Master Sunshine | Page 8

interested as to what his son would say.
"The mug was his own, so I don't think it was stealing to take it," said Master Sunshine slowly; "but of course it was not right for him to take it away without letting his people know. There are lots of things in our house that were given to me, and are mine to use and have; but they are not mine to sell and give away like my toys and tops. You never told me so, but I always knew there were two ways of owning things."
"We have no flowers for mother yet," said Mr. Norton, dismissing the subject as he rose from the rock on which they had been resting. "I wonder what we can find for her to-day."
How well they knew where to look, and how many happy exclamations came from Master Sunshine as they discovered a clump of ferns just unfolding from the green balls in which Dame Nature had securely packed them.
In a marshy spot, a host of white violets sent up their dainty perfume; and close by the bed of a tiny brook, a scarlet trilium showed its velvety petals. A sunny hillside was covered with deep purple violets, while under the roadside there were trails of winter-berry vines still green and fresh in spite of the snows that had lain on them; and here and there were the satiny blossoms of the glossy-leaved pigeon-berry.
A pair of keel-tailed blackbirds were building in a tall tree overhead; and the sweet, clear notes of one of them delighted Master Sunshine until he heard the mate answering back with a harsh, scraping noise not unlike a dull saw making its way through a log of knotted wood. A robin gave a mellow chirp; and the Peabody bird was filling the air with its sweet, sad strain.
It was always very hard to leave the woods and fields at such times. They were so full of life and brightness, and there always seemed a special Sunday calm about.
But there were the home people to consider. Lucy would be awake now from her afternoon nap, and would be longing for her romp with her "fazzer man;" and mother would be so delighted with her flowers, and Master Sunshine would be needed to help arrange them; while Almira Jane was sure to be wondering what was keeping "the folks" so late. The Sunday tea would be ready for them too--and a specially good tea it always was. There would be slices of cold meat spread on a platter of parsley; and the thinnest slices of bread-and-butter on the best bread-plates, and frosted cake; and, most likely, peach or strawberry preserves from the jam-cupboard.
Almira Jane was sure to be in good humor too; for there was little work to do on Sunday, and she seldom got a chance to be "nervous" on the day of rest, and like as not Jacob would walk home with her after evening church; while in the cosey sitting-room mother would play on the piano, and Master Sunshine and his father would join in singing their favorite hymns.

CHAPTER V.
BEING A HERO.
"There'll be no rain to-day," said Almira Jane as Master Sunshine slipped off gayly to school next morning. "Your geese are sure to be good weather-prophets, and I notice that they are dressing their feathers and diving comfortably in the little duck-pond."
"And what would they be doing if it were going to rain?" inquired Master Sunshine.
"Geese always get noisy and fidgety before storms," answered Almira Jane. "That was partly what was the matter with the Wanderer and his Wife the day you brought them here. They were doing their best to tell you that there was trouble in the air."
"There is a great lot of sense, after all, even in creatures that people think are foolish," thought Master Sunshine to himself as he set off. Then he turned to wave his hand to his mother, who threw a kiss at him from an upper window as he disappeared down the road.
Tommy and he strolled along, swinging their school satchels as they went. Presently a sound came to them on the still, morning air, something like a frightened yet angry sob, then a noise as of distant laughter.
"I wonder what the boys are up to to-day," said Tommy, with a lively look of interest.
Master Sunshine said nothing, but broke from a walk into a smart run. He was just a bit afraid that his friend, the half-witted boy, was in trouble.
Sure enough! when they had turned the sharp bend in the road, they came to the scene of the mischief. And then, somehow, all Master Sunshine's smiles vanished, and a sad, troubled expression fell on his face.
A group of schoolboys were teasing Billy Butler, by calling him mocking names, and even