Chapter II: Part 2

"I do think that's the queerest," said Grandmother as she looked after her husband. "He's always so anxious to hear letters and I know he isn't as busy as he makes out. But if he don't want to tell he won't, Mary Jane, so I guess we'd better stop thinking about it."

Mary Jane ran up to her room to put her precious letter away for safe-keeping. Then she and Grandmother tidied up the dinner work and dressed for afternoon. Grandmother didn't have lots of hard work to do, as some farm folks have, for she and Grandfather had long ago stopped doing the hardest work on the farm. They rented out most of their land and kept for themselves only enough garden and chicken yard and pasture to make them feel comfortably busy. So Grandmother had plenty of time for pleasant walks and rides with Mary Jane.

Grandfather seemed to be tired at supper that evening so nothing was said about secrets or letters or anything like that, and he went off to bed about as soon as Mary Jane did.

But the next morning he seemed rested and jolly as ever.

"Do you happen to know any little girl around here who wants to work with me today?" he asked at the breakfast table.

"That's what Daddah says when he wants me to work in my garden," said Mary Jane.

"You don't tell me!" exclaimed Grandfather in great surprise. That was one of his favorite expressions, and Mary Jane had to always stop and think before she could realize that what he meant was, "You do tell me!" "And what do you say to him when he asks you that?"

"I say, 'I know one little girl and that's me,'" replied Mary Jane.

"And what do you say to me?" continued Grandfather.

"I say, 'I know one little girl, and she's right here,'" laughed Mary Jane and she jumped down from the table and gave her grandfather a big bear hug. "What is it we're going to do?"

"Wait and see," said Grandfather.

"Then it's the secret!" exclaimed Mary Jane, dancing around. "It's the secret! I know it is! Grandmother! Let's hurry quick and do our work so we can go."

"You put on your sun hat and go this very minute," exclaimed Grandmother. "You've been such a good little helper--I guess I can get along alone one day."

So in about one minute Mary Jane had her sun hat from upstairs and was going out the back door with her grandfather.

They went out past the tool house and past the chicken yard and up to the garden.

"No, Bob," said Grandfather as Bob tried to push in through the garden gate with them, "we don't need you here. G'on back to the house!" And Bob turned obediently and ran back.

"Isn't he the nicest dog!" explained Mary Jane, as they went along. And then she stopped right short and couldn't say another word. For right there in front of her, just as plain as day as though it had been growing a whole spring, was her own garden! Yes, her _very own_ garden! With the nasturtiums in front and the marigolds next and the young lettuce in the back. Mary Jane could hardly believe her eyes!

"Why--but--how--I thought gardens stayed in one town!" she finally exclaimed.

"They do usually," said Grandfather and his eyes twinkled with pleasure over her surprise, "usually they do."

"But my garden didn't," stammered Mary Jane. "Did it come on a train like I did?"

"No," laughed Grandfather; "guess again."

"It couldn't come any other way," insisted Mary Jane, "'cause I was out here last week with Grandmother to see her lettuce and this wasn't here then and you can't come 'way from my house in one day unless you ride on a train--it's too far."

"That's good thinking for Miss Five-year-old," said Grandfather proudly, "so I guess I'll have to explain. You see, I wrote to your mother and asked her how your garden was at home. And she told me, exactly; she even drew a little picture so I would know just how things were planted. After I got that letter, it was easy to take nasturtiums and marigolds and lettuce from your grandmother's garden and make one for you. She was glad to give you some."

"So that's the reason you wouldn't read Mother's letter yesterday," said Mary Jane.

"That's it," agreed Grandfather.

"And that's the reason you were so tired last night," continued Mary Jane. "You'd been working so hard to 'sprise me."

"Well," admitted Grandfather, "that may have had something to do with it."

"I think I've got the _bestest_ grandfather!" exclaimed Mary Jane suddenly, and she threw her arms around him so hard, oh, ever so hard. "And now do we work here?"

"Not to-day," said Grandfather, "because you couldn't work with my big tools. Tomorrow morning I'll drive into the village and get you a little set of tools just your size like you have at home. This afternoon we'll look around and see if everything's all right in my garden. Then to-morrow we can go to work, as soon as we come home."

Mary Jane took hold of his hand and together they went back into his nice big garden.

"Um-m-m," said Grandfather suddenly as he bent over his carrot bed. "I was afraid so, I was afraid so!"

"What's the matter?" asked Mary Jane who couldn't see that much was wrong.

"See those nibbled off carrots?" asked Grandfather.

Mary Jane looked closely and saw the broken tips.

"We'll have to catch that thief," said Grandfather. "I guess we need Bob after all." Grandfather stuck his finger to his mouth and made a loud whistle. Then he called, "Here Bob! Here Bob! Here Bob!"

Bob came bounding down the garden path, wagging his tail and eager to be of use.

"See that?" demanded Grandfather, pointing to the broken tips.

Bob sniffed and sniffed. He twisted his ears backward and forward and sniffed again. Then he started briskly over to the back of the garden.

