PIECES OF LAUGHTER AND FUN Read online

  "How can I go out and find errands to do in this kind of weather? It isn't good for anything."

  "Except to help the gardens and fields to grow," ma reminded me. "Nothing that God sends is useless."

  The next week a rainstorm did help solve our problem. Sarah Jane and I were spending the afternoon at her house. Just as we had gathered all our things together to go to the creek to play, it began to rain.

  "Oh, bother!" Sarah Jane exclaimed. "Now what shall we do?"

  "Why don't you play in the attic?" her mother suggested. "You can use the clothes in the old trunk to play dress-up, if you like."

  "We can make up a story to go with it," I added. "Come on. That's much more fun than going to the creek."

  We hurried to the attic and lost no time in selecting dresses and hats to try on. Sarah Jane even found an old pair of high-top shoes that just fit her.

  "It's too bad your feet are so big, Mabel," she said smugly. "I guess I'll just have to wear these."

  "That's all right," I replied. "I'll use the parasol. It's prettier anyway."

  After prancing around the attic for a few minutes, another thought occurred to me.

  "Maybe I can find some long gloves in there to go with my parasol."

  After routing through a couple more dresses, I lifted out something heavy. It was made of a woolen material.

  "Hey, look at this," I called. "What is it?" Sarah Jane came over to look. "It was a great coat of my grandfather's."

  "My, it's big," I marveled. "I never saw so much cloth in one coat."

  "My grandpa was big," _Sarah Jane informed me. "My mother said he would make two of anyone she ever saw. No one else has ever been able to wear his coat."

  I could hardly get my breath for excitement. "Oh, Sarah Jane, do you think your mother would sell it to us?"

  "Sell it to you? Whatever for? Your pa could wrap it around him three times. He would sure look silly in it."

  "No, no. He wouldn't wear it like that. Ma could make him a whole suit out of it! She can do anything with a needle and thread."

  "We'll have to ask. Ma might want to sell it."

  But she didn't. "Oh, my. I couldn't take money for an old coat like that. I can't imagine what anyone would want it for. But if you think your mother could use it, you may have it."

  "Oh, thank you!" I cried. "I just know we can use it. I'll take it home right now."

  "You'd better wait until it stops raining," Sarah Jane suggested. "Wet wool doesn't smell too good, you know."

  She was right, so I waited impatiently for the weather to clear. Then Sarah Jane helped me roll the coat into a bundle I could carry.

  I hurried as fast as I could, for the coat was really quite heavy. When I finally arrived at our yard, Pa was starting toward the house. Quickly I detoured around to the barn and went in. The coat would be safe under some hay until after supper.

  Ma watched me anxiously as we ate. "Aren't you hungry, Mabel?"

  "No, not very."

  "Your cheeks are flushed. Are you feverish?"

  "I don't think so, ma. I feel fine, really I do."

  Fortunately, she said no more. As soon as we were alone doing the dishes, I whispered to her. "There's something in the barn you have to see, ma. It's an answer to our prayer!"

  Ma looked surprised, but she didn't question me. As soon as we were finished, we hurried out to the barn. I laid the big coat out on the straw for her to inspect.

  "Sarah Jane and I found this in a trunk, ma. Her mother said we could have it. You can make a suit for pa out of it, can't you?"

  Ma was so astonished that she couldn't speak fora moment. "Why, Mabel, I believe I can! Isn't this wonderful? We can get buttons for it with the money we've saved. We'll even have enough money left over to buy a fine linen handkerchief."

  Ma hugged me, and together we took the coat to the house.

  "Monday we'll start taking the seams out," she said. "I'll brush the pieces good and air them. When they are pressed neatly, they'll be as fine as any yard goods. I do believe we can have it ready for pa's birthday."

  And it was. On the third Sunday in May, pa proudly left for church in his new suit.

  "I don't know where you got enough money to buy anything as nice as this," he said to us. "I didn't see one this fine in the catalog. You didn't sell one of the cows, did you?" he teased.

  "Never mind, pa," I said. "That's our secret. I can tell you this much, though. We trusted in the Lord, and waited patiently for him. Then he gave us the desires of our heart!"

