CHAPTER IITHE THANK-OFFERINGS
SAM helped carry the vegetables into the school and we’ll leave him for a minute, “toting” as he called it, the potatoes and shiny apples up the walk, and introduce you to the Blossom children.
You may already know them and if you have met them before you’ll remember that Meg and Bobby had other and longer names, although their best friends often forgot that Meg was named Margaret for her mother, and that Robert Hayward Blossom was Bobby’s real name, the one he would use when he grew up and went in business with Father Blossom. The four-year-old twins, too, Dot and Twaddles, when they were old enough to go to school would be written down on the teacher’s roll book as Dorothy Anna and Arthur Gifford Blossom. In case you do not know, we’ll tellyou that these four children lived in the town of Oak Hill, with their father and mother, and with Norah who had lived with them for years, and with Sam Layton who lived over the garage and was right-hand man to Father Blossom.
The first book about the Blossoms describes the lovely summer they spent at Brookside Farm, visiting Aunt Polly, who was Mother Blossom’s sister. The friends they made there and the fun they had are all told of in “Four Little Blossoms at Brookside Farm.” The children would have been sorry to leave Aunt Polly and the farm if there had not been other exciting days to look forward to. Meg and Bobby had to go to school, of course, and their first winter in the school room, and the persistent efforts of Dot and Twaddles to go to school, too, though they were not old enough to be enrolled in any class, and their final success, is related in the second volume called, “Four Little Blossoms at Oak Hill School.” The third book about the Blossoms tells of the blue turquoise locket Meg lost and how it was found, and how even Meg and Bobby themselves were lost, though theywere also found. The children had some exciting days in this book, “Four Little Blossoms and Their Winter Fun,” but all the excitement ended happily.
As soon as school closed in the spring, away went the Blossom family for a good time. What happened to them is told in the fourth book called, “Four Little Blossoms on Apple Tree Island.” Living on an island is great fun and the little Blossoms enjoyed every day of the long summer. It did seem as though they were always finding something, and they helped to find a whole missing family while they were on Apple Tree Island and also helped to rescue a girl and two younger children who were “lost” on another island. They found a great friend in Captain Jenks who ran the motor boat, and they might have stayed happily on the island the whole year round if the same important business that had brought them home from Brookside Farm the summer before had not called them back to Oak Hill the middle of September. School opened, you see.
Back came the Blossom family and Norahwas very glad to see them. So was Sam Layton, who had been working on a farm in Canada during the summer, and had taken Philip, Meg’s dog, with him. Sam had had enough of Canada, he said, and he liked Oak Hill much better; he had found no one in Canada, he declared, who could cook like Norah.
Between going to school and playing after school and taking care of Philip and Annabel Lee, the cat, and running errands and going with Father Blossom for rides in the car, the days passed swiftly and, almost before they realized it, Thanksgiving Day was just around the corner. And at Thanksgiving time, the children in school were asked to bring donations of food which were taken in charge by the Charity Bureau and by them given to people who otherwise might not have any dinner on the holiday.
And now that you know all about the four little Blossoms, we’ll go back to where we left Sam carrying the potatoes and apples into the school.
“Is that all?” he asked, when he had clearedthe back seat of the boxes and bundles. “All right, then, I must go right back for your father. Don’t forget to see that the Bureau gets the cologne, Meg,” and he grinned.
Sam drove off in the car and Meg and Bobby ran down the stone steps into the basement of the school where the thank-offerings were to be stored. Once it had been the custom of the school to arrange everything in neat rows on the platform in the assembly hall, but after a handsome pyramid of apples had shifted during the opening prayer and had bumped—one at a time—down over the edge of the platform and into the aisles and, another time, a jar of preserves had burst and stained the green velvet carpet, it was wisely decided that everything should be carried into the basement and kept there.
“Oh, look at all the stuff!” cried Bobby when he saw the collection of gifts spread out on the plain wooden tables which were used for lunch tables on the days when it was too stormy to go home at noon. “Look, Meg, someone even brought a turkey!”
Sure enough, there was a fat turkey, neatly folded into a basket lined with orange crepe paper. One of the pupils who lived on a farm had brought him as her thank-offering and if the fortunate family who found that turkey in their basket Thanksgiving Eve admired the gift as much as the boys and girls of Oak Hill school did, there could have been no doubt of their thankfulness.
Mr. Carter, the principal of the grammar and primary grades, and Miss Wright, the vice-principal of the primary school, were busy taking the things the children brought and finding places for them on the tables.
“What fine, clean potatoes!” said Miss Wright, smiling at Meg. “You scrubbed those well, didn’t you, dear? I’m so glad when the children take special pains to make their gifts attractive, for I believe the pleasure is doubled for the giver and the receiver. What is that in your hand, Meg? Something for the thank-offering?”
Meg had forgotten Twaddles’ bottle of cologne which she held tightly in her hand.
“My little brother, Twaddles, sent it,” she explained shyly, blushing a little. “It’s—it’s cologne, and he meant it for the Charity Bureau. He’s only four years old and he doesn’t understand about the Bureau very well.”
