The Author.
CONTENTS.
| CHAPTER I. | |
|---|---|
| PAGE | |
| The Little Brown House | [ 9] |
| CHAPTER II. | |
| A Badgertown Evening | [ 28] |
| CHAPTER III. | |
| Johnny | [ 50] |
| CHAPTER IV. | |
| Can She go to Mrs. King’s Reception? | [ 66] |
| CHAPTER V. | |
| Mrs. Jasper King’s Reception | [ 83] |
| CHAPTER VI. | |
| Grace | [ 97] |
| CHAPTER VII. | |
| Polly makes Matters Right | [ 114] |
| CHAPTER VIII. | |
| Alexia collects the News | [ 128] |
| CHAPTER IX. | |
| Phronsie settles the Matter | [ 144] |
| CHAPTER X. | |
| Success for Polly | [ 160] |
| CHAPTER XI. | |
| On the way to the Beebes | [ 176] |
| CHAPTER XII. | |
| At the Beebes | [ 189] |
| CHAPTER XIII. | |
| Found | [ 203] |
| CHAPTER XIV. | |
| Home Again | [ 217] |
| CHAPTER XV. | |
| Some Hingham calls | [ 229] |
| CHAPTER XVI. | |
| Mr. Marlowe helps Matters Along | [ 245] |
| CHAPTER XVII. | |
| Alexia has Grace to Herself | [ 257] |
| CHAPTER XVIII. | |
| Grandpapa does the Right Thing | [ 270] |
| CHAPTER XIX. | |
| Trying to be Cheery | [ 282] |
| CHAPTER XX. | |
| Fire! | [ 296] |
| CHAPTER XXI. | |
| Are They all Safe? | [ 309] |
| CHAPTER XXII. | |
| The Shadow turns to Sunshine | [ 322] |
| CHAPTER XXIII. | |
| The Rest of the Peppers are off | [ 340] |
| CHAPTER XXIV. | |
| All together | [ 353] |
| CHAPTER XXV. | |
| Everything depends on Polly | [ 367] |
| CHAPTER XXVI. | |
| Destruction threatens the Little BrownHouse | [ 383] |
| CHAPTER XXVII. | |
| Phronsie’s Marriage Bells! | [ 400] |
| CHAPTER XXVIII. | |
| Home to the Little Brown House | [ 416] |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
| Phronsie and the children | [ Frontispiece.] |
| PAGE | |
| “There! I got it all out alone by myself,” said Barby | [ 15] |
| “Oh, goody! here comes Mr. Tisbett,” howled King | [ 26] |
| “Oh, what richness!” sighed Polly | [ 29] |
| “Dance me up and down, daddy!” screamed Elyot | [ 32] |
| “We’ve come out to dinner, Polly,” said Alexia | [ 42] |
| “Somebody take off this!” | [ 46] |
| Tying on her big garden hat, Phronsie went across theroad | [ 55] |
| “Johnny! open your eyes,” cried Dick | [ 60] |
| “Oh, he’s rolled off,” cried Polly, aghast | [ 63] |
| “The idea of a school-girl going to a reception,” saidAunt Fay | [ 69] |
| Grace darted behind a tall fern, and hid her hot, distressedface | [ 86] |
| “Are you ill, Miss Tupper—or—Strange?” and shelaughed unpleasantly | [ 91] |
| “I shall get my Mamsie,” cried a small, determinedvoice | [ 101] |
| Elyot perched at the foot, where he surveyed Grace athis leisure | [ 106] |
| So Polly went off, her baby on her arm | [ 109] |
| “Dear child,” said Polly, “I know just how you feel” | [ 116] |
| “Polly’s gone to town,” said Phronsie, cutting off someblossoms to add to the bundle in her hand | [ 131] |
| Phronsie led the little old white-haired woman to thevacated seat | [ 150] |
| The loving-cup was filled with pure cold water to thebrim, “The only thing worthy of it,” said Polly | [ 168] |
| With her arms full, Phronsie entered the kitchen | [ 174] |
| Elyot gathered up his small soul with the best courage hecould muster, and sat down on a big stone by the sideof the road | [ 181] |
| He propped Barby up against the upper step, and ran andpeered into the little window strung with shoes | [ 193] |
| There was Barby in a little wooden chair, eating breadand butter with a very sticky face | [ 215] |
| “The ‘Scrannage Girls,’ as their neighbors called them” | [ 221] |
| “There, now, it’s done, Grandpapa, dear,” said Phronsie,tucking the bit of paper under the old door | [ 241] |
| Phronsie leaned her head upon Mamsie’s old rocking-chair | [ 247] |
| “Ar-goo!” said Algernon, finding it very pleasant to pullat the pillow-shams | [ 262] |
| Barby hurried over to Grace. “I’m sorry, too,” shesaid: “and I’ll take the bears” | [ 290] |
| “Now, Celestine,” said Mr. Bayley, rolling a fresh cigarette,“the Peppers are perfectly well able to take careof themselves.” | [ 297] |
| “Bless the Lord, Phronsie,” he lifted his sea-cap reverently,“we’re almost there.” | [ 305] |
| “The sailor roared out, ‘The ship’s on fire!’ and wasplunging on” | [ 312] |
| “I must go to Grandpapa,” cried Phronsie, “save her;”and dashed off by herself | [ 316] |
| And I say, “Boo, grandmamma!” laughed Barby confidentially | [ 324] |
| Polly threw herself on her knees by Mamsie’s big four-poster | [ 327] |
| “Of course,” cried Polly, with kindling eyes, “splendidold Joel would do just that very thing, Davie” | [ 333] |
| “She’s gone; and I don’t never ’xpect to live to see heragain, nor him, nor those pretty creeters,” went onGrandma | [ 350] |
| “There,” said Joel, marching across the room, “I’m asgood as new, made over, and patched up, and warranted.” | [ 356] |
| Oh, when Polly found herself in the dear arms, and feltthe dear eyes upon her | [ 365] |
| Old Mr. King stood in front of Polly waiting for her toproceed | [ 374] |
| “O my bressed Chilluns!” mourned Candace | [ 391] |
| Johnny whirled around to see the heap of papers andshavings on the floor in the merriest little blaze imaginable | [ 397] |
| “We might as well all be dead, as to have the littlebrown house burnt up,” said Alexia | [ 403] |
| “An’ I want to hev the priv’lege to drive yer par uptoo,” said Mr. Tisbett | [ 421] |
| The little children from the Dunraven Home marchedaround Phronsie and her husband, each giving her awhite rose as they passed | [ 433] |
PHRONSIE PEPPER.
CHAPTER I.
THE LITTLE BROWN HOUSE.
“O CHILDREN!” said Phronsie softly, “what are you doing?”
“They’re pulling all the hair out of my mamsie’s cushion,” shouted King-Fisher, in a tone of anger; and, struggling with the two delinquents on the floor, he bestowed several smart pulls on the chubby shoulders bent over their task.