"We'll find him!" exclaimed Grandfather. "Come on, Mary Jane! Bob's not much of a hunter but I'll guess that he'll find him and we'll scare him off!"

Mary Jane, who didn't in the least understand who "him" was or what was going to be found or done, trotted along behind her grandfather and Bob eager to see something new.

THE GARDEN THIEF

"What are we doing, Grandfather?" asked Mary Jane as she trotted along behind her grandfather and Bob. "What are we doing and where are we going and who's the thief?"

"No time to talk," called Grandfather over his shoulder. "You'll see! Come along and take hold of my hand."

Mary Jane ran as fast as ever she could till she caught up with her grandfather and got a firm hold of his hand. Then she felt better: for when a little girl doesn't know what _is_ going on, she wants to have hold of _something_--you know how that is yourself. Bob led them out of the corner of the garden; across the small cornfield back of the barn; across the pasture and into the woods beyond. There he stopped and sniffed in the bushes and through the dead leaves in what Mary Jane thought was the most curious way she had ever seen a dog act.

"Well!" exclaimed Grandfather disgustedly, "if you can't find him any better than that--I'll hunt myself!" And to Mary Jane's amazement, he too, began hunting in the piles of dead leaves where Bob was diligently sniffing.

Suddenly he cried, "Mary Jane! Mary Jane! Come here this minute!"

Mary Jane, who had been standing by a stump where her grandfather left her when he followed Bob into the woods, eagerly ran over to where he stood. He waited quietly till she was clear up to him and then he reached down and lifted up a pile of dead leaves and rubbish.

"Oh, Grandfather!" exclaimed the little girl, "what are they?"

"What do you think they are?" he asked.

"I don't think," replied Mary Jane, "'cause I never saw them before. But they look like the Easter things at the store."

"Right you are!" exclaimed Grandfather much pleased. "They're baby rabbits--and in one of the prettiest little nests I ever found. I'm glad you were along to see."

"Were they what you were hunting, Grandfather?" asked Mary Jane as she half timidly bent over the little bundle of gray and white fur. "They wouldn't steal your garden, would they?"

"No, not those pretty little things," replied Grandfather, "but their father would. Can't say as I blame him though," continued Grandfather, laughing, "with such a family to feed he'd naturally have to get whatever he could. Usually the rabbits don't bother my garden. Well, Pussy, what shall we do with them?"

"Do with them?" asked Mary Jane. "What is there to do?"

Grandfather looked down at the little girl; by this time she was on her knees beside the nest, and bending over the little rabbits as though she'd like to touch them but didn't feel quite well enough acquainted. "Shall we leave them out here or--"

But Mary Jane didn't give him a chance to finish his sentence.

"Oh, Grandfather!" she exclaimed, "could we take them home?"

"I guess we could if you wanted to," he said. "Your mother was always a great hand for pet rabbits and I believe that the very house I once built for her, is up in the loft to this day. Let's cover them over again and go find it."

"Will they stay here while we're gone?" asked Mary Jane as he tenderly laid the leaves back over the little creatures.

"They will till their mother gets a chance to take them away," answered Grandfather. "If she thinks we'll hurt them, she'll carry them to some other hiding place. But if we hurry, we'll get them first."

"Won't she know that we'll take good care of them?" asked Mary Jane.

"She won't know it at first," replied Grandfather, "but she'll soon find out. We'll fix them up in a comfortable box and they'll be as safe and happy and perhaps even better fed than if they'd stayed out here in the woods where stray dogs might hurt them. Come on, now, Pussy; let's hurry for the box."

Mary Jane took hold of his hand again and they hurried back through the pasture and the cornfield to the barn.

It didn't take Grandfather long to find the little rabbit house he had made for Mary Jane's mother years ago. "The box part is good as new," he said, "and I'll get some fresh screening from the attic to cover over this open side."

Mary Jane trotted along beside him up to the mysterious, big attic at the top of the house, where, from a dark corner, he pulled a strip of new wire screen. They took it down to the back porch where he had left the box and in less than half an hour he had the new home all ready for the rabbits.

Of course Grandmother heard them working around and came to see what was going on.

"Oh, the cunningest bunnies, five of them, we found," Mary Jane told her, "little and soft and gray and white just like the Easter bunnies in the store, and we're going to bring them up to your house to live so not any bad dogs will hurt them and so I can feed them."

"Won't that be fun," said Grandmother approvingly, "but how are you going to carry them?"

Mary Jane stared at her grandmother thoughtfully. "Will they go in my hand?"

"Carry five?" asked Grandmother. "I thought you said five. You couldn't get that many in your hand."

"No-o-o, I 'spect I couldn't," said Mary Jane. "How'll I do it?"

"Suppose we fix a basket," suggested Grandmother, "then they would be safe and comfortable while they made the journey."

Mary Jane thought that a wonderful idea and she helped Grandmother hunt up a basket from the storeroom and fold a soft old cloth to line it. By the time they had it all ready, Grandfather had the new home finished and he and Mary Jane set out for the woods to get their new family.

