "I can t imagine that." 
 
 "I ll break yours if you don t go," said Pick 
 ering savagely, and half smothered, as he tried 
 to keep the pillow well before the two pairs of 
 eyes. 
 
 This was a little difficult, as Clare, seeing hopes 
 of running around the pillow, set himself in mo 
 tion to that end. But as Pickering whirled as 
 fast as he did, there was no great gain. 
 
 "Well, if I ever did!" exclaimed Alexia, quite 
 aghast. 
 
 And the next moment Pickering, keeping a 
 little opening at one end of the pillow, saw his 
 chance; darted out of the door, and flinging 
 the pillow the length of the hall, raced into his 
 own room and slammed the door, and they 
 could hear him lock it. 
 
 "Well, if I ever did!" exclaimed Alexia again, 
 and sinking into the first chair, she raised both 
 hands. 
 
 "What s got into the beggar?" cried Clare in 
 perplexity, and looking out into the hall, as if 
 some help to the puzzle might be found there. 
 
PICKERING DODGE 383 
 
 "Well, I guess you and I, Alcxia, might as 
 well go to Polly Pepper s," he said iinall^ . 
 
 "And if I ever come after that boy again to 
 tell him of anything nice that s going to happen, 
 I miss my guess," declared Alexia, getting her 
 self out of her chair, in high dudgeon. "Let s 
 send Jasper after him; he s the only one who 
 can manage him," she cried, as they set forth. 
 
 "Good idea," said Clare. 
 
 But when Alexia told of their funny reception, 
 Jasper first stared, then burst out laughing. And 
 although Alexia teased and teased, she got no 
 satisfaction. 
 
 "It s no use, Alexia," Jasper said, wiping his 
 eyes, "you won t get me to tell. So let s set 
 about having some fun. What shall we do?" 
 
 "I don t want to do anything," pouted Alexia, 
 "only to know what m-rJe Pickering Dodge act 
 in that funny way." 
 
 "And that s just what you won t know, Alexia," 
 replied Jasper composedly. "Well, Polly, you 
 are going to put off toasting the marshmallows, 
 aren t you, till to-morrow night, when Pick can 
 probably come?" 
 
 "Oh, I wouldn t wait for him," Alexia burst 
 out, quite exasperated, "when he s acted so. 
 
384 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 And perhaps he d come with an old sofa pillow 
 before his face, if you did." 
 
 "Oh, no, he won t, Alexia," said Jasper, going 
 off into another laugh. But although she teased 
 again, she got no nearer to the facts. And Polly 
 proposing that they make candy, the chafing 
 dish was gotten out; and Alexia, who was quite 
 an adept in the art, went to work, Jasper crack 
 ing the nuts, and Polly and Clare picking out 
 the meats. 
 
 And then all the story of Pickering s splendid 
 advance in the tough work of making up his 
 lessons came out, Jasper pausing so long to 
 dilate with kindling eyes upon it, that very few 
 nuts fell into the dish. So Polly s fingers were 
 the only ones to achieve much, as Clare gave so 
 close attention to the story that he was a very 
 poor helper. 
 
 In the midst of it, Alexia threw down the 
 chafing-dish spoon, and clapped her hands. 
 "Oh, I know!" she exclaimed. 
 
 "Oh," cried Polly, looking up from the little 
 pile of nut-meats, "how you scared me, Alexia!" 
 
 "I know I know!" exclaimed Alexia again, 
 and nodding to herself wisely. 
 
 Jasper threw her a quick glance. It said, "If 
 
PICKERING DODGE 385 
 
 you know, don t tell, Alcxia." And she flashed 
 back, Did you suppose 1 would?" 
 
 "What do you know?" demanded Clare, 
 transferring his attention from Jasper to her. 
 " Tell on, Alexia; what do you know?" 
 
 "Oh, my goodness me! this candy never will 
 be done in time for those meats," cried Alexia, 
 picking up the spoon to stir away for dear life. 
 And Jasper dashed in on what Mr. Faber said 
 about Pickering s chances for college; a state 
 ment that completely carried Clare off his feet, 
 so to speak. 
 
 "You don t mean that he thinks Pick will get 
 in without conditions?" gasped Clare, dum- 
 founded. 
 
 "Yes, I do." Jasper nodded brightly. "If Pick 
 will only study; keep it up, you know, I mean 
 to the end. He surely said it, Clare." 
 
 It was so much for Clare to think of, that he 
 didn t have any words at his command. 
 
 "Now isn t that perfectly splendid in Picker 
 ing!" cried Alexia, making the spoon fly merrily. 
 "Oh dear me! I forgot to put in the butter. 
 Where oh, here it is," and she tossed in a 
 big piece. "To think that oh dear me, I 
 forgot! I did put the butter in before. Now 
 
3 86 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 I ve spoilt it," and she threw down the spoon in 
 despair. 
 
 "Fish it out," cried Polly, hopping up and 
 seizing the spoon to make little dabs at the ball 
 of butter now rapidly lessening. 
 
 "But it s melted that is, almost oh dear 
 me!" cried Alexia. 
 
 "No, it isn t; there, see how big it is." Polly 
 landed it deftly on the plate and hopped back to 
 her nut-meats again. 
 
 "And I should think you d better shake your 
 self, Clare," said Jasper, over at him. "We 
 shouldn t have any m .s in this candy if it de 
 pended on you." 
 
 "You do tell such astounding stories," cried 
 Clare, setting to work at once. And Jasper 
 making as much noise as he could while crack 
 ing his nuts, Alexia s secret was safe. 
 
 But when the candy was set out to cool, and 
 there was a pause in which the two boys were 
 occupied by themselves, Alexia pulled Polly off 
 to a corner. 
 
 "Where are they going?" asked Clare, with 
 one eye after them. 
 
 "Oh, they have something to talk over, I pre 
 sume," said Jasper carelessly. 
 
PICKERING DODGE 387 
 
 " Nonsense! they ve all the time every day. 
 Let s go over and see." 
 
 "Oh, no," said Jasper. "Come on, Clare, and 
 let s see if the candy is cool." But Clare didn t 
 want to see if the candy was cool, nor anything 
 else but to have his own way. So he proceeded 
 over to the corner by himself. 
 
 "Oho! You go right away!" cried Alexia, 
 poking up her head over Polly s shoulder. "You 
 dreadful boy! Now, Polly, come." And she 
 pulled her off into the library. 
 
 "You see you didn t get anything for your 
 pains," said Jasper, bursting into a laugh. " You d 
 much better have staid here." 
 
 "Well, I don t want to know, anyway," said 
 Clare, taking a sudden interest in the candy. 
 "I believe it is cold, Jasper; let s look." 
 
 "Polly," Alexia was saying in the library be 
 hind the portieres, "I know now; because I 
 did it once myself: it was when you first prom 
 ised you d be a friend to me, and I went home, 
 and cried for very joy. And I didn t want to 
 see anybody that night." 
 
 "Oh, Alexia!" exclaimed Polly, giving her a 
 hug that satisfied even Alexia. 
 
 "No, I didn t; and I remember how I wanted 
 
388 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 to hold something up to my face. I never thought 
 of a sofa pillow, and I couldn t have gotten it if I 
 had thought, cause aunt had it crammed against 
 her back. Oh, my eyes were a sight, Polly, and 
 my nose was all over my face." 
 
XXIII THE CLEMCY GARDEN PARTY 
 
 YOU may go on those errands, Hortense, 
 but first send Polly Pepper to me," 
 commanded Mrs. Chatterton sharply. 
 
 The French maid paused in the act of hanging 
 up a gown. "I will re-quest her, Madame. I 
 should not like to send Mees Polly Peppaire." 
 
 "Miss Polly Pepper!" Mrs. Chatterton was 
 guilty of stamping her foot. "Are you mad? I 
 am speaking of Polly Pepper, this country girl, 
 who is as poor and low-born here in this house, 
 as if in her little brown house, wherever that 
 may be." 
 
 Hortense shrugged her shoulders, and hung up 
 the gown. 
 
 " Has Madame any further commands for me ? " 
 she asked, coming up to her mistress. 
 
 "Yes; be sure to get the velvet at Lemaire s, 
 and take back the silk kimono. I will send to 
 New York for one." 
 
 "Yes, Madame." 
 
 389 
 
390 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "That is all besides the other errands. Now 
 go." She dismissed her with a wave of her 
 shapely hand. "But first, as I bade you, send 
 Polly Pepper to me." 
 
 Hortense, with another elevation of her shoul 
 ders, said nothing, till she found herself the other 
 side of the door. Then she shook her fist at it. 
 
 "It ees not Miss Polly who will be sent for; 
 it ees Madame who will be sent out of dees 
 house, fai peur ha, ha, ha!" 
 
 She laughed softly to herself all the way down 
 stairs, with an insolent little fling to her head, 
 that boded ill for her mistress s interests. 
 
 Meanwhile, Mrs. Chatterton was angrily pacing 
 up and down the room. "What arrant non 
 sense a man can be capable of when he is head 
 strong to begin with! To think of the elegant 
 Horatio King, a model for all men, surrounding 
 himself with this commonplace family. Faugh! 
 It is easy enough to see what they are all after. 
 But I shall prevent it. Meanwhile, the only way 
 to do it is to break the spirit of this Polly Pep 
 per. Once do that, and I have the task easy to 
 my hand." 
 
 She listened intently. "It can t be possible 
 she would refuse to come. Ha! I thought so." 
 
THE CLEMCY GARDEN PARTY 391 
 
 Polly came quietly in. No one to see her face 
 would have supposed that she had thrown aside 
 the book she had been waiting weeks to read, so 
 that lessons and music need not suffer. For she 
 was really glad when Mrs. Chatterton s French 
 maid asked her respectfully if she would please 
 be so good as to step up to her mistress s apart 
 ments, "s il vous plait, Mees Polly." 
 
 "Yes, indeed," cried Polly, springing off from 
 the window-seat, and forgetting the enchanted 
 story-land immediately in the rush of delight. 
 " Oh, I have another chance to try to please her," 
 she thought, skimming over the stairs. But she 
 was careful to restrain her steps on reaching the 
 room. 
 
 "You may take that paper," said Mrs. Chat- 
 terton, seating herself in her favorite chair, "and 
 read to me. You know the things I desire to 
 hear, or ought to." She pointed to the society 
 news, Town Talk, lying on the table. 
 
