Brother and Sister | Page 5

to meddle with his things, they

had a great attraction for her. She could just see the top of Dick's
chiffonier from the floor and now she dragged a chair up to it and
climbed up to see what the shining thing was that had caught her eye.
It was a gold collar button, and Dick, she found, had a box of pearl and
gold buttons that Sister was sure she had never seen before. She played
with them, tossing them up and down and watching them glitter, until a
sudden thought struck her.
"They'd make lovely jackstones," she whispered. "I could use 'em and
put them right back. I know Nellie has a ball."
Dick had several new ties, and Sister had to admire these before she
could leave the chiffonier. Finally she slipped the box of pretty buttons
in her pocket and jumped down. She put the chair where she had found
it, and ran downstairs and through the hedge that separated the
Morrison house from that of Dr. Yarrow's.
"Nellie, oh, Nellie!" called Sister. "Come on, let's play jackstones."
"Haven't any," answered Nellie Yarrow, a little girl a year or so older
than Sister. "All I have left is my ball."
"Well, get that and we can play," Sister told her. "I've found something
we can use--see!"
Nellie admired the collar buttons immensely and thought it would be
great fun to play with them. She ran and got her ball and the two little
friends sat down on the concrete walk to play jackstones, heedless of
the hot morning sun.
Sister had won one game and Nellie two, when they heard Louise
calling.
"Sister! Sister! Where are you? If you want to help fix the fishpond,
you'll have to come right away."
Sister stuffed the buttons in her pocket and ran home, eager to see what

Louise and Brother had bought.
CHAPTER IV
PARTY PREPARATIONS
When Mother Morrison had suggested a fishpond for the party, Louise
and Grace had protested.
"Oh, Mother!" they cried. "That's so old!"
"But the children like it," said Mother Morrison mildly.
"It's fun," urged Brother. "It's fun to fish over the table and catch
something!"
Sister, too, had asked for the pond, so it was decided to have one.
Louise and Grace might not care for such things at their birthday
parties, but this, as Sister said, was "different."
"We bought bushels and bushels," Brother informed Sister as she
bounded through the hedge and up to the front porch. "Little colored
pencils, and crayons, and games, and dolls, and oh!-- everything!"
Louise, whose shopping bag was certainly bulging with parcels,
laughed merrily.
"We bought all the little gifts for the fish-pond and for the --there! I
almost told you." She clapped her hand over her mouth and laughed
again.
"For the what?" teased Sister. "Tell me, Louise--I won't tell."
"No, Mother said no one was to know," declared Louise firmly. "Now
all these packages you may open, and after lunch I'll help you tie them
up again and fix the pond. But these other parcels go upstairs to
Mother's room and no one is to touch them."
She tumbled half the contents of her bag on the porch floor and then

ran upstairs with the rest.
"Let's look at them," said Sister eagerly. "What's the matter, Roddy?"
"I was thinking," explained Brother, making no move to open the
packages. "We saw a little boy down town and his foot was all tied up
in a rag, and I know it hurt him 'cause he limped."
"Maybe he sprained his ankle," said Sister. "Like Dr. Yarrow's cousin,
you know."
"It wasn't his ankle--it was his foot," insisted Brother. "And I told
Louise Mother said we mustn't go on the ground without our sandals,
and she said she guessed the boy didn't have any sandals; she said he
prob'bly didn't have any shoes, either."
"Nor any stockings--just rags?" asked Sister in pity. "I like to go
barefoot, Roddy, but I like my new patent leather slippers, too."
"Maybe he has some for Sunday," comforted Brother, trying to be
hopeful. "Everybody has to wear shoes on Sunday."
"Yes, of course they do," agreed Sister, who had never heard of a boy
and girl who didn't wear shoes on Sunday and every day in the week
except when they were allowed to go barefoot as a great treat.
The tempting packages were not to be forgotten one moment longer,
and they decided to "take turns" opening them.
"Isn't it fun!" giggled Sister. What do you s'pose Mother is going to
make you, Roddy?"
"I don't know," replied Brother absently. "I keep thinking about Ralph's
present. He says that he thinks I'll be tall enough to have it by
tomorrow."
"Did you drink all your milk for breakfast?" asked Sister