CHAPTER IV
WE TAKE THE FROG TO SCHOOL
Aunt Polly put her railroad ticket into her handbag.
“Now,” she told Tom, fumbling nervously with the handbag’s metal clasp, “try and keep yourself nice and neat while I’m away and wash behind your ears and don’t be late to school and feed the canary and the goldfish and wind the clock Sunday night.”
“I’ll remember,” Tom grinned.
“There’s plenty of baked stuff in the pantry and half of a ham and you know how to fry potatoes and boil eggs. So I warrant you won’t starve. But in lighting fires be careful with your matches and don’t burn down the house.”
Tom waggled, still grinning.
“And feed the cat,” his aunt continued, “and don’t let the sun shine through the windows on the parlor carpet and——”
Here the train for Springfield rumbled into the station. [[28]]