152 
A DAY OF PLAY 
cap. It was one made of real lace and a velvet 
bow. 
“I thought for once you four children were hav- 
ing a good play instead of worrying about weeds 
and flower-seeds,” she said. 
I hardly dared look at Mr. Percy. It seemed 
too bad for him to hear his father called the wind, 
and himself a child. 
“You must come to the house now,” Mrs. Keith 
said. “I will make Miss Queenie tidy in a min- 
ute, and there is something waiting for us all.” 
We hastened back then, hardly stopping to no^ 
tice the pretty baby’s breath on the way. Mr. 
Percy sat Queenie on his shoulder, running with 
her across the triangle. Joseph crept up to me. 
“Do you suppose,” he asked, “that Mrs. Keith 
is going to give us something tO' eat?” 
“Yes,” I answered. The best cap could mean 
nothing else. 
We found that she had set a table within the 
circle of the six spruces, that there were chairs 
around it, and that all we had to do was to sit down 
and wait for whatever was to be brought from the 
house. This turned out to be strawberry-short- 
cake, since June is the month for strawberries as 
well as roses. 
Within the six spruces, where we were having 
our picnic, it was quite like a summer-house. The 
carpet was of fragrant needle-shaped leaves, and 
