“Gertie Halford, whatever would you do with a bear cub? You’d be scared to death of it.” Katy looked at her sister in scornful amazement.
“I’d like to find those stock certificates Father lost,” said Alice. “Perhaps we’ll find them tied round your bear’s neck, Gertie.”
This absurdity made the children laugh as they toiled through the underbrush, which was getting dense, planning merrily. They wandered and explored for about half an hour up and down the bank, finding nothing but a few haw-berries, some sumach leaves, and a pocket full of acorns which Gertie was taking back to Carol to carve into dishes, for her. Carol was an expert with his knife.
Chicken Little had a big scratch on her arm from a thorn bush, and Katy a long tear in her blue gingham dress, which greatly annoyed her.
“Let’s go back to Carol—this isn’t any fun,” she complained.
But Alice had just spied something that interested her.
“I bet I know what we can find that you’ll all like,” she said. “Wild grapes! I see a big vine over on that tree by the rocks. It’s in a perfect thicket and there may be some left.”
It was difficult forcing their way through the bushes. They were almost tempted to give up but Alice was sure she smelled grapes and Chicken Little and Katy were eager to carry back some booty to make the boys curious.
So they plodded on getting so many scratches and slaps from overhanging branches and interlacing bushes that they made a joke of them.
“Mr. Bush, if you catch my hair again, I’ll break a piece out of you,” and Chicken Little gave the offending bush such a shove that it promptly rebounded, grazing her cheek.