When Ardath awakened the next morning, Arthur was asleep on the flour besides the big bed. She wanted to laugh, but instead, she held her hand over her mouth and giggled so she would not disturb him.
For a moment the laughter left as she thought Arthur could have hurt himself. She looked at him again, carefully. He was on his side with a sheet in disarray about him and looked comfortable, so she went to the bathroom for her morning toilet.
She put on her blue silk pajamas and decided she would go to the kitchen for her fruit juice, when Arthur rolled and stretched. He looked sleepily up at the big bed. Suddenly, he was wide awake.
"How did I get down here?" he asked no one in particular because he did not see Ardath watching him, until she began laughing.
Arthur laughed, too. "Did I fall out of bed? I didn't know it if I did. I didn't hurt myself." Arthur looked at his arms and legs to assure himself he was not hurt. Both children laughed so much that grandfather came upstairs.
He made his conclusions, "Aah-hah! It could be that some little boy ate too many cookies at dinner last night." Then Grandfather laughed, too.
Arthur held up his right hand and the index finger on his left hand, "I ate only six cookies."
"Are you sure you can count right?" Grandfather teased Arthur.
"I'm going to be five years old on September the eighteenth and I can count to one hundred."
"Very good," Grandfather praised. "It is good, too, that you didn't eat as many cookies as you can count."
After fruit juice and a dew bath, the children changed from their blue silk pajamas to play clothing. Grandfather, Ardath and Arthur were finishing a charming breakfast session. The big glass dish of water lilies was in the middle of the table and enchanting music came from the living room.
Suddenly, Ardath had a disturbing thought. "Grandfather is this Sunday?" Ardath looked startled by the thought.
Grandfather raised his eyebrows. "It is Sunday. Why the sudden question?"
"Are we going to church?" It was very important to Ardath to know the answer.
"Yes, we'll be going to church as soon as soon as Arthur has fed the puppies." Grandfather announced calmly. "Adam will do the other chores this morning and Mary will not need your help, today.
"Do you mean we are going soon after breakfast?" Ardath thought she had not understood.
"We are going as soon as Arthur has fed the puppies." Grandfather repeated. "It should be in ten minutes from now."
"Grandfather, Miss Mary forgot to lay out our dress-up clothing." Ardath was concerned that she would not be ready in ten minutes.
"You will be going to church must as you are dressed, now." It was a shocking announcement for Ardath's ears. Ardath looked at her play suit and brushed the front of it as if to improve its appearance.
Arthur was not concerned about his clothing. "Are we going to drive the horse to church or are we going in "Old English?" he asked.
"Neither." grandfather was always saying something they had not expected to hear.
"We are going to walk in the clothing we are now wearing." Grandfather made his direction very clear.
"We'll go with you to feed the puppies." Grandfather told Arthur. "The kennels are along our path so it will conserve time and energy."
Ardath lost her concern as she followed Grandfather and Arthur to the kennels. While Arthur fed the puppies, Ardath went into the kennel yard with him and tried to make the puppies stand in a line along the trough instead of tumbling over one another. The puppies seemed to enjoy the tumbling and were not the least bit interested in learning to be orderly while they ate.
When the chore was finished, Grandfather led the way toward
the footbridge in the meadow.
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