GRANDFATHER'S TREAT
It didn't take long to call those children the next morning, you may be sure of that. Just one word and they were up and dressing and more eager than ever to know what Grandfather was planning to do.
"Now will you tell us?" asked John as he ran into the living-room where Grandfather was sitting.
"Not a word till you've eaten your breakfast," replied Grandfather laughingly.
"Not even a hint?" exclaimed Mary Jane as she hurried in, buttoning her play dress as she came, just in time to hear what her Grandfather said.
"Not even a hint," repeated Grandfather, "not till each of you has eaten your bowl of oatmeal and as much other breakfast as Grandmother says you should."
"Come on, then, John," said Mary Jane practically; "let's eat quick!" And she lead the way into the dining-room, where Grandmother had the breakfast served and ready to eat.
Never did bowls of oatmeal disappear so rapidly as did those! And when the children had eaten a baked apple, an egg and a piece of toast apiece, Grandmother declared that they had done their full duty and could hear the surprise.
"But I'm not through myself!" exclaimed Grandfather in mock surprise. "Did you put your breakfast on your chairs? You couldn't have eaten it this soon!" And he pretended to hunt around under the table for the breakfast.
"You know we didn't hide it, Grandfather!" cried Mary Jane; she had been there long enough to get used to Grandfather's teasing so she wasn't puzzled by it as John was. "Now you'll have to tell us, won't he, Grandmother?"
Grandmother nodded and Grandfather got up from his chair and went to the dining-room closet. He rummaged on the shelf a minute and then brought out a big roll of paper. "There!" he exclaimed as he laid it in front of the children, "you may unroll that and see if you can tell what it is? Better lay it on the floor so you don't tip the cream pitcher over."
The children set the roll on the floor; then Mary Jane held the rolled up part while John pulled it open. They didn't have it half unrolled before both children exclaimed, "A circus! It's a circus. Grandfather! Are we going to a circus?"
"Shouldn't wonder a bit," said Grandfather indifferently as he took another piece of toast; "shouldn't wonder a bit. That is, of course," he added with marked politeness, "unless you don't care to go."
"You know we care to go," laughed Mary Jane and she jumped up and gave him a big bear hug. "You know we just want to go the mostest of anything in the world, we do!"
"Then we'll go!" said Grandfather and he stopped his teasing and told them all about his plans. "We'll start about nine o'clock so we'll have plenty of time because we have to drive about fifteen miles and get our lunch and—"
"And see the parade," interrupted John.
"Oh, yes, we see the parade before lunch, you're right," laughed Grandfather. "I see there's going to be nothing skipped in this day. Then we want to see all the animals and get good seats and everything."
"Then we'd better start right now," suggested Mary Jane.
"Dear me, no, not for two hours yet!" exclaimed Grandfather. "That's the reason I got you that poster. See? It's all rolled up again. Now I'll help you unroll it so you can look at it while you wait for the time to start."
Grandmother helped too, and the big poster picture was unrolled and a chair set on each end of it to hold it open. Then Mary Jane and John could walk around and see it well. It was a picture of the parade and showed camels and lions in cages and elephants and clowns and pretty ladies and everything and of course it was most interesting to look at. But it wasn't so interesting that the children forgot to look at the clock—indeed, no! They watched and watched and watched and finally the clock said, "Eight!"
"Now then," said Mary Jane, "that's all I'm going to look. Let's roll it up and get ready. Maybe we can help Grandmother."
They found a good many interesting things to do. Grandmother had decided that they had better take their lunch with them and eat it in the car because the town where the circus was to be was small and there might be no good place for them to eat.
John got the lunch box from the storeroom and Mary Jane helped wrap sandwiches and chicken and cake in oiled paper; and by quarter of nine everything was ready.
"Fifteen minutes to wash hands and faces and change your clothes," exclaimed Grandmother as she heard Grandfather bring the car up to the house. "Can you do it?"
"'Deed yes," said Mary Jane, scampering on ahead up the stairs. "I can wash myself and you just look at the cracks. And I can put my own dress and shoes on. I can do lots!"
"I should say you can!" exclaimed Grandmother admiringly. "You do all you can then, dear, and I'll help John."
At one minute to nine they were all at the door ready to climb into the car and be off.
"Did you give them their spending money?" asked Grandmother as she helped stow the lunch into the car.
"Not yet," answered Grandfather. "I'll give it to them when they get there."
"Listen to the man!" exclaimed Grandmother in disgust, "and make them miss half the fun of carrying their own money. Wait a minute!" She hurried into the house and came back in a minute with two little black purses in her hand. "There now, children," she said as she handed a purse to each child, "you can carry your own money. Here's two nickels for you, Mary Jane, and two nickels for you, John. Don't lose them!"
"We won't," said Mary Jane and she clutched hers tightly in her hand, "and may we buy anything we want?"
"Anything you want—anything!" Grandmother assured her.
"We'll be home at six," called Grandfather as he started the car and they whisked down the drive and away.