Just before they got to the nest they saw the mother rabbit dart away. Such a pretty little thing she was, all soft gray except her tiny stub of a tail which was snow white. She hurried away so quickly Mary Jane hardly got more than a glance at her before she was out of sight behind a log.

"I'll wager she'll watch us," said Grandfather, chuckling, "and then she'll know where we take her babies. Well, that's all right, Mrs. Rabbit," he added; "you've a right to know where your family is. If you'd made a safer nest, I'd leave them here for you, but as it is, they'll be better off where they're going than where they are."

"But didn't you say they ate the garden?" asked Mary Jane, suddenly remembering what had started them out on their journey.

"Yes, they do a bit," answered Grandfather, "but they mostly let us alone so I guess we won't think any more about the little they stole." While he was talking, he had set the basket on the ground and now he lifted off the rubbish and tenderly took out two little rabbit babies and set them in the basket.

"Why!" exclaimed Mary Jane as she bent over to see, "they's only three bunnies!"

"Sure enough!" agreed Grandfather. "How many did you think there were?"

"I didn't think," said Mary Jane. "I counted them; they had five noses when we saw them before. I know because I can count one, two, three, four, five!"

"You surely can," said Grandfather much puzzled, "then their mother must have taken two away. Like as not she was after another one when she saw us coming. Now cover them up good and warm, Mary Jane," he added as he set the third bunny into the basket, "and we'll hurry off home."

He let her carry the basket every bit of the way, and she was careful, oh, so very careful, not to jiggle the bunnies as she walked.

When they got back to the porch Grandmother came out to watch them put the bunnies onto the nice soft cotton she had fixed in the corner of the box and she showed Mary Jane how to fix water and some freshly picked lettuce for them.

"Now, then," she said, "that's enough for now. Dinner's ready and I guess you're ready for it!"

Mary Jane was hungry enough to be willing to leave the rabbits long enough to eat--but no longer. The minute she had finished she ran out to watch her pets. She sat down on the grass beside the box and watched and watched and watched, but those funny little fellows didn't eat or do anything! They just stayed snuggled up in the soft cotton as tight as ever they could.

"They feel strange and queer, just like you would if some one took you away from your bed," said Grandmother when she came out to see how Mary Jane was getting along. "Why don't you come and take a ride with me and maybe by the time you come home, they'll be better acquainted and will come out and eat."

So Mary Jane reluctantly left her post of watching and went riding. Grandfather surprised them and went along too, and the new gardening tools and a big sun hat were bought and stowed away in the back of the car.

"Let's not stay too long," said Mary Jane, as they turned away from the store; "let's see if the bunnies feel better now."

"I don't believe that child wants to ride a bit," laughed Grandmother. "We might as well go home!" So they turned back the way they had come.

The minute she was out of the car, Mary Jane ran to the rabbit house. Not a rabbit was there! Not one of the pretty bunnies she had left snugged up in the corner!

"Grandfather!" called Mary Jane, "Grandmother! Come quick! They's gone!"

"Think of that!" exclaimed Grandfather as he hurried up to see.

"Poor child! That's too bad!" cried Grandmother sympathetically as she peered into the empty box. "Like as not their mother came after them, though how she got them out I don't quite see."

"I do," laughed Grandfather, and he pointed to a hole in the back of the box. "I guess this wood wasn't as sound as I thought it was! Well, if she wanted them that much, I guess she deserves them! But who'd a thought she'd be so quick!"

"Where are my bunnies?" cried Mary Jane, "where did she take them?" And Grandmother noticed that she was bitterly disappointed.

"Never you mind, pet," said Grandmother, and she put her arm comfortingly around the little girl. "They're not far away, depend on that. But if you want something to feed and take care of, something all your own--I'll get it for you."

"Will you, Grandmother, really truly?"

"Really truly," nodded Grandmother, "and you shall keep it in this pretty little house!"

"Goody!" exclaimed Mary Jane, "and will it be pretty like my Easter rabbits?"

"Every bit as pretty," said Grandmother, "just come with me to see if it isn't!"

And she took hold of Mary Jane's hand and together they went toward the chicken house.

MARY JANE'S FAMILY

"Is it a chicken?" asked Mary Jane as she saw the direction they were taking.

"Bless the child!" exclaimed Grandmother, "she can ask questions the fastest! No, my dear, it isn't a chicken! You'd better wait and see."

"Yes, I'm a-waiting," said Mary Jane with a tiny sigh, "but I hope it isn't very long waiting, 'cause I like to see what I'm going to have." And she skipped along by her grandmother as fast as she could.

Fortunately it wasn't very far to the chicken house, so she hadn't long to wait. They went in at the front of the house; that was no surprise because Mary Jane had been there every day of her visit. She looked around quickly but she didn't see anything new, anything that looked like a surprise. But Grandmother didn't stop there; she went on back through a little door Mary Jane had never noticed, and into a room that was nice and warm and had a big desk in it. Or at least Mary Jane thought it looked like a big desk. And there wasn't anything there that looked like a surprise; Mary Jane would have begun to be worried if she hadn't been so sure Grandmother must know what she was talking about.

