Marjorie's Busy Days

by Carolyn Wells

  CHAPTER XI

  THE HALLOWE'EN PARTY

  Mr. and Mrs. Maynard talked over Marjorie's latest prank, and concludedthat it would indeed be too great a punishment to keep her at home fromthe Hallowe'en party.

  So her punishment consisted in being kept at home from the Saturdaymeeting of the Jinks Club.

  This was indeed a deprivation, as the members of the club were to plangames for the party, but still it was an easier fate to bear thanabsence from the great event itself.

  Marjorie was so sweet and patient as she sat at home, while King andKitty started off for the Jinks Club, that Mrs. Maynard was tempted towaive the punishment and send her along, too.

  But the mother well knew that what she was doing was for her child's owngood, and so she stifled her own desires, and let Marjorie stay athome.

  Midget was restless, though she tried hard not to show it. She fed thegold-fish, she read in her book of Fairy Tales, she tried amusements ofvarious sorts, but none seemed to interest her. In imagination she couldsee the rest of the Jinks Club seated in the bay at Dorothy Adams',chattering about the party.

  "Oh, hum," sighed Marjorie, as she stood looking out of the playroomwindow, "I do believe I'll never be naughty again."

  "What's 'e matter, Middy?" said Rosy Posy, coming along just then."Don't you feels dood? Want to p'ay wiv my Boffin Bear?"

  Marjorie took the soft, woolly bear, and somehow he was a comforting oldfellow.

  "Let's play something, Rosy Posy," she said.

  "Ess; p'ay house?"

  "No; that's no fun. Let's play something where we can bounce around. Ifeel awful dull."

  "Ess," said Rosy Posy, who was amiable, but not suggestive.

  "Let's play I'm a hippopotamus, and you're a little yellow chicken, andI'm trying to catch you and eat you up."

  Down went Rosy Posy on all-fours, scrambling across the floor, andsaying, "Peep, peep"; and down went Marjorie, and lumbered across thefloor after her sister, while she roared and growled terrifically.

  Mrs. Maynard heard the noise, but she only smiled to think that Marjoriewas working off her disappointment that way instead of sulking.

  Finally the hippopotamus caught the chicken, and devoured it withfearful gnashing of teeth, the chicken meanwhile giggling with delightat the fun.

  Then they played other games, in which Boffin joined, and alsoMarjorie's kitten, Puff. The days, of late, had been such busy ones thatPuff had been more or less neglected, and as she was a socially inclinedlittle cat, she was glad to be restored to public favor.

  And so the long morning dragged itself away, and at luncheon-time theJinks Club sent its members home.

  The Maynards were always a warm-hearted, generous-minded lot of littlepeople, and, far from teasing Marjorie about her morning at home, Kingand Kitty told her everything that had been discussed and decided at theJinks Club, and brought her the money contributed by the members.

  So graphic were their descriptions that Marjorie felt almost as if shehad been there herself; and her spirits rose as she realized that herpunishment was over, and in the afternoon she could go over to Gladys',and really help in the preparations for the party.

  At last the night of the great occasion arrived.

  Then it was Marjorie's turn to feel sorry for Kitty, because she was tooyoung to go to evening parties. But Mr. and Mrs. Maynard had promisedsome special fun to Kitty at home, and she watched Midget's preparationswith interest quite untinged by envy.

  Kingdon and Marjorie were to go alone at seven o'clock, and Mr. Maynardwas to come after them at nine.

  "But Gladys said, Mother," said Midge, "that she hoped we'd stay laterthan nine."

  "I hope you won't," said Mrs. Maynard. "You're really too young to goout at night anyway, but as it's just across the street, I trust you'llget there safely. But you must come home as soon as Father comes foryou."

  "Yes, if he makes us," said Marjorie, smiling at her lenient father, whowas greatly inclined to indulge his children.

  "If you're not back as soon as I think you ought to be, I shalltelephone for you," said Mrs. Maynard; but Marjorie knew from hermother's smiling eyes that she was not deeply in earnest.

  Midget had on a very pretty dress of thin white muslin, with ruffles ofembroidery. She wore a broad pink sash, and her dark curls wereclustered into a big pink bow, which bobbed and danced on top of herhead. Pink silk stockings and dainty pink slippers completed hercostume, and her father declared she looked good enough to eat.

  "Eat her up," said Rosy Posy, who was ecstatically gazing at herbeautiful big sister. "Be a hippottymus, Fader, an' eat Mopsy all up!"

  "Not till after she's been to the party, Baby. They'll all be expectingher."

  Kingdon, quite resplendent in the glory of his first Tuxedo jacket, alsolooked admiringly at his pretty sister.

  "You'll do, Mops," he said. "Come on, let's go. It's just seven."