Such a jolly drive as that was! They talked about the circus they were to see and how they would spend their money. And whether the lion would roar and what they should buy. And if the lady could really truly do everything on her horse that the picture said she could and how much ice cream cones would cost. You see Grandmother had been right—half the fun of spending money was the holding the money beforehand and planning how it was to be spent.
Arriving at the village where the circus was, Grandfather drove them by the great white tents—how wonderful and mysterious they did seem too!—and then he found a good place to leave the car and they walked to the main street where, from the second story of an office building, they saw the parade go by.
When the sound of the calliope was growing fainter in the distance and the children were certain sure that every bit of the parade had gone by, John looked away from the window and asked, "Can we go to the circus just as soon as we eat our lunch?"
"Yes, I should think we could," answered Grandfather.
"Then let's eat right now!" said John eagerly.
"Not such a bad idea," laughed Grandfather as he looked at his watch. "Then we'll have plenty of time."
They thanked the kind gentleman in whose office they had been and walked to the car to eat their lunch. It was a good thing Grandfather had left the car out of sight of the circus tent, for it was hard enough to think about eating as it was! Had the tents been in sight it would have been harder still. But on this quiet street and with the wonderful parade to talk about they did full justice to Grandmother's good meal. And when they had finished, even to the tempting little apple pies, one for each person, they started for the circus.
If you've been to a circus yourself, you know something of the sights they saw and of the sounds they heard. If you haven't better get your grandfather (or your father, if your grandfather isn't handy) to take you to see one, for all the interesting things Mary Jane and John heard and saw couldn't be put into one chapter—not even if it was a double long one! They saw curious animals, munching away at their dinner as though they had lived right there in that spot all their lives instead of seven hours. They saw crawling snakes and marvelous birds and the elephants that swayed their trunks backward and forward, backward and forward, as though they were doing morning exercises. And the ponies! The prettiest little ponies! Mary Jane didn't know there were such pretty ponies in all the world. She liked them the best of anything she saw. John liked the monkeys, and Mary Jane and he fed them peanuts that Grandfather bought and they felt so very important because the keeper said that the sign, "Don't feed these animals," needn't bother them!
Then they went into the big tent and found their seats—just in time they were too, for the clowns came running in at that very minute and kept the children, and the grown folks, too, in an uproar of laughter. After the circus really began, it seemed to Mary Jane that she must be in a dream. It didn't seem as though all those jumping, racing, men and horses and elephants and all, could be real! She had to pinch herself hard to be sure she was awake.
Right in the middle a man came around with ice cream cones and John bought one.
"May I buy one too, Grandfather?" asked Mary Jane.
"Just as you like," said Grandfather. "It's your money." And for the first time she remembered the purse with the two nickels that she had all the time held tightly clutched in her hand! She bought the cone and ate it as she watched the circus—calmly indifferent to the fact that it was leaking onto her pretty pink dress. You simply can't notice everything at a circus!
Finally the great show was over. The last of the Cinderella parade slipped behind the curtains and folks began to hurry home. Grandfather took hold of each child and together they climbed over the seats till they reached the safe ground.
"Shall we look at the animals again?" he asked.
"We might try," said Mary Jane doubtfully, "but my looking don't see!"
"Poor child," said Grandfather as he suddenly realized how tired the little girl must be. "I expect your 'lookers' are tired enough to go home." He picked her up and set her on his shoulder and then, grasping John's hand firmly, he made his way out of the crowd.
"But I can't go home yet!" exclaimed John, when he saw they were leaving the grounds. "I haven't spent all my money!"
"Well, we can't go home with any money left, that's a sure thing!" laughed Grandfather. "What do you want to get?"
"Another ice cream cone," said John, as he spied a man going by with a tray.
"All right," said Grandfather, "do you want one too, Pussy?"
"No, I know what I want, but it isn't here yet," said Mary Jane.
"Where is it?" asked Grandfather.
"At the gate," replied Mary Jane. "I saw it when we came in and I want to buy it for my grandmother 'cause she couldn't come."
"That's a good idea," said Grandfather. "You tell me when we come to it."
Mary Jane pointed out the stand where balloons were sold, and with grandfather's help picked out a fine big red one to take to Grandmother.
Of the drive home Mary Jane remembered not a thing. She had seen and heard so much that she just sat and listened while Grandfather and John talked about everything. She almost went to sleep twice—almost but not quite, because she had to stay awake to hold Grandmother's balloon and keep it from blowing out of the car.
Grandmother was watching for them when they drove into the yard and was delighted with her balloon, said she felt exactly as though she had been to the circus herself.
She tied it to the big glass water pitcher so they could see it all the while they were eating their supper and she thanked Mary Jane many times, for thinking to bring it to her.
"I know what I'm going to do first thing in the morning," said John, as he and Mary Jane climbed upstairs to bed. "I'm going to get out that picture and see if they did everything it said."
"Well, I know they did," said Mary Jane positively, "and they did more too, because they did all the noise; I heard 'em!"