"Now, let's see how heavy you are," said Grandmother, "maybe we'll need your Grandfather after all." She put her hands under Mary Jane's arms and tried to lift her up. "I can do it but I can't hold you long enough," she said with a shake of her head, "better run call your grandfather, dear."

"But he's way out in the barn," cried Mary Jane who was fairly dancing with eagerness she was so anxious to see the surprise; "can't I get a chair?" And then she thought how silly that was when of course there wasn't a chair in the chicken house! "Or a box, Grandmother," she added as an after thought.

"A box?" questioned Grandmother, looking around thoughtfully, "oh, yes! I know. There's one right out in that next room. It's not very heavy and I believe you can get it yourself, Mary Jane. Suppose you try."

Mary Jane was very glad to try. She hurried out the door into the other room, spied the box over in the corner and dragged it back into the little room where Grandmother was waiting.

"See, Grandmother?" she said proudly. "I can stand on it."

"So you can, so you can," agreed Grandmother much pleased. "You're a good planner, little girl. Now turn the box on its long side, so; and climb on it; then--"

"What's that noise?" exclaimed Mary Jane suddenly as through the quiet of the little room she heard a queer, "Peep! Peep!" So many "peeps," so soft and low that she was hardly sure she heard them.

"Never mind!" cried Grandmother, who was looking into the big case that Mary Jane had thought was a desk. "Climb up quickly and look!"

Mary Jane needed no second urging. She set the box on its long side and, grasping her grandmother's hand firmly so it wouldn't tip over as she stepped on it, she climbed up and looked into the "desk."

Such a sight as met her eyes! Tiny little chicks! Rows and rows and rows of them! Under the glass cover of that queer looking case.

"They's about a million!" she gasped in amazement, "all in one box!"

"Not a million, dear," laughed Grandmother, "but a good many and they're almost ready to take out."

"But how did they get in?" asked Mary Jane much puzzled.

Grandmother explained that the queer looking "desk" was really an incubator--a box in which eggs were kept warm till the little creature inside each egg was big enough to break the shell and take care of itself.

Mary Jane looked and looked and looked and thought it was the most wonderful of all the many wonders she had seen at Grandmother's. She thought of a dozen questions she wanted to ask, but Grandmother seemed so busy tending to this and that and the other that she decided to wait till some other time to ask them.

"Now, dear," said Grandmother, "you stay here and be deciding which you want for yours while I get your grandfather to help me take them out. I was so in hopes you could see this, pet, because I knew you'd like to."

She bustled out of the room in search of Grandfather, and Mary Jane studied over the rows of chickens. And just at that minute she spied _them_! She knew the second she saw them that there was her family.

They were huddled down in one corner, all six of them and they seemed lonesome and--well, different. Of course Mary Jane may have imagined that, but so it seemed to her. Their bills were funny and their eyes were different from the eyes of the other chicks, and the shape of their tails and of their wings seemed different, some way.

"I'm going to have you and give you a nice time," said Mary Jane, whispering tenderly above the case cover. "I'd like to take care of you, so don't you mind if you are funny!" And with the tip, tip of her finger, she touched the glass directly over them.

Just then Grandmother Hodges came back into the room with Grandfather right behind her.

"Grandmother!" cried Mary Jane eagerly, "may I have any ones? May I pick them out? May I have these funny little ones? These that are all by their lonesomes in the corner?"

Grandfather and Grandmother both looked to where Mary Jane pointed.

"The ducks!" they exclaimed together. "They came out all right!"

Then Grandmother added, "To be sure you may have them, Mary Jane. Those are ducks, and I put in six eggs so we could have a bit of roast duck, come winter. They'll be sure to get into trouble with the chickens and I would be so glad if you'll make them your family and look after them for me. Here, Father," she said to her husband, "let's take them out for her first." So Grandfather got the basket Mary Jane and her grandmother had brought out with them and then he held up the glass cover while Grandmother tenderly lifted the tiny ducks, one by one, and set them inside. Then she covered them all over with a thick cover.

"But Grandmother," cried Mary Jane in dismay, "they can't breathe! They'll die!"

"Not they," laughed Grandmother. "Run along now, and set the basket in the sun by your rabbit box. I'll be right out and fix them up for you."

So for the second time that day, Mary Jane found herself carrying a basket of living creatures. "Wouldn't Doris like to be here!" she said to herself as she thought of her little friend back home, "and wouldn't I like to show her my family!" She walked slowly and carefully so as not to tip the baby ducks and it was with a sigh of relief that she finally set them down by the rabbit box.

Fortunately, Grandmother came along in just a few minutes so Mary Jane didn't have time to worry about the "peeps" that were coming more and more loudly from the basket.

Grandmother took the ducks one by one from the basket and set them on some soft bits of old wool in the corner of the box. "We don't need a cover for this box," she said, pulling at the screen Grandfather had tacked on, "till they get bigger. We'll take it off so you can take care of them easier. There now!" she added as the screen came off, "we'll cover them up so," and she laid the soft cloth that had been on the basket over the little ducks; "now we'll let them be for a while."