 Polly took it up, glad to be of the least service, 
 and whirled it over to get the fashion items, feel 
 ing sure that now she was on the right road to 
 favor. 
 
 "Don t rattle it," cried Mrs. Chatterton, in a 
 thin, high voice. 
 
392 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "I ll try not to," said Polly, wishing she could 
 be deft-handed like Mamsie, and doing her best 
 to get to the inner page quietly. 
 
 "And why don t you read where you are?" 
 cried Mrs. Chatterton. "Begin on the first page. 
 I wish to hear that first." 
 
 Polly turned the sheet back again, and obeyed. 
 But she hadn t read more than a paragraph 
 when she came to a dead stop. 
 
 "Go on," commanded Mrs. Chatterton, her 
 eyes sparkling. She had forgotten to play with 
 her rings, being perfectly absorbed in the de 
 licious morsels of exceedingly unsavory gossip 
 she was hearing. 
 
 Polly laid the paper in her lap, and her two 
 hands fell upon it. "Oh, Mrs. Chatterton," she 
 cried, the color flying from her cheek, "please 
 let me read something else to you. Mamsie 
 wouldn t like me to read this." The brown eyes 
 filled with tears, and she leaned forward implor 
 ingly. 
 
 "Stuff and nonsense!" exclaimed Mrs. Chat 
 terton passionately. "I command you to read 
 that, girl. Do you hear me?" 
 
 U I cannot," said Polly, in a low voice. "Mam 
 sie wouldn t like it." But it was perfectly dis- 
 
THE CLEMCY GARDEN PARTY 393 
 
 tinct, and fell upon the angry ears clearly; and 
 storm as she might, Mrs. Chatterton knew that 
 the little country maiden would never bend to 
 her will in this case. 
 
 "I would have you to know that I understand 
 much better than your mother possibly can, 
 what is for your good to read. Besides, she will 
 never know." 
 
 "Mamsie knows every single thing that we 
 children do," cried Polly decidedly, and lifting 
 her pale face; "and she understands better than 
 any one else about what we ought to do, for 
 she is our mother." 
 
 "What arrant nonsense!" exclaimed Mrs. 
 Chatterton passionately, and unable to control 
 herself at the prospect of losing Polly for a reader, 
 which she couldn t endure, as she thoroughly en 
 joyed her services in that line. She got out of 
 her chair, and paced up and down the long apart 
 ment angrily, saying all sorts of most disagree 
 able things, that Polly only half heard, so busy 
 was she debating in her own mind what she 
 ought to do. Should she run out of the room, 
 and leave this dreadful old woman that every 
 one in the house was tired of? Surely she had 
 tried enough to please her, but she could not do 
 
394 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 what Mamsie would never approve of. And just 
 as Polly had about decided to slip out, she looked 
 up. 
 
 Mrs. Chatterton, having exhausted her pas 
 sion, as it seemed to do no good, was returning 
 to her seat, with such a dreary step and forlorn 
 expression that she seemed ten years older. She 
 really looked very feeble, and Polly broke out 
 impulsively, "Oh, let me read the other part of 
 the paper, clear Mrs. Chatterton. May I?" 
 
 "Read it," said Mrs. Chatterton ungraciously, 
 and sat down in her favorite chair. 
 
 Polly, scarcely believing her ears, whirled over 
 the sheet, and determined to read as well as 
 she possibly could, managed to throw so much 
 enthusiasm into the fashion hints and social 
 items, that presently Mrs. Chatterton s eyes were 
 sparkling again, although she was deprived of 
 her unsavory morsels. 
 
 And before long she was eagerly telling Polly 
 to read over certain dictates of the Paris corre 
 spondent, who was laying down the law for 
 feminine dress, and calling again for the last in 
 formation of the movements of members of her 
 social set, till there could be no question of her 
 enjoyment. 
 
THE CLEMCY GARDEN PARTY 395 
 
 Polly, not knowing or caring how long she had 
 been thus occupied, so long as Mrs. Chatterton 
 was happy, was only conscious that; Hortense 
 came back from the errands, which occasioned 
 only a brief pause. 
 
 "Put the parcels clown," said Mrs. Chatterton, 
 scarcely glancing at her, "I cannot attend to 
 you now 7 . Go on, Pol" ." 
 
 So Polly went on, until the fashionable and 
 social world had been so thoroughly canvassed 
 that even Mrs. Chatterton was quite convinced 
 that she could get no more from the paper. 
 
 "You may go now," she said, but with a hun 
 gry glance for the first page. Then she tore her 
 gaze away, and repeated more coldly than ever, 
 "You may go." 
 
 Polly ran off, dismayed to find how happy she 
 was at the release. Her feet, unaccustomed to 
 siting still so long, were numb, and little prickles 
 were running up and down her legs. She hur 
 ried as fast as she could into Mamsie s room, feel 
 ing in need of all the good cheer she could find. 
 
 "Mrs. Fisher has gone out," said Jane, going 
 along the hall. 
 
 "Gone out!" repeated Polly, "Oh, wrnre? 
 Do you know, Jane?" 
 
396 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "I don t exactly know," said Jane, "but she 
 took Miss Phrcnsie; and I think it s shopping 
 they went for. Mr. King has taken them in the 
 carriage." 
 
 "Oh, I know it is," cried Polly, and a dread 
 ful feeling surged through her. Why had she 
 spent all this time with that horrible old woman, 
 and lost this precious tre ! 
 
 "They thought you had gone to the Salisbury 
 School," said Jane, wishing she could give some 
 comfort, "for they wanted you awfully to go." 
 
 "And now I ve lost it all," cried Polly at a 
 white heat "all this perfectly splendid time 
 with Grandpapa and Mamsie and Phronsie just 
 for the sake of a horrible " 
 
 Then she broke short off, and ran back into 
 Mamsic s room, and flung herself down by the 
 bed, just as she used to do by the four-poster in 
 the bedroom of the little brown house. 
 
 "Why, Polly, child!" Mother Fisher s voice 
 was very cheery as she came in, Phronsie hurry 
 ing after. 
 
 "I don t see her," began Phronsie in a puzzled 
 way, and peering on all sides. "W r here is she, 
 Mamsie?" 
 
 Mrs. Fisher went over and laid her hand on 
 
THE CLEMCY GARDEN PARTY 397 
 
 Polly s brown head. "Now, Phronsie, you may 
 run out, that is a good girl." She leaned over, 
 and set a kiss on Phronsie s red lips. 
 
 "Is Polly sick?" asked Phronsie, going off to 
 the door obediently, but looking back with won 
 dering eyes. 
 
 "No, dear, I think not," said Mrs. Fisher. 
 "Run along, dear." 
 
 "I am so glad she isn t sick," said Phronsie, as 
 she went slowly off. Yet she carried a troubled 
 face. 
 
 "I ought to go and see how Sinbad is," she 
 decided, as she went downstairs. This visit was 
 an everyday performance, to be carefully gone 
 through with. So she passed out of the big side 
 doorway, to the veranda. 
 
 "There is Michael now," she cried joyfully, 
 espying that individual raking up the west lawn. 
 So skipping off, she flew over to him. This 
 caught the attention of little Dick from the 
 nursery window. 
 
 "Hurry up there!" he cried crossly to Battles, 
 who was having a hard time anyway getting him 
 into a fresh sailor suit. 
 
 "Oh, Dicky Dicky!" called mamma softly 
 from her room. 
 
398 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "I can t help it, mamma; Battles is slow and 
 poky," he fumed. 
 
 "Oh, no, dear," said his mother; " Battles al 
 ways gets you ready very swiftly, as well as 
 nicely." 
 
 Battles, a comfortable person, turned her 
 round face with a smile toward the door. "And 
 if you was more like your mamma, Master Dick, 
 you d be through with dressing, and make every 
 thing more pleasant to yourself and to every one 
 else." 
 
 "Well, I m not in the least like mamma, Bat 
 tles; I can t be." 
 
 "No, indeed, you ain t. But you can try," said 
 Battles encouragingly. 
 
 "Why, Battles Whitney!" exclaimed Dick, 
 whirling around on her. In astonishment, or 
 any excitement, Dicky invariably gave her the 
 whole name that he felt she ought to possess; 
 "Mrs. Mara Battles " not being at all within 
 his comprehension. "What an awful story!" 
 
 "Dicky Dicky!" reproved Mrs. Whitney. 
 
 "Well, I can t help it, mamma." Dick now 
 escaped from Battles hands altogether, and fled 
 into the other room, the comfortable person fol 
 lowing. "She said" plunging up to her chair 
 
THE CLEMCY GARDEN PARTY 399 
 
 in great excitement "that I could be like 
 you." 
 
 "I said you could try to be," corrected Battles, 
 smoothing down her apron. 
 
 "And she knows I can t ever be, in all this 
 world," declared Dick, shaking his short curls 
 in decision, and glancing back to see the effect, 
 "for you re a woman, and I m always going to 
 be a man. Why, see how big I am now!" He 
 squared off, and strutted up and down the little 
 boudoir. 
 
 "And you d be bigger if you d let me fix your 
 blouse and button it up," declared Battles, laugh 
 ing, and bearing down on him to fasten the band 
 and tuck in the vest. "And if you w ; more 
 like your mother in disposition that s what I 
 mean -- twould be a sight comfortabler for you 
 and every one else. Now, says I, your hair s got 
 to be brushed." And she led him back into the 
 nursery, laughing all the way. 
 
 "What makes you shake so when you laugh, 
 Battles?" asked Dick suddenly, and ignoring all 
 references to his disposition. 
 
 "Can t help it," said Battles, beginning work 
 on the curls; "that s because there s so much of 
 me, I suppose," and she laughed more than ever. 
 
400 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 " There s so very much of you, Battles," ob 
 served Dick with a critical look all over her ro 
 tund figure. " What makes it?" 
 
 "Oh, I don t know," said Battles. "Stand 
 still, Dicky, and I ll be through all the sooner. 
 Some folks is big and round, and some folks is 
 little and scrawny." 
 
 "What s scrawny?" asked Dick, who always 
 got as many alleviations by conversation as pos 
 sible out of the detested hair-brushing. 
 
 "Why, thin and lean." 
 
 "Oh, well, go on, Battles." 
 
 "And I m one of the big and round ones," 
 said Battles, seeing no occasion in that state 
 ment 1 abate her cheerfulness. So she laughed 
 again. 
 
