The Last Day in Boston — and Home
The last morning in Boston! Mary Jane blinked at the bright sunshine that streamed in at the window and asked sleepily, “What are we going to do to-day, Mother?”
“Mother!” exclaimed Alice, suddenly wide awake, “we forgot to go to Concord! And my teacher told me surely, surely we must take that ride up through Sleepy Hollow and Concord.”
“Don’t you worry a minute, dear,” said Mrs. Merrill, “I’m as anxious to take that ride as you are. In fact I had Hal get the seats in the automobile yesterday evening, so there would be no doubt about our being able to go this morning. I’ve never taken it either, you know, so we’ll be seeing things together. Now everybody up and see who can beat getting dressed and ready for breakfast.”
When they stepped up to the big sightseeing car, an hour and a half later, they found that Uncle Hal had bought their seats for the front row which pleased them very much. Mary Jane liked to see things without dodging the head of somebody in front, and Alice and Mrs. Merrill liked to be close to the man who tells about the historic scenes on the way, so they could ask questions and could hear everything that was said.
The car soon filled up with interested sightseers and the journey was begun.
Alice eagerly listened to all that was told and fitted it into what she knew of early American history. The old church where the lights were hung to give the signal to Paul Revere; the road he dashed across on his long journey—marked now, by a big bronze tablet which the girls got out of the car to read; the “green” where one of the early battles was fought—Alice had read all the stories and seemed to live over the scenes as she saw the famous sites.
Of course Mary Jane didn’t know as much history as her sister did, but she knew something of the historical stories, as all American girls should even if they are only in first grade, and she learned more history in that two hours of riding than she would have learned in a month of reading. It didn’t seem like history out of a book, it seemed like really truly—as it was.
The car turned down a long, shady road and came to a stop by a tiny wooden bridge.
“There,” said the driver, “is the Concord bridge and you may get out and walk across if you like. There’s no hurry.”
“The Concord bridge?” exclaimed Alice, “why I thought it was a big bridge—I’ve heard so much about it.”
“Size doesn’t count for everything,” laughed the driver; “it’s what happens that counts.”
They climbed out of the automobile and walked across the tiny bridge. It was a low, wooden foot bridge, so narrow that one had to walk carefully to pass anybody coming from the other direction. On one side was a hand rail, on the other nothing but the clear water of the little creek so close below.
The girls stood in the center of the bridge and Mrs. Merrill took their picture so Alice could show it to her teacher at school, then they sat down in the shade close by and Mrs. Merrill told Mary Jane the story that made that little bridge so famous; how the brave farmers stood there waiting—right there on the spot Mary Jane could see; how the Redcoats crept up through the darkness to the very tree (no doubt it was the very tree for its wide spreading branches and great trunk told of its old age), the very tree under which they were sitting, and then there was fired the shot “for freedom,” the shot which the poet said was “heard ’round the world.”
Reluctantly leaving the interesting spot that charmed them so, the Merrills climbed back into the big auto and drove away; through Concord, through Sleepy Hollow and to the house where Louisa M. Alcott had lived. There Mary Jane felt at home immediately. She saw the lilac bushes, the old trees and the quaint old house she had heard about. They went through the rooms, upstairs and down, and saw the very books and dishes and kettles and clothes that the girls in Miss Alcott’s story had used and worn.
“Why they were just regular girls like we are, weren’t they, Mother?” she exclaimed in surprise. “And they didn’t know they were going to be in a story and everybody read about them, did they?”
“To be sure,” said Mrs. Merrill, “and that’s what makes them so interesting. They did all the things that real folks do, and we like to hear about such things in books.”
“Wouldn’t it be funny if we’d get into a story book,” said Mary Jane, laughing at the ridiculous idea, “and somebody’d read about how we came to see Miss Alcott’s house? I’d laugh if we did!”
“Well, you never can tell what’ll happen,” said Alice as they wandered out through the yard. “I expect Meg and Beth never thought of being in a book either. I wonder if they picked roses from this same old bush?” she added as she looked at a rose-bush that rambled high overhead, “it looks old enough to have been here then.”