"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?

COUSIN JOHN'S VISIT

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).

Then they went upstairs and got out fresh bedding, and Mary Jane herself put out the fresh towels in the guest bathroom. And by that time it was six o'clock--time for bread and milk. Everybody went to bed early so as to be up and feeling fine in the morning.

Next morning Mary Jane helped Grandmother with the morning work; then she put on her pink gingham dress and got out her biggest pink plaid hair ribbon for Grandmother to tie. And in no time at all, they were off to the station.

When the train stopped and left a pretty lady and a rosy-cheeked little boy of about Mary Jane's age on the tiny platform, Mary Jane suddenly felt very shy. She had never played with little boys, except Junior, and he was so much younger she didn't count him, and she didn't quite know how to talk to a little boy cousin she had never seen before. But she needn't have worried about what to say because the grown folks talked all the time and the two children on the front seat beside Grandfather Hodges, simply sat and looked at each other all the way home!

But after Grandfather had helped them out, by their own doorstep, Mary Jane seemed to feel that something must be said so she remarked, "Would you like to see my mice?"

"I thought girls were afraid of mice," replied John.

"Well, I'm not," said Mary Jane scornfully. "Come on see 'em." And she started for the barn.

Strange to relate, they hadn't got half way across the barn yard before the big pig, the same one that had so frightened Mary Jane on her first day, ran out of his pen in the barn and made straight for them. Grandfather had been in a hurry both times he went for the train and had forgotten to lock him up, most likely. John, who wasn't any more used to creatures than Mary Jane had been, screamed and screamed at the top of his voice.

Mary Jane looked at him scornfully and, forgetting all about how she herself had felt when _she_ first came, said, "He won't hurt you! I'll send him away!" And without a thought of fear, she waved her arms around as she had seen Grandfather do on that first day. Mrs. Pig stopped short as she had for Grandfather, and Mary Jane, delighted with the success she seemed to be having, waved and shouted till Grandfather, hearing the commotion, came running to see what the matter could be.

"Well! Well! Well!" he exclaimed when he reached the barn gate and saw what had happened. "Say I couldn't make a farmer's girl out of you, Mary Jane! I'm proud of you! Isn't she a good one, John?"

John, his eyes round with fear for himself and with admiration for his new little cousin, nodded "Yes."

After that Grandfather stayed around near where they were and helped Mary Jane show John the little pigs, Brindle Bess the cow, and then the baby mice (who soon wouldn't be babies any more, by the way) up in the loft. And of course they went across the road to see the lamb that by now was well acquainted with Mary Jane; and they played with Bob who came frisking to meet them. And last of all they showed John the brand new baby ducks.

"I'd have liked the rabbits best," said John when they had told him about the pets that were found and lost so soon the day before. "Couldn't we get them back again?"

"Maybe we could, maybe we could," said Grandfather thoughtfully. "We hadn't tried. Maybe that foolish mother took them back to where we got them. 'Twould be just like her. Let's go see."

So with a child on each side of him (just the very thing he liked best too), Grandfather and his guests went back through the cornfield and the pasture lot to where the rabbit nest had been.

"Well," said Grandfather as he bent over the rubbish where the nest had been, "for a boy who had just come onto a farm, you're a pretty good guesser, my son. Look here!" He pulled back the rubbish, just as he had done the day before, and there, before their eyes were the rabbits, five of them, just as soft and just as warm and comfortable as though they had never taken a journey in their lives.

"Didn't they like our house we made for them?" asked Mary Jane.

"'Pears not," said Grandfather. "What do you want to do about it, children?"

"I've always wanted some rabbits in a box," said John, "and I never did have any. I want to feed 'em and watch 'em, you know."

"Yes, I know," agreed Grandfather, but that was all he said.

Mary Jane thought of saying that the box already had a family in it, her family of ducks, but she thought maybe that wouldn't be polite, and anyway, likely as not there were more boxes, so she just kept still, very still.

And while they were all three standing there, wondering, Mary Jane looked up and over in the hedge, she spied the mother rabbit standing partly on her hind feet and looking at them as _hard_!

"Look!" cried Mary Jane, "there's their mother!"

The sound of a voice startled the little mother and she ran away, lipity, lipity, lip; lipity, lipity, lip; such a funny little run! till she reached the shelter of a log. There she waited--they could see the tip, white of her tail through the leaves.

"She's waiting to see what happens to her babies!" exclaimed Mary Jane, and suddenly she made up her mind about rabbit pets. "Let's leave them here, John," she said quickly. "Their mother's lonesome if they go up to the house. Let's leave them here and I'll give you half of my ducks."

"All right," agreed John, "but may I come and see them sometimes, Grandfather?"

"As often as you like. You just let me know and we'll come twice a day," said Grandfather, "and you'll have most as much fun with the ducks, I'll wager. Now let's see if we can't hunt up some dinner." And they turned to the house.