 "I like you big and round, Battles," cried lit 
 tle Dick affectionately, and whirling about so 
 suddenly as to endanger his eye with the comb 
 doing good execution. And he essayed to put 
 his arms around her waist, which he was always 
 hoping to be able to accomplish. 
 
 "That s good," said Battles, laughing, well 
 pleased. "But you mustn t jump around so. 
 There now, in a minute you shall be off." And 
 she took up the brush. 
 
THE CLEMCY GARDEN PARTY 401 
 
 "I must," declared Dick, remembering his 
 sight of Phronsic running across the lawn; "do 
 hurry, Battles," he pleaded, which so won her 
 heart that she abridged part of the brushing, 
 and let him scamper off. 
 
 Phronsie was kneeling down in front of Sin- 
 bad s kennel. 
 
 "Can t you untie him to-day, Michael?" she 
 asked, a question she had propounded each 
 morning since the boys went back to school. 
 
 "Yes, Miss Phronsie, I think I can; he s 
 wonted now, and the other dogs are accustomed 
 to him. Besides, I ve locked up Jerry since he 
 fit him." 
 
 "I know," said Phronsie sorrowfully; "that 
 was naughty of Jerry when Sinbad had only 
 just come." 
 
 Michael scratched his head. He couldn t tell 
 her what was on his mind, that Sinbad was 
 scarcely such a dog as any one would buy, and 
 therefore his presence was not to be relished by 
 the high-bred animals already at home on the place. 
 
 "Well, you know, Miss Phronsie," he said at 
 last, "it s kinder difficult like, to expect some 
 dogs to remember their manners; and Jerry ain t 
 like all the others in that respect." 
 
402 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 " Please tell him about it," said Phronsie ear 
 nestly, "how good Prince is to Sinbad, and then 
 I guess he ll want to be like him." For Phronsie 
 had never swerved in her allegiance to Prince 
 ever since he saved her from the naughty organ 
 man in the little-brown-house days. And in all 
 her conversations with the other dogs she invari 
 ably held up Jasper s big black dog, his great 
 friend and companion since pinafore days, as 
 their model. 
 
 And just then Dicky ran up breathlessly. 
 
 "Dick," announced Phronsie excitedly, "Mi 
 chael is going to let Sinbad out to-day." And 
 she clasped her hands in delight. 
 
 "Jolly!" exclaimed Dick, capering about. 
 
 "Now, Master Dick, you must let the dog 
 alone," cried Michael. "It s time to try him 
 with his freedom a bit. He s charm at that 
 chain." He looked anxiously at Dick. "Stand 
 off there, both of you," and he slipped the 
 chain off. 
 
 Sinbad gave a little wiggle with his hind legs, 
 and stretched his yellow body. It was too good 
 to be true! But it was, though; he was free, and 
 he shot out from his kennel, which was down in 
 the gardener s quarters, and quite removed from 
 
THE CLEMCY GARDEN PARTY 403 
 
 the other dogs, and fairly tore his ragged little 
 tail straight out across the west lawn. 
 
 "Oh, he ll run back to Joel at school," cried 
 Dick, who had heard Joel say he must be tied 
 at first when everything was strange; and he 
 started on a mad run after him. 
 
 "You stay still," roared Michael; "that dog 
 is only stretchin his legs. He ll come back." 
 But as well tell the north wind to stop blowing. 
 Dicky s blouse purled out with the breeze, as his 
 small legs executed fine speed. 
 
 "Oh, Michael!" cried Phronsie in the greatest 
 distress, "make Dicky come back." 
 
 "Oh, he ll come back," said Michael reas 
 suringly, though he quaked inwardly. And so 
 Dicky did. But it was now a matter of Sinbad 
 chasing him; for as Michael had said, the dog, 
 after stretching his legs as the mad rush across 
 the lawn enabled him to do, now was very much 
 pleased to return for a little petting at the hands 
 of those people who had given him every reason 
 to expect that he should receive it; and suppos 
 ing, from Dick s chase after him, that a race was 
 agreeable, he set forth; his ears, as ragged as his 
 tail, pricked up in the fullest enjoyment of the 
 occasion. 
 
4 o 4 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 But Dick saw nothing in it to enjoy. And ex 
 erting all his strength to keep ahead, which he 
 couldn t do as well for the reason that he was 
 screaming fearfully, Sinbad came up with him 
 easily. Dicky, turning his head in mad terror at 
 that instant, stumbled and fell. Sinbad, unable 
 to stop at short notice, or rather no notice at all, 
 rolled over with him in a heap. 
 
 This brought all the stable-boys to the scene, 
 besides Mrs. Whitney who had seen some of the 
 affair from her window; and finally, when every 
 thing was beginning to be calmed down, Battles 
 reached the lawn. 
 
 Sinbad was in Phronsie s lap, who sat on the 
 grass, holding him tightly. 
 
 "Oh, Phronsie!" gasped Mrs. Whitney at that. 
 "Michael, do take him away," ?s she fled by to 
 Dick. One of the stable-boys was brushing off 
 the grime from his sailor suit. 
 
 "The dog is all right, ma am," said Michael, 
 " twas only play; I s pose Master Joel has 
 raced with him." 
 
 "Twas only play," repeated little Dick, who, 
 now that he found himself whole, was surprised 
 the idea hadn t occurred to him before. "Hoh! 
 I m not hurt, and I m going to race with him 
 again. " 
 
THE CLEMCY GARDEN PARTY 405 
 
 "Not to-day, Dicky," said Mrs. Whitney, look 
 ing him all over anxiously. 
 
 "He s all right, ma am," declared Michael; 
 "they just rolled over together, cause, you see, 
 ma am, the dog couldn t stop, he was a-goin so 
 fast, when the youngster turned right in his face/ 
 
 And Dick, to prove his soundness of body and 
 restoration of mind, ran up to Phronsie, arid 
 flung himself down on the grass by her side. 
 
 Sinbad received him as a most pleasant ac 
 quaintance, cocked up his ragged ears, and tried 
 to wag his poor little scrubby tail, never quite 
 getting it into his head that it wasn t long and 
 graceful. And then he set upon the task of lick 
 ing Dick s hands all over, and as much of his 
 face as was possible to compass. 
 
 "See that now," cried Michael triumphantly, 
 pointing, "that dog mayn t be handsome, but he 
 hain t got a bad bone in his body, if he docs 
 look like the Evil One hisself." 
 
 This episode absorbing all their attention, no 
 body heard or saw Alexia Rhys, running lightly 
 up over the terrace. "Oh, my! what are you 
 doing? And where s Polly?" she asked of 
 Mrs. Whitney. 
 
 It being soon told, Alexia, who evidently had 
 
406 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 some exciting piece of news for Polly, ran into 
 the house. 
 
 " Polly," she called. " Oh, Polly Pepper, where 
 are you?" running over the stairs at the same 
 time. 
 
 But Polly, as we have seen, was not in her 
 room. 
 
 "Now then," Mother Fisher said at sound of 
 Alexia s voice, "as we ve finished our talk, Polly, 
 why, you must run down and see her." 
 
 But Polly clung to her mother s neck. "Do 
 you think I ought to go next Saturday morning 
 out shopping, Mamsie, after I ve been so 
 naughty ? " 
 
 "Indeed, you ought," cried Mrs. Fisher, in 
 her most decisive fashion. "Dear me! that 
 would be very dreadful, Polly, after we put it 
 off for you, when we thought you had gone 
 down to the Salisbury School. Why, we couldn t 
 get along without you, Polly." 
 
 So Polly, with a happy feeling at her heart 
 that she was really needed to make the shopping 
 trip a success, and best of all for the long talk 
 with Mamsie, that had set many things right, 
 ran down to meet Alexia, brimming over v/ith 
 her important news. 
 
THE CLEMCY GARDEN PARTY 
 
 407 
 
 "Where have you been?" demanded Alexia, 
 just on the point of rushing out of Polly s room 
 in despair. "I ve looked everywhere for you, 
 even in the shoe-box." And without waiting for 
 a reply, she dragged Polly back. "Oh, you 
 can t possibly guess!" her pale eyes gleaming 
 with excitement. 
 
 "Then tell me, do, Alexia," begged Polly, 
 scarcely less wrought up. 
 
 " Oh, Polly, the most elegant thing imaginable! " 
 Alexia dearly loved to spin out her exciting news 
 as long as possible, driving the girls almost fran 
 tic by such methods. 
 
 "Well, if you are not going to tell me, I might 
 as well go back again, up in Mamsie s room," 
 declared Polly, working herself free from the 
 long arms, and starting for the door. 
 
 "Oh, I ll tell, Polly I ll tell," cried Alexia, 
 plunging after. "Miss Salisbury says I ve just 
 been up to the school after my German grammar 
 - that Mr. John Clemcy and Miss Ophelia have 
 invited the whole Salisbury School out there for 
 next Saturday afternoon. Think of it, after that 
 smashed vase, Polly Pepper!" 
 
 Polly Pepper sat down on the shoe-box, quite 
 gone in surprise. 
 
408 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 It was as Alexia had said: a most surprising 
 thing, when one took into consideration how 
 much Mr. John Clemcy had suffered from the 
 carelessness of a Salisbury pupil on the occasion 
 of the accidental visit. But evidently one of his 
 reasons though by no means the only one 
 was his wish to salve the feelings of the gentle 
 women, who were constantly endeavoring to show 
 him their overwhelming sorrow, and trying to 
 make all possible reparation for the loss of the 
 vase. 
 
 And he had stated his desire so forcibly on 
 one of the many visits to the school that seemed 
 to be necessary after the accident, that Miss 
 Salisbury was unable to refuse the invitation, 
 although it nearly threw her, self-contained as 
 she usually was, into a panic at the very idea. 
 
 "But why did you promise, sister?" Miss 
 Anstice turned on her on the withdrawal of the 
 gentleman, whose English composure of face and 
 bearing was now, in its victory, especially trying 
 to bear. "I am surprised at you. Something 
 dreadful will surely happen." 
 
 "Don t, Anstice," begged Miss Salisbury, ner 
 vous to the last degree, since even the support of 
 " sister" was to be withdrawn. "It was the 
 
THE CLEMCY GARDEN PARTY 
 
 409 
 
 least I could do, to please him after what has 
 happened." 
 
 "Well, something will surely happen," mourned 
 Miss Anstice. "You know how unfortunate it 
 has been from the very beginning,, I ve never 
 been able to look at that gown since, although it 
 has been washed till every stain is removed," 
 
 "Put it on for this visit, sister," advised Miss 
 Salisbury, with a healthy disapproval of super 
 stitions, "and break the charm." 
 
