THE SCHOOL PICNIC

T

HE Saturday chosen for the picnic dawned clear and warm and there was no sleep for anyone in the Willis family after six o'clock. Shirley and Sarah had to be forcibly restrained from investigating the boxes on the kitchen table and Winnie finally decided to finish packing them before breakfast, in order to "get a moment's peace" as she said.

Sarah flatly refused to go to the picnic unless her red tie could be found, not that she wanted to wear it for decorative purposes, she carefully explained, but because she thought she could catch minnows in it. There was a brook running through the picnic field and Sarah meant to explore it thoroughly.

By the time Rosemary had found the tie, Shirley had managed to upset the shoe blacking on her white shoes and had to be hastily refitted with tan socks and oxfords. Rosemary, flying down the hall with a new pair of shoelaces for her sister, brushed past Doctor Hugh on his way to the breakfast table.

"Is there a fire, or is it only the picnic?" he asked humorously, and she assured him that it was "always like this" on picnic mornings.

"Well I don't envy the job of the chaperones," said the doctor feelingly, when they were at last seated and Aunt Trudy was pouring his coffee. "You and Shirley," he said to Sarah, "want to do as Rosemary says to-day."

"Then I hope she doesn't say much," retorted Sarah ungraciously.

"If I thought you meant to be as rude as you sometimes sound, Sarah, I'd read you a lecture on politeness," said her brother, rather sternly. "But we won't spoil a holiday by bickering. Can you all go together in the same motor truck?"

"Mr. Oliver said we could do as we pleased, as long as none of the trucks were overcrowded," explained Rosemary. "I'm going to try and have Sarah and Shirley in the same car with me; you see if three other girls want to go together, that will just even it up."

"All right, children, have a good time and don't eat too many sandwiches," said the doctor cheerfully. "I'm sorry I can't stay to see you off, but I'll hear all about the fun to-night. Try not to go crazy, Auntie, before these Indians are safely out of the house."

As soon as he had gone, the girls began to "pack up" though the motor trucks were not to leave the school grounds till half-past nine. They were all dressed in white and each carried a sweater, Sarah's red, Rosemary's blue and Shirley's apple green. Winnie had made up a generous box of lunch for each, and three vacuum bottles, a surprise from Doctor Hugh, were waiting them, filled with lemonade.

"I think we'd better go early, Winnie," said Rosemary, "on account of getting in the same truck. The earlier we are, the better chance we have of getting seats together."

"Yes, it's always well to go early to any picnic," replied Winnie wisely. "The fun can't begin till you start, so why delay?"

The motor trucks were drawn up before the school when the girls reached the grounds and a group of boys and girls were standing about them. They made a parade showing, being six in number and gaily decorated with flags and bunting. There were two teachers assigned to each truck and Rosemary was delighted to find that Miss Parsons and her class teacher, Miss Penfield, were to be in charge of one of the grammar school trucks.

"Why I don't see any reason why you and your sisters shouldn't be together," Miss Penfield answered when Rosemary asked her about Sarah and Shirley. "Hop in here, and you'll be placed and may not have to move."

But just before the trucks were ready to start, Nina Edmonds and Fannie Mears hurried up. They tried to climb into the truck where Rosemary sat.

"Got my load now," said the driver promptly, but pleasantly. "You'll have to go in the next car."

"That's full of primary kids—we don't belong in there with them," protested Fannie. "Oh, look, there are Sarah and Shirley Willis—they can't go in this car, they belong in the primary grades."

"Now Fannie, don't be disagreeable," begged Miss Penfield. "Rosemary wants her younger sisters with her which is perfectly natural. It won't hurt you to ride in one of the other trucks. Do it to be obliging, if for no other reason."

"I'm sure Fannie doesn't want to be disobliging, Miss Penfield," said Nina smoothly, "but Mr. Oliver distinctly said there were two trucks for the grammar grades and that we should not go out of our assigned cars. Besides, Fannie and I want to sit with our friends and they're all in this car. Rosemary needn't move, but I think Sarah and Shirley should go where they belong."

Miss Penfield flushed with vexation and annoyance. Mr. Oliver had made just that ruling and she knew that Nina was quoting the letter of his order, while ignoring the spirit. If she chose to make a scene she could probably send the two girls to the other car, but it was a question whether in attempting to enforce her commands she might not at the same time spoil the day for Rosemary.

"Are you crowded, Miss Penfield?" called Jack Welles, standing up in the first truck and looking back. "We have room for three up here; send them along, if you need space."

"You go, Rosemary, and take Sarah and Shirley," said Miss Penfield quickly. "Now come in here, Nina and Fannie, and for pity's sake let us have no more of this jangling."

The high school cars held the coveted lead in the line and Jack happened to be in the first one. Rosemary and Sarah and Shirley were welcomed joyously by the older boys and girls and Nina and Fannie furiously regretted their insistence. They would have liked to go in the high school truck and if they had only waited, or had been less determined in their demands, they might have found places there.

When the large field, where the Eastshore picnics were always held, was reached, the trucks were parked in a circle and the pupils scattered to amuse themselves according to their varying ages and ideas. Shirley joined the little girls and shrieking games of "Tag" were immediately under way. Sarah, ignoring the suggestions of her classmates that they hunt for wildflowers, dropped flat on her stomach and began a search for bugs. Rosemary left the lunch boxes under the eyes of the teachers who gathered in a ring and took out knitting and fancy work, and went off with half a dozen girls her age to gather and wash wild-grape vine leaves to serve as plates at the luncheon.

