Part 26 (1/2)

”Oh, I'm so glad somebody has thought of clothes,” said the matron. ”We often get gifts of food, but we need clothes so badly.”

”There is no sickness?” asked Mrs. Bobbsey, as they started on a tour of the camp.

”No; we cannot take sick children here now,” said the matron. ”We had some early in the season, but this is such a fine place for romping we decided to keep this camp for the healthy children and have another for those who are sick.”

By this time numbers of little girls and boys crowded around the visitors. They were quite different from the children of Meadow Brook or Lakeport. Somehow they were smaller, but looked older. Poor children begin to worry so young that they soon look much older than they really are.

Nan and Mildred spoke kindly to the girls, while Freddie and Flossie soon made friends with the little boys. One small boy, smaller than Freddie, with sandy hair and beautiful blue eyes, was particularly happy with Freddie. He looked better than the others, was almost as fat as Freddie, and he had such lovely clear skin, as if somebody loved to wash it.

”Where do you lib?” he lisped to Freddie.

”At Uncle Daniel's,” Freddie answered. ”Where do you live?”

”With mamma,” replied the little boy. Then he stopped a minute. ”Oh, no; I don't live with mamma now,” he corrected himself, ”'cause she's gone to heaven, so I live with Mrs. Manily.”

Mrs. Manily was the matron, and numbers of the children called her mamma.

”Can I come over and play with you?” asked the boy. ”What's your name?”

”His name is Freddie and mine is Flossie,” said the latter. ”What is your name?”

”Mine is Edward Brooks,” said the little stranger, ”but everybody calls me Sandy. Do you like Sandy better than Edward?”

”No,” replied Flossie. ”But I suppose that's a pet name because your hair is that color.”

”Is it?” said the boy, tossing his sunny curls around. ”Maybe that's why!”

”Guess it is,” said Freddie. ”But will Mrs. Man let you come over to our house?”

”Mrs. Manily, you mean,” said Sandy. ”I'll just go and ask her.”

”Isn't he cute!” exclaimed Flossie, and the pretty little boy ran in search of Mrs. Manily.

”I'm going to ask mamma if we can bring him home,” declared Freddie.

”He could sleep in my bed.”

The others of the party were now walking through the big tents.

”This is where we eat,” the matron explained, as the dining room was entered. The tent was filled with long narrow tables and had benches at the sides. The tables were covered with oilcloth, and in the center of each was a beautiful bunch of fresh wild flowers--the small pretty kind that grow in the woods.

”You ought to see our poor children eat,” remarked the matron. ”We have just as much as we can do to serve them, they have such good appet.i.tes from the country air.”

”We must send you some fresh vegetables,” said Aunt Sarah, ”and some fruit for Sunday.”

”We would be very grateful,” replied Mrs Manily, ”for of course we cannot afford much of a variety.”

Next to the dining room was the dormitory or sleeping tent.

”We have a little boys' brigade,” said the matron, ”and every pleasant evening they march around with drums and tin fifes. Then, when it is bedtime, we have a boy blow the 'taps' on a tin bugle, just like real soldiers do.”