"Just like it cracked a cannon ball!" cried Hal, and he was in such a hurry to get down the cellar steps that he jumped two at a time.
That might have been all right, only Roly-Poly, the little fat poodle dog, did the same thing. He became tangled up in Hal's legs, and, a moment later, the little boy and the dog were rolling toward the bottom of the steps, over and over just like a pumpkin.
"Oh!" cried Mab, holding fast to the handrail, a little frightened.
"Oh my!" exclaimed Mamma Blake at the top of the cellar steps. "What has happened?"
"Oh my goodness me sakes alive and some orange pudding!" exclaimed
Aunt Lolly. "I just knew something would happen!"
But nothing much did, after all, for Daddy Blake, as soon as he heard Hal falling, ran to the foot of the stairs, and there he caught his little boy before Hal had bounced down many steps.
"There you are!" cried Daddy Blake, as he set Hal upright on his feet.
"Not hurt a bit; are you?"
"N-n-n-n-no!" stammered Hal, as he caught his breath, which had almost gotten away from him. "I'm not hurt. Is Roly-Poly?"
Roly was whirling about, barking and trying to catch his tail, so I guess he was not much hurt. The truth was that both Hal and Roly were so fat and plump, that falling down a few cellar steps did not hurt them in the least.
"Well, now we'll look at the burst water pipe," said Daddy Blake, when the excitement was over. The water had stopped spurting out now, though there was quite a puddle of it on the cellar floor by the tubs.