Show 16 r by alie bombs kerrill corn pany miss fairy has her first f beau she flau twins and they prepare 10 0 even the score in a ruthless and unforgettable manner mr starr a widower methodist m minister inister cornea comes to mount blount murk mark la lato to take charge of the congregation he has five daughters prudence the eldest and mothers fairy carol and lark the twins and con constance st anca the baby babi the newcomers stir the curio curiosity sity of nil all mount mark bark tand the ladles ladies aid society loses losenno lo no time it in getting acquainted asking myriad questions and offering advice that wanted prudence who Is nineteen has ifer her hands full with the mischievous tevous twins and connie they have just engineered gine ered a raid on a neighboring apple orchard As the actual culprit connie la is ta taking klag punishment without telling on the twins CHAPTER IV continued 6 that was the end of supper no one attempted to eat another bite Aft after erthe the theelder u older girls I 1 had gone into the sitting room carol and lark went about their deir work with stricken faces they asked 1 if they might speak to bon constance but prudence went in with x them to say good night to her the twins broke down end cried as they saw the pitiful lifted figure with the wan andrear and tear stained face they threw their arms around her passionately and kissed her many times but they went to io bed without saying anything it if was aas a sorry night for the twins the next morning they set off to school with no chance for anything but a brief good morning with connie glyen in the alie presence presence of prudence half flay down the parsonage walk carol said oh wait a minute lark I 1 left my notebook on the table and lark walked slowly while carol went rushing i back she found prudence in the katchen id and whispered here heres a note prud prudence dont read it until after ive gone to school at ten oclo ck y you ou may read it will Il you promise prudence Prud ened laughed laugh ed a little but she promised and laid the note calef carefully iL away to waittie wait the appointed hour for its its perusal As the c clock I 1 ock st struck ruck ten tea she went to the mantle ma ale and took it jovn this if what carol had written 4 oh prudence do please forgive me and dont don t punish connie any more you can punish me any way you like and allbe ie glad of it jt it casall was all my fault I 1 made her go a and nd geathe get the apples for me a and nd I 1 ate them connie hdldn t eat one of them she said stolen apples would not taste avery very good etwas it was all my fault and im so BO sorry borry 4 As prudence read this her ber face grew very stern carols caroli fault I 1 at that prudence heard someone running through the hall aryl aro thrust the note hate hastily into her dress diess it was lark and she flung herself wildly upon prudence sobbing bitterly what Is the ahe matter barkr she cried really frigli fen ed are you sick ile heartsick artrick art sick all walled wailed lark 1 I told the teacher I 1 friis ilek so eo I 1 could come home but im not oh prudence I 1 know despise and abominate me all he the rest of your we life and everybody will and andl I 1 deserve it vor for I 1 stole those apples myself prudence was surprised tind and puzzled guzzled she drew the note from her pocket and gave gd A it to lark carpl carpi gave me that thai before she went to school she explained istead iland it and tell bell me what apu are driving at I 1 think thin kyou you are both crazy pi or ma maybe boudro sou aro just crying to shield poor poo r connie 40 lark read carols nate note and gasped and burst out laughing laugh effig I 1 the shame the 06 bitter weeping and nervousness iad rendered her hysterical end and now fihe Y laughed and an d cried until prudence was avas alarmed again tt in aln time however lark laik waa explain we both did it sh gasped uio the skull and atiel aa we both told thet the truth ruih about it if tf I 1 prudence laughed biell liea she sought of loyal little sobbing ill all through the nf rule fb tier eyes again S sn went quickly to the telephone tand 0 ca called 4 1644 up 1 I we ja r K t i y A r iv may I 1 speak to ao constance starr mr jmeal she asked itis if Is very important port por tant atit this Is prudence her sister and when connla connie came to the telephone she cried oh you blessed little child why you tell mea me will you yeii forgive forgty me co connie atile youre a dear sweet good little darling what you are ah prudence pruden celt 1 that Thu was allcon all con nie me said but something in her voice tn made ade prudence hang up uie i receiver qu quickly and cry bitter bitterly lyl I 1 that noon prudence ce pronounced Judg judgment menton on the sinners but auf her ibes twinkled for carol jand and lark had bad scolded each other roundly for giving things away awall I 1 connie should have refused to obey obby you she said gently holding connie in her arms but she has been punished more than alian enough but you twins 1 in the first place aright now abolish them the skull and crossbones forever e berand and ever and you can cannot play ju in the barn bara again tor for a month I 1 and you must go over to the averys this afternoon and tell them about lt it ah and pay for the apples and you must send all of your spending money tor for the next month to that woman who Is gathering up things for the bad little children in there the reform forra school that willhelm will help you kemem remember ber what hap happens pens to boys and girls who gets get in the habit of taking things on the spur sir of the moment 1 I the twins ae accepted ceped till all of this graciously cious clou sly ly except that which referred to confessing their sin to their neighbors that did hurt I 1 the twins were so eo su perlor and 4 admirable I 1 they bear to ruin their ire reputations but Piu prudence defice stood firm in spite of thele their weeping and walling and that afternoon two shamefaced shame faced sorry girls crept meekly in at the averys door to make their peace but about the skull and crossbones its mostly punishment for me prue said co connie anle regretfully forthe for the twins have been in etever it ever since we came to mount mark and I 1 never got in at at allar it AndT and I 1 wanted them to call me lady magdalena and connie conate sighed CHAPTER V lessons in etiquette connie was lying flat on her back near the reil register sier the