 "Oh, never!" Miss Anstice raised her slender 
 hands. "I wouldn t run such a chance as to 
 wear that gown for all the world. It will be un 
 lucky enough, you will see, without that, sister." 
 
 But as far as anybody could see, everything 
 was perfectly harmonious and successful on the 
 following Saturday afternoon. To begin with, 
 the weather was perfect; although at extremely 
 short intervals Miss Anstice kept reminding her 
 sister that a tremendous shower might be ex 
 pected when the expedition was once under way. 
 
 The girls, when they received their invitation 
 Monday morning from Miss Salisbury in the 
 long schoolroom, were, to state it figuratively, 
 "taken off their feet" in surprise, with the ex 
 ception of those fortunate enough to have caught 
 
410 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 snatches of the news always sure to travel fast 
 when set going by Alexia; and wild was the re 
 joicing, when they could forget the broken vase, 
 at the prospect of another expedition under Miss 
 Salisbury s guidance. 
 
 "If Miss Anstice only weren t going!" sighed 
 Clem. "She is such a fussy old thing. It spoils 
 everybody s fun just to look at her." 
 
 "Well, don t look at her," advised Alexia 
 calmly; "for my part, I never do, unless I can t 
 help it." 
 
 "How are you going to help it," cried Amy 
 Garrett dismally, "when you are in her classes? 
 Oh dear! I do wish Miss Salisbury would get rid 
 of her as a teacher, and let Miss Wilcox take her 
 place." 
 
 "Miss Wilcox is just gay!" exclaimed Silvia. 
 Well, don t let s talk of that old frump any 
 more. Goodness me! here she comes," as Miss 
 Anstice advanced down the long hall, where the 
 girls were discussing the wonderful invitation 
 after school. 
 
 And as the day was perfect, so the spirits of 
 the "Salisbury girls" were at their highest. And 
 Mr. Kimball and his associates drove them over 
 in the same big barges, the veteran leader not 
 
THE CLEMCY GARDEN PARTY 411 
 
 recovering from the surprise into which he had 
 been thrown by this afternoon par y given to 
 the Salisbury School by Mr. Clemcy and his 
 sister. 
 
 "Of all things in this world, this is th cap- 
 sheaf," he muttered several times on the way. 
 "A good ten year or more, those English folks 
 have been drawin back in them pretty grounds, 
 an offendin every one; an now, to get a passel 
 o girls to run over an stomp em all down!" 
 
 Being unable to solve the puzzle, it afforded 
 him plenty of occupation to work away at it. 
 
 Mr. Clemcy and Miss Ophelia, caring as lit 
 tle for the opinion of the stage-driver as for the 
 rest of the world, received the visitors on the 
 broad stone piazza, whose pillars ran the length 
 of the house, and up to the roof, affording a wide 
 gallery above. It was all entwined with English 
 ivy and creepers taken from the homestead in 
 Devonshire, and brought away when the death 
 of the old mother made it impossible for life to 
 be sustained by Miss Ophelia unless wrenched 
 up from the roots where clustered so many mem 
 ories. So Brother John decided to make that 
 wrench, and to make it complete. So here they 
 were. 
 
412 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "I didn t know it was so pretty," cried Clem, 
 after the 1: dies had been welcomed with the 
 most gracious, old-time hospitality, and the 
 schoolgirls tumbled out of the barges to throng 
 up. "It rained so when we were here before, 
 we couldn t see anything." 
 
 "Pretty?" repeated Alexia, comprehending it 
 all in swift, bird-like glances. "It s perfectly 
 beautiful!" She turned, and Mr. Clemcy, who 
 was regarding her, smiled, and they struck up a 
 friendship on the spot. 
 
 "Miss Salisbury, allow me." Mr. Clemcy was 
 leading her off. Miss Anstice, not trusting the 
 ill-fated white gown, rustled after in the black 
 silk one, with Miss Ophelia, down the wide hall, 
 open at the end, with vistas of broad fields be 
 yond, where the host paused. "Let the young 
 ladies come," he said: and the girls trooped after, 
 to crowd around the elder people. 
 
 Amongst the palms and bookcases, with which 
 the broad hall was lined, was a pedestal, whose 
 top was half covered with a soft, filmy cloth. 
 
 Mr. Clemcy lifted this, and took it off care 
 fully. There stood the little vase, presenting 
 as brave an appearance as in its first perfec 
 tion. 
 
THERE STOOD THE LITTLE VASE, PRESENTING AS BRAVE AN 
 APPEARANCE AS IN ITS FIRST PERFECTION. 
 
THE CLEMCY GARDEN PARTY 413 
 
 Miss Salisbury uttered no exclamation, but pre 
 served her composure by a violent effort. 
 
 "I flatter myself on my ability to repair my 
 broken collection," began Mr. Clemcy, when a 
 loud exclamation from the girls in front startled 
 every one. Miss Anstice, on the first shock, had 
 been unable to find that composure that was 
 always "sister s" envied possession; so despite 
 the environment of the black silk gown, she gave 
 it up, and sank gradually to the ground. 
 
 "I told you so," cried Clem, in a hoarse whis 
 per to her nearest neighbors; "she always spoils 
 everybody s fun," as Miss Anstice, at the host s 
 suggestion, his sister being rendered incapable 
 of action at this sudden emergency, was put to 
 rest in one of the pretty chintz- covered rooms 
 above, till such time as she could recover herself 
 enough to join them below. 
 
 "I couldn t help it, sister," she said. "I ve 
 been so worried about that vase. You don t 
 know, because you are always so calm; and then 
 to see it standing there it quite took away my 
 breath." 
 
 Oh, the delights of the rose-garden! in which 
 every variety of the old-fashioned rose seemed to 
 have had a place lovingly assigned to it. Sweet- 
 
414 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 brier clambered over the walls of the gardener s 
 cottage, the stables, and charming summer-houses, 
 into which the girls ran with delight. For Mr. 
 Clemcy had said they were to go everywhere and 
 enjoy everything without restraint. 
 
 "He s a dear," exclaimed Lucy Bennett, "only 
 I m mortally afraid of him." 
 
 "Well, I m not," proclaimed Alexia. 
 
 The idea of Alexia being in any state that 
 would suggest fear, being so funny, the girls 
 burst out laughing. 
 
 "Well, we sha n t any of us feel like laughing 
 much in a little while," said Clem dolefully. 
 
 "What is the matter?" cried a dozen voices. 
 
 "Matter enough," replied Clem. "I ve said 
 so before, and now I know it s coming. Just 
 look at that." 
 
 She pushed aside the swaying branches of the 
 sweetbrier, and pointed tragically. "I don t see 
 anything," said one or two of the girls. 
 
 "There!" "There" meant Mr. Clemcy and 
 Miss Salisbury passing down the rose-walk, the 
 broad central path. He was evidently showing 
 her some treasured variety and descanting on 
 it; the principal of the Salisbury School from 
 her wide knowledge of roses, as well as of other 
 
THE CLEMCY GARDEN PARTY 415 
 
 subjects, being able to respond very intelli 
 gently. 
 
 "Oh, can t you see? You stupid things!" 
 cried Clem. "He s going to marry our Miss 
 Salisbury, and then she ll give up our school; 
 and and - She turned away, and threw 
 herself of! in a corner. 
 
 A whole chorus of "No no!" burst upon 
 this speech. 
 
 "Hush!" cried Alcxia, quite horrified. "Polly, 
 do stop them; Miss Salisbury is turning around; 
 and she s been worried quite enough over that 
 dreadful Miss Anstice," which had the effect of 
 reducing the girls to quiet. 
 
 "But it isn t so," cried the girls in frantic 
 whispers, "what Clem says." And those who 
 were not sure of themselves huddled down on 
 the summer-house floor. "Say, Alexia, you don t 
 think so, do you?" 
 
 But Alexia would give them no comfort, but 
 wisely seizing Polly s arm, departed with her. 
 "I shall say something that I ll be sorry for," 
 she declared, "if I stay another moment longer. 
 For, Polly Pepper, I do really believe that it s 
 true, what Clem says." 
 
 And the rest of that beautiful afternoon, with 
 
4i6 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 rambles over the wide estate, and tea with berries 
 and cream on the terraces, was a dream, scarcely 
 comprehended by the "Salisbury girls," who 
 were strangely quiet and well-behaved. For this 
 Miss Salisbury was thankful. 
 
 And presently Miss Anstice, coming down in 
 the wake of Miss Ophelia, was put carefully into 
 a comfortable chair on the stone veranda, where 
 she sat pale and quiet, Miss Clemcy assiduously 
 devoting herself to her, and drawing up a little 
 table to her side for her berries and cream and tea. 
 
 "Now we will be comfortable together," said 
 Miss Ophelia, the maid bringing her special little 
 pot of tea. 
 
 "I am so mortified, my dear Miss Clemcy," 
 began Miss Anstice, her little hands nervously 
 working, "to have given way;" all of which she 
 had said over and over to her hostess in the 
 chintz-covered room. "And you are so kind to 
 overlook it so beautifully." 
 
 "It is impossible to blame one of your delicate 
 sensibility," said Miss Ophelia; with her healthy 
 English composure, quite in her element to have 
 some one to fuss over, and to make comfortable 
 in her own way. "Now, then, I trust that tea 
 is quite right," handing her a cup. 
 
XXIV THE PIECE OF NEWS 
 
 PEPPER, you re wanted!" Dick Furness 
 banged into Joel s room, then out again, 
 adding two words, "Harrow immediately." 
 
 "All right," said Joel, whistling on; all his 
 thoughts upon "Moose Island" and the expe 
 dition there on the morrowc And he ran lightly 
 down to the second floor, and into the under- 
 teacher s room. 
 
 Mr. Harrow was waiting for him; and pushing 
 aside some books, for he never seemed to be 
 quite free from them even for a moment, he mo 
 tioned Joel to a seat. 
 
 Joel, whose pulses were throbbing with the 
 liveliest expectations, didn t bother his head with 
 what otherwise might have struck him as some 
 what queer in the under-teachcr s manner. For 
 the thing in hand was what Joel principally gave 
 himself to. And as that clearly could be nothing 
 else than the "Moose Island expedition," it nat 
 urally followed that Mr. Harrow had to speak 
 twice before he could gain his attention. 
 417 
 
4 i8 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 But when it was gained, there was not the 
 slightest possible chance of misunderstanding 
 what the under-teacher was saying, for it was 
 the habit of this instructor to come directly to 
 the point without unnecessary circumlocution. 
 