  The Perfect Party

  "WE SURE DO have a nice teacher this year," I said to grandma shortly after school had started in the fall. "I thought Mrs. Bingham was the best last year, but Mrs. Dorman is just as good."

  "I'm glad," grandma replied. "School is always so much nicer when you like your teacher. I never had the experience of changing teachers every year. Ours usually stayed five or six years or more."

  "Was Miss Gibson your favorite one?" I asked. "You've told me a lot of stories about her."

  "Yes. I think she probably was. She certainly had a lot of patience to put up with all the foolishness we got into.

  "We always looked for things to take to her—or something to surprise her with. But we were pretty limited in our offerings. There wasn't money to buy things, so we had to use our imaginations....

  The second year Miss Gibson was our teacher, Sarah Jane and I were in the third reader. The school wasn't large that year, only about 15 students. But we all loved Miss Gibson.

  One day the sixth-reader class was reciting at the front of the room. As usual Sarah Jane and I listened in.

  "Shakespeare was born in 1564," Miss Gibson told them. "There is some argument about the day. Some people say April 23 and some say April 26. I would like to think it is April 23, because that's the day I was born. I'd like to share a birthday with a famous person. But it's probably April 26."

  At recess time, Sarah Jane and I discussed what we had overheard.

  "Now that we know the date, we should plan a big birthday party for Miss Gibson," I suggested. "Don't you think that would be fun?"

  "Oh, yes," Sarah Jane agreed. "I won't forget her birthday, either, because Caleb's is April 26. Maybe he shares a birthday with Shakespeare. It depends on who's right about the date."

  "I think we should let Miss Gibson have it."

  Sarah Jane nodded. "I think so, too. Caleb wouldn't care if Shakespeare had been born right on our own farm, let alone on his birthday. Where shall we have the party?"

  "If we're going to invite a lot of people, we'd better have it here. There are fifteen of us in school. We'll all bring our families so that will be a big crowd."

  "That's a good idea," Sarah Jane said. "We can decorate the room with streamers and all the spring flowers we can find."

  "And we'll make a big banner that says Happy Birthday, Miss Gibson. Won't she be surprised?"

  "She will if we can keep the little kids from telling her. We'll have to threaten them with a thump on the head if they tell."

  "We can't do that," I argued. "I think they'll keep the secret when we let them know how important it is. The first time Miss Gibson is out of the room, we'll announce it."

  Our chance came that afternoon. We were studying quietly when Miss Gibson stood up. "Children, I've just found that I left some of your papers at home. While you're working,

  I'll go back and get them. I shouldn't be more than a few minutes, so you are on your honor."

  As soon as the door closed and we were sure Miss Gibson was out of hearing, Sarah Jane jumped to her feet.

  "Listen, everyone. We want to have a surprise party here at school for Miss Gibson on her birthday. If someone in each family bakes a cake, we should have plenty. I think my folks and Mabel's will make the ice cream. It will be at seven o'clock in the evening on April 23. Don't forget the date. And whatever you do, don't let Miss Gibson know about it!"

  Sarah Jane fixed her eyes on the front row of beginners
. "It's a secret. Do you promise you won't tell?"

  They nodded solemnly.

  "All right. We'll talk later about decorating the room. Remember, not a word!"

  She sat back down. By the time Miss Gibson returned, everyone was working quietly. On the way home after school, Sarah Jane and I continued our plans.

  "I'm not worried about the cake and ice cream, but what are we going to give her?" I asked. "I don't have any money to get anything, do you?"

  Sarah Jane shook her head. "I never have any money. Do you suppose we should ask our folks for some?"

  "I don't think so. These should be our gifts to Miss Gibson. Besides," I added, "pa doesn't have any money for things like presents. I'm sure we can think of something to make her."

  That night at supper, I brought up the subject.

  "It's going to be a wonderful party," I told ma and pa. "Miss Gibson will be so pleased. And it's really going to be a surprise. But I have to decide on a present. What do you think I could do, ma?"

  "I know what I'm going to do," Roy put in. "I'll give her the bookends I'm carving."

