214 THE LAND OF PLUCK

scraper ?” “Pooh! we were n’t going to mind such a little
snow as this,” cried others, all in a chorus.

Six visitors! Think of that. Two lived next door on
one side, two lived next door on the other side, and two
lived right across the way. The first pair were Wilbur
and Rob; the second pair were Herbert and Dickie; the
third pair were Jamie and Tommy. Wilbur had on an
overcoat and a muffler, for he had a weak chest. Rob had
a tippet tied over his cap, for he was subject to ear-ache.
Herbert had a cap and a gray overcoat; Dickie had a cap
and no overcoat; Jamie wore a Scotch suit; and Tommy
wore a short bob-jacket and long trousers. I tell you this
so that you may know how they appeared. As for their
faces, they were so rosy and bright that they all looked
alike when the door opened. All the visitors were boys,
as any one would have known who heard the tramping as
the party went up-stairs.

Yes, up-stairs they went, nine of them, talking every
step of the way. The home children, Ned, Ruth and
Dot, almost always took any visitor that came, right to
their mother’s room either to introduce them, or, at any
‘rate, to give them the benefit of her hearty “How do you
do, my dears?” But this time they went straight past her
door, up, up, to the very garret.

“Ned,” his mother had said in the morning, “if the
children come this afternoon to help you keep the holi-
days, either play in the yard or up in the garret, for I
shall be quite busy. Have all the fun you can, but be
sure not to break anything and not to take cold.”

You may wonder why Mrs. Brant did not say: “Be