 But his voice and manner were not without a 
 touch of sadness on this occasion that softened 
 the speech itself. 
 
 Joel, my boy," Mr. Harrow began, "you 
 know I have often had you down here to urge 
 on those lessons of yours." 
 
 "Yes, sir," said Joel, wondering now at the 
 voice and manner. 
 
 "Well, now to-day, I am instructed by the 
 master to send for you for a different reason. 
 Can you not guess?" 
 
 "No, sir," said Joel, comfortable in the way 
 things had been going on, and wholly unable to 
 imagine the blow about to fall. 
 
 "I wish you had guessed it, Joel," said Mr. 
 Harrow, moving uneasily in his chair, "for then 
 you would have made my task easier. Joel, 
 Dr. Marks says, on account of your falling be 
 hind in your lessons, without reason under 
 stand this, Joel, without reason you are not to 
 go to Moose Island to-morrow." 
 
THE PIECE OF NEWS 419 
 
 Even then Joel did not comprehend. So Mr. 
 Harrow repeated it distinctly. 
 
 "What!" roared Joel. In his excitement he 
 cleared the space between them, and gained Mr. 
 Harrow s side. "Not go to Moose Island, Mr. 
 Harrow?" his black eyes widening, and his face 
 working fearfully. 
 
 "No," said Mr. Harrow, drawing a long 
 breath, "you are not to go; so Dr. Marks says." 
 
 "But I must go," cried Joel, quite gone in 
 passion. 
 
 " Must is a singular word to use here, Joel," 
 observed Mr. Harrow sternly. 
 
 " But I oh, Mr. Harrow, do see if you can t 
 help me to go." Joel squirmed all over, and 
 even clutched the under-teacher s arm piteously. 
 
 "Alas, Joel! it is beyond my power." Mr. 
 Harrow shook his head. He didn t think it ne 
 cessary to state that he had already used every 
 argument he could employ to induce Dr. Marks 
 to change his mind. "Some strong pressure 
 must be brought to bear upon Pepper, or he 
 will amount to nothing but an athletic lad. He 
 must see the value of study," the master had 
 responded, and signified that the interview was 
 ended, iuul his command was to be carried out. 
 
420 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Joel," - Mr. Harrow was speaking "be a 
 man, and bear this as you can. You ve had your 
 chances for study, and not taken them. It is a 
 case of must now. Remember, Dr. Marks is do 
 ing this in love to you. He has got to fit you 
 out as well as he can in this school, to take that 
 place in life that your mother wants you to fill. 
 Don t waste a moment on vain regrets, but buckle 
 to your studies now." 
 
 It was a long speech for the under-teacher, 
 and he had a hard time getting through with it. 
 At its end, Joel, half dazed with his misfortune, 
 but with a feeling that as a man, Dr. Marks and 
 Mr. Harrow had treated him, hurried back to 
 his room, dragged his chair up to the table, and 
 pushing off the untidy collection of rackets, ten 
 nis balls, boxing-gloves, and other implements of 
 his gymnasium work and his recreation hours, 
 lent his whole heart with a new impulse to his 
 task. 
 
 Somehow he did not feel like crying, as had 
 often been the case with previous trials. "He 
 said, Be a man, " Joel kept repeating over and 
 over to himself, while the words of his lesson 
 swam before his eyes. "And so I will; and he 
 said, Dr. Marks had got to make me as Mamsie 
 
THE PIECE OF NEWS 421 
 
 wanted me to be," repeated Joel to himself, 
 taking a shorter cut with the idea. "And so 1 
 will be." And he leaned his elbows on the 
 table, bent his head over his book, and clutch 
 ing his stubby crop by both hands and holding 
 on tightly, he was soon lost to his misfortune 
 and the outside world. 
 
 "Hullo!" David stood still in amazement at 
 Joel s unusual attitude over his lesson. Then he 
 reflected that he was making up extra work, to 
 be free for the holiday on tne morrow. Not 
 withstanding the need of quiet, David was so 
 full of it that he couldn t refrain from saying 
 jubilantly, "Oh, what a great time we ll have 
 to-morrow, Joe!" giving him a pound on the 
 back. 
 
 "I m not going," said Joel, without raising his 
 head. 
 
 David ran around his chair to look at him 
 from the further side, then peered under the 
 bunch of curls Joel was hanging to. 
 
 "What s what s the matter, Joe ? " he gasped, 
 clutching the table. 
 
 "Dr. Marks says I m not to go," said Joel, 
 telling the whole at once. 
 
 "Dr. Marks said you were not to go!" re- 
 
422 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 peated David. "Why, Joel, why?" he de 
 manded in a gasp. 
 
 "I haven t studied; I m way behind. Let me 
 alone," cried Joel. "I ve got a perfect lot to 
 make up," and he clutched harder than ever at 
 his hair. 
 
 "Then / shall not go," declared David, and 
 rushing out of the room he was gone before Joel 
 could fly from his chair; which he did, upsetting 
 it after him. 
 
 "Dave Dave!^ he yelled, running out into 
 the hall, in the face of a stream of boys coming 
 up from gymnasium practice. 
 
 "What s up, Pepper?" But he went through 
 their ranks like a shot. Nevertheless David was 
 nowhere to be seen, as he had taken some short 
 cut, and was lost in the crowd. 
 
 Joel bent his steps to the under-teacher s 
 room, knocked, and in his excitement thought he 
 heard, "Come in." And with small ceremony 
 he precipitated himself upon Mr. Harrow, who 
 seemed to be lost in a revery, his back to him, 
 leaning his elbow on the mantel, and his head 
 upon his hand. 
 
 "Er oh!" exclaimed Mr. Harrow, startled 
 out of his usual composure, and turning quickly 
 
THE PIECE OF NEWS 423 
 
 to face Joel. "Oh, it s you, Pepper!" which by 
 no means lifted him out of his depression. 
 
 "Dave says he won t go without me. You 
 must make him," said Joel, in his intensity for 
 getting his manners. 
 
 "To Moose Island?" asked Mr. Harrow. 
 
 Joel nodded. He couldn t yet bring himself 
 to speak the name. 
 
 "All right; I will, Joe." Mr. Harrow grasped 
 the brown hand hanging by Joel s side. 
 
 "Really?" said Joel, swallowing hard. 
 
 "Really. Run back to your books, and trust 
 me." 
 
 So Joel dashed back, not minding the allur 
 ing cries from several chums, "Come on just 
 time for a game before supper," and was back 
 before his table in the same attitude, and hang 
 ing to his hair. 
 
 "I can study better so," he said, and holding 
 on for dear life. 
 
 One or two boys glanced in. "Come out of 
 this hole," they cried. "No need to study for 
 to-morrow. Gee whiz! just think of Moose 
 Island, Joe." 
 
 No answer. 
 
 "Joe! " They ran in and shook his shoulders. 
 
424 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Moose Island!" they screamed, and the excite 
 ment with which the whole school was charged 
 was echoing it through the length of the dorm - 
 tory. 
 
 "Go away," cried Joel at them, "or I ll fire 
 something at you," as they swarmed around his 
 chair. 
 
 "Fire your old grammar," suggested one, try 
 ing to twitch away his book ; and another pulled 
 the chair out from under him. 
 
 Joel sprawled a moment on the floor; then 
 he sprang up, hanging to his book, and faced 
 them. "I m not going. Clear out." And in a 
 moment the room was as still as if an invasion 
 had never taken place. In their astonishment 
 they forgot to utter a word. 
 
 And in ten minutes the news was all over the 
 playground and in all the corridors, "Joe Pep 
 per isn t going to Moose Island." 
 
 If they had said that the corner stone of the 
 dormitory was shaky, the amazement would not 
 have been so great in some quarters; and the 
 story was not believed until they had it from 
 Joe himself. Then amazement changed to grief. 
 Not to have Joe Pepper along, was to do away 
 with half the fun. 
 
THE PIECE OF NEWS 425 
 
 Percy ran up to him in the greatest excite 
 ment just before supper. "What is it, Joe?" 
 he cried. "The fellows are trying to say that 
 you re not going to Moose Island." He was red 
 with running, and panted dreadfully. "And Van 
 is giving it to Red Hiller for telling such a whop 
 per." 
 
 "Well, he needn t," said Joel, "for it s per 
 fectly true. I m not going." 
 
 Percy tried to speak; but what with running, 
 and his astonishment, his tongue flapped up idly 
 against the roof of his mouth. 
 
 "Dr. Marks won t let me," said Joel, not 
 mincing matters. "I ve got to study; so there s 
 an end of it." But when Davic came in, a 
 woe-bcgone figure, for Mr. Harrow had kept his 
 promise, then was Joel s hardest time. And he 
 clenched his brown hands to keep the tears back 
 then, for David gave way to such a flood in the 
 bitterness of his grief to go without Joel, that for 
 a time, Joel was in danger of utterly losing his 
 own self-control. 
 
 "I m confounded glad." It was Jenk who 
 said it to his small following; and hearing it, 
 Tom Beresford blazed at him. "If you weren t 
 quite so small, I d knock you iown." 
 
426 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Well, I am glad," - Jenk put a goodly dis 
 tance between himself and Tom, notwithstand 
 ing Tom s disgust at the idea of touching him - 
 "for Pepper is so high and mighty, it s time he 
 was taken down," but a chorus of yells made 
 him beat a retreat. 
 
 Dr. Marks paced up and down his study floor, 
 his head bent, his hands folded behind him. 
 
 "It was the only way. No ordinary course 
 could be taken with Pepper. It had come to 
 be imperative. It will make a man of him." 
 He stepped to the desk and wrote a few words, 
 slipped them into an envelope, sealed and ad 
 dressed it. 
 
 "Joanna!" He went to the door and sum 
 moned a maid, the same one who had shaken 
 her broom at Joel when he rushed in with the 
 dog. "Take this over to the North Dormitory 
 as quickly as possible." It seemed to be espe 
 cially necessary that haste be observed; and Dr. 
 Marks, usually so collected, hurried to the win 
 dow to assure himself that his command was 
 obeyed. 
 
 Mrs. Fox took the note as Joanna handed it 
 in, and sent it up at once, as those were the 
 orders from the master. It arrived just at the 
 
THE PIECE OF NEWS 427 
 
 moment when Joel was at the end of his self- 
 mastery. He tore it open. "My boy, knowing 
 you as I do, I feel sure that you will be brave 
 in bearing this. It will help you to conquer 
 your dislike for study and make a man of you. 
 Affectionately yours, H. L. Marks." 
 
