Carrie was fond of declaring that she couldn't "abide" the Riddle Club—she didn't like any of the boys and girls who belonged to it. And yet, strange to say, whatever they did or said had a tremendous fascination for her. She wanted to be with them and listen to them.
"I'm waiting for Mattie Helms to come over," Carrie announced. "I'll come over and sit on your steps, I guess. Are those all the fireworks you have?"
"Well, ours burned up, you know," said Fred, trying hard to make his voice sound pathetic. "Of course, we did the best we could, but we couldn't buy so many things for to-night. Flower-pots and things like that cost too much."
"Firecrackers are cheap, but they don't look pretty at night," Jess observed, unconsciously helping Fred out.
"You ought to see what we're going to have to-night," said Carrie complacently. "Red and green and yellow fire—pinwheels—sky rockets—Roman candles. I guess you can see them from here. I have invited all the Conundrum Club over to our house, or I'd ask you to come over."
"Oh, we can see," Fred assured her.
"Don't you want to set off a snake?" said Polly quietly.
Carrie was as fond of "snakes" as Margy was, and she graciously consented to touch off one of the silvery, wriggling things. Indeed, so pleasant was this that she set off two more without further invitation. Then she tried some of the "baby" firecrackers—setting off half a pack at a time for the fun of seeing them sparkle and hiss—and she burned a package of sparklers and used up a box of torpedoes, aiming at a flower-pot.
"I guess I'll have to go around to Mattie's house and see why she doesn't come," she said, when not another torpedo could she shake from the box. "Don't forget to watch our things to-night."
When she was gone the Riddle Club looked at one another. Polly snickered and Jess laughed outright. Ward and Artie fell into each other's arms and rolled on the lawn, always an indication of their delight.