Marjorie's Busy Days

by Carolyn Wells

  CHAPTER XIX

  A SPOOL OF YARNS

  Mr. Maynard pulled the ribbon of which Kitty held the other end, and thelittle girl jumped as she felt the ribbon move in her hand. But Kittywas usually ready for an emergency.

  "Violetta Evangeline," she said. "The Princess thought that was the mostbeautiful name in the world, and I think so, too. Well, then, herfather, the King, had the news sent all through the kingdom that hisdaughter was named at last, and then everybody sent her letters. She hadbags and bags full of mail every day, and they had to put on an extrapostman. And she had valentines in the mail, and catalogues, andbirthday presents, and samples of dresses, and seeds for flowers,and,--and magazines, and,--and,--and one day a little live kitten cameto her in the mail, and she was _so_ pleased. So she named the kittenToodle-Doo, and wherever she went she took the kitten with her. And oneday she went off on a long journey, and of course Toodle-Doo went withher. And as they went along,--and went along----"

  Just here Mr. Maynard pulled another ribbon, and Molly gave a startledjump.

  So Kitty stopped, and Molly took up the story:

  "They went along," said she, dropping her voice to a tragic whisper, "ona dark and lonely road. And a great pirate jumped out at them, andcried, 'What, ho! The password?' And Violetta Evangeline didn't know thepassword, but she guessed at it, and she guessed, 'Crackers and Cheese,'and, as it happened, she guessed just right, and they let her gothrough."

  "Through what?" asked King, greatly interested.

  "Oh! I don't know," returned Molly, carelessly; "through the gate, Is'pose, into the enchanted garden. So she went in, and everythingenchanted happened all at once. She was turned into a fairy, and thekitten was turned into a canary bird, and he roosted on the fairy'sshoulder, and then he began to sing. And then the enchantment turned himinto a music-box, and so Violetta Evangeline didn't have any kitten orany bird or anybody to play with. But just then the Fairy Prince camealong, and he said he'd play with her. And he said she could play withhis toys. So she went to see them, and they were all made of gold andjewels. His tops were of gold, and his kites were of gold all set withrubies and diamonds."

  "Huh," said King, "they couldn't fly!"

  "These kites could," said Molly, quite undisturbed, "because they wereenchanted kites, and that made the diamonds as light as feathers."

  But just then Marjorie's ribbon twitched. She had been waiting for it,and she picked up the story where Molly left off.

  "The kites were so _very_ light," said Midge, "that one of them flewaway entirely. And as Violetta Angeline was hanging on to its string,she was carried along with it, and in a jiffy she was over the wall andoutside of the enchanted garden, so then she wasn't enchanted any more,but she was just a Princess again. So she walked forth, and soughtadventures. And her first adventure was with a dragon. He was an awfulbig dragon, and flames of fire came out of his mouth and his ears andhis toes. But the Princess wasn't afraid of him, and as there was a bighydrant near by, she turned it on him and put the flames out. Then hewailed, and wept, and he said: 'Oh, Violetta Angelina, I have a woe! Oh,oh, I have a woe!' And as she was a kind Princess, she said, 'Tell mewhat your woe is, and perhaps I can help you.' So the Dragon said----"

  Here Kingdon's ribbon pulled, and, though taken somewhat unawares, theboy tried to jump right into the story-telling, and he said:

  "'Yes, yes, my dear,' said the Dragon, 'I have a woe, and it's this:everybody laughs at me because I cannot climb a tree!' 'Is that all?'asked the Princess, in surprise; 'why, I will teach you to climb atree.' 'Oh, if you only would!' exclaimed the Dragon. So the Princesstaught him to climb a tree, and they all lived happy ever after."

  King brought his story to an abrupt close, because his mother had begunto look at the clock, and to intimate by sundry nods and gestures thatit was bedtime.

  "But Mother hasn't told any of the story yet," said Kitty, who washerself so sleepy she could scarcely listen even to the tale of her ownVioletta Evangeline.

  "Mother's story must wait till some other time," said Mrs. Maynard."This is the time for everybody of fourteen years or less to skip-hop upto bed."

  So away trooped the children, glad to have learned a new game, andcarefully putting away for future use the spool with the ribbons throughit.

