"Now, then, Cricket, you owe me a lot on those crabs that I furnished you this morning. It took me all yesterday afternoon to catch them, too.
You have sold them all off, I see, already. How much did they bring?
Give me all the lemonade I want, and we"ll call it square."
"I don"t care whether you call it square or round," answered Cricket, briefly, snipping Zaidee"s fingers, which were creeping too near the peppermints. "Zaidee, keep your hands away. You"ve broken a whole piece out of that."
"How could she break a whole piece?" teased Archie. "If it"s a piece, "t isn"t whole, Miss Scricket."
"If catching crabs makes you so brilliant, you"d better catch some more," said Cricket serenely. "Now, do all of you go away. I see some other people coming down to the dock, and I know they"ll buy something, if you go away, so they can see me," she added, rearranging her wares.
"Billy, drive them off." Thus ordered, Billy made a lunge at the twins first, and they, secretly half-terrified out of their wits if he spoke to them in his gruff tones, scampered off to Eliza. Eunice and Edna strolled off, eating peanuts, and the boys betook themselves to new sports.
All day the little maid and her faithful ally sat on the little wharf, vending her wares. The dock had half a dozen sailboats moored there, and their various owners, in pa.s.sing to and fro, stopped, laughed, and bought. Soon Billy had to take some of the acc.u.mulated money and go up to Simon"s to replenish the stock, and frequent expeditions there through the day were made. The two refreshed themselves in the intervals of business with sundry gla.s.ses of lemonade, and occasional "peanits,"
while every now and then a piece of a red or of a striped peppermint found its way down Cricket"s throat. Billy scrupulously paid for all he ate. By supper-time nearly everything had disappeared.
"Now, I think, Billy, we might just as well drink up this little bit of lemonade, and eat up those peanuts," said the tired little merchant.
"All the peppermints are gone, and it"s most supper-time."
Billy was nothing loth, and together they soon cleared the board.
"Well, my little peanut woman, how went the day with you?" asked Auntie Jean, at supper. She had, of course, patronized the peanut stand herself during the day, with grandma. "All your wares sold?"
"Yes, auntie, everything," answered Cricket, as the always hungry tribe gathered around the supper-table. "Billy and I ate up what little there was left so it shouldn"t be wasted."
"Then you don"t mean to go on with your speculations in peanuts?" asked grandma.
"No-o, I think not, grandma, thank you," answered Cricket. "It was very nice to-day, but I think I couldn"t stand keeping still all day for _every_ day. But we made a lot of money," she added, with much satisfaction.
"Well, dear, that is always gratifying," replied auntie. "How much did you make? if we may be admitted to the financial secrets of the firm."
"We made twenty-one cents," cried Cricket, proudly, "and I think that"s pretty good."
"Indeed, it is. You"re quite a financier. And you invested fifty cents?
Then you have seventy-one cents now."
"No, we haven"t," returned Cricket, looking puzzled. "I have twenty-one cents, now. Oh, I spent a lot more than fifty cents. Billy went up to the store five or six times and got more peanuts and things, as fast as the money came in. Now, I have twenty-one cents to put in my box. Isn"t that making twenty-one cents?" she asked, looking up, anxiously.
There was a burst of laughter from the older ones.
"My dear little girl," said Auntie Jean, "I"m afraid your affairs are not on a sound financial basis. You must have been too generous. People don"t call it making money unless they get back all they spend, and more besides. As it is, you had fifty cents this morning and, to-night, you have twenty-one. That looks like losing."
Cricket stared.
"I don"t believe I"m a good speculationer," she sighed, at last, looking crestfallen. "Well, I don"t care much. I didn"t want to keep store any more anyway. It"s too poky. Can we be excused, grandma? I _must_ have a ride on Mopsie, or I"ll burst!"
CHAPTER V.
A BATH IN CURDS AND WHEY.
All the younger fry were playing in the barn. It was much smaller than the great barns at Kayuna, for there was no farm attached to Mrs.