It was hard to leave the quaint old house with its interesting associations, but the honking of a horn out in front warned them that they had lingered long enough, so they hurried out to finish the drive.
“When I get back home,” said Mary Jane as she snuggled down in her front seat again, “I’m going to read all about Concord and all about everything—if you’ll read it to me, Mother, I am.” Mrs. Merrill promised, so Mary Jane tried to look very hard at everything they saw so she could remember it a long, long time.
“Now then,” said Mrs. Merrill briskly, as they got out of the auto at Copley Square, “we’ll just have time to hurry up and pack our things and get our lunch before the train leaves. And we won’t have a bit of time to spare, so it’s a mighty good thing we haven’t left anything else to do. That Wolverine leaves on time whether we are on it or not.”
“Won’t we have time but just only to pack and to get lunch?” asked Mary Jane disappointedly.
“Why Mary Jane!” exclaimed Mrs. Merrill, “haven’t you seen enough of Boston?”
“Oh, yes,” replied Mary Jane, “I’ve seen enough but I haven’t done enough.”
“What more is there to do, child?” asked Mrs. Merrill. “Seems to me you’ve done about everything a person could think of already.”
“Yes, I guess I have,” admitted Mary Jane, “but I wanted to do some of it over again. I wanted to take another ride in my swan boat, I did.”
“My dear child!” exclaimed Mrs. Merrill sympathetically, “and you shall if I can get you down there. Hurry now and we’ll get our packing done in a jiffy and then before we eat we’ll go to the Commons and let you take a ride.”
Up in their room Mary Jane helped all she could with the packing. She stuffed the tips of all the shoes, she folded hair ribbons that had been mussed and put clothes in neat piles on the bed. Alice took everything from the drawers, picked up personal belongings from the bathroom, and brought the clothes that had been hanging in the closet. With such good help Mrs. Merrill packed in a very short time, and sooner than she had supposed possible the trunk was ready to go, and they were dressed in traveling frocks ready for the journey home.
“Now a wire to Dad,” she said as she took a careful look over the room to be certain that they were leaving nothing behind, “and I believe we are ready to go.”
“Let’s not stop for a big lunch,” suggested Alice, “because we can have early dinner on the diner. Let’s get sandwiches and milk some place and then let Mary Jane have two rides on the swan boats.”
Mrs. Merrill telephoned Hal and he promised to call for their bags at the hotel and then to come for them at the entrance of the Commons nearest the lagoon.
A very happy little girl bought tickets for six rides and, with Alice and her mother, Mary Jane took two last blissful rides on her favorite boat.
“When I grow up to be a big lady and have a little girl of my own,” she observed between rides, “I’m going to bring her to Boston and let her ride ’n ride ’n ride.”
“Seems to me that’s about what I am doing with my little girl,” laughed Mrs. Merrill. “I believe you like the swan boats better than anything you have seen or done on the trip.”
“I do,” agreed Mary Jane, “unless,” she added, thoughtfully, “unless eating in the garden or seeing the goldfishes or swimming or playing with John or—well, we’ve done a lot of nice things, Mother, but swan boats are my favorite, I guess.”
Hal’s taxi was chugging briskly when they reached the street and they dashed off to take their train for home.
“Now there’s a whole day to ride without getting off or hurrying or anything,” said Mary Jane luxuriously, as she settled herself in the comfortable sleeper and leaned back against the cushions with a deep sigh of satisfaction. “I just love riding on a train, I do, Mother.”
It was fun to sit quietly and watch the towns dash by. For ten busy days Mary Jane had been the one to do the going, hurrying from one good time to another and now it seemed the best fun of all to sit still and think about all the fun she had had.
In an hour though, she began to want something to do. Alice, deep in a book, was close by, while her mother and Uncle Hal, who seemed to have an endless amount to say to each other, were just across the aisle. Should she bother them—or what should she do?
Suddenly she remembered! She had brought something for just such a time, and so busy had she been all the days in New England that she hadn’t once thought of what she had carried around. She slipped her hand back of her till she touched her own little handbag that was on the seat between herself and Alice, opened it and spread out on her lap her precious paper dolls.
