Mrs. Merrill noticed that Mary Jane was trying so very hard to be brave so she did her best to help.
“Wasn’t it lucky that officer came by just then!” she said cheerfully. “I can’t for the life of me see why anybody would be mean enough to steal a little girl’s doll cart and I keep thinking we’ll find it somewhere. Come on, Mary Jane, let’s sit down on this settee here till Mrs. Holden comes out. Then perhaps some of you girls will be good enough to go up to the candy shop with me and get some more taffy apples—I suppose those went with the cart!”
Mary Jane stepped over toward her mother, who had already seated herself on the settee at the end of the porch. But before she sat down she just happened to look down toward the ground. The Holden porch had no railing around the side and as Mary Jane was always a little timid about falling she kept a close watch on the end of the porch every time she went near it. She glanced down at the ground and then—her face changed! The sorrowful look vanished and smiles spread like sunshine over her face.
“Look!” she exclaimed, as she pointed to the ground. “Look there!”
A TRIP TO THE ZOO
It wasn’t hard to guess what Mary Jane had found; nothing but her precious doll cart could have made her feel and look so happy. They all ran to the end of the porch, looked over the edge, and there, sure enough, was the birthday cart all tumbled down in a heap. Alice and Frances jumped down, set it up straight and then, with Mrs. Merrill’s help from above, lifted it up to the porch just as the policeman and Mrs. Holden came out of the house.
“Bless my soul!” exclaimed the officer. “Another cart?”
“No, it’s mine!” cried Mary Jane happily. She ran her hands over the hood, the body part and then the wheels to make sure nothing was broken. Everything seemed all right, even the bag of taffy apples was still tucked under the carriage robe that had come loose but had not fallen clear out.