Part 4 (2/2)
Thus laden the two went gaily homeward.
”For goodness sake! look there, Billy!” Cricket suddenly exclaimed, as they approached the little dock, where they had arranged the table, chair, and canopy, the night before. Archie had evidently been busy during their absence. He liked to tease Cricket, because, as he said, she was so ”gamey.” Edna would grow peevish and fretful if he teased her, and his mother would never allow it. But Cricket never cared, and enjoyed a joke on herself as well as on any one else.
She went into shrieks of laughter, at the new decorations adorning her place of business. From every rib of the umbrella hung a little, live, wriggling crab. Four horseshoe sh.e.l.ls, stuck up on the sharp points, decorated the four corners of the table, and a drapery of seaweed festooned its legs, and the back of her chair. A flapping sign was suspended on one side, on which, in big letters, they read:
PEANUT EMPORIUM!!
SIGN OF THE CRAB
MISS SCRICKET, BILLY & CO.
PEANUTS STRICTLY FRESH EVERY YEAR CALL EARLY AND OFTEN
Billy glanced from Cricket to the peanut stand, and back again, not knowing whether to join in her laughter or not. He didn't see anything funny himself in it, for he had a horror of creeping, crawling things.
”Drat them boys!” he said, at length; ”how be we goin' to get them things off?”
”You go get me a basket and a pair of scissors, Billy,” ordered Cricket of her willing slave, ”and I'll take them away. _Don't_ they look funny?”
In a very little while the crabs were restored to their native element, the seaweed was thrown over the dock, the chair and table wiped clean and dry, and everything was again in order. The horseshoe sh.e.l.ls were left sticking up for ornaments. Then she proceeded to lay out her stock, and dispose of it to the best advantage. Grandma contributed a big cracked dish for the peanuts, which stood in the middle of the table.
The peppermints were arranged in a row, a red one and a striped one alternating.
”Now, Billy, you stay here and watch things while I go to the house for a pitcher for the lemonade, and some tumblers. I mustn't forget the sugar, either, and a knife. Oh, and the lemon-squeezer. I do hope everybody will keep out of the way till I get it all fixed.”
Fortunately, auntie had sent Edna and Eunice on an errand, and had told Eliza to keep the children away till the little merchant was ready to begin her sales, so Cricket was left in peace, as Archie, after he had finished his adornments, had gone for a sail with Will.
A little later, and the peanut vender had everything in order. A pitcher of lemonade--not of the strongest, it must be confessed--was added to the table. At the first signal, the twins, who had been eagerly watching from a distance, darted forward, with pennies in hand, and trade began.
Then the girls appeared, and each bought a gla.s.s of lemonade, and when Will and Archie landed, as they did, a few minutes later, the demand for peanuts increased. Cricket measured them out in a teacup, and poured them into the purchaser's outstretched hands.
”Put in some more for good measure,” somebody would say. ”Some of mine spilled.”
”Pick them right up, then,” said the little store-keeper, thriftily.
”'Twon't hurt the nuts a bit. No, Zaidee, you can't have another thing till you bring me some more money. A peppermint drop, Eunice? No, you can't have two for a cent. Don't they look good? B'lieve I'll just taste one,” hastily putting her words into practice. ”Yes, Billy, what do you want? a red one or a striped one?”
”Say, little un,” asked Billy, uncertainly, ”which would you take, if you was me? I want two cents' wuth. Would you get two reds, or two striped?”
”Two reds,” advised Edna, as Eunice said, ”Two striped.”
”I can't buy so many, can I?” he asked, holding out his hand, with six cents in it. ”I want some peanits, too, and some lemonade. Will this buy 'em all?”
”Get one striped and one white,” said Eunice, ”and two cents' worth of peanuts and a gla.s.s of lemonade.”
”Lemonade is three cents a gla.s.s,” said Cricket, ”but, Billy, you can have it for two, because you've helped me so much.”
”By the way, Will,” broke in Archie, suddenly, ”how much are crabs selling for, in the market, to-day?”
”Ten cents,” answered Will, promptly.
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