As it is at all picnics, no one could really think of anything long, till the boxes were unpacked and the good things set out. The boys helped by getting in everyone's way, by tipping over the bottles of milk and dropping ants and spiders on the tablecloths to frighten the girls. There were great slabs of moss-covered rock all about the field and these, when covered with cloths, made the nicest kind of tables. The groups gathered to suit themselves and when Rosemary found that Jack Welles, Jerry and Fred Gordon, Ben Kelsey, Norman Cox and Eustice Gray were gravitating toward the rock she had selected and that Shirley and Sarah were each bringing a playmate to eat with them, she was thankful that Winnie had had the packing of the boxes.

There were more than enough sandwiches and stuffed eggs and cup cakes and strawberry tarts to satisfy every one and the boys forgot to be shy and, to Rosemary's delight, helped themselves without urging, quite as though they knew Winnie had had their pleasure in mind, as indeed the good soul had.

"We're going to play ball this afternoon," said Jack, when it was a mortal impossibility for any one to eat more. "Mr. Hamlin gave orders that we must go far enough away so that there would be no danger of striking any of the kids with the ball. We're going up the brook away to an open pasture. Can we help you with the dishes or anything?" he added thoughtfully.

"There won't be any dishes," smiled Rosemary. "Winnie put in only paper plates and napkins, and it won't be wasteful to leave the little that's left for the birds. If you want to bury the boxes, that will be nice; Hugh always detests any litter left around after a picnic."

"We'll dig a hole and bury all the trash," said Eustice Gray instantly. "Come on, fellows, we'll go collect it."

"But you haven't any shovel," said the practical Sarah.

"A-ha, you're a good detective, but you don't know motor trucks," replied Eustice, grinning at her, for he had taken a fancy to the odd child who had screamed to him not to mash the spider he had fished out of his lemonade cup. "All good motor trucks take a spade with them, under the seat, to use in case they are stuck on some muddy road."

"Oh!" said Sarah. "Then I'll come help you."

And she trotted around after the boys till they had collected the litter and trash left by each group of picnickers and buried it neatly in a hole they filled in and stamped down firmly. She would have gone with them to play ball, but Rosemary held her back.

"Well, if I can't play ball, I'll go hunt snakes," decided Sarah whose frock was torn and dirty already, but whose streaked face was radiant with the good time she was having.

All the boys, big and little, had disappeared immediately after luncheon, to play ball in more distant fields. The farmers of the neighborhood were perfectly willing to lend their pasture land for a day and there were no crops to be spoiled by tramping feet for several miles along the brook.

The younger girls gathered around one of the primary teachers who promised to tell them stories and most of the grammar and high school girls had brought their crocheting and were ready to sit quietly a while and exchange patterns. Rosemary, however, did not feel in what she called a "knitting mood" and when Bessie Kent suggested that they go wading in the brook, she jumped at the idea. A dozen girls were found to be aching for a frolic and Miss Penfield smilingly told them to be young while they could, but not to wade too far and not to stay too long.

The water was icy cold, and much laughter and shrieking advertised the first step, but as soon as they were used to the temperature only the exhilaration remained. Led by Rosemary, they started slowly up stream."Good gracious, if Nina Edmonds and Fannie Mears aren't coming, too," whispered Bessie, glancing back over her shoulder. "Wonder why they want to tag along?"

If she had only known it, Nina and Fannie were feeling decidedly left out of things. They longed to go with the high school girls who persistently ignored them and they were not at all popular with their own classmates. When they found that they were to be left on the edge of the circle of crocheters, they determined to follow the wading party. Nina privately thought she was far too old to indulge in such a silly pastime, and Fannie hated walking anyway, but at the moment wading was better than doing nothing.

"Who's that shouting?" asked Rosemary, as they rounded a bend in the brook and heard a distant noise.

"Must be the boys," replied Bessie. "Yes, see, there they are—way over there; they're playing ball on the other side of the brook, a couple of fields further on."

The girls could see the running figures plainly, and from time to time a bellow of pure joy and excitement wafted down to them.

"Don't they have fun—" Rosemary was beginning, when a scream startled them all."I've cut my foot!" shrieked Fannie Mears. "Oh, the whole bottom of the brook must be covered with broken glass. Look how it bleeds!"

She lifted her foot from the water and Nina, who caught a glimpse of the widening gash, cried out in horror. Fannie let her foot fall and struck the glass again. She screamed even more loudly and began to beat the water with her hands.

"Look out, you won't be able to see the glass!" cried Rosemary, turning and dashing toward her. "Stand still, Fannie, just a minute."

Rosemary stooped and felt carefully down about Fannie's feet. Her hands struck a broken bottle and she lifted it out and tossed it on the bank.

"That's what did it," she said calmly. "Hurry and let me see your foot—wait I'll pull you up on the bank, Fannie."

But when Fannie saw her cut foot, which was bleeding profusely, and the girls, who had crowded around saw it and her white, frightened face, a veritable panic started. Fannie slipped into the brook, crying with pain and fright, apparently believing that if her foot was under water and out of sight it must stop bleeding, and the other girls began a chorus of shrill screaming that tried Rosemary to the point of exasperation.

"How can you be so silly!" she stormed. "Somebody hold Fannie's foot while I tie it up; I know first-aid. She's losing blood all the time. Somebody help me—Oh, don't stand there like that! Bessie, can't you hold her foot just a minute?"

"I couldn't!" Bessie shivered and drew back. "My knees are wabbling now, Rosemary. Blood always makes me so sick!"

"Then run," said Rosemary desperately, seeing that she could expect no help from the frightened girls about her. "Run, and tell some of the boys to come quick!"