Letty and the Twins Part 6

"No, he didn't promise. He said 'I'll see.' And now I guess he'll keep us home, 'less we do something to show him we're sorry. If we buy half a bushel of apples and give 'em to him in place of all those we ate, why, don't you see? Maybe he'll think that, and the stomach ache we've had, 'll be punishment enough, without giving up the circus."

"The stomach ache was enough punishment for me. I promised him I'd never eat any more green apples, and I won't. But I want money to spend for lemonade at the circus."

"I guess I like lemonade as well as you do, greedy, but I'd rather go to the circus without having it, than to miss the whole thing."

"Well, so would I, silly. But do you honestly think grandfather would be so mean?"

"It wouldn't be mean. It would be only fair," declared Jane stoutly.

"Well, we'll see about it in the morning," answered Christopher, scuttling back to bed.

And that was all that Jane could get out of him, so that she went to sleep with her conscience only half clear. Because of course her fifteen cents would not do any good without Christopher's. She knew enough about the prices of things to be sure of that.

Grandfather and grandmother were so cold and formal at breakfast the next morning, and avoided all mention of the circus so carefully that Christopher was forced to decide that for once Jane was right and they would better buy the half bushel of apples to show their repentance.

They longed to consult Mrs. Hartwell-Jones, but that would mean telling the whole story, which they did not wish to do. Of course they did not know that "the lady who wrote books" had already heard the story from grandmother and had laughed over it until she cried.

After breakfast they held a hurried counsel and then ran out to the barn to find out who was going to the village that day. It turned out that Joshua himself was going, to have one of the horses shod. At first he refused to take the twins with him, saying that they were in disgrace and must remain quietly at home. It was only after they had explained their errand (under the most binding promises of secrecy) that he consented.

The ride into the village was interesting at all times, and now the whole countryside, ablaze with red and yellow circus posters, made driving between the decorated rail-fences most entertaining and lively.

Joshua stopped in front of each pictorial long enough for the children to spell out the account of the wonders foretold and admire the gorgeous pictures, and then took away most of the charm by saying regretfully, each time they drove on:

"Just to think, you young 'uns might have seen all them things-if you hadn't stole an' eat up your gran'pa's apples."

"Suppose it should be Letty's circus!" exclaimed Jane. "See, Kit, in that picture over there there are Shetland ponies. Oh, Kit, just suppose it should be!"

"Well, you needn't count on it," replied Christopher practically. "There are lots of trained Shetland ponies in the world beside Punch and Judy, and we don't know if Letty is with the circus that have Punch and Judy, anyway. She may be jumping and tumbling again, like she was doing the first time we saw her."

The village reached at length, Joshua bundled the twins out unceremoniously in front of the chief provision shop and bade them wait there for his return. Christopher was disappointed. He had hoped for the treat of watching the blacksmith at work. But Joshua had given him plainly to understand from the first that this expedition was one of business and not of pleasure, and he dared not complain.

The provision man was new in the village and did not know the twins. He did not think such small children worth much attention and went on arranging his baskets.

"Please, sir, how much are apples?" asked Christopher politely.

The man turned around, surprised by such a practical question and answered:

"Forty cents a basket."

"Oh," cried Jane and Christopher together, "that's too much!"

"It's the market price," said the man crossly.

"Oh, sir, we mean it's too much for us to pay," explained Jane hurriedly.

"I dare say it is," replied the man coolly and turned away to wait on another customer.

The children stood listlessly at the corner, waiting for Joshua. Their hearts were heavy with disappointment at the failure of their plan. Even the thought that he would now have his money for peanuts at the circus failed to console Christopher, who had screwed himself up to the heroic point of self-denial.

Jane watched the people buying at the provision shop. They got all sorts of things: some bought several kinds of vegetables and meat, which they carried away in a basket; others bought small quant.i.ties, wrapped in paper bags. Presently a woman bought a small bag of apples which suggested to Jane that they might be able to do the same thing.

"Kit," she said, "I think by a basket the man meant one of those great big baskets. Surely they hold more than half a bushel?"

"Don't know how much half a bushel is," replied Christopher, toeing the path with his boot.

"Well, I'm sure we didn't eat as many as one of those basketfuls, anyhow. Just look at the size of it."

"We stuffed a lot of 'em."

"Well, anyway, let's get as many as our money'll buy," proposed Jane.

"We can buy any number 'cause I just saw a woman get some in a paper bag. It'll show grandfather we are sorry and want to pay back, and perhaps Huldah was wrong about the half bushel."

"Well, you'll have to do the asking then," said Christopher ungallantly.

"That man is horrid. He thinks we're nothing but kids."

They approached the provision man again, who happened at that moment not to be occupied.

"How much-I mean, how many apples will thirty cents buy, please, sir?"

asked Jane.

"Half a bushel."

The twins looked at each other in delight.

"We'll take 'em," they cried together, and Christopher drew the thirty cents-two ten and two five cent pieces-from his trousers pocket.

They were very proud and excited all the way home. They hardly glanced at the circus posters, so eager were they to reach Sunnycrest and complete their sacrifice, and they kept urging Joshua to drive faster.

They took turns sitting on the basket of fruit, they were so afraid that an apple might jostle out and be lost.

Grandfather, grandmother and Mrs. Hartwell-Jones were all sitting on the veranda. Mrs. Hartwell-Jones was able to limp downstairs once a day, by the aid of one of grandfather's canes. Jane and Christopher carried the basket between them, up to the top of the steps. Christopher felt suddenly sheepish and hung his head, but Jane, brave in the consciousness of having done right, spoke up boldly:

"Grandfather, Huldah said we must have eaten 'most half a bushel of apples yesterday, and she couldn't make so many apple pies as she could if we hadn't eaten them, and we thought we ought to be punished for taking the apples without leave, didn't we, Kit, and we didn't want to be kept home from the circus, so we went to town with Josh and buyed-I mean bought, these to make up."

"And it took all of both our 'lowances," added Christopher virtuously.

How the grown-ups laughed! But there were tears in grandmother's eyes as she thanked the twins and called Huldah to come and take the basket.

Later in the day, grandmother called Jane and Christopher into her own room and gave them each fifteen cents.

"I want you to understand that I am not doing it because I think you did not deserve the punishment of losing it," she said seriously, "for it was wrong to have eaten the apples, both because it endangered your health to eat unripe fruit and because it is always a sin to take what does not belong to one without asking. But I wish to reward, and so encourage, the spirit you have both shown today of desiring to make atonement for wrong. G.o.d bless you, my dears."

CHAPTER V

THE CIRCUS

All was pleasant confusion and excitement at Sunnycrest, for it was circus day! A wee cloud of disappointment dimmed the horizon of Jane's bliss when she learned that Mrs. Hartwell-Jones did not feel equal to the effort of going. She was afraid she might tire or injure her lame foot; and Jane was sorry, for she would have enjoyed sharing her impressions with the sympathetic and understanding "lady who wrote books." Still, there would be the happiness of telling her all about it afterward.