  Mrs. Maynard put a lovely white, hooded cape of her own round Marjorie,and carefully drew the hood up over her curls.

  "See that your bow is perked up after you take this off," said themother, as a parting injunction, and then the two children started off.

  The parents watched them from the window, as they crossed the street inthe moonlight, and Mrs. Maynard sighed as she said, "They're alreadybeginning to grow up."

  "But we have some littler ones," said her husband, gaily, as he preparedfor a game of romps with Kitty and Rosy Posy.

  When King and Marjorie rang the bell at Gladys Fulton's, the door openedvery slowly, and they could hear a low, sepulchral groan.

  Midge clung to her brother's arm, for though she knew everything was tobe as weird and grotesque as possible, yet it was delightful to feel theshudder of surprise.

  As the door opened further, they could see that the house was but dimlylighted, and the hall was full of a deep red glow. This was caused byputting red shades on the lights and standing a semi-transparent redscreen before the blazing wood-fire in the big fireplace.

  The groan was repeated, and then they realized that it said, "Welcome,welcome!" but in such a wailing voice that it seemed to add to thegloom. The voice proceeded from a figure draped in a white sheet.

  "Hello, Ghost!" said King, who knew that Dick Fulton himself was wrappedin the sheet.

  "O-o-o-o-ugh!" groaned the ghost.

  "You don't seem to feel well," said Marjorie, giggling. "Poor Ghost, whydon't you go to bed?"

  But before the ghost could speak again, a gorgeous witch came prancingup, carrying a broomstick wound with red ribbons. The witch was all inred, with a tall peaked hat of red, covered with cabalistic designs cutfrom gilt paper and pasted on. She groaned and wailed, too, and thenspoke in a rapid and unintelligible jargon.

  The Maynards knew that this witch was Gladys, but some of the guests didnot know it, and were greatly mystified.

  A few older persons, whom Mrs. Fulton had invited to help entertain thechildren, were stationed in the various rooms. Dressed in queercostumes, they played bits of weird music on the piano, or struckoccasional clanging notes from muffled gongs.

  All of this greatly pleased Marjorie, who loved make-believe, and shefell into the spirit of the occasion, and went about on tiptoe with asolemn, awed face. Indeed she made the ghosts and witches laugh in spiteof their wish to be awesome. The rooms were decorated to befit the day,and great jack-o'-lanterns grinned from mantels or brackets. Autumnleaves were in profusion, and big black cats cut from paper adorned thewalls.

  Soon the party were all assembled, and then the games began.

  First, all were led out to the kitchen, which was decorated with ears ofcorn, sheaves of grain, and other harvest trophies.

  On a table were dishes of apples and nuts, not for eating purposes, butto play the games with.

  There were several tubs half filled with water, and in these the youngpeople were soon "bobbing for apples." On the apples were pinned paperson which were written various names, and the merry guests strove tograsp an
apple with their teeth, either by its stem or by biting intothe fruit itself. This proved to be more difficult than it seemed, andit was soon abandoned for the game of apple-parings. After an apple waspared in one continuous strip, the paring was tossed three times roundthe head, and then thrown to the floor. The initial it formed there wassaid to represent the initial of the fate of the one who threw it.

  "Pshaw!" said Marjorie, as she tried for the third time, "it alwaysmakes E, and I don't know anybody who begins with E."

  "Perhaps you'll meet some one later," said Mrs. Fulton, smiling. "You'rereally too young to consider these 'fates' entirely trustworthy."

  Then they all tried blowing out the candle. This wasn't a "Fate" game,but there were prizes for the successful ones.

  Each guest was blindfolded, led to a table where stood a lighted candle,turned round three times, and ordered to blow it out. Only threeattempts were allowed, and not everybody won the little witches, owls,black cats, bats, and tiny pumpkins offered as prizes.

  Marjorie, though securely blindfolded, was fortunate enough to blowstraight and hard, and out went the candle-flame. Her prize was a gaylittle chenille imp, which she stuck in her hair with great glee.

  Then they all went back to the drawing-room, where a pretty game hadbeen arranged during their absence.

  From the chandelier was suspended a large-sized "hoople" that had beentwisted with red ribbon. From this at regular intervals hung, by shortribbons, candies, cakes, apples, nuts, candle ends, lemons, and sundryother things.

  The children stood round in a circle, and the hoop was twisted uptightly and then let to untwist itself slowly. As it revolved, thechildren were to catch the flying articles in their teeth. Any onegetting a lemon was out of the game. Any one getting a candle end had topay a forfeit, but those who caught the goodies could eat them.

  Next, after being seated round the room, each child was given a spoon.