  "That will make a nice gift," ma said. "Mabel, how would you like to make a pretty apron? I'll cut it out for you if you want to stitch it."

  "Oh, yes, ma! She'll like that. Do you think I can get it done in two weeks?"

  "I'm sure you can if you work on it after school every day. We'll start this evening. How about you, Reuben? Do you have an idea for a gift?"

  "Do you remember the picture of the schoolhouse I drew? Do you think that would be all right?"

  "I think that would be just the thing," pa said. "Get it out, and I'll help you frame it." On the way to school the following morning,

  Sarah Jane and I compared notes.

  "The apron is all ready to start sewing on," I said. "I'll begin as soon as I get home. What are you going to make?"

  "I wanted to do a sampler for her, but ma thinks that will take too long. I can't think of anything else to do."

  "Why don't you hemstitch some towels? They would go nicely with the apron."

  "I don't know how to hemstitch!" Sarah Jane exclaimed. "If I learned on Miss Gibson's towels, it wouldn't be a very pretty present."

  "Just put in a plain hem, then. You already know how to embroider. You could put her initials on them."

  "That sounds good. Let's hurry home as soon as we can and get started."

  For the next week I worked every afternoon on the apron. Some days Sarah Jane brought her towels over, and we talked as we sat on the porch steps sewing.

  "This is one thing we've planned that isn't going to go wrong," she declared. "I can't think of a thing we've left out, can you?"

  "Not a thing," I said. "And for once I haven't even had to take my sewing out. This time everything is going to be perfect."

  "Would you girls like some cookies?" ma called through the screen door. "I'm taking fresh ones from the oven."

  "Oh, yes, ma! I'll come right in and get them." I picked up the apron to put it aside but it would not move. It was sewn to my pinafore!

  Sarah Jane looked at it; then she burst out laughing.

  "I'm sure I don't know what's funny," I said crossly. "Would you want me to laugh if you did that?"

  "I'm sorry, Mabel. But you just finished saying that you hadn't taken any stitches out yet. And I said that nothing was going to go wrong. I guess we were both mistaken, weren't we?"

  Ma appeared in the doorway to see what had happened. "I wouldn't say that it would be safe for either one of you to boast about anything being perfect," she commented. "I've seen things that couldn't possibly go wrong, fall apart when you two got mixed up in them."

  She pointed to the apron on my lap. "If taking out a little sewing is the worst that happens, you won't have to worry."

  "It had better be the worst," I grumbled. "I don't have the time to be doing things over."

  It was a good thing that we couldn't see the future. The Bible is right when it says that each day's troubles are enough for that day. We don't need to know that more will follow.

  Everything went well until April 23, the day of the party. If Miss Gibson noticed that her class seemed more restless that day, she didn't mention it. But for most of us, it was the longest day of the year.

  At closing time, Reuben raised his hand. "A couple of us would like to stay and work a little longer, Miss Gibson. I'll be sure to lock up if it's all right."

  "Why, that's fine, boys,' she replied. "I'm glad to see you so interested in your studies. I'll be happy to stay awhile, too, if you like."

  We held our breath.

  "Oh, no thank you, Miss Gibson. We'll get along just fine," Reuben answered her. "You can go right along home."

  Fortunately, she agreed. When school was dismissed, most of us left the yard as she did. But when she was out of sight, we returned quickly.

  "We'll put two tables together at the front to hold the presents," Reuben directed. "The cakes can go on the desks by the wall. Now let's hurry and put the streamers around."

  Miss Gibson's desk was chosen as the ideal place for the happy birthday banner. Sarah Jane and I set to work at once to print it.

  "Be sure you don't spell something wrong, Mabel," Roy called. "You've got four whole words to put on there."

  "Ignore him," I told Sarah Jane. "He thinks he's so bright. He'd like you to believe that he'd never made a mistake in his life."

  When we were finished, Reuben locked the door, and we hurried home to get ready for the party.

  "Try to get your folks to leave a little bit early," Sarah Jane said. "Then we can be there to welcome everyone."

  I assured her that we would be there by quarter of seven, and we were. By seven o'clock the others began to arrive. We hurried about, placing cakes and gifts in their proper places.

