“Can I go?” said Dan, delighted.
“I thought especially of you. Be careful, and never mind the
berries, but sit about and enjoy the lovely things which you know
how to find all about you,” answered Mrs. Bhaer, who
remembered his kind offer to her boy.
“Me too! me too!” sung Rob, dancing with joy, and clapping his
precious pail and cover like castanets.
“Yes, and Daisy and Nan must take good care of you. Be at the
bars at five o’clock, and Silas will come for you all.”
Robby cast himself upon his mother in a burst of gratitude,
promising to bring her every berry he picked, and not eat one.
Then they were all packed into the hay-cart, and went rattling
away, the brightest face among the dozen being that of Rob, as he
sat between his two temporary little mothers, beaming upon the
whole world, and waving his best hat; for his indulgent mamma
had not the heart to bereave him of it, since this was a gala-day to
him.
Such a happy afternoon as they had, in spite of the mishaps which
usually occur on such expeditions! Of course Tommy came to
grief, tumbled upon a hornet’s nest and got stung; but being used to
woe, he bore the smart manfully, till Dan suggested the application
of damp earth, which much assuaged the pain. Daisy saw a snake,
and flying from it lost half her berries; but Demi helped her to fill
up again, and discussed reptiles most learnedly the while. Ned fell
out of a tree, and split his jacket down the back, but suffered no
other fracture. Emil and Jack established rival claims to a certain
thick patch, and while they were squabbling about it, Stuffy
quickly and quietly stripped the bushes and fled to the protection
of Dan, who was enjoying himself immensely. The crutch was no
longer necessary, and he was delighted to see how strong his foot
felt as he roamed about the great pasture, full of interesting rocks
and stumps, with familiar little creatures in the grass, and
well-known insects dancing in the air.
But of all the adventures that happened on this afternoon that
which befell Nan and Rob was the most exciting, and it long
remained one of the favorite histories of the household. Having
explored the country pretty generally, torn three rents in her frock,
and scratched her face in a barberry-bush, Nan began to pick the
berries that shone like big, black beads on the low, green bushes.
Her nimble fingers flew, but still her basket did not fill up as
rapidly as she desired, so she kept wandering here and there to
search for better places, instead of picking contentedly and steadily
as Daisy did. Rob followed Nan, for her energy suited him better
than his cousin’s patience, and he too was anxious to have the
biggest and best berries for Marmar.
“I keep putting ’em in, but it don’t fill up, and I’m so tired,” said
Rob, pausing a moment to rest his short legs, and beginning to
think huckleberrying was not all his fancy painted it; for the sun
blazed, Nan skipped hither and thither like a grasshopper, and the
berries fell out of his pail almost as fast as he put them in, because,
in his struggles with the bushes, it was often upside-down.
“Last time we came they were ever so much thicker over that wall
great bouncers; and there is a cave there where the boys made a
fire. Let’s go and fill our things quick, and then hide in the cave
and let the others find us,” proposed Nan, thirsting for adventures.
Rob consented, and away they went, scrambling over the wall and
running down the sloping fields on the other side, till they were
hidden among the rocks and underbrush. The berries were thick,
and at last the pails were actually full. It was shady and cool down
there, and a little spring gave the thirsty children a refreshing drink
out of its mossy cup.
“Now we will go and rest in the cave, and eat our lunch,” said Nan,
well satisfied with her success so far.
“Do you know the way?” asked Rob.