  "But the ribbons don't really make any difference," said Molly, as theywent upstairs. "You could just as well _say_ whose turn comes next."

  "But it's so much prettier," argued Marjorie; "and it makes it seem somuch more like a game."

  "What's the name of the game?"

  "I don't know; let's make up one."

  "All right; Spool Stories,--no, Spool Yarn."

  "A Spool of Yarns!" cried Marjorie, clapping her hands. "That's the verything!"

  And so "A Spool of Yarns" became one of their favorite games, and wasoften played in the evenings or on stormy days.

  The rest of Molly's visit passed all too quickly, and Marjorie was sadindeed the day her friend returned home.

  But Mrs. Maynard bore the blow bravely.

  "She's a dear little girl," she said, after Molly had gone; "but she_is_ a lively one. In fact, she's a regular Maynard, and four youngMaynards are just about all I can stand in the house permanently."

  "Weren't we good, Mother?" asked Marjorie, anxiously.

  "Yes, dear, you were good enough. Really, you didn't get into muchmischief; but I suppose you've no idea how much noise you made."

  "No'm, I haven't," said Marjorie. "And now I guess I'll go skating."

  "Very well, Midge; but remember what Father told you about 'Snap theWhip.'"

  "Oh, yes, indeed, Mother. I can never forget that, 'cause I have myprize, you know."

  True to his word to give them both prizes, Mr. Maynard had brought thegirls each a dainty silver bangle, from which hung a tiny pair ofskates. This, he said, was to remind them of the dangerous game, and oftheir really narrow escape on Thanksgiving Day.

  Later that afternoon Marjorie came home from her skating in a greatstate of excitement.

  "Oh, Mother," she said; "Miss Merington has asked me to be at her tableat the Bazaar! Won't that be lovely?"

  "Miss Merington! What does she want of a little girl like you?"

  "Oh, she wants me to help her! Just afternoons, you know; not evenings.She's going to have two or three girls to help her. Miss Frost askedGladys to be with her. You see, it's this way. Haven't you heard aboutthe Alphabet of Booths?"

  "No; what does that mean?"

  "Well, I'll tell you. You see, the whole big Bazaar is going to bedivided up into twenty-six booths. Each one is a letter--A, B, C, youknow. Then everybody who takes charge of the booth begins with thatletter, and sells those things."

  "What things?"

  "Why, Mother, like this. The A booth is in charge of Mrs. Andrews, andshe sells apples and andirons, and,--and anything that begins with A."

  "Then I should think she could sell 'anything,'" said Mrs. Maynard,laughing.

  "Oh, Mother, that's lovely and witty. I'll tell Mrs. Andrews that. Well,and then Mrs. Burns has the B booth, and she sells beads and books andbaskets and whatever begins with B."

  "Oh, yes, I understand. And it's very clever. And so Miss Meringtoninvited you to help her?"

  "Yes, and Miss Frost invited Gladys, because Fulton begins with F. But,Mother, I can't think of a thing to sell that begins with M. Somethingthat I can make, I mean. I can only think of melons and mantelpieces."

  "How about mats?"

  "Oh, yes, I can make mats. Crochet them, you mean? Will you show mehow?"

  "Yes, and mops, too; you can make mops, or buy them, either. I supposethey expect you to contribute some articles to be sold. I'll make somefor you, too. I'll make you a lovely big, soft melon cushion, a headrest, you know. And, oh, Mopsy! I'll give you some mixed pickles, someof those good ones that Ellen puts up. They'll sell well, I know."

  "Oh, goody, Mother; I'll have a lot of things to give them, won't I? AndMiss Merington will be so plea
sed. She's a lovely lady."

  "Yes, she's a charming girl, and I'm glad to have you help her. PerhapsFather can think up some things for you that begin with M."

  This was a good suggestion, and that very evening Midget put thequestion:

  "Father, what begins with M that you could sell?"

  "Why, Mopsy Midget Maynard, I could sell you, but I doubt if I could geta big enough price. You're a pretty valuable piece of property."

  "Yes, but don't joke, Daddy. I mean really, in earnest, for the Bazaar,you know."

  "Oh, yes, I've heard about that wonderful Bazaar. Well, let me see. Areyou allowed to have any sort of wares if they begin with the rightletter?"