twins were sitting on the floor near her hearing bearing each other conjugate latin verbs and prudence with her darning basket was earnestly trying to get three pairs of wearable stockings out of eleven hosiery remnants so friary found them as she came in radiant and glowing glorious day she said glancing impartially at her sisters just glorious connie you should be out of doors this minute by all means twins arent you grown up enough to sit on chairs or wont your reach the floor babble eugene babler you know Is coming to spend the evening prud prudence the whole family came to attention at this oh goo goody dyll 1 cried connie lets make taffy yes agreed carol with enthusiasm carol was always enthusiastic on the subject of something to eat yes and what else shall we have you will likely have pleasant dreams carol was the cool retort you twins and connie will not put in appearance at all prue will serve the refreshments and will eat cat with us Babb babble leand and I 1 shall spend the evening in the front room the front room echoed prudence thier room la Is much cheerier and more homelike well babble a member of the family you know said F fairy airy you are doing your best sniffed carol now yov you girls must understand right off that things are different here from what they were at Ex mInser the proper thing Is to receive callers caller S privately without the family en masse sitting baand by and superintending super intending etiquette you know and one must always serve refreshments more etiquette qi iette men are such greedy ant animals mals they do not care to go places where the tha eats arent forthcoming men genf f are you referring to this babbling creature now interposed carol buchl said lark but wont it be rath rather er poky just ast sitting inthe front e room oord by yourselves a all 11 evening asked prudence doubtfully ignoring the offended twins oh I 1 dare say eay it will buelta but its the proper thing to do said fairy complacently Would nf rit it be more fun to have the girls in for d a little while persisted prudence oh it might but it ofil t be the proper proper thing at all college e men en do not bareto be entertained by babies no I 1 snapped Lark the wis wisdom dorn of bab babies es Is too deep for these these these men in embryo this was sor ao exquisitely said that darkwa lark was quite restored bolam to amiability by it ta in embryo had been Neen added to her vocabulary that very day in the biology class dass and carol said ouch lt 1 I 1 with such whole admiration that hat larks spirit soared among the clouds S she lic had scored 1 ikid and what shill shall we serve theta them urged prudence 1 I suppose it IC would lividly eardly do to pop corri corn would it no In fidd this Is the first time and ana i we v e mus must t do soni something ething extra bab artl balers all the rage at school and the garl ar frantic with lealou sy because bave ICU cut everybody else 0 butr 1 do b ke him fairy don dont you think lies tiresome g he talks so eo much it seems to me I 1 to be ba suret sure I 1 like him hes great fun 4 iles hes always joking and nehei bevec has 4 h sensible thought and anc ba hates s alfi fly the only real reason i r c A instead of going to a big college in the east bast Is because bis father Is a trustee well well serve bere oyster stew then now will yo yau u twins run ran downtown for the oysters asked arkid prudenca ace briskly who Us demanded lark andl indignantly 91 and ungrammatically do you think wo we can carry home oysters asters for this babbling young prince not so sol I 1 let F fairy a try go after the oysters I 1 oh yes I 1 think go all right run bun along ond bo be quick for a few seconds the twins gazed at each other studiously neither neith er spoke without a word they went uris upstairs fairs to prepare e for their e errand ak they icy whispered softly aly going through the upper hall twins I 1 you must hurry I 1 this was prudence at the bottom of the stairs and the twins set off quito quite burri hurriedly ri edly their first call was at th the meat market A pint of oysters said lark briefly when he brought them to her sh she a smelled them suspiciously then carol smelled have you got any rotten ones she demanded no he answered laughing we dont keep that kind the twins sighed and hurried next door to the 9 grocers roc erli 1 knickels A nickels worth of pepper tho the strongest you have this was quickly settled fettled and tho the grave faced twins retook betook themselves to the corner drug store A we we want something with a perfectly adf awful ill smell larke lark explained e soberly what kind of a smell we dont care what kind but it mastbe must be like something rotten or dead it if you haveit have it 11 what do you want it for we wont want to put it in a room to give it a horrible smell for an hour houi or so lark winked nt at him solemnly its iti a joke she further furt fier elucidated lucida i ted 1 I see his eyes twinkled I 1 4 t I 1 think I 1 can fix you up A moment m later he handed her a small bottle just sprinkle this over the garpet it wont do any harmand harm and it smells like thunder it costs a quarter carol frowned 1 1 I sup poe WWII have to take it she said but bu t its 3 ta A nickels worth of pepper pretty expensive I 1 hate to have druggists get such a lot of 0 money he laughed aloud 1 I liate hate to have you i ou get a good licking tomorrow too but get it just the same or I 1 miss my guess when the twins arrived home fairy was just cutting the candy she had made its delicious she said to prudence heres a nice dishful for YOU and tha girls pitch in twins and help yourselves its very deiy nice the twins waved her haughtily away no thank you t they said we eat that candy with relish we are aie then ahey they went upstairs but not to their own room at once instead they slipped noiselessly into the front bedroom and blittle a little later garol carol came out into the hall and stood listening at the beati of the he t stairs as though on guard be 1130 sure and leave quite a few stitches in lark she whispered once I we want it to hang together until babble gets here that was au presently lark emerged and their own owa door closed behind theme them its a goo good d thing father has to go f to the ti trustees tsat jt asked carol and lark agreed absently she was thinking oi of the oy aiters do you think that fairy knowing the twins will thwart their plan to embarrass rn barrass her CT abbe BE CONTINUED |