Peggy in Her Blue Frock | Page 8

Peggy Owen been up to now?'"
And her mother did say something very much like it when she came in.
"Peggy, what have you been doing now?" she asked.
"I was hunting for Lady Jane," she said breathlessly. "She slipped out
of the kitchen door."
"Peggy, how could you be so careless?" said her mother. Then, as she
noticed the confusion on Peggy's face, she said, "Did you let her out?"
"Not exactly," said Peggy. "I was thinking perhaps it would be nice for
us to have a walk together, when she ran away."
"You don't deserve to have any new clothes," said her mother, as she
looked at Peggy's torn frock.
"The blue ones will be stronger than this old thing," said Peggy.
CHAPTER IV
PEGGY GOES FOR A YEAST-CAKE
"Dear me," said Mrs. Owen, one hot morning, a few days later, as she
started to make bread, "this yeast-cake isn't fresh. What a shame! Peggy,
you'll have to go down to the village and get me another."
Peggy was delighted at the chance for an errand. She never minded the
heat, and she always liked to be out of doors better than in. It was

Saturday morning so there was no school. This heat in April was very
trying to Mrs. Owen and Alice.
"You'll have to change your dress if you go to the village," said Peggy's
mother. "You can put on one of your blue frocks if you like."
So a few minutes later Peggy in her blue frock went out into the spring
sunshine, a very happy little girl, with a small covered basket in her
hand, for her mother had told her she might get half a dozen lemons
and some sugar and a box of fancy crackers, so they could have some
lemonade and crackers in the afternoon.
"Be sure you don't forget the yeast-cake," her mother said, "and don't
stop to talk to any strange children, and don't call on any of the
neighbors. Don't run, it is too hot, but don't waste any time on the road,
for I want to get my bread started as soon as I can."
Peggy danced along the road in spite of the heat, for it was a happy
thing to be alive. She had not gone far when she saw a boy coming out
of a crossroad. It was Christopher Carter, and he too had a covered
basket in his hand.
"Hullo!" said Peggy.
"Hullo!" said Christopher. He joined her as he spoke.
"What have you got in your basket?" Peggy asked with interest.
"Butter and eggs from the Miller farm. What have you got in yours?"
"Nothing. Mother's sent me to the grocery store to get some things."
"How's the cat?" he asked.
"She's all right, only we have to keep her shut up, for if we let her out
she'd go straight to your house. I can't think why she likes you better
than us."
"She gets lots of scraps of fish and meat, because we are such a big

family; and then I suppose she likes her own old home, just as a person
would."
"I know, but Alice is so crazy about her: Alice is my sister," she
explained.
"My sister is just as crazy about her."
"So you've got a sister? I thought you had, and I guessed her name was
Matilda Ann."
"Matilda Ann! What an awful name! What made you think her name
was Matilda Ann?"
"I don't know. It just came into my head that her name was Matilda
Ann."
"Well, it isn't."
"Alice guessed it was Fanny," Peggy hastened to add, hoping that the
credit of the family might be restored.
"It isn't Fanny either. You could guess and guess and you'd never guess
it. It's such an unusual name."
Peggy was full of interest. She guessed several uncommon names, but
they were all of them wrong.
"What letter does it begin with?" she asked finally.
"It begins with a D."
"Dorothy?"
"No, that's a very common name. I know lots of Dorothys."
"Doris?"
"That isn't uncommon, either. I know two Dorises."

"Dora?"
"That isn't uncommon, either. I know some Doras."
Peggy was amazed at the size of the acquaintance of this boy who had
come from the city, and she was very envious. She wished she knew all
those Dorothys and Dorises and Doras. She wanted to hear all about
each one of them. But he did not want to take the trouble to tell her
about them.
"Guess again," he said.
"I can't think of any more girls' names beginning with a D, except
Dorcas, in the Bible."
"It isn't Dorcas."
"Delia?"
"No."
"You'll have to tell me; I can't think of another thing."
"Her name is Diana."
"Diana! What a pretty name! Is she pretty?"