  Then a dish of ice-cream was passed, of which each took a spoonful andate it. In the ice-cream had previously been hidden a dime, a ring, athimble, a button, and a nutmeg. Whoever chanced to get the ring wasdestined to be married first. Whoever took the dime was destined tobecome very wealthy. The thimble denoted a thrifty housewife; thebutton, a life of single blessedness; and the nutmeg, a good cook.

  Shouts of laughter arose, as they learned that Kingdon would be an oldbachelor, and doubts were expressed when Gladys triumphantly exhibitedthe nutmeg.

  "You can't ever learn to cook!" cried Dick. "You're too much of abutterfly."

  "Good cooks make the butter fly," said Kingdon, and then they alllaughed again. Indeed, they were quite ready to laugh at anything. For aHallowe'en party is provocative of much merriment, and the mostnonsensical speeches were applauded.

  They popped corn, and they melted lead, and they roasted chestnuts, andthen some more difficult experiments were tried.

  Harry Frost and Marjorie were chosen to "Thread the Needle."

  Each held a cupful of water in the left hand, and in the right handHarry held a good-sized needle, while Marjorie held a length of thread.She tried to get the thread through the needle, and he tried to help, orat least not hinder her; but all the time both must have a care that nodrop of water was spilled from their cups.

  The tradition was that if they succeeded in threading the needle withina minute they were destined for each other; but as they couldn't do it,Harry bade her a laughing farewell, and offered the thread to Gladys.They were no more successful, and the game was abandoned as being toodifficult.

  Nutshell boats was a pretty game. The tiny craft, made of English walnutshells, with paper sails, had been prepared beforehand, and the guestswrote their names on the sails, then loaded each boat with a cargo of awish written on a slip of paper.

  The boats were then set afloat in a tub of water, and by gently blowingon them their owners endeavored to make them go ashore, or rather to theside of the tub. As one hit the wood it was taken out, and the ownerjoyfully announced that his or her wish would come true, but many ofthem stayed stubbornly in mid-ocean and refused to land. The unfortunateowners condoled with each other on their hard fate.

  The merry games being over, all went to the dining-room for the feastthat was spread there.

  The children were paired off, and, while Mrs. Fulton played stirringstrains on the piano, they marched around the rooms, and so out to thedining-room.

  The elaborately decorated table called forth shouts of joy, and soon allwere seated in chairs round the room, enjoying the good things.

  On the table were jack-o'-lanterns made not only of pumpkins, but ofsquashes, turnips, and even of big red or green apples.

  Candles were burning in all of these, and standing about the table werequeer little gnomes and witches, made of nuts, or of dried prunes.These little figures were souvenirs, and were distributed to all theguests. The ice-cream was in the form of little yellow pumpkins, andproved to taste quite as good as it looked. There were also moresubstantial viands, such as nut sandwiches, apple salad, pumpkin pie,and grape jelly. Everything had some reference to Hallowe'en or toHarvest Home, and the children were not too young to appreciate this.

  Supper was just about over when Mr. Maynard came after his children.

  "Oh, Father," cried Marjorie, "you said you wouldn't come till nineo'clock!"

  "But it's quarter-past nine now, my daughter."

  "It _can't_ be!" exclaimed Midge, greatly surprised; and everybody said,"Is it, really?"

  "But we must have one merry round game before we part," said Mrs.Fulton, and, though several parents had arrived to take their littleones home, they all agreed to wait ten minutes more.

  So they had a rollicking game of "Going to Jerusalem," and then theparty was over.

  Marjorie said good-night politely to Mrs. Fulton and the other grown-upswho had entertained them, making her pretty little bobbing courtesy, asshe had been taught to do.

  Kingdon said good-night in his frank, boyish way, and then they went fortheir wraps.

  "Oh, Father," said Midget as they crossed the street to their own home,"it was the very loveliest party! Can't I sit up for a while and tellyou every single thing that happened?"

  "I'd love to have you do that, Mopsy Midget; in fact, I can scarcelywait till morning to hear about it all. But it is my duty as a sternparent to order you off to bed at once. Little girls that wheedle fondfathers into letting them go to evening parties must be content to scootfor bed the minute they get home."

  "All right, then, Father, but do get up early in the morning to hear allabout it, won't you?"

  "I'll guarantee to get up as early as you do, Sleepyhead," said Mr.Maynard, for Marjorie was yawning as if the top of her head was about tocome off.

  Mrs. Maynard accompanied the little girl to her bedroom, but Midge wastoo tired to do more than tell her mother that it was the mostbeautiful party in the world, and that next day she should hear allabout it.

  "I can wait, little girl," said Mrs. Maynard, as she tucked Midget upand kissed her good-night, but the exhausted child was already in theland of dreams.