“O, Father, I wrote you all about them when each one came off,” objected Ethel Blue.
“Uncle Richard will hear what some of them are when we give out our prizes,” said Helen. “We’ve decided to give prizes for certain especial successes. Ethel Brown, for instance, will be so good as to rise and receive a reward for reciting more poems than we ever knew could be learned by one small brain.”
Ethel Brown rose and received, while the rest applauded, a small sieve.
“Why a sieve?” inquired Margaret.
“The sieve is symbolic. Ethel takes in verse through her eyes and lets it out through her lips just like a sieve.”
After the laughter subsided, Helen continued:
“Our next prize is for Grandfather Emerson, who supplied Ethel Brown with much of the material with which she has favored us.”
Mr. Emerson was decorated with a miniature well and pump.
“I suppose this is the fount of English undefiled on which I drew,” he commented.
The president went on with her distribution. The jokes were all mild but for the Club members each had its meaning. James received a small pair of crutches, because he was the only one who had broken a leg.