"You don"t think it will hurt Dot, then?" said Mother Blossom as her husband began to pull on his coat ready to go to the foundry.
"Oh, it"s a sunny day and she is about over that cold," he answered.
"I think the fresh air will do her good."
Dot and Twaddles, who had heard the question and were listening anxiously for the reply, sped away to the kitchen to tell Norah where they were going.
You might have thought that the twins were setting out for the North Pole, the way they started to get ready. They got out their rubbers and brushed them carefully. They put their sweaters and scarfs and mittens on one chair, their warm coats on another and their hats on the table. Then they went out on the back porch and shook their leggings and put them on still another chair. How Mother Blossom did laugh when she saw everything spread out.
"We don"t want to keep Sam waiting," explained Dot seriously. "Bobby and Meg will have their things on, but Twaddles and I have a lot to do."
At that moment Twaddles was out in the barn asking the patient Sam questions.
"Yes, your father told me you could go," said Sam. "Yes, the dog can go too--the more the merrier, as far as I am concerned. No, you can"t drive--I have to keep my mind busy some way and driving is a good plan."
"Why are we going to Fernwood?" asked Twaddles. "Daddy said it was about freight."
"And you don"t see why we slight the Oak Hill station--is that it?" Sam returned good-naturedly. "Well, Twaddles, this consignment got side-tracked and it"s some new office equipment your father wants right away; it is quicker to drive over and get it, than have it re-routed."
Twaddles said "Oh," and immediately wanted to know how many miles it was to Fernwood.
"Ten or twelve," said Sam. "And mind you dress warmly enough."
"Oh, I have lots to wear," Twaddles a.s.sured him. "This is my last year coat, you know."
"But you want to remember the wind blows pretty hard on that back road," said Sam. "If you think you"re going to be the least bit chilly, you"d better put plenty of newspapers around you."
"You think you can tease me, but you can"t," Twaddles told him scornfully. "Paper isn"t warm."
"That"s just where you make your mistake," declared Sam gravely.
"There is nothing warmer than paper--fold two or three newspapers under your sweater and you can face the stiffest wind and be comfortable."
Twaddles looked unconvinced. But when he went back to the house and asked Norah, she, too, said that newspapers kept out the cold.
"Say, Dot," said Twaddles to his twin two minutes later. "Sam and Norah say newspapers will keep you warmer than--than anything. Let"s fix some."
Dot thought he was playing a joke on her, but when he finally made her understand, she was willing to wear a newspaper or two and be cozy.
"Oh, we want more than one or two," said Twaddles, who liked a heaping measure of everything. "Come on down cellar and you fix me and I"ll fix you."
Norah kept all the old newspapers in the cellar, in a corner, and every three weeks a man came around and bought them.
"I don"t know exactly how to do it, but you stand still and I"ll tie them on," directed Twaddles.
He had brought a ball of cord with him and now he went to work to wrap the papers around the plump Dot. He opened them out wide and she held them around her by using her arms till he had a quant.i.ty of the sheets rolled about her. Then he took his string and wound that around her several times and tied it in a strong knot.
"I don"t see how I can get my sweater and coat on over this," objected Dot when she was declared "finished."
"Oh, they"ll go on all right," the cheerful Twaddles a.s.sured her. "Now do me--put on lots of papers, so I won"t be cold."
Dot obediently wrapped papers around him till he was twice his usual chubby size and looked very odd indeed. Then she tied several thicknesses of the cord about him and he too was ready for the long drive.
"We rattle when we walk," said Twaddles, "but I guess that is all right."
They found some pictures that interested them, in the papers remaining on the floor and they stayed in the cellar till, to their surprise, they heard quick feet running overhead and Meg"s voice in the kitchen.
"It must be noon!" said Dot, "Come on, we have to hurry."
And as they started upstairs, Norah opened the door and called down:
"Lunch is ready--are you still playing in the cellar?"
Mother Blossom and Aunt Polly were just sitting down at the dining-room table and Meg and Bobby, who had been upstairs to wash their hands, were in the hall, when the twins marched through the kitchen and slipped into their chairs. That is, they tried to sit down, but something seemed to be wrong.
"What on earth--" began Aunt Polly, staring.
"My dears! What have you been doing?" Mother Blossom gasped.
And Norah glanced in from the kitchen murmuring:
"Is it entirely crazy they are at last?" while Meg and Bobby shouted with laughter and turned Dot and Twaddles round and round to get a good look at them.
"What have you been doing?" Mother Blossom repeated.
"Why, we"re ready for the sleigh ride," explained Twaddles. "Paper is awfully warm, Mother. Sam said so."
"It keeps the wind out," Dot added.
"You look like bundles of waste paper," Bobby chuckled. "You"d better not go out on the street that way, or when the trash cart comes, the man will pick you up and throw you on top."
"I do think you have more paper than you need," said Aunt Polly gently.
And though Twaddles and Dot did not want to admit it, they had already begun to feel that way themselves. They could not sit down with any comfort and when Bobby ran out in the hall and brought in Dot"s coat, she found she couldn"t get it on at all.
"You"ll be warm enough without the paper, dears," Mother Blossom said positively. "Plenty warm and much more comfortable. Let Bobby and Meg help you get unwrapped and then hurry and eat lunch before it is cold."
So Bobby and Meg untied the knots in the String and the papers slipped to the floor. The twins breathed a sigh of relief and became interested in the creamed potatoes.
"But don"t forget to take the papers down to the cellar and put them back on the pile, neatly," cautioned Mother Blossom.
Bobby and Meg helped Dot and Twaddles take back the papers and then it was time to put on their coats and sweaters. Twaddles was just stamping his feet into his rubbers--he always shook the house, Norah declared, when he put on his rubbers--when the sound of jingling sleighbells was heard outside.
"There"s Sam! There"s the sleigh!" shrieked the four little Blossoms, scattering kisses between Mother Blossom and Aunt Polly and rushing for the door.
"Good grief, is the house on fire?" Sam demanded as they came running out of the house. "Where"s Philip? I thought you wanted him to go."