  Soon the room began to fill up. Whenever the door opened, we looked expectantly toward it. But Miss Gibson did not appear.

  "Do you suppose we should go and get her?" Sarah Jane asked me. "Or at least go over and see when she's coming?"

  I agreed that we should, and we ran across the school ground to the minister's home, where Miss Gibson lived.

  "But she's not here," the minister's wife told us when we inquired about Miss Gibson. "Her parents came and took her into town for dinner."

  "Everyone is here for her birthday party!" I cried.

  "Mabel," Sarah Jane said, "did you tell her about the party?"

  We look at each other in silence.

  "You didn't tell her, either," I said. "Nobody told her. What do we do now?"

  "I'll tell her," offered Mrs. Brooke. "As soon as she gets home I'll send her right over there. Why don't you just go ahead with your party?"

  There was nothing else to do. Slowly we went back to the school.

  "You'd think we'd learn, wouldn't you?" Sarah Jane said sadly. "We can't even have a party that goes right. What are we going to tell them?"

  "We'll just have to say that everyone kept the secret so well that Miss Gibson still doesn't know it.... I hope she gets back early."

  Happily, Miss Gibson and her parents arrived at eight o'clock. The party was a huge success, and she was greatly pleased with her gifts.

  When she thanked us, she said, "It isn't often that a surprise party is a surprise to the people who give it!"

  "No," pa agreed, "not unless it's Sarah Jane and Mabel who are giving it. Then anything can happen!"

  Windfalls

  GRANDMA, UNCLE ROY, and I were enjoying fresh apple dumplings in the bright, cheery kitchen of grandma's old home.

  "You sure have good apples in your orchard," I said to Uncle Roy. "Are the trees as old as you are?"

  "Some of them are," he replied. "We've added trees over the years, but the original ones are still out there. When your grandma was little, she liked the apples from the Gibbs's orchard better than ours." Uncle Roy looked sideways at grandma and chuckled.

  "Why, grandma? What made the Gibbs's apples so good?"
>
  "I especially liked winesap apples," grandma explained. "And we didn't have any then. Now what made you think of that?" she asked Uncle Roy.

  "I don't know," he laughed. "I guess maybe thinking about original trees. He had some of the oldest ones around."

  I looked at grandma, eager for the story I knew was sure to follow.

  "I suppose you want to hear about those special apples, don't you?" grandma asked me. I nodded eagerly, and she began....

  The Gibbs's farm was between our house and Sarah Jane's. We passed it every day as we visited each other. The apple orchard bordered the road. In late fall the trees were loaded with beautiful red apples.

  Mr. Gibbs didn't care how many apples we picked up from the ground. So we would often fill our pinafores with the windfalls—apples that had been blown off the trees—and munch on them while we played. One day I brought home the extra ones and put them on the table.

  "I saved enough for you to make a pie or a cobbler," I told ma. "Wouldn't you like to do that?"

  "I might," she replied, "If there were someone who wanted to peel them and get them ready."

  "I will. I don't mind doing it at all. These sure are good apples."

  "How many have you eaten already?" ma asked me.

  "Oh, only five or six," I replied. "Not very many. And they're small."

  "They eat that many every time they pass the orchard," Roy put in. "Don't forget, Mabel, if you swallow the seeds, you'll have apple trees growing out your ears."

  "Why, Roy!" ma exclaimed. "What an outlandish thing to tell your sister. You know that isn't so."

  "I was just teasing, ma. Mabel doesn't believe it."

  "You shouldn't say it if you don't want me to believe it," I said primly. "You might say something you do want me to believe, and I won't."

  "All right, Mabel. It won't be necessary to preach a sermon. Get started on the apples, please."

  A few days later, Sarah Jane stopped by the house after school. "Can Mabel come home to supper with me? We have lots of studying to do.

  "Does your mother know you're asking her?" ma inquired.

  "Yes, she said I could. Caleb and I will walk her home. Is it all right?"

  "I guess so," ma replied. "Be sure you take care of your studying before you play." "Yes, ma'am," we replied. "We will."