Mr. Carter laughed and so did Miss Wright, and the children who were listening giggled. But in a moment Mr. Carter put out his hand.
“Let me take it, Meg,” he said gently. “I know just the place for it. One of the Bureau workers told me yesterday about a poor old lady who has no one to love and take care of her. She sits all day long in a ward with seven other old ladies and we are going to make up a special little basket for her because she is ill. It will be a pretty basket with a little tea and candy and other dainties old ladies like in it and on the very top we’ll put Twaddles’ bottle of cologne. How will that be?”
“And I’ll put a bow of cheerful red ribbon on it,” promised Miss Wright. “Be sure and tell Twaddles, Meg, that we think it was lovely of him to send such a gift.”
“He’ll be—he’ll bethankful!” stammeredMeg and then Mr. Carter and Miss Wright and the children laughed again, but as the principal said, proper laughing was good for them all.
“Now upstairs with you, every one,” he said presently, when everything was in order, “the assembly bell will ring in five minutes and we don’t want any stragglers. Tim Roon, put that apple back; I’m surprised I should have to speak to anyone about touching the gifts meant for the poor and sick.”
Tim Roon, a boy in Bobby’s room, though two or three years older than Bobby who was seven and a half, tossed the apple he had taken from the table angrily back and it fell to the floor and rolled under the table. Bobby crawled under and brought it out and dusted it off carefully with his clean handkerchief. Then he put it with the other apples and went upstairs with Meg who had waited for him.
“Won’t Twaddles be glad about the cologne?” said Meg happily. “I do think Mr. Carter is just as nice!”
“Yes, he is,” agreed Bobby, “and you could see he remembers Twaddles. So does MissWright. Well, I’ll see you at recess, Meg.”
Twaddles and Dot had paid a visit to the school the term before and it was not likely that anyone who had met the twins would ever forget them. Mr. Carter did not and neither did Miss Wright. As for Miss Mason, who had taught Bobby and Meg last year and in whose class Meg was this term, she was always asking about Twaddles and Dot, and she declared she quite looked forward to the time when they should be old enough to come to school.
Meg missed Bobby very much and often wished that they could go through school in the same grade. But he was a class ahead of her and they saw each other only at recess, once the school day had started. This morning, as soon as the recess gong sounded, a stream of children headed for the basement to inspect the thank-offerings again.
“What’s that, Edward?” Bobby asked a fat little boy who had dashed to the basement door and came back lugging something yellow and round. “What’s that for?”
Edward Kurler was in Meg’s class. He wasa good-natured, not particularly quick child, and very ready to do whatever anyone else suggested. When he played “tag” with the other boys, Edward was apt to be “it” the greater part of the game; but he was so good-natured he never was known to be cross about it.
“I brought a pumpkin,” he explained, his own face as round and shiny as the pumpkin he carried. “I didn’t have time to bring it in ’fore school opened. I guess the poor folks will like a pumpkin—they can make pies out of it.”
Tim Roon came up to the pumpkin and looked at it closely.
“Why, it’s a jack-o-lantern!” he said in surprise.
“Yes, it is,” nodded Edward. “I had it left over from Hallowe’en. My uncle made it for me.”
“But you haven’t any candle in it,” said Tim. “I never heard of a pumpkin lantern without a candle, did you, Charlie?”
Charlie Black was Tim Roon’s chum and the two boys usually helped each other when they planned any mischief.
“No, I never heard of a pumpkin without a candle,” said Charlie seriously. “And I don’t think you ought to give one away ’less you have a candle for it, Edward.”
Bobby and Meg leaned up against the table and stared at Edward anxiously. They knew a candle should go inside a pumpkin lantern, too. The other pupils began to think Edward had made a mistake and that his thank-offering had something very wrong with it. Edward felt that way himself.
“I’ll lend you a candle, if you like,” offered Tim Roon. “Of course I’ll have to have it back, but you can have it till school closes.”
“Oh, give it to him,” said Charlie Black. “Light it for him and let’s see how the lantern looks. Maybe it isn’t a good lantern.”
“All right, I will,” agreed Tim, his black eyes snapping with naughtiness. “Wait a minute, Edward, and I’ll show you how to do things right.”
Mr. Carter had gone over to the grammar school to see how their thank-offerings were coming in, and Miss Wright was busy in heroffice. There was no one in the basement to stop Tim Roon as he pulled what looked like a red candle from his pocket and fitted it in the hollow pumpkin. He stood the lantern in the center of a pile of apples and took a match from his pocket. None of the boys were allowed to carry matches and they looked at him in surprise.
“Now I’ll light it for you,” said Tim, touching the match to the candle he had placed inside.
Meg leaned forward to watch and her pretty hair was almost touching the pumpkin when Bobby shouted, “Look out!” and pulled her back.
Then with a loud noise the pumpkin blew into many pieces, scattering in all directions and sending the apples rolling to the floor!