CHAPTER I
THE KITCHEN PEOPLE
ALL the Kitchen People were terribly excited.
"I see my finish!" puffed Tea Kettle from his perch on the stove.
"That's slang!" snapped Sauce Pan, who sat near by.
"Slang or no slang," said Tea Kettle, "I'll melt if somebody doesn't come fill me soon."
"Where's the cook? Where's the mistress?" asked Boiler Pan.
"Why, the cook's left—left this morning and the mistress's sick. What's that I smell burning?"
"That's the potatoes in the oven," said Toaster.
"Oh, my lid!" cried Tea Kettle holding his nose. "Pour on water! Quick!"
"Whew!" exclaimed Coffee Pot.
"Whew!" cried Pie Plate.
"Whew!" clanged Big Iron Pot.
"Whew!" mimicked Sauce Pan. "Whew!—That won't help! If you say Whew! to an oven door, will it open?—Somebody open the door!"
"Good idea, Saucy!" exclaimed Tea Kettle. "You might try it yourself!"
"Owoooh! O-w-o-o-o-h!" strained little Sauce Pan at the heavy door. "O-w-o-o-o-h! I can't-t budge it! Cauch! Cawc! Ochee!" he coughed. "What smoke! Somebody else come try!"
"Get out of the way, then," said Big Iron Pot, making heavily toward the stove.
"Knew your arms were too short," laughed Tea Kettle, seeing Iron Pot couldn't reach the knob.
"Well, they're as long as yours," said Iron Pot angrily.
"Kick it open!" sug-gest-ed Sauce Pan. "Everybody allowed one kick!"
"First go!" exclaimed Iron Pot.
Whack! came a muffled sound. Then, "Oh, my poor feet! Oh! Oh!"
"What's the matter?" asked Sauce Pan.
"Nothing," said Big Iron Pot, hopping around on one little leg, and holding the other with his hands. "Only I wish you'd had 'First go!'"
"Well," declared Tea Kettle, "unless help comes soon, we may as well give up all hope of rescue. This is dreadful!"
"Listen, then," ticked Mantel Clock, who didn't mind the smoke. "I know a secret: the dear little girl——"
"Oh, yes, we know!" cried the Kitchen People.
"Well!" asked Mantel Clock, "what do you know?"
"The little girl—that there is a little girl——"
"Is that all you know?" demanded Mantel Clock. "Now, when people interrupt——"
"Just dying to tell," said Sauce Pan in a loud whisper.
"Please, please, tell us the secret," begged the Kitchen People.
"Well," Mantel Clock ran on, "the dear little girl that lives in our house is going to learn to cook. What d'you say if we all turn in and help her?"
"Goody-goody!" Aunty Rolling Pin laughed so she nearly rolled off the table.
Just then the kitchen door-knob turned, and every one of the Kitchen People was as quiet as a