Maxwell"s place, but the new-mown hay was just as sweet and soft to jump on as the haymows were at dear old Kayuna. There was a little added excitement in the fact that Luke was not nearly so good-natured as "Gustus John was, and was very apt to chase them off his premises when he found them there. He said the horses would not eat the hay after the children had jumped on it. However, as grandma always said that they could play in the barn as long as they didn"t do any damage to anything, Luke"s disapproval did not trouble them much. To be sure, they would scamper off if they heard him coming, and breathlessly fly around corners, and eagerly report if the "coast was clear," but, after all, all this was more for fun than anything else. This morning they had a clear three hours before them, for Luke had gone to drive grandma and auntie over to Plymouth, and they would not be back till almost dinner-time. Of course the time must be improved by a grand romp in the barn.
Eliza sat in the doorway crocheting. The older girls climbed the ladder to a high beam, and then would shoot off on to the soft hay far below.
Zaidee ambitiously tried to follow. But half-way up the ladder her courage invariably failed her, and she would sit still and shriek till one of her sisters came and carried her down.
"Zaidee, don"t climb up this ladder again," said Eunice, sharply, after she had rescued her small sister for the tenth time. "If you do, I"ll leave you there. It"s too high for you, and you"re always afraid."
"I isn"t a bit afraid," returned Zaidee, stoutly. "It"s only when I get up there, the ladder gets so dizzy."
"You get dizzy, you mean. At any rate, don"t climb up there again."
"You mustn"t speak cross to me," said Zaidee, who was a born rebel, and resented any orders of her older sisters. "If you speak cross to me I"ll run away."
"Oh, don"t, Zaidee!" begged Helen, in alarm.
"Yes, I will. I"ll run away, and then she"ll be sorry. Let"s jump on this little hay, Helen."
But after a time the high ladder looked so very tempting, and it was such wild excitement to see the girls flying off that great, high beam, with shrieks of fun and laughter, that Zaidee tried the experiment again, of climbing up herself. She went up eight rounds bravely, and then it suddenly looked so very far to the bottom that she screamed for help, as usual.
"You"re a naughty little girl, to climb up there again, after I had told you not to," said Eunice, severely. "Now you must stay there and scream till you promise me not to try it again." She knew there was really no danger, and Zaidee was always trying to do what she could not.
"Take me down, "Liza! take me down, Eunice!" she shrieked, till Edna said:
"Oh, do take her down, Eunice, and have her stop."
So Eunice helped her off her high perch once more, with the warning that if she did it again she would certainly leave her there and go away where she couldn"t hear her call. Then the older girls resumed their fun. Zaidee and Helen ran out into the yard.
Presently, Helen came flying back in a great panic.
"Do come here, "Liza! do come quick, Eunice! Zaidee"s eating worms!
She"s eaten two woolly ones, and one plain one. I"m afraid they"ll make her sick. Do come, "Liza, and make her stop."
"Isn"t she the funniest child!" exclaimed Eunice, as Eliza hurried off to rescue the worms.
"If somebody won"t give her what she wants, or if anything makes her cross, she always does something disagreeable to herself. Sometimes she says she won"t eat any luncheon or dinner, or won"t go to walk. Think of eating those worms, just because I scolded her about climbing up on the ladder. Ugh!"
"I should think she _was_ funny. Girls, let"s go up to Simon"s, and buy some peppermints," suggested Edna. "It"s such a hot day, and peppermints make your throat so cool when you breathe, don"t you know? I"ve five cents in my pocket."
Zaidee, having reluctantly consented to forego her diet of worms, watched the three girls go out into the road, and ran after them.
"Let me go, too," she called, toiling after.
"No, you can"t go, my dear. It"s too far. You stay with "Liza," said Eunice, but speaking very pleasantly, to avoid another scene.
"It isn"t a bit too far, Eunice. We go there lots of times with "Liza.
If you"re going for peppermints, I want some, too."