“But we didn’t feed them, Grandmother,”
objected Mary Jane.
“To be sure not,” laughed Grandmother.
“They don’t want anything to eat just
yet. Not to-day. All they want is to be
warm and cozy.”
“Don’t they want anything to drink either?”
asked Mary Jane.
“No,” replied Grandmother, “nothing
to drink either. To-morrow you can fix them
a drinking dish and I’ll show you about their
food, but now, we’ll just let them be.
Listen! What’s that?”
Grandmother straightened up and counted the rings
of her telephone bell.
“Yes, that’s our ring. You take
this basket back to your grandfather while I answer
it.”
But before Mary Jane got out to the chicken house
Grandmother was back at the kitchen steps calling,
“Father! Father!” And then as she
got no answer she called to Mary Jane, “Mary
Jane! Tell your grandfather it’s long
distance and he should come quick!”
Mary Jane hurried in to tell her grandfather the message
and then she waited, wonderingly, till he should come
back. Had anything happened?
But the minute Mary Jane saw her grandfather smile
as he came back into the chicken house, she knew that
if something had happened it was a nice something—for
he was smiling a nice sort of a smile.
“Good news for us, Pussy,” he said.
“Now you’re going to have some one to
play with.”
“Another Bob?” asked Mary Jane.
“Another fiddlesticks!” laughed Grandfather.
“Haven’t you enough animal friends as
it is? What would you do with more? No,
sir! This is a real playmate.”
“Who is she?” asked Mary Jane.
“She!” laughed Grandfather, “is
your cousin Margaret’s boy John—or
rather, she’s your mother’s cousin.
They live over in Benset, you know, Pussy.
They promised that if you came this summer, they’d
let John come over for a visit so you two could play.”
“Oh, goody!” cried Mary Jane happily,
“how big is he?”
“About as big as you are, I expect,” said
Grandfather thoughtfully, “but I can’t
really say because I haven’t seen him for a long
time. But you’ll know all about him to-morrow.”
After that Grandfather and Grandmother fixed the little
chickens as quickly as ever they could, and then Grandfather
went out to clean up his car and Grandmother and Mary
Jane hurried off to the kitchen to see about the baking
of good things to eat, for Cousin Margaret was to
bring Tom herself and would stay part of a day before
going back.
How Mary Jane did love the work and bustle!
Grandmother made a big jar of sugar cookies (she let
Mary Jane put the sugar on them herself, and you know
that’s fun!), and a big cake with thick chocolate
icing (and Mary Jane scraped out the frosting bowl),
and then she “dressed” two chickens (and
Mary Jane thought that the most wonderful performance
she had ever seen).
