CHAPTER IX
ANCIENT FINERY
When the children reached the big open field that was just across theriver from Grandma Sherwood's, although their clothes had ceaseddripping, they were far from dry, and they all shivered in the keenmorning air.
"Yell away, Mopsy," cried King. "You can make Carter hear if anybodycan."
So Marjorie yelled her very best ear-splitting shrieks.
"Car-ter! Car-ter!" she screamed, and the others gazed at her inadmiration.
"Well, you _can_ yell!" said Molly. "I expect my people will hear that!"
After two or three more screams, they saw Carter come running down towardthe boathouse. Looking across the river, he saw the four childrenfrantically waving their hands and beckoning to him.
"For the land's sake! What is going on now?" he muttered, hurrying downto the bank as fast as his rheumatic old legs would carry him.
"And the boat's gone!" he exclaimed; "now, however did them children getover there without no boat? By the looks of their wet clothes they musthave swum over, but I don't believe they could do that. Hey, there!" heshouted, making a megaphone of his hands.
"Come over and get us," Marjorie yelled back, and beginning to realizethe situation, Carter went into the boathouse and began to take out theother boat. This was an old flat-bottomed affair, which had been unusedsince Uncle Steve bought the new boat.
"Most prob'ly she leaks like a sieve," he muttered, as he untied the boatand pushed it out; "but I've nothing else to bring the young rascals homein. So they'll have to bail while I row."
Carter was soon in the old boat, and pulling it across the river. As hehad expected, it leaked badly, but he was sure he could get the childrenhome in it.
"Come on now!" he cried, as he beached the boat, and jumped out. "For theland's sake, how did you get so wet? But don't stop to tell me now! Justpile in the boat, and let me get you home to a fire and some dry clothes.You'll all have to bail, for she leaks something awful."
Not waiting for a second invitation, the damp quartet scrambled into theboat, and Carter pulled off. The old man had provided tin cans, and thechildren bailed all the way over, for it was necessary to do so to keepthe boat afloat.
As they went, Marjorie told Carter the whole story, "and you see," sheconcluded, "we didn't do anything wrong, for we're always allowed to goin a boat if King is with us."
"Oh, no, Miss Mischief, you didn't do anything wrong! Of course it wasn'twrong to jump about in the boat and carry on until you upset it! It's amarvel you weren't all drowned."
"It is so!" said King, who realized more fully than the others the dangerthey had been in. "Why, there's Uncle Steve on the dock, and Father, too;I wonder if they heard Midget scream."
"If they were within a mile and not stone deaf they couldn't help hearingher," declared Carter. He rowed as fast as he could, and he made thechildren keep hard at work bailing, not only to get the water out of theboat, but because he feared if they sat still they'd take cold.
At last they reached the dock, and Uncle Steve and Mr. Maynard assistedthem out of the boat.
It was no time then for questions or comments, and Uncle Steve simplyissued commands.
"Molly," he said, "you scamper home as fast as you can fly! We haveenough to attend to with our own brood. Scoot, now, and don't stop untilyou reach your own kitchen fire, and tell your mother what has happened.As for you Maynards, you fly to Grandma's kitchen, and see what Eliza cando for you."
Molly flew off across the lawns to her own house, running so swiftly thatshe was out of sight in a moment. Then the Maynards, obeying UncleSteve's command, ran to the kitchen door, and burst in upon Eliza as shewas just finishing the breakfast preparations.
"Howly saints!" she cried. "If it wasn't that I always ixpict yees tocome in drownded, I'd be sheared to death! But if yees weren't in thismess, ye'd be in some other. Such childher I niver saw!"
Eliza's tirade probably would have been longer, but just then Grandma andMrs. Maynard came into the kitchen.
"Been for a swim?" asked Mrs. Maynard, pleasantly.
"Almost been drowned," said Kitty, rushing into her mother's arm, greatlyto the detriment of her pretty, fresh morning dress.
As soon as Mrs. Maynard realized that her brood had really been indanger, she gathered all three forlorn, wet little figures into her armsat once, thankful that they were restored to her alive.
Then breakfast was delayed while Grandma and Mother Maynard provided dryclothing, and helped the children to transform themselves once more intorespectable citizens.
"Now tell us all about it, but one at a time," said Uncle Steve, as atlast breakfast was served, and they all sat round the table. "King, yourversion first."
"Well, we all went out for an early morning row, and somehow we got tocarrying on, and that round-bottomed boat tipped so easily, that somehowwe upset it."
"It's a wonder you weren't drowned!" exclaimed Grandma.
"I just guess it is!" agreed Marjorie; "and we would have been, only Kingsaved us! Kitty _was_ 'most drowned, and King went down in the water andfished her up, and Molly helped a good deal, and I stayed on the otherside and balanced the boat."
"The girls were all plucky," declared King, "and the whole thing was anaccident. It wasn't wrong for us to go out rowing early in the morning,was it, Father?"
"I don't think it was the hour of the day that made the trouble, my son.But are you sure you did nothing else that was wrong?"
"I did," confessed Marjorie, frankly. "I splashed water, and then theothers splashed water, and that's how we came to upset."
"Yes, that was the trouble," said Mr. Maynard; "you children are quiteold enough to know that you must sit still in a boat. Especially around-bottomed boat, and a narrow one at that."
"It was Molly's fault more than Midget's," put in Kitty, who didn't wanther adored sister to be blamed more than she deserved.
"Well, never mind that," said Marjorie, generously ignoring Molly's partin the disaster. "There's one thing sure, Kitty wasn't a bit to blame."
"No," said King, "Kit sat quiet as a mouse. She wouldn't upset anairship. Mopsy and I were the bad ones, as usual, and I think we ought tobe punished."
"I think so, too," said Mr. Maynard, "but as this is a vacation holiday Ihate to spoil it with punishments, so I'm going to wait until you cutup your next naughty trick, and then punish you for both at once. Is thata good plan, Mother?"
"Yes," said Mrs. Maynard, looking fondly at the culprits, "but I want tostipulate that the children shall not go out in the boat again withoutsome grown person with them."
"I'm glad of that," said Marjorie, "for no matter how hard I try I don'tbelieve I could sit perfectly still in a boat, so I'll be glad to havesome grownup go along."
"That's my chance," exclaimed Uncle Steve, "I'll take you any time youwant to go, Midget, and I'll guarantee to bring you back without aducking."
"Thank you, Uncle Steve," said Marjorie; "shall we go right afterbreakfast?"
"Not quite so soon as that, but perhaps to-morrow. By the way, kiddies,what do you think of having a little party while you're here? That wouldkeep you out of mischief for half a day."
"Oh, lovely!" exclaimed Marjorie. "Uncle Steve, you do have thebeautifullest ideas! What kind of a party?"
"Any kind that isn't a ducking party."
"But we don't know anybody much to invite," said Kitty.
"Yes, I know quite a few," said Marjorie, "and King knows several boys;and anyway, Molly and Stella will help us make out a list. How manyshall we have, Uncle Steve?"
"About twenty, I think, and I'll have a hand at that list myself. I knowmost of the children around here. This afternoon get Molly and Stella tocome in after school, and we'll make the list. We can send theinvitations to-night, and have the party day after to-morrow. That'swarning enough for such young, young people."
"It seems to be your party, Steve," said Mrs. Maynard, smiling; "can't Ihelp you with the arrangements?"
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sp; "Yes, indeed; you and Mother can look after the feast part of it, but therest I'll attend to myself."
After breakfast the children were advised to stay indoors for a while,lest they get into more mischief, and also until their elders felt thatthere was no danger of their taking cold.
"Lucky we didn't have Rosy Posy with us," said King, picking up hissmallest sister, and tossing her up in the air.
"Don't speak of it," said his mother, turning pale at the thought; "anddon't ever take the baby on your escapades. She's too little to gothrough the dangers that you older ones persist in getting into."
"Oh, we don't persist," said Marjorie, "the dangers just seem to come tous without our looking for them."
"They do seem to, Midget," agreed Uncle Steve. "But you all seem to havea happy-go-lucky way of getting out of them, and I think you're a prettygood bunch of children after all."
"Listen to that!" exclaimed King, proudly, strutting about the room,elated with the compliment. "It's worth while having an uncle who saysthings like that to you," and the others willingly agreed with him.
Kept in the house, the children wandered about in search of amusement.Kitty curled herself up on a sofa, with a book, saying she was determinedto keep out of mischief for once.
"Let's go up in the attic," said Midget to King, "and hunt over our oldtoys that are put away up there. We might find some nice game."
"All right, come on," and in a minute the two were scrambling up theattic stairs.
"Gracious! look at that big chest. I never saw that before. Wonder what'sin it," said Marjorie, pausing before a big cedar chest.
"Is it locked?" said King, and lifting the lid he discovered it wasn't.
But it was filled to the brim with old-fashioned garments of queer oldQuaker cut.
"Wouldn't it be fun to dress up in these," cried King.
"Yes," assented Marjorie, "but I'm not going to do it, until we askGrandma. I've had enough mischief for one day."
So King ran downstairs and asked Grandma, and soon came running back.
"She says we may," he announced briefly, "so let's choose our rigs."
They lifted out the quaint, old-fashioned clothes, and found there wereboth men's and women's garments among them.
"Where do you suppose they came from?" asked Marjorie.
"Grandma said some old relative in Philadelphia sent her the chest, sometime ago, but she's never opened it."
They tried on various costumes, and pranced around the attic, pretendingthey were ladies and gentlemen of bygone days.
Finally King tried on a woman's dress. It just fitted him, and when headded a silk Shaker bonnet and a little shoulder shawl, the effect was sofunny that Marjorie screamed with laughter.
"All you want," she said, "is some false hair in the front of thatbonnet, and you'll be a perfect little old lady."
Then Marjorie ran down to Grandma, and asked her for some of her falsepuffs, and getting them, flew back to the attic again, and deftly pinnedthem inside of King's bonnet, transforming him into a sweet-faced Quakerlady.
Then Marjorie arrayed herself as another Quaker lady, drawing her hairdown in smooth bands over her ears, which greatly changed the expressionof her face, and made her look much older. Each carried an old-fashionedsilk reticule, and together they went downstairs. After parading beforetheir admiring relatives, they decided to play a joke on Eliza. She hadnot yet seen them, so they slipped downstairs and out the front door,and then closing it softly behind them, they rang the bell.
Eliza came to the door, and utterly failed to recognize the children.
"Does Mrs. Sherwood live here?" asked King, in a thin, disguised voice.
"Yes, ma'am," said Eliza, not knowing the children, "but--" gazing insurprise at the quaint, old-fashioned dresses and bobbing bonnets.
"Please tell her her two aunts from Philadelphia are here," saidMarjorie, but she could not disguise her voice as well as King, and Elizasuddenly recognized it.
"Two aunts from Phillydelphy, is it?" she said. "More likes it's tooloonytics from Crazyland! What will ye mischiefs be cuttin' up next!But, faith, ye're the bonny ould ladies, and if ye'll come in and take aseat, I'll tell the missus ye're here."
But, having fooled Eliza, the fun was over in that direction, and theQuaker ladies trotted away to make a call on Carter.
Just at first he didn't know them, and thought the two ladies were comingto see him. But in a moment he saw who they were, and the good-naturedman entered at once into the game.
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