Such a big day as Mary Jane and John did have! They played and they hunted eggs and they rode on the cow; yes, that can be done, didn't you ever try it? And they fed the chickens, and by night time they were so sleepy and tired they hardly noticed their supper.

But after supper Grandfather sat down to look at his paper. And as he spread it out before him he suddenly chuckled to himself.

"The very thing!" he said, "the very thing! Why didn't I think of that before?" Then he looked over at the droopy-eyed little folks sitting on the window seat. "But I suppose you wouldn't care to go?"

"Go where?" exclaimed both children in a breath. "Where, Grandfather?"

"What you talking about, Father?" asked Grandmother.

Instead of answering, Grandfather passed his paper over to her and pointed to where he had been reading.

Grandmother laughed and nodded. "Yes, if you want to," she said, "but they'd better be going to bed in a hurry if they're going to do all that to-morrow!"

"Tell us! Tell us!" cried Mary Jane eagerly.

"Not a word," laughed Grandfather.

"Not a word," insisted Grandmother. "You wouldn't sleep a wink. You just stop thinking about what it is and go to sleep. Father, you take John up and I'll go with Mary Jane."

So without finding out the least thing, for Grandmother wouldn't even answer a question, not one, Mary Jane went off to bed--and to sleep.

GRANDFATHER'S TREAT

It didn't take long to call those children the next morning, you may be sure of that. Just one word and they were up and dressing and more eager than ever to know what Grandfather was planning to do.

"Now will you tell us?" asked John as he ran into the living-room where Grandfather was sitting.

"Not a word till you've eaten your breakfast," replied Grandfather laughingly.

"Not even a hint?" exclaimed Mary Jane as she hurried in, buttoning her play dress as she came, just in time to hear what her Grandfather said.

"Not even a hint," repeated Grandfather, "not till each of you has eaten your bowl of oatmeal and as much other breakfast as Grandmother says you should."

"Come on, then, John," said Mary Jane practically; "let's eat quick!" And she lead the way into the dining-room, where Grandmother had the breakfast served and ready to eat.

Never did bowls of oatmeal disappear so rapidly as did those! And when the children had eaten a baked apple, an egg and a piece of toast apiece, Grandmother declared that they had done their full duty and could hear the surprise.

"But I'm not through myself!" exclaimed Grandfather in mock surprise. "Did you put your breakfast on your chairs? You couldn't have eaten it _this_ soon!" And he pretended to hunt around under the table for the breakfast.

"You know we didn't hide it, Grandfather!" cried Mary Jane; she had been there long enough to get used to Grandfather's teasing so she wasn't puzzled by it as John was. "Now you'll have to tell us, won't he, Grandmother?"

Grandmother nodded and Grandfather got up from his chair and went to the dining-room closet. He rummaged on the shelf a minute and then brought out a big roll of paper. "There!" he exclaimed as he laid it in front of the children, "you may unroll that and see if you can tell what it is? Better lay it on the floor so you don't tip the cream pitcher over."

The children set the roll on the floor; then Mary Jane held the rolled up part while John pulled it open. They didn't have it half unrolled before both children exclaimed, "A circus! It's a circus. Grandfather! Are we going to a circus?"

"Shouldn't wonder a bit," said Grandfather indifferently as he took another piece of toast; "shouldn't wonder a bit. That is, of course," he added with marked politeness, "unless you don't care to go."

"You _know_ we care to go," laughed Mary Jane and she jumped up and gave him a big bear hug. "You know we just want to go the mostest of anything in the world, we do!"

"Then we'll go!" said Grandfather and he stopped his teasing and told them all about his plans. "We'll start about nine o'clock so we'll have plenty of time because we have to drive about fifteen miles and get our lunch and--"

"And see the parade," interrupted John.

"Oh, yes, we see the parade before lunch, you're right," laughed Grandfather. "I see there's going to be nothing skipped in this day. Then we want to see all the animals and get good seats and everything."

"Then we'd better start right now," suggested Mary Jane.

"Dear me, no, not for two hours yet!" exclaimed Grandfather. "That's the reason I got you that poster. See? It's all rolled up again. Now I'll help you unroll it so you can look at it while you wait for the time to start."

Grandmother helped too, and the big poster picture was unrolled and a chair set on each end of it to hold it open. Then Mary Jane and John could walk around and see it well. It was a picture of the parade and showed camels and lions in cages and elephants and clowns and pretty ladies and everything and of course it was most interesting to look at. But it wasn't so interesting that the children forgot to look at the clock--indeed, no! They watched and watched and watched and finally the clock said, "Eight!"

"Now then," said Mary Jane, "that's all I'm going to look. Let's roll it up and get ready. Maybe we can help Grandmother."

They found a good many interesting things to do. Grandmother had decided that they had better take their lunch with them and eat it in the car because the town where the circus was to be was small and there might be no good place for them to eat.

John got the lunch box from the storeroom and Mary Jane helped wrap sandwiches and chicken and cake in oiled paper; and by quarter of nine everything was ready.

"Fifteen minutes to wash hands and faces and change your clothes," exclaimed Grandmother as she heard Grandfather bring the car up to the house. "Can you do it?"

"'Deed yes," said Mary Jane, scampering on ahead up the stairs. "I can wash myself and you just look at the cracks. And I can put my own dress and shoes on. I can do lots!"

"I should say you can!" exclaimed Grandmother admiringly. "You do all you can then, dear, and I'll help John."

At one minute to nine they were all at the door ready to climb into the car and be off.

"Did you give them their spending money?" asked Grandmother as she helped stow the lunch into the car.

"Not yet," answered Grandfather. "I'll give it to them when they get there."

"Listen to the man!" exclaimed Grandmother in disgust, "and make them miss half the fun of carrying their own money. Wait a minute!" She hurried into the house and came back in a minute with two little black purses in her hand. "There now, children," she said as she handed a purse to each child, "you can carry your own money. Here's two nickels for you, Mary Jane, and two nickels for you, John. Don't lose them!"

"We won't," said Mary Jane and she clutched hers tightly in her hand, "and may we buy anything we want?"

"Anything you want--anything!" Grandmother assured her.

"We'll be home at six," called Grandfather as he started the car and they whisked down the drive and away.

Such a jolly drive as that was! They talked about the circus they were to see and how they would spend their money. And whether the lion would roar and what they should buy. And if the lady could really truly do everything on her horse that the picture said she could and how much ice cream cones would cost. You see Grandmother had been right--half the fun of spending money was the holding the money beforehand and planning how it was to be spent.

Arriving at the village where the circus was, Grandfather drove them by the great white tents--how wonderful and mysterious they did seem too!--and then he found a good place to leave the car and they walked to the main street where, from the second story of an office building, they saw the parade go by.

When the sound of the calliope was growing fainter in the distance and the children were certain sure that every bit of the parade had gone by, John looked away from the window and asked, "Can we go to the circus just as soon as we eat our lunch?"

"Yes, I should think we could," answered Grandfather.

"Then let's eat right now!" said John eagerly.

"Not such a bad idea," laughed Grandfather as he looked at his watch. "Then we'll have plenty of time."

They thanked the kind gentleman in whose office they had been and walked to the car to eat their lunch. It was a good thing Grandfather had left the car out of sight of the circus tent, for it was hard enough to think about eating as it was! Had the tents been in sight it would have been harder still. But on this quiet street and with the wonderful parade to talk about they did full justice to Grandmother's good meal. And when they had finished, even to the tempting little apple pies, one for each person, they started for the circus.

If you've been to a circus yourself, you know something of the sights they saw and of the sounds they heard. If you haven't better get _your_ grandfather (or your father, if your grandfather isn't handy) to take you to see one, for all the interesting things Mary Jane and John heard and saw couldn't be put into one chapter--not even if it was a double long one! They saw curious animals, munching away at their dinner as though they had lived right there in that spot all their lives instead of seven hours. They saw crawling snakes and marvelous birds and the elephants that swayed their trunks backward and forward, backward and forward, as though they were doing morning exercises. And the ponies! The prettiest little ponies! Mary Jane didn't know there _were_ such pretty ponies in all the world. She liked them the best of anything she saw. John liked the monkeys, and Mary Jane and he fed them peanuts that Grandfather bought and they felt so very important because the keeper said that the sign, "Don't feed these animals," needn't bother them!

Then they went into the big tent and found their seats--just in time they were too, for the clowns came running in at that very minute and kept the children, and the grown folks, too, in an uproar of laughter. After the circus really began, it seemed to Mary Jane that she must be in a dream. It didn't seem as though all those jumping, racing, men and horses and elephants and all, _could_ be real! She had to pinch herself hard to be sure she was awake.

Right in the middle a man came around with ice cream cones and John bought one.

"May I buy one too, Grandfather?" asked Mary Jane.

"Just as you like," said Grandfather. "It's your money." And for the first time she remembered the purse with the two nickels that she had all the time held tightly clutched in her hand! She bought the cone and ate it as she watched the circus--calmly indifferent to the fact that it was leaking onto her pretty pink dress. You simply can't notice _everything_ at a circus!

Finally the great show was over. The last of the Cinderella parade slipped behind the curtains and folks began to hurry home. Grandfather took hold of each child and together they climbed over the seats till they reached the safe ground.

"Shall we look at the animals again?" he asked.

"We might try," said Mary Jane doubtfully, "but my looking don't see!"

"Poor child," said Grandfather as he suddenly realized how tired the little girl must be. "I expect your 'lookers' are tired enough to go home." He picked her up and set her on his shoulder and then, grasping John's hand firmly, he made his way out of the crowd.

"But I can't go home _yet_!" exclaimed John, when he saw they were leaving the grounds. "I haven't spent all my money!"

"Well, we can't go home with any money left, that's a sure thing!" laughed Grandfather. "What do you want to get?"

"Another ice cream cone," said John, as he spied a man going by with a tray.

"All right," said Grandfather, "do you want one too, Pussy?"