 Joel swung the note up over his head, and 
 there was such a glad ring to his voice that 
 David was too astonished to cry. 
 
 "See there!" Joel proudly shook it at him. 
 " Read it, Dave." 
 
 So David seized it, and blinked in amaze 
 ment. 
 
 "Dr. Marks has written to me," said Joel im 
 portantly, just as if David hadn t the note before 
 him. "And he says, Be a man, just as Mr. 
 Harrow said, and, affectionately yours. Now, 
 what do you think of that, Dave Pepper?" 
 
 David was so lost in the honor that had come 
 to Joel, that the grief that lie was feeling in the 
 thought of the expedition to be made to Moose 
 Island to-morrow without Joel, began to pale. 
 He smiled and lifted his eyes, lately so wet with 
 tears. "Mamsie would like that note, Joe." 
 
 Tom Beresford rushed in without the formal 
 ity of a knock, and gloomily threw himself on 
 
428 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 the bed. "Poor Joe!" was written all over his 
 long face. 
 
 "Oh, you needn t, Tom," said Joel gaily, and 
 prancing up and down the room, "pity me, be 
 cause I won t have it." 
 
 "It s pity for myself as well," said Tom lu 
 gubriously, and cramming the pillow-end into 
 his mouth. "What s a fellow to do without you, 
 Joe ? " suddenly shying the pillow at Joel. 
 
 Joe caught it and shied it back, then twitched 
 the master s note out of David s hand. "Read 
 it, Tom," he cried, with sparkling eyes. 
 
 "I d much rather stay back with you, Joe," 
 Tom was saying. 
 
 "Well, you won t," retorted Joel. "Dave 
 tried that on, but it was no good. Read it, I 
 tell you." So Tom sat up on the bed, and spread 
 Dr. Marks note on his knee. 
 
 "Great Caesar s ghost! It s from the master 
 himself! And what does he say?" Tom rubbed 
 his eyes violently, stared, and rushed over the 
 few sentences pellmell; then returned to take 
 them slowly to be sure of their meaning. 
 
 "Joe Pepper!" He got off from the bed. 
 
 "Isn t it great!" cried Joel. "Give me my 
 note, Tom." 
 
THE PIECE OF NEWS 429 
 
 "I should say so!" cried Tom, bobbing his 
 head. "I shouldn t in the least mind being kept 
 back from a few things, to get a note like that. 
 Think of it, Joe, from Dr. Marks!" 
 
 "I know it," cried Joel, in huge satisfaction. 
 "Well, now, you must take yourself off, Tom; 
 I ve got to study like a Trojan." He ran to the 
 closet, and came back with his arms full of 
 books. 
 
 "All right," said Tom, shooting out. Then 
 he shot back, gave Joel a pat by no means a 
 light one; "Success to you, old fellow!" and 
 was off, this time for good. 
 
 And Davie dreamed that night that Joel took 
 first prize in everything straight through; and 
 that he himself was sailing, sailing, over an in 
 terminable sea (going to Moose Island probably), 
 under a ban never to come back to Dr. Marks 
 school. And the first thing he knew, Joel was 
 pounding him and calling lustily, "Get up, 
 Dave; you know you are to start early." 
 
 And then all was bustle and confusion enough, 
 as how could it be helped with all those boys 
 getting off on such an expedition? 
 
 And Joel was the brighcst of them all, here, 
 there, and everywhere! You never would have 
 
430 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 guessed that he wasn t the leading spirit in the 
 whole expedition, and its bright particular star! 
 
 And he ran down to the big stone gate to see 
 them off. And the boys wondered; but there 
 was no chance to pity him, with such a face. 
 There was only pity for themselves. 
 
 And somebody started, Three cheers for Joe 
 Pepper!" It wasn t the under-teacher, but he 
 joined with a right good will; and the whole 
 crowd took it up, as Joel ran back to tackle 
 his books, pinching Dr. Marks letter in his 
 pocket, to make sure it really was there! 
 
 Just about this time, Alexia Rhys was rush 
 ing to school. She was late, for everything had 
 gone wrong that morning from the very begin 
 ning. And of course Polly Pepper had started 
 for school, when Alexia called for her; and feel 
 ing as if nothing mattered now, the corner was 
 reached despairingly, when she heard her name 
 called. 
 
 It was an old lady who was a friend of her 
 aunt s, and Alexia paused involuntarily, then ran 
 across the street to see what was wanted. 
 
 "Oh, my dear, I suppose I ought not to stop 
 you, for you are going to school. " 
 
 u Oh, it doesn t matter," said Alexia indif- 
 
THE PIECE OF NEWS 431 
 
 ferently; "I m late anyway. What is it, Miss 
 Seymour?" 
 
 "I want to congratulate you T must con 
 gratulate you," exclaimed old Miss Seymour, 
 with an excited little cackle. "I really must, 
 Alexia." 
 
 Alexia ran over in her mind everything for 
 which she could, by any possibility, be con 
 gratulated; and finding nothing, she said, "What 
 for?" quite abruptly. 
 
 "Oh, my dear! Haven t you heard?" Old 
 Miss Seymour put her jewelled lingers on the 
 girl s shoulder. She had gathered up her dressy 
 morning robe in her hand, and hastened down 
 her front steps at the first glimpse of Alexia 
 across the way. 
 
 Alexia knew of old the roundabout way pur 
 sued by her aunt s friend in her narrations. Be 
 sides, she cared very little anyway for this bit of 
 old women s gossip. So she said carelessly, "No, 
 I m sure I haven t; and I don t believe it s 
 much anyway, Miss Seymour." 
 
 " Much anyway? oh, my dear!" Old Miss 
 Seymour held up both hands. "Well, what 
 would you say if you should be told that your 
 teacher was going to be married?" 
 
432 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 Alexia staggered backward and put up both 
 hands. "Oh, don t, Miss Seymour," she cried, 
 the fears she had been fighting so many weeks 
 now come true. Then she burst out passion 
 ately, "Oh, it isn t true it can t be!" 
 
 "Well, but it is," cried Miss Seymour posi 
 tively. "I had it not ten minutes since from a 
 very intimate friend; and as you were the first 
 Salisbury girl I saw, why, I wanted to congratu 
 late you, of course, as soon as 1 could." 
 
 "Salisbury girl!" Alexia groaned as she 
 thought how they should never have that title 
 applied to them any more; for of course the 
 beautiful school was doomed. "And where 
 shall we all go?" she cried to herself in despair. 
 
 "Oh, how could she go and get engaged!" 
 she exclaimed aloud. 
 
 "Yo 1 ! haven t asked who the man is," said 
 Miss Seymour in surprise. 
 
 "Oh, I know I know," said Alexia miser 
 ably; "it s Mr. John Clcmcy. Oh, if we hadn t 
 had that old picnic!" she burst out. 
 
 "Eh what?" exclaimed the little old lady 
 quickly. 
 
 "Never mind. It doesn t signify who the man 
 is. It doesn t signify about anything," said 
 
THE PIECE OF NEWS 433 
 
 Alexia wildly, "as long as Miss Salisbury is 
 going to get married and give up our school." 
 
 "Oh, I don t suppose the school will be given 
 up," said Miss Seymour. 
 
 "What? Why, of course it will be. How 
 can she keep it after she is married?" cried 
 Alexia impatiently. She longed to say, "you 
 goose you!" 
 
 "Why, I suppose the other one will keep it, 
 of course; and it will go on just the same as it 
 did before." 
 
 "Oh dear me! The idea of Miss Anstice 
 keeping that school!" With all her misery, 
 Alexia couldn t help bursting into a laugh. 
 
 "Miss Anstice?" 
 
 "Yes; if you knew her as we girls do, Miss Sey 
 mour, you never d say she could run that school." 
 
 "I never said she could." 
 
 "Oh, yes, you did," Alexia was guilty of con 
 tradicting. "You said distinctly that when Miss 
 Salisbury was married, you supposed Miss An 
 stice would keep it on just the same." 
 
 Little old Miss Seymour took three or four 
 steps down the pavement, then turned and trotted 
 back, the dressy morning robe still gathered in 
 her hand. 
 
434 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "Who do you think is engaged to Mr. John 
 Clemcy?" she asked, looking up at the tall girl. 
 
 "Why, our Miss Salisbury," answered Alexia, 
 ready to cry, "I suppose. That s what you 
 said." 
 
 "Oh, no, I didn t," said the little old lady. 
 "It s Miss Anstice Salisbury." 
 
 Alexia gave her one look; then took some fly 
 ing steps across the street, and away down to 
 the Salisbury School. She met a stream of 
 girls in the front hall; and as soon as she saw 
 their faces, she knew that her news was all old. 
 
 And they could tell her something more. 
 
 "Miss Wilcox is going to be the assistant 
 teacher," cried Amy Garrett. 
 
 "And Miss Salisbury announced it; why were 
 you late, Alexia?" It was a perfect buzz around 
 her ears. "And then she dismissed school; and 
 we re all going down to the drawing-room now, 
 to congratulate Miss Anstice." 
 
 Alexia worked her way to Polly Pepper and 
 clung to her. 
 
 "Oh, Alexia, you ve got here!" cried Polly 
 delightedly. "And only think, we can keep our 
 Miss Salisbury after all." 
 
XXV "THE VERY PRETTIEST AFFAIR" 
 
 \ ND Mr. John Clemcy, having put off any 
 ^"*- inclination to marry till so late in life, was, 
 now that he had made his choice, in a ferment to 
 hurry its consummation. And Miss Ophelia, 
 who was still to keep the house and run the old- 
 fashioned flower garden to suit herself thus 
 losing none of her honors and being in her 
 element, as has been stated, with some one "to 
 fuss over " (her self-contained brother not yield 
 ing her sufficient occupation in that line), begged 
 that the wedding might take place soon. So 
 there was really no reason on earth why it should 
 not be celebrated, and Miss Wilcox be installed 
 as assistant, and thus all things be in running 
 order for the new year at the Salisbury School. 
 
 "And they say he has heaps of money Mr. 
 Clemcy has," cried Alcxia, in the midst of the 
 excitement of the next few days, when everybody 
 was trying to adjust themselves to this new con 
 dition of affairs. A lot of the girls were up in 
 
 435 
 
436 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 Polly Pepper s room. "And it s an awful old 
 family back of him in England," she went on, 
 "though for my part, I d rather have some 
 thing to do with making my name myself." 
 
