ns joyously,
pounding on the table.

Polly glared at them. It was raining, and Polly, who hated rain, never
could take a joke on a rainy day.

"You're a pair of very rude boys," she said. "Nobody but horrid, rough
boys like you would ever think April Fool's any fun!" And she sulked
through her breakfast without another word.

But Helen was different. Helen liked rain. Moreover, she didn't in the
least mind being fooled, and she laughed just as hard as anybody when
she put salt on her mush instead of sugar.

[Illustration: She fell to work with a will, rolling and folding]

When she went upstairs to put their room in order, however, the room
she and Polly shared, the steady drip, drip, drip of the rain made her
remember Polly's unhappiness, and it troubled her.

A robin, singing his rain song in the tree outside, cocked his head
saucily as Helen went to the window.

"Help her-r-r! Cheer her-r-r! Help her-r-r! Cheer her-r-r!" sang Mr.
Redbreast over and over again as he swung on the dripping branches.

"That's a good idea, Mr. Redbreast," Helen answered. "I'm sure she needs
it. But how shall I do it?"

Mr. Redbreast winked wisely. "You'll find a way--a way--a way!" he
trilled.

Helen spanked a pillow and stood it in its place on the bed. "Thank you,
Mr. Redbreast," she answered politely. "I'll try."

Mr. Redbreast gave his tail a pleased little shake and flew away,
leaving Helen to spank the other pillow and to wonder what she could do
to "help her-r-r, cheer her-r-r."

A blue ribbon was hanging out of the top bureau drawer. "The very
thing!" cried Helen. "I'll straighten out her drawer. It's always in a
muss!" And she fell to work with a will, rolling, and folding, and
arranging things in neat little piles.

The baby stood watching her. "There! What do you suppose she'll think of
that, Buddy?" she asked, as she gave the last pile a happy pat. Then a
new idea popped into her head. She flew downstairs, took a sheet of
writing paper out of the desk, and printed something on it in big black
letters. Then, running back to her room, she laid the paper on the rows
of nice neat piles and carefully closed the drawer.

"I hope she won't mind," she said with a twinkling little smile as she
pulled Buddy up on her lap for a story.

The story was only half finished when Polly burst in. "What do you
think, Helen!" she cried, tossing her hat and coat in an untidy heap on
the bed. "I'm invited to a party! What shall I