“Let’s give a watermelon party!” Penny proposed, immediately considering herself Jerry’s partner in the affair. “We could take the children to a nearby farm and let them gorge themselves!”
“The children would enjoy it, I’m sure,” Miss Anderson smiled. “Can transportation be arranged? We have sixty boys and girls.”
“I’ll take care of everything,” Jerry promised. “Suppose we set tomorrow afternoon as the date.”
“Oh, can’t we have the party at night?” Penny pleaded. “There will be a full moon. A watermelon feast wouldn’t be much fun by daylight.”
Miss Anderson replied that she thought the children might be allowed to attend such a party, providing it were held early in the evening. Penny and Jerry talked with her about various details of the plan, and then drove away from the institution.
“Well, you certainly got me into something,” Jerry chuckled as the car turned into the main road. “Where are we going to throw this party?”
“Oh, any melon farmer will be glad to let the children invade his patch, providing we pay for the privilege,” Penny answered carelessly. “You might turn in at the next farm.”
Her confidence proved to be ill-founded, for Mr. Kahler, the farmer whom they accosted, would not consider the proposition.
“The children will trample the vines, and do a lot of damage,” he declined. “Why don’t you try the Wentover place?”
At the Wentover farm, Jerry and Penny likewise were turned down.