 "Oh, Alexia," cried Clem, "think of all those 
 perfectly elegant old family portraits!" 
 
 "Mouldy old things!" exclaimed Alexia, who 
 had small reverence for such things. "I should 
 be ashamed of them, if I were Mr. John Clemcy 
 and his sister. They don t look as if they knew 
 anything to begin with ; and such arms and 
 hands, and impossible necks! Oh my! It quite 
 gives me a turn to look at them." 
 
 "We are quite distinguished the Salisbury 
 School is," said Silvia, with an elegant manner, 
 and a toss of her head. "My mother says it 
 will be splendid capital to Miss Salisbury to have 
 such a connection." 
 
 "And, oh, just think of Miss Anstice s engage 
 ment ring!" exclaimed another girl. "Oh my, 
 on her little thin finger! " 
 
 "It s awful old-fashioned," cried Silvia, "set 
 in silver. But then, it s big, and a very pure 
 stone, my mother says; and quite shows that 
 the family must have been something, for it is 
 an heirloom." 
 
"THE VERY PRETTIEST AFFAIR" 437 
 
 "Oh, do stop about family and heirlooms," 
 cried Alexia impatiently; "the main thing is that 
 our Miss Salisbury isn t going to desert us. " 
 
 "Miss Anstice is; oh, goody!" Amy Garrett 
 hopped up and down and softly beat her hands 
 while she finished the sentence. 
 
 "Hush!" Alexia turned on her suddenly. 
 "Now, Amy, and the rest of you girls, I think 
 we ought to stop this nonsense about Miss An 
 stice; she s going, and I, maybe, haven t treated 
 her just rightly. " 
 
 "Of course you haven t," assented Clem coolly. 
 "You ve worried her life nearly out of her." 
 
 "And oh, dear me! I m sorry now,"- said 
 Alexia, not minding in the least what Clem was 
 saying. "I wonder why it is that I m forever 
 being sorry about things." 
 
 "Because you re forever having your own 
 way," said Clem; "I ll tell you." 
 
 "And so I m going to be nice to her now," 
 said Alexia, with a perfectly composed glance at 
 Clem. "Let s all be, girls. I mean, behind 
 her back." 
 
 Polly Pepper ran over across the room to slip 
 her arm within Alexia s, and give her a little 
 approving pat. 
 
438 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 "It will be so strange not to make fun of her," 
 observed Amy Garrett, "but I suppose we can t 
 now, anyway, that she is to be Mrs. John Clcmcy." 
 
 " Mrs. John Clcmcy, indeed ! " exclaimed Alexia, 
 standing very tall. "She was just as nice before, 
 as sister of our Miss Salisbury, I d have you to 
 know, girls." 
 
 "Well, now what are we to give her as a wed 
 ding present?" said Polly Pepper. "You know 
 we, as the committee, ought to talk it over at 
 once. Let s sit down on the floor in a ring and 
 begin." 
 
 "Yes," said Alexia; "now all flop." And setting 
 the example, she got down on the floor; and the 
 girls tumbling after, the ring was soon formed. 
 
 "Hush now, do be quiet, Clem, if you can," 
 cried Alexia, to pay up old scores. 
 
 "I guess I m not making as much noise as 
 some other people," said Clem, with a wry face. 
 
 "Well, Polly s going to begin ; and as she s 
 chairman, we ve all got to be still as mice. 
 Hush!" 
 
 "I think," said Polly, "the best way would be, 
 instead of wasting so much time in talking, 
 and" 
 
 "Getting into a hubbub," interpolated Alexia. 
 
"THE VERY PRETTIEST AFFAIR" 439 
 
 "Who s talking now," cried Clem trium 
 phantly, "and making a noise?" 
 
 "Getting in confusion," finished Polly, "would 
 be, for us each to write out the things that Miss 
 Anstice might like, on a piece of paper, without 
 showing it to any of the other girls; then pass 
 them in to me, and I ll read them aloud. And 
 perhaps we ll choose something out of all the 
 lists." 
 
 "Oh, Polly, how fine! just the thing." 
 
 "I ll get the paper." 
 
 "And the pencils." The ring was in a hub 
 bub ; Alexia, as usual, the first to hop out of her 
 place. 
 
 "Sit down, girls," said Polly as chairman. So 
 they all flew back again. 
 
 "There, you see now," said Alexia, huddling 
 expeditiously into her place next to Polly, "how 
 no one can stir till the chairman tells us to. ; 
 
 "Who jumped first of all?" exclaimed Clem, 
 bursting into a laugh. 
 
 "Well, I m back again, anyhow," said Alexia 
 coolly, and folding her hands in her lap. 
 
 "I ll appoint Lucy Bennett and Silvia Home 
 to get the paper and pencils," said Polly. "They 
 are on my desk, girls." 
 
440 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 Alexia smothered the sigh at her failure to be 
 one of the girls to perform this delightful task; 
 but the paper being brought, she soon forgot her 
 disappointment, in having something to do. 
 
 "We must all tear it up into strips," said the 
 chairman, and, beginning on a sheet, "Lucy, 
 you can be giving around the pencils." 
 
 And presently the whole committee was rack 
 ing its brains over this terribly important ques 
 tion thrust upon them. 
 
 "It must be something that will always reflect 
 credit on the Salisbury School," observed Alexia, 
 leaning her chin on her hand while she played 
 with her pencil. 
 
 "Ugh! do be still." Lucy, on the other side, 
 nudged her. "I can t think, if anybody speaks 
 a word." 
 
 "And fit in well with those old portraits," said 
 Clem, with a look at Alexia. 
 
 "Well, I hope and pray that we won t give her 
 anything old. I want it spick, span, new; and 
 to be absolutely up-to-date." Alexia took her 
 chin out of her hand, and sat up decidedly. 
 "The idea of matching up those mouldy old 
 portraits !-- and that house just bursting with 
 antiques." 
 
THE VERY PRETTIEST AFFAIR" 441 
 
 "Ugh! do hush," cried the girls. 
 "And write what you want to, Alexia, on your 
 own slip, and keep still," said Silvia, wrinkling 
 her brows; "you just put something out of my 
 head; and it was perfectly splendid." 
 
 "But I can t think of a thing that would be 
 good enough," grumbled Alexia, "for the Salis 
 bury School to give. Oh dear me!" and she re 
 garded enviously the other pencils scribbling 
 away. 
 
 "My list is done." Amy Garrett pinched hers 
 into a little three-cornered note, and threw it 
 into Polly s lap. 
 
 "And mine and mine." They all came in 
 fast in a small white shower. 
 
 "Oh my goodness!" exclaimed Alexia, much 
 alarmed that she would be left out altogether. 
 "Wait, Chairman I mean, Polly," and she 
 began scribbling away for dear life. 
 
 "Oh dear me!" The chairman unfolded the 
 first strip, and began to read. "A piano why, 
 girls, Miss Anstice can t play." 
 
 "Well, it would look nice in that great big 
 drawing-room," said Clem, letting herself out 
 with a very red face. 
 
 "Oh, my! you wrote a piano!" Alexia went 
 
442 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 over backward suddenly to lie flat on the floor 
 and laugh. "Besides, there is one in thai 
 house." 
 
 "An old thing!" exclaimed Clem in disdain. 
 
 "Well, let s see; here s something nice"- 
 Polly ran along the list "a handsome chair, a 
 desk, a cabinet. Those are fine!" 
 
 Clem has gone into the furniture business, I 
 should think," said Philena. 
 
 "And a cabinet!" exclaimed Amy Garrett, 
 "when that house is just full of em." 
 
 "Oh, I mean a jewel cabinet, or something of 
 that sort," explained Clem hastily. 
 
 "That s not bad," announced Silvia, "for I 
 suppose he ll give her all the rest of those heir 
 looms; great strings of pearls probably he s got, 
 and everything else. Dear me, don t I wish we 
 girls could see them!" and she lost herself in ad 
 miration over the fabulous Clemcy jewels. 
 
 "Well, Chairman Polly, I mean" Alexia 
 flew into position "what s the next list?" 
 
 "This is quite different," said Polly, unrolling 
 it; "some handsome lace, a fan, a lorgnette, a 
 bracelet." 
 
 "It s easy enough to see that s Silvia s," said 
 Alexia "all that finery and furbelows." 
 
THE VERY PRETTIEST AFFAIR " 443 
 
 "Well, it s not fair to tell what you think and 
 guess," said Silvia, a pink spot coming on either 
 cheek. 
 
 " Twouldn t make any difference, my guessing; 
 we all know it s yours, Silvia," said Alexia, coolly. 
 
 "Well, I think that s a lovely list," said Amy, 
 with sparkling eyes, "and I for one would be 
 willing to vote for any of those things." 
 
 "My mother says we better give her some 
 thing to wear," said Silvia, smoothing down her 
 gown. "Miss Ansticc likes nice things; and that 
 great big house is running over with everything 
 to furnish with." 
 
 Polly was reading the third list, so somebody 
 pulled Alexia s arm and stopped her. "A watch 
 and chain that s all there is on this list," an 
 nounced Polly. 
 
 "Oh!" there was a chorus of voices - 
 "that s it that s it!" and "Why didn t I think 
 of that?" until the whole ring was in a tumult 
 again. 
 
 It was no matter what was on the other lists. 
 The chairman read them over faithfully, but the 
 items fell upon dull ears, They might make 
 suitable tributes for other brides; there was but 
 one mind about the present for this particular 
 
444 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 bride going forth from the Salisbury School. 
 The watch and chain was the only gift to be 
 thought of. 
 
 "Arid she wears that great big old-fashioned 
 thing," declared Silvia; "looks like a turnip 
 oh, oh!" 
 
 "And I do believe that s always made her so 
 impressive and scarey whenever she got into that 
 black silk gown," said Amy Garrett. "I never 
 thought of it before; but it was that horrible old 
 watch and chain." 
 
 "Girls," said the chairman, "I do really be 
 lieve that it would be the very best thing that we 
 could possibly give her. And now I m going to 
 tell who it was who chose it." 
 
 "Do oh, do!" The whole ring came to 
 gether in a bunch, as the girls all crowded around 
 Polly. 
 
 "Alexia!" Then Polly turned and gave a lov 
 ing little pat on the long back. 
 