Mrs. Merrill, glancing across to see that her little girl was all right, saw what she was doing and said, “Press the button there between the windows, dear, and the porter will bring you a table to spread the dolls out on.”
Five minutes later Mary Jane had a table all to herself and on it spread her whole paper doll family. All the time the great train sped through Massachusetts, she played with them, acting over again the Harvard Class Day parties, the tea party in Mrs. Burn’s pretty garden and many other things that she herself had done on her trip.
At five-thirty they went to the diner for dinner, and Mary Jane had some good chicken and hashed-brown potatoes and apple dumplings with ice cream, before she went back to finish playing with her dolls.
“I think paper dolls are the nicest dolls for on a train, I do,” she told her mother, as together they neatly tucked the dolls away for a night’s rest in the handbag, “’cause they don’t break and they don’t take up a lot of room, and I can have them all along—every one of them.”
Mr. Merrill met his family at the station the next day, and there was a happy reunion and a lot of talk about the fun they had had since they last saw him.
“But nobody asks me what I’ve been doing?” he exclaimed with mock grief at the first pause in the conversation.
“Oh, Daddah,” cried Mary Jane, “I’m so sorry! But you see we had so much to do—graduating Uncle Hal and seeing everything, we did. Now you talk—it’s your turn.”
Then Mr. Merrill told his surprise. The builder who was to do their house in the woods had been able to get to work sooner than he had promised, and the house, while it wouldn’t be finished for some little time yet, was well on the way.
“The roof’s on,” he told them, “and that’s a lot, for it means we can go out there and picnic and not worry about rain. And if all goes well, we can pack our trunks and move into the shack in a very few days.”
“Oh, goody!” cried Mary Jane clapping her hands gleefully, “and I’m going to make garden and keep house and hunt flowers and everything!”
Take a trip with Mary Jane. She is the heroine of this popular series for young girls. You’ll find her a charming traveling companion. Her good nature, her abounding interest in her friends and surroundings, and her fascinating adventures both at home and abroad have endeared her to thousands all over the country.
MARY JANE—HER BOOK
MARY JANE—HER VISIT
MARY JANE’S KINDERGARTEN
MARY JANE DOWN SOUTH
MARY JANE’S CITY HOME
MARY JANE IN NEW ENGLAND
MARY JANE’S COUNTRY HOME
MARY JANE AT SCHOOL
MARY JANE IN CANADA
MARY JANE’S SUMMER FUN
MARY JANE’S WINTER SPORTS
MARY JANE’S VACATION
MARY JANE IN ENGLAND
MARY JANE IN SCOTLAND
MARY JANE IN FRANCE
MARY JANE IN SWITZERLAND
MARY JANE IN ITALY
GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK
There is the high, happy spirit of youth in these famous
BOOKS FOR GIRLS
by JANE D. ABBOTT
BARBERRY GATE
A boy flyer opened the Barberry Gate, closed since the day great-grandfather Colfax locked it, and Winsome learned the romantic story behind it all.
LAUGHING LAST
Sidney finds adventure in Provincetown—she takes part in the capture of modern pirates, and much to her surprise plays an unexpected part in her sister’s romance.
APRILLY
The charming story of a young girl, child of the circus, and the adventures which led to her goal of happiness.
HIGHACRES
A school story of Jerry Travis and her chum Gyp Westley. A thread of romance and mystery in Jerry’s life runs through the tale.
KEINETH
How Keineth Randolph kept a secret—a war secret—for a whole year makes one of the best stories ever written for girls.
RED ROBIN
In attempting to bring happiness into the lives of mill workers, Robin Forsythe, heir to a fortune, has many strange adventures.
HEYDAY
Twenty-three! The heyday of life. Jay, a small town girl, finds happiness in New York.
LARKSPUR
Especially interesting to any Girl Scout because it is the story of a Girl Scout who is poor and has to help her mother.
HAPPY HOUSE
How an old family quarrel is healed through a misunderstanding and an old homestead becomes a “happy house” in reality.
GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK
THE NANCY DREW MYSTERY STORIES
By CAROLYN KEENE
Illustrated. Every Volume Complete in Itself.
Here is a thrilling series of mystery stories for girls. Nancy Drew, ingenious, alert, is the daughter of a famous criminal lawyer and she herself is deeply interested in his mystery cases. Her interest involves her often in some very dangerous and exciting situations.
THE SECRET OF THE OLD CLOCK
Nancy, unaided, seeks to locate a missing will and finds herself in the midst of adventure.
THE HIDDEN STAIRCASE
Mysterious happenings in an old stone mansion lead to an investigation by Nancy.
THE BUNGALOW MYSTERY
Nancy has some perilous experiences around a deserted bungalow.
THE MYSTERY AT LILAC INN
Quick thinking and quick action were needed for Nancy to extricate herself from a dangerous situation.
THE SECRET AT SHADOW RANCH
On a vacation in Arizona Nancy uncovers an old mystery and solves it.
THE SECRET OF RED GATE FARM
Nancy exposes the doings of a secret society on an isolated farm.
THE CLUE IN THE DIARY
A fascinating and exciting story of a search for a clue to a surprising mystery.
NANCY’S MYSTERIOUS LETTER
Nancy receives a letter informing her that she is heir to a fortune. This story tells of her search for another Nancy Drew.
THE SIGN OF THE TWISTED CANDLES
Nancy, as mediator in a generation-old feud, divulges an unknown birthright.
THE PASSWORD TO LARKSPUR LANE
A carrier pigeon furnishes Nancy with a clue to a mysterious retreat.
THE CLUE OF THE BROKEN LOCKET
Nancy’s sympathy for adopted twins leads her into a surprising mystery.
THE MESSAGE IN THE HOLLOW OAK
In Canada, Nancy protects her new property from a crooked promoter.
THE MYSTERY OF THE IVORY CHARM
Nancy solves an Indian mystery by means of a lucky elephant charm.
GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK
Melody Lane Mystery Stories
By LILIAN GARIS
Thrills, secrets, ghosts—adventures that will fascinate you seem to surround pretty Carol Duncan. A vivid, plucky girl, her cleverness at solving mysteries will captivate and thrill every mystery fan.
The author has written many popular mystery stories for girls and in this new series Mrs. Garis is at her best.
THE GHOST OF MELODY LANE
Mystery surrounds the great organ in the home of the “Cameo Lady”—beloved friend of Carol and sponsor of the girls’ Coral Club. Three people see the “ghost” that wanders in the grove carrying a waxy white rose. And Carol finds the rose! In the end she finds the ghost too!
THE FORBIDDEN TRAIL
There was a tradition at “Splatter Castle” on Melody Lane, and Marah Splartier, eccentric aunt of Veronica Flint determined to protect Vera from following the long line of family tragedies that had had their beginning on the “forbidden trail.” Carol has several bad frights before she clears up the mystery that keeps the little family at Splatter Castle unhappy and afraid.
THE TOWER SECRET
The winking lights flashing from the old tower on the grounds of the Bonds’ new home defy explanation. There is no one in the tower—and no electric power or connections! Had the engaging circus family that Carol befriended anything to do with the mystery? And what interest had Parsnips, the queer old farmer, in the “ghost” tower?
THE WILD WARNING
What power did the strange, wild warning in the woods have over Polly Flinders? And why was she so desperately anxious to earn money? Carol brings happiness to three families when she solves this exciting mystery.
THE TERROR OF MOANING CLIFF
No tenant would stay in the great, bleak house on “moaning cliff” that belonged to Carol’s aunt. But Carol, courageous and determined, finally tracks the uncanny “haunts” to their source.
THE DRAGON OF THE HILLS
When Carol runs a tea shop for a friend, a baffling mystery comes to her with her first customer. Who has the limping man’s lost package—the gypsies, the oriental or the neighbor’s boy who ran away?
GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK
The MARY and JERRY MYSTERY STORIES
By FRANCIS HUNT
THE MESSENGER DOG’S SECRET
The big police dog Flanders carried a strange message in his collar. By following its directions, Mary and Jerry Denton were able to bring a lost fortune to someone in need.
THE MYSTERY OF THE TOY BANK
Jerry Denton was saving for a bicycle, but when his little bank strangely disappeared he had a big mystery to solve. With the aid of Mary, several chums and a queer old sailor, this eager lad brought about a happy solution.
THE STORY THE PARROT TOLD
A fire in a pet shop started a long chain of adventures for Mary and Jerry Denton. The tale the talking parrot told caused plenty of excitement and mystery before the bird was restored to its rightful owner.
THE SECRET OF THE MISSING CLOWN
Mary and Jerry have many happy adventures at the circus while searching for the missing clown and his beautiful pony, Silverfeet.
GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK
THE BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS
FOR LITTLE MEN AND WOMEN
By LAURA LEE HOPE
ILLUSTRATED. Every volume complete in itself.
These books for boys and girls between the ages of three and ten stand among children and their parents of this generation where the books of Louisa May Alcott stood in former days. The haps and mishaps of this inimitable pair of twins, their many adventures and experiences are a source of keen delight to imaginative children.
THE BOBBSEY TWINS
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE
THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN A GREAT CITY
THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON BLUEBERRY ISLAND
THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN WASHINGTON
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE GREAT WEST
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT CEDAR CAMP
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE COUNTY FAIR
THE BOBBSEY TWINS CAMPING OUT
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AND BABY MAY
THE BOBBSEY TWINS KEEPING HOUSE
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT CLOVERBANK
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT CHERRY CORNER
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AND THEIR SCHOOLMATES
THE BOBBSEY TWINS TREASURE HUNTING
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SPRUCE LAKE
THE BOBBSEY TWINS WONDERFUL SECRET
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE CIRCUS
THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON AN AIRPLANE TRIP
THE BOBBSEY TWINS SOLVE A MYSTERY
THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A RANCH
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN ESKIMO LAND
GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK
Three Stories of Fun and Friendship
THE MAIDA BOOKS
by INEZ HAYNES IRWIN
MAIDA’S LITTLE SHOP
In a darling little shop of her own Maida makes many friends with the school children who buy her fascinating wares.
MAIDA’S LITTLE HOUSE
All of her friends spend a happy summer in Maida’s perfect little house that has everything a child could wish for.
MAIDA’S LITTLE SCHOOL
Three delightful grownups come to visit and the children study many subjects without knowing that they are really “going to school.”
GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK
DANA GIRLS MYSTERY STORIES
BY CAROLYN KEENE
Author of the
NANCY DREW MYSTERY STORIES
Impetuous, delightful Jean Dana and her charming serious minded sister Louise find themselves in the midst of several mysteries, when they attempt to aid people who are in trouble. Thrilling moments come to the girls as they follow up clue after clue in an endeavor to untangle the knotty problems in which they become enmeshed.
BY THE LIGHT OF THE STUDY LAMP
A stolen study lamp, a fortune teller, and a distressed schoolmate provide plenty of excitement for the Dana girls before they locate the persons responsible for many mysterious happenings.
THE SECRET AT LONE TREE COTTAGE
While the girls are at Starhurst School, they learn that their beloved English teacher has vanished in a strange manner. In tracing her, Jean and Louise are able to aid the frantic relatives of a dear little curly-haired tot, but not before they themselves are in danger of disappearing.
IN THE SHADOW OF THE TOWER
The mingling of unusual characters, who have life interests very different from one another, lends excitement and intrigue to a Christmas vacation of the Dana girls. Their ability to fit together the pieces of a strange puzzle brings happiness to several persons!
A THREE-CORNERED MYSTERY
There were three strange corners which the Dana girls successfully rounded in their search for clues to clear up a mystery, involving property and an international spy of many aliases.
THE SECRET AT THE HERMITAGE
When Louise is mistaken for a runaway prisoner, strange things begin to happen, which lead the Danas to uncover the secret of a talented girl and her crippled charge.
GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK