Eight Girls And A Dog

Author : Carolyn Wells
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781791701680
Total Pages : 117 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (16 download)

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Download or read book Eight Girls and a Dog (illustrated) written by Carolyn Wells and published by . This book was released on 2018-12-14 with total page 117 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Oh, don't take your best hat," cried Betty Miller; "we're not going down to Long Beach to dress up and be giddy. It's so late in the season none of the summer boarders will be there, and we're just going to wear flannel frocks all day, and tramp in the woods and loll in the hammocks and get brown as berries and hungry as hunters and uncivilized as--as Hottentots.""Yes, Betty; but remember somebody has to cook for these hungry Hottentots," said Mrs. Bond, smiling."Aren't you afraid, girls, that you'll get tired of cooking? And you'll find that there's a great deal of work connected with housekeeping if you do it all yourselves.""Oh, no, indeed, Mrs. Bond," said Nan Kellogg. "I just love to cook, and I don't mind housework a bit. Mamma thinks it will be good training for me.""Such doings!" exclaimed Grandma Bond, a lovely old lady of the silver-haired, apple-cheeked variety. "Living on chafing-dish foolery for two weeks! You'll all be ill or starved to death in three days, and you'll wish yourselves back in your comfortable homes.""Not we, grandma!" cried Betty. "We have a gas-stove and a range besides our beloved chafing-dish, and we won't starve. But if Nan makes our Welsh rarebits I'll not promise that we won't be ill. Her concoctions are the stuff that dreams are made on. Oh, here's Helen. What's your misfortune, my pretty maid?"Helen Morris came up on the veranda and dropped into a big wicker chair and fanned herself with her hat."Girls, I'm exhausted! You know I said I'd take all the things for afternoon tea, but I had no idea there were so many. Why, I've packed a whole barrel and they're not all in yet. To be sure, it's mostly tissue-paper and excelsior; but I was so afraid they'd break. And I couldn't get the tea-cozy in at all, or the Dresden cups; I'd hate to break them.""Yes," said Betty, sympathetically; "don't break the tea-cozy, whatever you do, if it's that pretty yellow satin one. But you've no ingenuity, Nell; why don't you wear it down on your head? Then you'll look like a drum-major.""I will if you'll all obey my orders. Well, this won't do for me. I must go back and reason with those tea-things. I just ran over a minute because I saw you all here. If I can't get them into the barrel I'll have to take a cask besides. Good-by. I'll meet you at the train. What time do we start?""Twelve-ten," replied Hester Laverack. "I'll go home with you, Helen, and help you pack your china.""Yes, do," said Betty; "two heads are better than one in any barrel."But the two heads were already bobbing down the walk, and didn't hear Betty's parting shot."Nell's crazy," remarked Millicent Payne, who always did everything leisurely, yet always had it done on time. "I do hope her barrel will go safely, for her tea-cups and things are lovely.""Shall we have tea every afternoon?" asked Marguerite Alden, a fragile wisp of a girl who looked as if a real strong ocean breeze would blow her away. "I'm so glad! I don't care for the tea at all, but the having it with all us girls together will be such fun, only--I do hate to wash up the tea-things.""Girlies," said Mrs. Bond, "I think it would be much better all round if you'd hire a neat little maid to wash your dishes for you. You can probably find one down there, and I'm sure you'll be glad to have help when you discover what dish-washing for eight means.""I think it would be heaps better, Mrs. Bond," said Marguerite. "I don't see how we can have any fun if we have to work all the time.""Lazy Daisy!" said Betty. "You won't do any more than your share. But we won't let the interloper do any of our cooking; I insist on that.""All right, Betty," said Marguerite, or Daisy, as the girls called her, though she wished they wouldn't; "and you may be chief cook.""No," said Betty, "I'm not chief cook--Marjorie is that. I'll be the first assistant. I'll prepare the vegetables for her, and be a--a peeler."