Daddy Takes Us Skating

what can

o play, please! We w

ath toward the front porch, on which their mother was sitting

d Hal, as he was calle

complained Mab, to which h

hat doleful faces you both have. I hope they don't

had to be to freeze. The ther-ther-Oh, well the thing you tell how co

e thermomete

y thing-mercury, that's the name of it-the m

n't want your face to turn into ice t

er's, had lost its fretful look while they were talking about the t

ames?" asked Mrs. Blake, s

ff the paths, and it's no fun, staying in one place. We can't play ball, '

d Mab quickly. "I was goin

doctor, or something, when you

fun," said Mother Blake. "Why

!" declared Hal, and his fa

ink of something else-some new game. Just sit down a moment and we'll talk. Then perhaps you'll think of something. I wonder why it is so warm to-day,

," answered Hal. "E

plied his mother. "Your dog

olling over and over in the grass to-day, even if it was

then they come up from the South, where they have spent the Winter, and begin to b

one, anyhow. And the trees know it is going to be

," added Mab. "Didn't we have fun, Hal

to see the different kinds of birds," adde

t kind of fun now," went on Mab.

He has to earn more than ever, now that everything costs so much on

o her dolls. Maybe, she thought, she could make up a new gam

of bread go almost as far as two loaves used to go, and as for clothes-well, I am mending some of yours, Hal, that, last year, I thought were hardly useful a

y would have been in school, and have been busy over their lessons. But just now they wanted to play and they were

is mother putting a patch on his little trousers. Hal remembere

er," went on Mab. "That will be

ake "Spring is one of the four seasons.

starts?"

"You have to start with something gr

in the world, when the flowers and birds begin to grow; the flowers

is dry, so we can play marbles and fly kites. And we can go

t start in the Spring," said Mothe

"Some folks call it Fa

when the trees and bushes go to sleep, and when most birds fl

mas!" c

"And I guess most children would say th

, Summer, Autumn, Winter," he recited. "Four seasons, and

oo wet to go without your rubbers, too cold to go without

omething Mab. Let's have some fun. What can we do, Moth

y-Poly and play with h

an down to Daddy's office lik

him," exclaimed Hal.

poke Mab. "I'd rathe

to play?" complained Hal. "Can't she

play something here until Daddy come

hrows 'em over my head an

crooked," co

laughed Mother Blake. "Try and be nicer toward one another. L

e had been sitting near her mother's rocking chair, and began to c

I thin

me!" remarked Hal. "I wan

hichever kind of a cake we make," offered Mab. "You

at," he said, s

shared this pleasure-that of scraping out, with a knife or spoon, the chocolate or sugar icing dish fr

the kitchen, helping Mother Blake with her cake-making. Thoug

ing, into the kitchen rushed a little poodle dog, w

you been?" cried Hal. "Di

might mean "no" or "yes," just as

anced about in front of her, while she was carrying a pan fille

odle dog, and, to save herself from falling, she had to drop t

barked and growled

aughed Hal "He's a r

ay!" called Mother Blake. "He'll get the ca

-Poly howl louder than ever, until Hal, not wishing to hurt his pet, managed to ge

dismay. "It will all wash off. Better to have it on your waist than on

ca-cake is all sp

n of dough is spilled, and there is plenty more. The ki

like that. Take off your own waist and let the water run on that. I'll wipe up the floor and you can

rom the floor. In a little while the cake was baking in the oven, and Hal came down stairs, rat

es, and he and Mab were waiting for the cake to be baked, after wh

, not quite sure. "Did I hur

I put him in the bath tub, though. I pretended

I had se

and Hal started toward the

"One bath a day is enough. Besides, I th

d out the dish, giving Mab a share even though she had sa

s Daddy!"

ght anything?" said Hal,

was smiling. He put the bundle down on the table an

e you all to-

d a cake," a

I made believe he was a submarine ship in th

We wanted to play something new but we didn't

ht you and Ha

h, goody! May

it takes quite a while to play it. It takes

game!" cried Ha

d Daddy Blake, smiling. "And after

n Game," m

else Daddy wouldn't laugh aro

" went on Mr. Blake. "And whoever learns

b in delight. They could hardl