“Oh, I’ll do that,” cried Neddie eagerly. “I’ll learn my reading lesson and my number work. I haven’t got much. I’ve just got to find out how many apples a man would have left if he bought two peaches for five cents and sold a bushel of potatoes for thirteen musk melons.”
“What a funny thing to want to know,” laughed Beckie. “Who asked you that question?”
“I don’t know,” replied Neddie. “It’s in the book, that’s all I know, and I’ve got to find the answer for myself. I’m not sure, but I think it’s a dozen honey cakes. Now please don’t bother me any more, Beckie, for I’m going to study.”
“Oh, I won’t bother you,” said the little girl bear. “I’ve got to study my own lessons. And after that I’m going to make a sky-blue-pink dress for my new doll, Lillian Cheesecake Clothes-basket.”
Neddie hurried with his studying so that he might go over to the house of Sammie Littletail, the rabbit boy, and see the magic lantern show.
A magic lantern, you know, is something like a moving picture show, only different. I guess you’ve seen one, so I don’t need to tell you about it.
Well, Neddie finished his home school-work, and I guess he did as you boys and girls may often have done—he skipped the hard parts and only took the easy questions, such as how to spell dog, and cat, and rat, and apple, and cake.
Then Neddie put on his hat and coat, and started to go over to Sammie Littletail’s house. It was not a great way there through the woods. The moon was shining brightly, just as it was the night before, when Neddie and Beckie went to Kittie Kat’s party, and Neddie fell into the flour barrel, as I had the pleasure of telling you in the story before this one.
When Neddie got to Sammie Littletail’s house he saw many of his little animal boy friends there, and Sammie was all ready to start the magic lantern show.
And, oh! what a nice show it was! A white sheet was tacked on the wall, and on that the pictures were shown. There was one picture of some little dogs in a country called Germany, walking around on their hind legs and eating pie with a spoon. Then there was another picture of a cow blowing her horns to make a nice tune so the grasshoppers could dance.