But at last the morning came, warm and sunny and clear and the lunch boxes were packed, the apartment locked up and everybody started toward Lincoln Park feeling happy and ready for fun. The fathers couldn’t come for lunch, but really when all the Holden girls and boys were added to the three Merrills, there was such a crowd that, for the time at least, fathers weren’t so very much missed.
When they reached the park Mary Jane realized, for the first time, how close it was getting to really truly summer. The sun shone with real summer warmth, the lake was blue and beautiful and flowers bloomed on every corner.
“Oh, I’d just like to live in a park all the time,” she exclaimed as she looked around her, “it seems just like home!”
“Yes, it does,” said Mrs. Merrill, with a wee bit of a sigh, “I’m afraid I know some folks who are going to miss their gardens and flower bed this summer.”
“How stupid of me not to have thought of that!” exclaimed Mrs. Holden. “You know it will be just two weeks now till we go up to the lake for all the summer. Why didn’t I think to have you plant stuff in our back garden? Then you could have all the garden you liked right there handy—we always do hate to leave the ground idle.”
“Perhaps we might plant something even yet,” suggested Mrs. Merrill, much delighted with the idea, “we’d love to try.”
But there was no time for further planning just then—John Holden demanded his lunch; Betty made a lively second and in a minute or two a clean grassy place was picked out, the individual lunch boxes were passed out and then, for a few minutes, everybody was quiet.
“I’m going to feed the black bear,” announced Betty, as she paused to pick out another sandwich, “I’m going to feed him peanuts—I saved up enough money for two bagsful.”
“But aren’t you afraid of him?” asked Mary Jane breathlessly.
“Afraid? Pooh!” grunted Betty.