The Cinder Pond

NEXT SHE HAD FLOWN AT HIM AND HAD KISSED BOTH OF HIS BROAD RED CHEEKS.
JEANNETTE HUNTINGTON DUVAL: Aged 11 to 14: The Principal Cinder. Small Cinders from the Cinder Pond. MICHAEL: Aged 8 to 10 SAMMY: Aged 4 to 7 ANNIE: Aged 3 to 6 PATSY: A Toddling Infant LÉON DUVAL: Their Father. MOLLIE: A Lazy but Loving Mother. MRS. SHANNON: A Cross Grandmother. CAPTAIN BLOSSOM: A Faithful Friend. BARNEY TURCOTT: A Bashful Friend. WILLIAM HUNTINGTON: A Grandfather. CHARLES HUNTINGTON: A Polished Uncle. MRS. HUNTINGTON: A Polished Aunt. Their Perfect Children. HAROLD: Aged 12 PEARL: Aged 15 CLARA: Aged 14 JAMES: A Human Butler. MR. FAIRCHILD: Both Polished and Pleasant. MRS. FAIRCHILD: A Grateful Parent. ROGER FAIRCHILD: An Only Son. MRS. ROSSITER: A Motherly Mother. ALLEN ROSSITER: The Family Meeter.
The slim dark girl, with big black eyes, rushed to the edge of the crumbling wharf, where she dropped to her hands and knees to peer eagerly into the green depths below.
There was reason for haste. Only a second before, the very best suit of boys' clothing in Bancroft had tumbled suddenly over the edge to hit the water with a most terrific splash. Now, there was a wide circle on the surface, with bubbles coming up.
It was an excellent suit of clothes that went into the lake. Navy-blue serge, fashioned by Bancroft's best tailor to fit Roger Fairchild, who was much too plump for ready-made clothes. But here were those costly garments at the very bottom of Lake Superior; not in the very deepest part, fortunately, but deep enough. And that was not all. Their youthful owner was inside them.
That morning when Jeannette, eldest daughter of Léon Duval, tumbled out of the rumpled bed that she shared with her stepsister, the day had seemed just like any other day. It was to prove, as you may have guessed, quite different from the ordinary run of days. In the first place, it was pleasant; the first really mild day, after months of cold weather. In the second place, things were to happen. Of course, things happened every day; but then, most things, like breakfast, dinner, and supper, have a way of happening over and over again. But it isn't every day that a really, truly adventure plunges, as it were, right into one's own front yard.