Boy Blue and His Friends | Page 8

run away, I got lost," said Baby, "and I want to see my mother."
So Twisty and Baby ran home as fast as they could.
There were all the little pigs looking very sad because they had not found Baby.
When they saw her coming they ran to meet her, and Curly carried her into the house "pig-a-back."
Then they ate their cabbage soup, an it tasted all the better for waiting.
Jack and Jill?Went up the hill,?To get a pail of water.?Jack fell down?And broke his crown,?And Jill came tumbling after.
JACK AND JILL
Tommy Tucker and Mary had many good times together that summer.
They fished in the brook at the end of the meadow.
They went berrying and took their dinner with them.
They rode to market in the big wagon with Grandpa Hall.
In fact, they did everything that boys and girls who live on a farm like to do.
But they did not always play alone.
In the very next house lived another little boy and girl.
This little boy and girl were twins, and they looked as much alike as two green peas.
Mary called them Jack and Jill, but I don't know what their mother called them.
Jack and Jill lived in a little house at the top of the hill.
In the winter, when the snow was on the ground, it was fine coasting down that long hill.
The twins had new red sleds that Santa Claus had left them on Christmas morning.
Jack's sled was named "Racer," and Jill called hers "Lady Bird."
Their father had to paint the names on the sleds, for the sleds were twins, too.
After school and on Saturday you could often find Jack and Jill, with "Racer" and "Lady Bird," coasting down the hill together.
But this story is not about coasting in the winter.
It is about a slide Jack and Jill took one day in summer.
Mary and Tommy Tucker went to Jack's house one morning to play with the twins.
Jill saw them coming and ran out to meet them.
"Come down to the sand-bank," she cried. "We've got something new down there. Papa gave it to us."
So they all took hold of hands and ran down the hill.
"Be careful, Jack," said Tommy.
"Don't fall down and break your crown."
When they reached the sand-bank, what do you think they found?
There was an old stove with a great big oven.
Some of the covers were gone, and there was no funnel. But the oven was all right, and that was what Mary needed.
"Let's make our oven full of cakes and pies," said Mary.
"I'll build the fire," said Jack.
"And I'll help you get the wood," said Tommy.
How the boys worked to get some dry leaves and sticks!
Of course they could not light the fire but it was almost as much fun.
The little girls went to work at once getting out their table and dishes.
The table was a long board, and their dishes came from everywhere.
The pie plates were pretty, round shells that Mary had brought from the seashore.
Grandma Hall had given them some small tins to make cakes in.
Then there was a cracked bowl and a teapot without a handle.
Plenty of dishes, you see, for a morning's baking.
"What shall we bake this morning?" said Mary.
"Oh, let's make some plum cake and blueberry cake.
"Then we can make some blueberry pies and some apple pies."
"Oh yes!" said Mary, "and I'll make some apple turnovers."
By this time the boys had the fire laid and the wood-box filled with wood.
"What can we do now?" said Tommy.
"You can get us some blueberries for our cakes and pies," said Jill.
So the boys took the cracked bowl and filled it with little round seeds they called blueberries.
"I know where I can get some apples," said Mary, and away she ran across the field.
She was back again in a few minutes with her apron full of little green apples.
"You know, Jill," she said, "green apples make very good pies."
Just then the boys came back with the berries and the baking was begun.
After a dozen pies had been put into the oven, Jill said, "Oh, Jack! we must have some more water.
"Will you run up to the house and get some?"
"Yes," said Jack, "if someone will go with me."
Tommy had gone for more apples and Mary was mixing her cake.
"I will go with you," said Jill. "Here is our pail."
So Jack and Jill went up the hill to get a pail of water.
Their mother let them fill their pail.
Then she gave them four cookies that she had just taken from the oven.
When they started down the hill, Jack began to run.
[Illustration]
"Oh, do be careful, Jack!" said Jill, "or you will--"
But she didn't say any more.
For down went Jack, down went Jill, and down went the pail.
Tommy and Mary saw them fall and ran to help them.
"Oh, Jack!" said Mary, "did you break your crown?"
"No," laughed Jack, "but Jill came tumbling after."
"We