Kabanata Kabanata 7 · COUSIN HELEN'S VISIT

. COUSIN HELEN'S VISIT

A little knot of the school-girls were walking home together one

afternoon in July. As they neared Dr. Carr's gate, Maria Fiske

exclaimed, at the sight of a pretty bunch of flowers lying in the middle

of the sidewalk:

"Oh my!" she cried, "see what somebody's dropped! I'm going to have it."

She stooped to pick it up. But, just as her fingers touched the stems,

the nosegay, as if bewitched, began to move. Maria made a bewildered

clutch. The nosegay moved faster, and at last vanished under the gate,

while a giggle sounded from the other side of the hedge.

"Did you see that?" shrieked Maria; "those flowers ran away of

themselves."

"Nonsense," said Katy, "it's those absurd children." Then, opening the

gate, she called: "John! Dorry! come out and show yourselves." But

nobody replied, and no one could be seen. The nosegay lay on the path,

however, and picking it up, Katy exhibited to the girls a long end of

black thread, tied to the stems.

"That's a very favorite trick of Johnnie's," she said: "she and Dorry

are always tying up flowers, and putting them out on the walk to tease

people. Here, Maria, take 'em if you like. Though I don't think John's

taste in bouquets is very good."

"Isn't it splendid to have vacation come?" said one of the bigger girls.

"What are you all going to do? We're going to the seaside."

"Pa says he'll take Susie and me to Niagara," said Maria.

"I'm going to make my aunt a visit," said Alice Blair. "She lives in a

real lovely place in the country, and there's a pond there; and Tom

(that's my cousin) says he'll teach me to row. What are you going to

do, Katy?"

"Oh, I don't know; play round and have splendid times," replied Katy,

throwing her bag of books into the air, and catching it again. But the

other girls looked as if they didn't think this good fun at all, and as

if they were sorry for her; and Katy felt suddenly that her vacation

wasn't going to be so pleasant as that of the rest.

"I wish Papa _would_ take us somewhere," she said to Clover, as they

walked up the gravel path. "All the other girls' Papas do."

"He's too busy," replied Clover. "Beside, I don't think any of the rest

of the girls have half such good times as we. Ellen Robbins says she'd

give a million of dollars for such nice brothers and sisters as ours to

play with. And, you know, Maria and Susie have _awful_ times at home,

though they do go to places. Mrs. Fiske is so particular. She always

says 'Don't,' and they haven't got any yard to their house, or anything.

I wouldn't change."

"Nor I," said Katy, cheering up at these words of wisdom. "Oh, isn't it

lovely to think there won't be any school