 "Don t," said Alexia, shrinking away from the 
 shower of congratulations on having made the 
 best choice, and thought of the very thing that 
 was likely to unite the whole school on a gift. 
 "It s nothing. I couldn t help but write it. It 
 was the only thing I thought of." 
 
"THE VERY PRETTIEST AFFAIR" 445 
 
 "Well, it was just as clever in you as could 
 be, so there now!" Clem nodded over at her, 
 and buried all animosity at once. 
 
 "And think how nice it will be, when it s all 
 engraved inside the case with what we want to 
 say," said Polly, with shining eyes. 
 
 "And a great big monogram outside," said 
 Silvia, with enthusiasm, "and one of those 
 twisted chains oh, how fine!" She shook out 
 her silver bracelets till they jingled all her en 
 thusiasm; and the entire committee joining, 
 the vote was taken to propose to the rest of the 
 "Salisbury girls," on the morrow, the gift of a 
 watch and chain to the future Mrs. John Clemcy. 
 
 And the watch and chain was unanimously 
 chosen by the "Salisbury girls" as the gift of all 
 gifts they wanted to bestow upoi- their teacher on 
 her wedding day; and they all insisted that Polly 
 Pepper should write the inscription; so there 
 it was, engraved beautifully on the inner side of 
 the case: "Anstice Salisbury, with the loving re 
 gard of her pupils." And there was a beautiful 
 big monogram on the outside; and the long chain 
 was double and twisted, and so handsome that 
 Silvia s mother protested she hadn t a word to 
 say but the very highest praise! 
 
446 FIVE LITTLE. PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 Oh, and the presentation of it came about 
 quite differently from what was expected, after 
 all. For the gift was to be sent with a little 
 note, representing the whole school, and written, 
 as was quite proper, by Polly Pepper, the chair 
 man of the committee. But Miss Salisbury, to 
 whom the precious parcel had been intrusted, 
 said suddenly, "Why don t you give it to her 
 yourselves, girls?" 
 
 It was, of course, the place of the chairman of 
 the committee to speak. So Polly said, "Oh, 
 would she like to have us, Miss Salisbury? 
 
 " Yes, my dears. I know she would. She feels 
 badly to go and leave you all, you know," and 
 there were tears in the blue eyes that always 
 looked so kindly on them. "And it would be a 
 very lovely thing for you to do, if you would 
 like to." 
 
 "We should love to do it," cried Polly warmly, 
 "May we go now, dear Miss Salisbury?" 
 
 "Yes, "said Miss Salisbury, very much pleased; 
 "she is in the red parlor." 
 
 So the committee filed into the red parlor. 
 There sat Miss Anstice, and oh dear me ! 
 Mr. John Clemcy! 
 There was no time to retreat; for Miss Sails- 
 
"THE VERY PRETTIEST AFFAIR" 447 
 
 bury, not having heard Mr. Clemcy come in, 
 was at the rear of the procession of girls. "Here, 
 my dears Anstice, the girls particularly wan* 
 to see you oh!" and then she saw Mr. John 
 Ciemcy. 
 
 Miss Anstice, who seemed to have dropped all 
 her nervousness lately, saved the situation by 
 coming forward and greeting them warmly; and 
 when Mr. John Clemcy saw how it was, he went 
 gallantly to the rescue, and was so easy and 
 genial, and matter-of-course, that the committee 
 presently felt as if a good part of their lives had 
 been passed in making presentations, and that 
 they were quite up to that sort of thing. 
 
 And Polly made a neat little speech as she 
 handed her the packet; and Miss Anstice s eyes 
 filled with tears of genuine regret at leaving them, 
 and of delight at the gift. 
 
 "Girls, do you know" could it be Miss 
 Anstice who was talking with so much feeling in 
 her voice? "I used to imagine that you didn t 
 love me." 
 
 "Oh, that could never be!" cried Mr. Clemcy. 
 
 "And I got so worried and cross over it. But 
 now I know you did, and that I was simply 
 tired; for I never could teach like sister," she 
 
448 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 cast her a loving glance "and I didn t really 
 love my work. And, do you know, the thing 
 I ve longed for all my life was a watch and 
 chain like this? Oh girls, I shall love it always!" 
 
 She threw the chain around her neck, and laid 
 the little watch gently against her cheek. 
 
 "Oh!" It was Alexia who pressed forward. 
 "You ll forgive us all, won t you, Miss Anstice, 
 if we didn t love you enough?" 
 
 "When I want to forgive, I ll look at my dear 
 watch," said Miss Anstice brightly, and smiling 
 on them all. 
 
 " Twas that horrible old black silk gown 
 that made her so," exclaimed Alexia, as they all 
 tumbled off down the hall in the greatest excite 
 ment. "You see how sweet she is now, in that 
 white one." 
 
 "And the red rose in her belt," said Clem. 
 
 "And her diamond ring," added Silvia. 
 
 "And we re different, too," said Clem. "May 
 be we wouldn t love to teach a lot of girls any 
 better either, if we had to." 
 
 "Well, and now there s the wedding!" ex 
 claimed Amy Garrett, clasping her hands, "oh!" 
 
 "What richness!" finished Akxia. 
 
 And everybody said it was "the very prettiest 
 
" THE VERY PRETTIEST AFFAIR " 449 
 
 affair; and so picturesque!" "And those dear 
 Salisbury girlsv how sweet they looked, to be 
 sure!" Why, St. John s blossomed out like a 
 veritable garden, just with that blooming com 
 pany of girls; to say nothing of the exquisite 
 flowers, and ropes of laurel, and palms, and the 
 broad white satin ribbons to divide the favored 
 ones from the mere acquaintances. 
 
 "And what a lovely thought to get those boys 
 from the Pemberton School for ushers, with 
 Jasper King as their leader!" 
 
 They all made such a bright, youthful picture, 
 to be followed by the chosen eight of the "Salis 
 bury girls," the very committee who presented 
 the gift to the bride-elect. There they were in 
 their simple white gowns and big white hats. 
 
 And then came the little assistant teacher of 
 the Salisbury School, in her pearl gray robe; 
 singularly enough, not half so much embarrassed 
 as she had often been in walking down the long 
 schoolroom before the girls. 
 
 And Mr. John Clemcy never thought of such 
 a thing as embarrassment at all; but stood up in 
 his straightforward, manly, English composure, 
 to take his vows that bound him to the little 
 school-teacher. And Miss Salisbury, fairly re- 
 
450 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 splendent in her black velvet gown, had down 
 deep within her heart a childlike satisfaction in 
 it all. " Dear Anstice was happy," and somehow 
 the outlook for the future, with Miss Wilcox for 
 assistant teacher, was restful for one whose heart 
 and soul were bound up in her pupils advance 
 ment. 
 
 Miss Ophelia Clemcy blossomed out from 
 her retirement, and became quite voluble, in 
 the front pew before the wedding procession 
 arrived. 
 
 "You see, it was foreordained to be," she 
 announced, as she had before declared several 
 times to the principal of the Salisbury School. 
 "The first moment he saw her, Brother John was 
 fully convinced that here was a creature of the 
 greatest sensibility, and altogether charming. 
 And, my dear Miss Salisbury, I am only com 
 monplace and practical, you know; so it is all as 
 it should be, and suits me perfectly. And we will 
 always keep the anniversary of that picnic, that 
 blessed day, won t we?" 
 
 And old Mr. King invited the eight ushers 
 from the Pemberton School and the committee 
 from the Salisbury School to a little supper to 
 top off the wedding festivities. And Grandpapa 
 
"THE VERY PRETTIEST AFFAIR" 451 
 
 sat at the head of the table, with Mother Fisher 
 at the other end, and Dr. Fisher and Mrs. Whitney 
 opposite in the centre. And there were wed 
 ding toasts and little speeches; and everybody 
 got very jolly and festive. And the little doctor 
 looked down to the table end where he could see 
 his wife s eyes. "It reminds me very much of 
 our own wedding day, wife," his glance said. 
 And she smiled back in such a way as to fill 
 him with great content. 
 
 "And wasn t that reception in the school par 
 lors too perfectly beautiful for anything!" cried 
 Polly Pepper, in a lull, for about the fiftieth 
 time the remark had been made. 
 
 "Yes, and didn t Alexia make an awful blunder 
 with her paper of rice!" said Clem sweetly. 
 
 "I can t help it," said Alexia, nowise dis 
 turbed; "the old paper burst, and I had to put 
 it in my handkerchief. You couldn t expect me, 
 girls, to keep my wits after that." 
 
 "Well, you needn t have spilt it all over Miss 
 Anstice s bonnet," said Philena, laughing. 
 
 "Mrs. Clemcy s, you mean," corrected Jasper. 
 
 "Oh dear me! I never shall get used to her 
 new name," declared Philena. 
 
 "And I think I got my rice deposited as well 
 
452 FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AT SCHOOL 
 
 as some of the rest of you girls," declared Alexia 
 airily. 
 
 "Mine struck Mr. Clemcy full in the eye," 
 said Silvia; "then I ducked behind Polly Pepper." 
 
 "Oh, that was a great way to do!" exclaimed 
 Jasper. 
 
 "Oh, I saw her," said Polly, with a little 
 laugh, "and I jumped away; and Mr. Clemcy 
 saw her, too." 
 
 "Horrors!" cried Silvia. "Did he? Oh, I m 
 frightened to death! What did he look like, 
 Polly?" 
 
 "Oh, he laughed," said Polly. 
 
 Just then came a ring at the doorbell, sharp 
 and sudden. 
 
 "What is going to happen?" cried Polly, her 
 face like a rose. "Everything has been beautiful 
 to-day; and now I just know something perfectly 
 lovely is coming to finish off with." 
 
 "A telegram, sir." Johnson held out a long 
 yellow envelope to Mr. King. 
 
 "It s for Mrs. Fisher," said the old gentleman. 
 
 So the yellow envelope went down the table- 
 length, the color going out of Polly s cheek; and 
 she didn t dare to look at Mamsie s eyes. 
 
 " Oh the boys ! " gasped Polly. " Jasper, do 
 
"THE VERY PRETTIEST AFFAIR" 453 
 
 you suppose?" What, she didn t finish; for 
 Mother Fisher just then cried out, and passed 
 the yellow sheet to the little doctor. "Read it 
 aloud/ was all she said. But how her black 
 eyes shone! 
 
 "David took first prize classics. Fm picking 
 up a bit. JOEL PEPPER." 
 
 THE ENIX 
 
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