"All the same," said Mary Jane firmly, and it was the first word she had said since they pulled her out, "water's wet! And it's lots colder than I thought it would be and the bottom of the water's hard—so there!"
Everybody laughed at that, and then they all felt better—the scare was over.
By the time Mary Jane's clothes were dry, everybody had a basketful of flowers. Alice and Ruth straightened them all out neatly and tied them into bunches while their shoes and stockings were drying. As the girls all lived in the neighborhood, they decided to put the bunches in a tub in Alice's basement.
"Then we can come over at eight o'clock in the morning and put them in the gift basket and take them to Miss Heath's before breakfast," said Frances. And so it was planned.
Alice and Ruth put on their shoes and stockings and Mrs. Merrill dressed Mary Jane in her dried out clothes—and how funny they did look too—and then the picnic started for home.
Mr. Merrill was just driving up to the house when they got back home and he stared in amazement when he saw Mary Jane.
"What have they done to your dress and your hair ribbon?" he asked.
"They didn't do anything but just dry it," explained Mary Jane. "I doned it myself. I bent over to look at the fishies and the water hit me and the bottom was hard and I got wet and Alice and Ruth pulled me out and everybody dried me and will you please put my flowers on the train for Aunt Effie?"
"Well, I'd call all that enough for one day," replied father. "It's lucky the water wasn't deep—it's better to feel a hard bottom than none at all, little girl."
"And will you mail my flowers?" asked Mary Jane.