  "Yes, I think so. Mother thought of mats and mops."

  "That's a good start. How are you to get these things? Do you donatethem all to the Bazaar?"

  "Yes; or Miss Merington said we could ask people to give us things, butI don't like to do that."

  "No; not from strangers, of course. But I'm sure Mr. Gordon will be gladto give you some toys or notions out of his store. He's such an oldfriend of mine, I wouldn't mind your asking him. And then I think UncleSteve would send you a few trinkets, or Grandma Sherwood might. But mostof your contributions I think we'll get up here at home. Now, let's bemethodical, because that begins with M, and first we'll make somelists."

  Marjorie was greatly interested, and flew for a pad and pencil, and thenwaited for her father to make his lists.

  "I declare, Midget," he said, at last, "this is harder than I thought. Ican't think of a thing but mahogany bureaus and marble mantles."

  "How about marbles, Father? I mean the kind you play marbles with."

  "That's good, Midge. Mr. Gordon will give you those. I don't want you toask any one else, but Tom Gordon told me he would give a lot of thingsto the Bazaar, and he said for you to go down there and pick out whatyou want."

  "Oh, that will be lovely! Now, let's think what else he has."

  "Yes, that's the way to get at it. In a shop like his, with all sorts ofstationery and toys and knick-knacks, there ought to be lots of M's.Well, doubtless he'll give you some music,--sheet-music, you know; andperhaps some magazines. Oh, and memorandum-books. You can always sellthose to business men. Then he has maps, too; pocket-maps, or evenlarger ones. And I think that's all you ought to expect from him."

  "Yes, that's enough. Now, what can I make myself?"

  "I daresay Mother finished the list when she said mats and mops. I don'tknow of anything else, unless it's mantillas."

  "What are they?"

  "Don't you know? Well, it is an old-fashioned word. They're ladies'cloaks, mantles, you know."

  "Oh, Father, I could make some for dolls!"

  "Yes, that's good; if you can sew well enough."

  "Mother will help me with the hard parts. But, really, they will belovely. All the little girls will buy them. Now, can't I make somethingelse?"

  "Why, yes; make candy! Marshmallows,--I'll teach you how; you know I'm afamous candy-maker. But I don't know any other sort,--unless we saymint-drops. Would that do?"

  "Oh, yes. And I can make mottoes. Any kind of candy, you know, done upin motto-papers."

  "That's a fine idea! We'll all make a lot of home-made candy, and helpyou wrap it the night before the show. Then your nice, fresh mottoeswill go off like hot cakes."

  "Yes, indeed. And Ellen is going to give me some jars of her good mixedpickles."

  "Oh, Ellen can help you a lot. Ask her to make you some mince pies andmarmalade, and macaroons."

  "Goody! Goody! I can have a regular food sale, all of M's! Why, it's alovely letter, after all. I'm glad it's mine."

  "How are they going to manage the Q and X and Z?"

  "I think they're going to leave out X and Z. But Q is to be a table fullof queer things. Indian curiosities, and such things. Miss Meringtontold me about it. Gladys is going to be with Miss Frost. She's going tomake fudge, and paper fairies. And her father is going to give her a lotof fans,--Japanese ones,--and Dick is going to cut her out some fretworkthings with his scroll-saw."

  "Well, I think the ladies will have very helpful little assistants. I'llbring you a budget of things from the city, and we'll all have a bee tomake candy for you."

  The bee was great fun. The day before the Bazaar, Mr. Maynard broughthome all sorts of goodies to make the candies with. He came home earlythat they might begin in the afternoon.

  All the Maynard family went to work, and Ellen and Sarah helped some,too.

  They made all sorts of candies that could be formed with the right shapeand size for mottoes.

  Rosy Posy, who loved to cut paper, snipped away at the sheets of printedverses, and really helped by cutting the couplets apart, all ready to betucked into the papers with the candies.

  The result of their labors was a big box of lovely-looking "mottoes,"all neatly twisted into fringed or scalloped papers of bright colors.

  King proposed that Midget should have a restaurant at the Bazaar, andserve macaroni, and mackerel, muskmelons, and milk.

  But Mr. Maynard said he feared that would necessitate medicine andmedical attendance.