"How old are your babies?" asked Aunt Sarah.
"Sandy is our baby!" replied the matrons patting the little boy fondly, "and he is four years old. We cannot take them any younger without their mothers.""Freddie is four also," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "What a dear sweet child Sandy is!""Yes," said Mrs. Manily, "he has just lost a good mother and his father cannot care for him - that is, he cannot afford to pay his board or hire a housekeeper, so he brought him to the Aid Society. He is the pet of the camp, and you can see he has been well trained.""No mother and no home!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey. "Dear little fellow! Think of our Freddie being alone in the world like that!"Mrs. Bobbsey could hardly keep her tears back. She stooped over and kissedSandy.
"Do you know my mamma?" he asked, looking straight into the lady's kind face.
"Mrs. Manily is your mamma, isn't she?" said Mrs. Bobbsey.
"Yes, she's my number two mamma, but I mean number one that used to sleep with me.""Come now, Sandy," laughed Mrs. Manily. "Didn't you tell me last night I was the best mamma in the whole world?" and she hugged thelittle fellow tomake him happy again.
"So you are," he laughed, forgetting all his loneliness now. "When I get to be a big man I'm goin' to take you out carriage riding.""Can't Sandy cone home with us?" asked Freddie. "He can sleep in my bed.""You are very good," said the matron. "But we cannot let any of our children go visiting without special permission from the Society.""Well," said Aunt Sarah, "if you get the permission we will be very glad to have Sandy pay us a visit. We have a large place, and would really like to have some good poor child enjoy it. We have company now, but they will leave us soon, and then perhaps we could have a little fresh-air camp of our own.""The managers have asked us to look for a few private homes that could accommodate some special cases," replied Mrs. Manily, "and I am sure I can arrange it to have Sandy go.""Oh, let him come now," pleaded Freddie, as Sandy held tight to his hand. "See, we have room in the wagon.""Well, he might have a ride," consented the matron, and before anyone had a chance to speak again Freddie and Sandy had climbed into the wagon.
Nan and Mildred had been talking to some of the older girls, who were very nice and polite for girls who had no one to teach them at home, and Nan declared that she was coming over to the camp to play with them some whole day.
"We can bring our lunch," said Mildred, "and you can show us all the pleasant play-places you have fixed up in stones over the mountain-side."One girl, Nellie by name, seemed very smart and bright, and she brought to Mrs. Bobbsey a bunch of ferns and wild flowers she had just gathered while showing Nan and Mildred around.
"You certainly have a lovely place here," said Mrs. Bobbsey, as they got ready to leave, "and you little girls will be quite strong and ready for school again when you go back to the city.""I don't go to school," said Nellie rather bashfully. "Why?" asked Aunt Sarah.
"Oh, I go to night school," said the little girl. "But in the daytime I have to work.""Why, how old are you?" asked Aunt Sarah. "Twelve," said Nellie shyly.
"Working at twelve years of age!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey in surprise. "What do you do?""I'm a cash-girl in a big store," said Nellie with some pride, for many little girls are not smart enough to hold such a position.
"I thought all children had to go to school," Aunt Sarah said to Mrs. Manily.
"So they do," replied the matron, "but in special cases they get permission from the factory inspector. Then they can work during the day and go to school at night.""I think it's a shame!" said the mother. "That child is not much larger than Nan, and to think of her working in a big store all day, then having to work at night school too!""It does not seem right!" admitted the matron; "but, you see, sometimes there is no choice. Either a child must work or go to an institution, and we strain every point to keep them in their homes.""We will drive back with Sandy," said Aunt Sarah as they got into the wagon.
"Can't Nellie come too?" asked Nan."There is plenty of room."The matron said yes, and so the little party started off for a ride along the pretty road.
"I was never in a carriage before in all my life," said Nellie suddenly. "Isn't it grand!""Never!" exclaimed the other girls in surprise.
"No," said Nellie. "I've had lots of rides in trolley cars, and we had a ride in a farm wagon the other day, but this is the first time I have ever been in a carriage."Aunt Sarah was letting Sandy drive, and he, of course, was delighted. Freddie enjoyed it almost as well as Sandy did, and kept telling him which rein to pull on and all that. Old Bill, the horse, knew the road so well he really didn't need any driver, but he went along very nicely with the twolittle boys talking to him.
"We will stop and have some soda at the postoffice," said Mrs. Bobbsey.For the postoffice was also a general store.
This was good news to everybody, and when the man came out for the order Aunt Sarah told him to bring cakes too.
Everybody liked the ice cream soda, but it was plain Nellie and Sandy had not had such a treat in a long time.
"This is the best fun I've had!" declared the little cash-girl, allowing how grateful she was. "And I hope you'll come and see us again," she added politely to Mildred and Nan.
"Oh, we intend to," said Mildred. "You know, we are going to have a sewing school to make aprons for the little ones at the camp."Old Bill had turned back to the fresh-air quarters again, and soon, too soon, Sandy was handed back to Mrs. Manily, while Nellie jumped down and said what a lovely time she had had.
"Now be sure to come, Sandy," called Freddie, " 'cause I'll expect you!""I will," said Sandy rather sadly, for he would rather have gone along right then.
"And I'll let you play with Snoop and my playthings," Freddie called again. "Goode bye.""Good-bye," answered the little fresh children. Then old Bill took the others home.
