Halloween at Merryvale | Page 7

"You're not sick, are you Toad?" asked Herbie, "your face looks so
pale," at which everyone laughed.
Suddenly Hopie Smith jumped up with the flour falling from his face
and the dime held fast between his lips.
"Hurrah; three cheers for Hopie," shouted all the boys.
The pan was now carried out for a supply of fresh flour and a new dime.
The three boys were brushed off and soon were watching the others
trying to find the dime.
"Say, Reddy, you're an old man," cried Toad, "your hair is turning
gray."
"Look out there, Linn," warned Fat, "you'll turn into a pancake if you

eat all that flour."
At this Linn laughed, causing a great cloud of flour to rise from the
pan.
"Chuck's digging for sil----" but before Hopie could finish Reddy stood
up, his dancing blue eyes shining like two stars. Between his lips he
held the dime.
"Good for you, Red," shouted Toad, "I knew you'd win it."
CHAPTER VIII
THE WONDERFUL PIE
Mother Brown now appeared in the doorway.
"Won't you come into the dining room?" she requested, and the boys
lost no time in accepting the invitation.
"That means something to eat," whispered Herbie. "Wonder what it'll
be."
As the boys entered the dining room they started with surprise, for
there, hanging over the table, was the huge grinning face of a
jack-o-lantern.
"Well," exclaimed Fat, "what a sweet face!" which brought a round of
laughter from the others.
In the center of the table was a large paper pie and seven ribbons came
from under the crust, each of them having a card on the end. A plate of
paper snap-crackers of bright colors and the fancy yellow paper napkin
at each place gave the table a gay look.
"What a funny pie," laughed Hopie. "What's inside?"
"Each one find the card with his name on it. Then we'll all pull
together," directed Chuck, "and find out."

"Here's yours, Fat," called out Linn.
"You're over here, by me, Reddy," announced Toad.
"The fun's going to begin in a minute," cried Herbie. "Come on, Hopie,
here's yours."
"Everyone ready now," cried Toad as each one held on to his own
ribbon. "Now, one, two, three, pull," and, with a tearing of paper out
came the contents of the pie.
Huge wiggly spiders, toads that hopped about the table, mice that
looked real enough to frighten any girl, long striped paper snakes and
giant grasshoppers were on the ends of those ribbons.
The boys screamed with laughter as the queer-looking things hopped,
rolled and bumped about on the table.
"Look at what I've got," shrieked Hopie, holding an ugly looking spider
up to view.
"If that was real I'll bet you wouldn't be within ten feet of it," said Fat.
"I'm going to scare our girl into fits with this mouse," laughed Herbie.
"She'll just take one look at it then hop up on a chair; and won't she be
mad when she finds out it isn't real?"
"Say, fellows, watch this frog jump," cried Fat, winding up a green and
yellow one made of tin.
"Bet mine can beat it," boasted Reddy. "Let's race them."
"Thought yours could hop further than my little Heinie, didn't you?"
teased Fat a minute later after his frog had won.
"Well, you wait until I get mine oiled up," warned Reddy, "and we'll try
it again."
When the boys pulled the snappers, the gay paper hats caused great

merriment, Fat having a baby cap with long strings which he tied under
his chin.
"Ah, here comes the ice cream!" exclaimed Herbie. "Look at the funny
figures it's in," he added, as a large platter, holding many odd little
shapes, was placed before Toad.
"Youngest first," announced Toad. "What do you choose, Hopie?"
"I'll take, let's see; guess I'll have a pumpkin," finally decided Hopie
and a yellow ice-cream pumpkin was placed before him.
"You're next, Reddy," said Chuck.
"Am not; Herbie's younger than I am," protested Reddy.
"I'll take the rabbit," laughed Herbie. "I like chocolate and vanilla best."
Reddy now chose a pink and white wind mill, Chuck a pony.
"Don't I wish it was real," he said.
"Well, the turtle looks like it might taste pretty good," said Fat, and
then it was Linn's turn.
"It doesn't seem fair for you to be last, Toad, when you ought to have
come after Reddy," remarked Linn.
"Oh, well, it's my party, so I have to be last," was the answer.
"Well," agreed Linn, "if that's so I'll have the ship."
"Oh, good," cried Toad, "that leaves the engine for me and I wanted it
more than anything else."
"This turtle makes better ice cream than he would soup," grinned Fat as
he took another spoonfull.
"I'm eating my rabbit's ears