They had not been coasting long when Mary fell off her sled right into a snow bank.
That was fun, too, and Mary didn"t care one bit.
But when she tried to stand up, it hurt her so it made tears come into her brown eyes.
"Are you hurt very much?" asked Little Boy Blue.
"My foot hurts," said Mary, trying not to cry.
"We"ll give you a ride home," said Jack Horner.
So Mary sat on her sled, and Boy Blue and Jack Horner played they were her horses.
They trotted so fast that Mary was soon at home and in her mother"s arms.
When the doctor saw Mary"s foot he shook his head.
"This little girl has sprained her foot," he said.
"She will have to stay in the house for some time."
I am afraid Mary cried when the doctor said this.
She did not like to stay at home.
She wanted to go to school with all her playmates.
She wanted to go coasting and skating and play in the snow.
In a few days Mary could sit by the window and watch the children.
Then she was not so lonely.
Jack brought home her school books and she studied very hard.
"I want to keep up with my cla.s.s, Mamma," she said.
So every day Mary and her mother played school together.
Every week Miss Brown came in to see how the little girl was getting along.
Of course the children went to see Mary very often.
They told her everything they had been doing in school.
One day Jack said, "I think it would be good fun to give Mary a surprise party."
"Oh yes," said Alice, "and we can all take something to make her happy."
"We can have the party next Sat.u.r.day afternoon," said Jack.
"I asked Mary"s mother, and she said we could come at two o"clock."
At recess the children told Miss Brown about the surprise party.
"Why don"t you take some plants to Mary?" she said.
"Then she could have a garden to watch while she has to stay in the house."
"Oh, that"s just the thing for Mistress Mary," said Jack.
And all the children began to sing:--
"Mistress Mary quite contrary How does your garden grow?
With silver bells, and c.o.c.kle sh.e.l.ls, And pretty maids all in a row."
Sat.u.r.day afternoon Mary was playing with her dolls when the bell rang.
"Alice has come to play with me," she thought.
Just then the door opened and there stood twelve little boys and girls.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
Each one was carrying a plant with a pretty, bright blossom.
They marched in singing "Mistress Mary," and little Mistress Mary laughed, and cried, and clapped her hands, all in one minute.
Then the children put the plants on a table near the window where Mary could see them.
There were geraniums, and pinks; a sweet heliotrope, and a rose-bush with a pink rose.
Alice brought the heliotrope, and Jack brought the rose-bush.
How bright and cheerful the plants made the room look!
The children stayed an hour and played games with Mary.
They played "hide the thimble" and one or two guessing games, because Mary could not run around the room with them.
Then they had some little cakes and cookies which Mary"s mother had made for them.
When it was time to go home they left a very happy little girl.
"Good-bye," said Mary, "I hope you will come very often.
"Thank you for the lovely plants. My table looks like a flower garden."