“I guess I like lemonade as well as you do, greedy, but I’d rather go to the circus without having it, than to miss the whole thing.”
“Well, so would I, silly. But do you honestly think grandfather would be so mean?”
“It wouldn’t be mean. It would be only fair,” declared Jane stoutly.
“Well, we’ll see about it in the morning,” answered Christopher, scuttling back to bed.
And that was all that Jane could get out of him, so that she went to sleep with her conscience only half clear. Because of course her fifteen cents would not do any good without Christopher’s. She knew enough about the prices of things to be sure of that.
Grandfather and grandmother were so cold and formal at breakfast the next morning, and avoided all mention of the circus so carefully that Christopher was forced to decide that for once Jane was right and they would better buy the half bushel of apples to show their repentance. They longed to consult Mrs. Hartwell-Jones, but that would mean telling the whole story, which they did not wish to do. Of course they did not know that “the lady who wrote books” had already heard the story from grandmother and had laughed over it until she cried.
After breakfast they held a hurried counsel and then ran out to the barn to find out who was going to the village that day. It turned out that Joshua himself was going, to have one of the horses shod. At first he refused to take the twins with him, saying that they were in disgrace and must remain quietly at home. It was only after they had explained their errand (under the most binding promises of secrecy) that he consented.
The ride into the village was interesting at all times, and now the whole countryside, ablaze with red and yellow circus posters, made driving between the decorated rail-fences most entertaining and lively. Joshua stopped in front of each pictorial long enough for the children to spell out the account of the wonders foretold and admire the gorgeous pictures, and then took away most of the charm by saying regretfully, each time they drove on:
“Just to think, you young ’uns might have seen all them things—if you hadn’t stole an’ eat up your gran’pa’s apples.”
“Suppose it should be Letty’s circus!” exclaimed Jane. “See, Kit, in that picture over there there are Shetland ponies. Oh, Kit, just suppose it should be!”