The person who is turning the rope for the other to jump, turns it very slowly for three times. Then she turns it fast. Jumping fast is called jumping "pepper," and sometimes jumping slow is called "salt." And I have heard some little girls, when they were jumping rope, call for "mustard and vinegar." But that is very fast indeed—too fast for little girls, I should think. Rose and Vi never jumped faster than pepper.
"Yes, I know I said 'three slow—pepper,'" admitted Vi. "But I didn't want you to give me such fast pepper."
"Oh, well, try it again," said Rose, good-naturedly. "I won't go so fast the next time."
So she began turning the rope again, and Vi started to jump. This time all went well, and Vi, when it came to the "pepper" part, did so well and kept it up so long that Rose at last cried, with a laugh:
"Oh, my arm is tired! Let me rest, Vi!"
"I will," said the little girl. "I'm tired, too. After I rest a minute I'll turn for you."
They sat on the grass under the trees for a while, and then began taking turns jumping again.
"Now let's try a new way," suggested Rose after a bit. "We'll see how high we can jump over the rope."
So they began this game, and pretty soon some little girls from the house across the street came out to play with Rose and Vi. They were from a family that Aunt Jo knew, and had played with the little Bunkers before.
The children had lots of fun, skipping rope, and seeing who could jump the highest. Rose was best at this, though Mabel Potter, one of the little girls from across the street, jumped nearly as high.