"No, I know what I want, but it isn't here yet," said Mary Jane.

"Where is it?" asked Grandfather.

"At the gate," replied Mary Jane. "I saw it when we came in and I want to buy it for my grandmother 'cause she couldn't come."

"That's a good idea," said Grandfather. "You tell me when we come to it."

Mary Jane pointed out the stand where balloons were sold, and with grandfather's help picked out a fine big red one to take to Grandmother.

Of the drive home Mary Jane remembered not a thing. She had seen and heard so much that she just sat and listened while Grandfather and John talked about everything. She almost went to sleep twice--almost but not quite, because she had to stay awake to hold Grandmother's balloon and keep it from blowing out of the car.

Grandmother was watching for them when they drove into the yard and was delighted with her balloon, said she felt exactly as though she had been to the circus herself.

She tied it to the big glass water pitcher so they could see it all the while they were eating their supper and she thanked Mary Jane many times, for thinking to bring it to her.

"I know what I'm going to do first thing in the morning," said John, as he and Mary Jane climbed upstairs to bed. "I'm going to get out that picture and see if they did everything it said."

"Well, I know they did," said Mary Jane positively, "and they did more too, because they did all the noise; I heard 'em!"

LEARNING TO COOK

John stayed a whole week at Grandfather's and every one of the seven days, he and Mary Jane had a beautiful time. They fed chickens for Grandmother and gathered eggs; they visited the rabbits, carrying with them tit-bits of lettuce so they could the easier make friends with the little creatures; they played with the lamb and watched Mary Jane's ducks and rode in the car with Grandfather and altogether had a wonderful time. But the thing that both Mary Jane and John liked the best--well, anyway, _almost_ the best of all, was playing circus in the barn.

They pretended that the downstairs was the animal tent and that Brindle Bess was the elephant--"she waves her hind tail just like he did his front tail, so that's almost the same," John said--and that the hogs were lions and little pigs, tigers. And they pretended that the loft was the performers' tent and that they were the circus folk. Mary Jane learned to turn a summerset in the hay and she tried to walk a rope but that didn't work very well because the rope came down; evidently it wasn't tied tightly. John stood on his head and did tumbling and was learning to throw three bottles at one time. They tried to do the elephant-eating-his-dinner act with Brindle Bess but she didn't seem to understand (maybe because she hadn't been to the circus herself) and tipped the table over and broke two dishes so they had to give that up.

But finally Cousin Margaret came to take John home and Mary Jane was left without a playfellow.

"No use moping around, Mary Jane," said Grandmother briskly as she saw Mary Jane sitting dolefully and idly on the back steps an hour after John had gone. "Find something to do as you did before John came and you'll feel happier."

"But everything I know to do, needs two to do it," complained Mary Jane. "I don't know any children's things for just one!"

"Listen to the child!" laughed Grandmother, "when she played the whole day long, all by herself and as happy as could be! Well, then, dear," she added kindly, "if you don't know a children's thing to do, how about a grown folks' thing?"

"Oh, Grandmother!" exclaimed the little girl happily, "is there a grown-up folks' thing I can do?"

"I shouldn't wonder," said Grandmother, smiling mysteriously. "I shouldn't wonder a bit."

"But I don't want to sew," said Mary Jane, suddenly wondering if her grandmother might be thinking of that, "I don't feel sew-ish."

"No, it's not sewing," replied Grandmother. "I haven't time for sewing this morning because I'm going to make strawberry jam."

"Then what is it?" asked Mary Jane and she pressed her face up against the screen door in her effort to look inside at her grandmother's work.

"You come in and wash your hands and face--wash them good with soap," said Grandmother, "then bring me one of Grandfather's big handkerchiefs and I'll tell you what it is."

That puzzled Mary Jane and she immediately forgot all about John and her lonesomeness. She hurried to the bathroom and washed her hands and face the very best she knew how. Then she reached into Grandfather's drawer and picked out a handkerchief and took it down to Grandmother.

"Now get me five pins from my basket," said Grandmother.

Mary Jane got the pins in a jiffy and then Grandmother stopped her work and began to unfold and refold the handkerchief.

"What--" began Mary Jane as she watched Grandmother's hands busy folding, "what's it going to be?"

"A cap," replied Grandmother, smiling, "a cap for the cook who's going to get our dinner"; and she set the cap squarely on Mary Jane's head!

"Me? Get dinner? Me? By myself?" exclaimed Mary Jane, "but I don't know how!"

"Oh, yes, you do," laughed Grandmother, "and what you don't know how, you can learn. Do you know what potatoes look like?"

"Why, of course," replied Mary Jane and she giggled at such a funny question for potatoes were her favorite vegetable. "I've seen 'em at home and I've seen 'em in your cellar."

"Sure enough!" said Grandmother, nodding approvingly, "then you'll know what to do. Take that pan over there," and she pointed to the table, "and go into the cellar and pick out six nice smooth potatoes."

Mary Jane did as she was told and she thought it was lots of fun too, to hunt over the bin as she had seen Grandmother do and pick out potatoes that just suited her.