Four Little Blossoms and Their Winter Fun | Page 9

on her knees brushing the snow away. "Mother said she should take it
off, and now it's gone."

CHAPTER V
MEG IN TROUBLE
"I did mean to take it off," protested Meg, frantically digging in the
snow about the bobsled. "I went upstairs to put it in the box, and then
Norah called me about the cakes. Oh, dear, what will Mother say?"
The news soon spread among the others that little Meg Blossom had
lost her gold locket, and all the boys and girls turned to with a will to
help her search for it. They looked up the road a way, because some
thought the locket might have flown off before the sled upset; they
hunted over every inch of the ground where they had been spilled out,
for Dave was sure it must be there. But though they looked in possible
and impossible places, no sign of the dainty gold locket with the
turquoise forget-me-nots and the diamond dewdrops in their centers
could the children find.
"Half-past five," announced Dave presently. "Awfully sorry, Meg, but
your locket must be lost in the snow. It's too dark and too late to hunt
any more now. You run along home and don't worry; maybe you'll get
another one next Christmas."

"He doesn't know that this was great Aunt Dorothy's," said Meg sadly.
A very solemn little procession turned in at the Blossom front gate, for
Dot and Twaddles were depressed, too. Bobby was towing both sleds
and looked as sober as a judge.
"How late you are!" Aunt Polly, reading by the fireplace in the
living-room, called to them as she heard the front door open. "Your
mother began to worry about you. Is the coasting good?"
"Yes, I guess so," answered Bobby vaguely.
Twaddles sat down on the floor to pull off his rubber boots.
"Meg lost her locket!" he announced, seeing no reason why bad news
should be concealed, especially when he was not to blame for it.
Mother Blossom came downstairs just in time to hear this.
"Meg lost her locket!" she repeated. "Not great Aunt Dorothy's? Oh,
Meg, and I told you not to wear it out coasting!"
Poor Meg's tears came faster.
"I did mean to take it off," she sobbed. "An' then Norah called me and
the twins were in a hurry, and Bobby wanted his cap, and I forgot about
the locket. My darling little gold locket!"
Aunt Polly had come out into the hall, and now Father Blossom opened
the front door to find Mother Blossom sitting on the last stair-step, Meg
crying in her lap, and the rest of the family standing about with serious
faces.
"Hello, anything happened?" he asked anxiously. "Is Meg sick?"
"She lost her locket," answered Dot.
"Well, well, that's too bad," said Father Blossom sympathetically.
"Don't cry like that, Daughter. No locket is worth all those tears."

"Mother," confided Twaddles impartially, "is scolding her."
"Twaddles Blossom, march upstairs and get ready for supper," said
Mother Blossom, half sternly, half smilingly. "I'm not scolding Meg. I
want her to realize, though, that forgetting is a poor excuse, and that no
matter how sorry we are after something has happened it is too late to
do the right thing then."
"I'm so hungry," declared Dot, who couldn't bear to see Meg in trouble.
"Couldn't we eat pretty soon?"
Mother Blossom went upstairs with Meg and helped her bathe her eyes,
and at supper every one was careful not to mention the lost locket. Meg
wasn't scolded any more, but every time she saw the empty blue velvet
box in her bureau drawer she was reminded of her carelessness. Aunt
Polly said nothing at all, but Meg wondered if she was sorry she had
given it to such a heedless girl. Meg thought a good deal about the
many "oldest daughters" who had kept the locket safely for her.
"We'll go and look for it after school," Bobby promised the next day;
and though they did, they found no trace of it.
That night it snowed again, and Sam and Philip--Philip always assisted
at cleaning the walks--had their work to do over again.
"Sleigh bells!" exclaimed Bobby, as the children were in the hall
putting on their things for the walk to school. "Some one's calling."
He ran to look out of the dining-room window.
"Mother, it's the feed-store man," he shouted. "He's got a sleigh. Can
we go?"
Mother Blossom stepped to the door. The "feed-store man" was Mr.
Wright, and the four little Blossoms knew him very well.
"Morning!" They heard him greet Mother Blossom. "Nice winter
weather we're having. Anybody going to school this morning? I'm

driving around that way."
Meg and Bobby danced out on the front porch.
"Take us?" they cried excitedly. "We're all ready."