tty dresses for little girls and their mothers and
sisters, had sprained her ankle a day or two before and Doctor Maynard
would not hear of her leaving the house for weeks and weeks.

"Lucky it wasn't my wrist," Miss Florence had laughed. "I can still
sew, if my customers come to me."

Mother Blossom telephoned that afternoon, and Miss Florence said that
she could begin Meg's new dress early the next week. She would only
have to come two or three times to try it on, and then Miss Florence
would send word when she or Bobby might come after it. Miss Florence
had no one to run errands for her.

What with practicing "pieces," and being fitted for a new dress, and
going to school and playing a little every day, the time fairly flew,
and before Meg and Bobby knew it Aunt Polly had come.

"How you've grown!" she cried when she saw the four little Blossoms.
"Why, I don't believe Jud would know you if he saw you." Jud had been
a great friend of the children's when they visited Aunt Polly at
Brookside Farm, and they had other friends to ask after, too.

"How's Carlotta?" demanded Meg eagerly. Carlotta was the calf given to
Meg and Bobby as a reward for help they had given one of Aunt Polly's
neighbors.

"Carlotta is growing," said Aunt Polly, smiling. "And Linda is going
to school, which leaves me all alone in the house. I declare I was
glad to close it and come down to you, Margaret."

Aunt Polly was Mother Blossom's widowed older sister. The children
loved her dearly, and now, each with a red apple in hand from the bag
Aunt Polly had brought them, they crowded around to ask if she
wouldn't like them to rehearse.

"Rehearse?" asked Aunt Polly, puzzled. "Rehearse what, blessings?"

"Bobby and I have to speak a piece in school the day before
Thanksgiving," explained Meg, "and the twins always have to say
poetry, too, when we practice. Mother hears us every night; don't you,
Mother?"

"What fun!" Aunt Polly clapped her hands, her eyes sparkling. "I don't
know when I've been to any school exercises. By all means have a
rehearsal, Meg. Your father, mother and I will be the audience."

The children went out of the room, and Bobby came back alone. He went
to the center of the room, bowed a little stiffly and said his
six-line verse rapidly.

"Of course it will sound better with six boys taking turns," he
explained, slipping into a chair near Aunt Polly to enjoy the rest of
the entertainment. "My, I hope I don't forget it