nishing stitches
quickly with a merry little flourish, and drawing her chair nearer her
mother's as she spoke.

"Now begin, please," said Van, "all the nice times you know."

"She couldn't tell all the nice times if she had ten years to tell them
in, could she, Polly?" said Jasper.

"Well, in the first place then," said Mrs. Pepper, clearing her throat,
"the little brown house had got to be, you know, so we made up our minds
to make it just the nicest brown house that ever was!"

"And it was!" declared Jasper, with an emphatic ring to his voice. "The
very nicest place in the whole world!"

"Oh dear," broke in Van enviously; "Jappy's always said so. I wish we'd
been there, too!"

"We didn't want anybody but Jappy," said Joel not very politely.

"Oh Joey, for shame!" cried Polly.

"Jappy used to bake," cried little Davie; "an' we all made pies; an'
then we sat round an' ate 'em, an' then told stories."

"Oh what fun!" cried Percy. "Do tell us!"

So the five little Peppers and Jasper flew off into reminiscences and
accounts of the funny doings, and Mrs. Pepper joined in heartily till
the room got very merry with the glee and enthusiasm called forth; so
much so, that nobody heard Mrs. Whitney knock gently at the door, and
nobody answering, she was obliged to come in by herself.

"Well, well," she cried, merrily, looking at the swarm of little ones
around Mrs. Pepper and the big chair. "You are having a nice time! May I
come and listen?"

"Oh, if you will, sister," cried Jasper, springing off from his arm of
the chair, while Ben flew from the other side, to hurry and get her a
chair.

Percy and Van rushed too, knocking over so many things that they didn't
help much; and little Dick poked his head out from Mrs. Pepper's arms
when he saw his mamma sitting down to stay and began to scramble down to
get into her lap.

"There now," said Mrs. Whitney, smiling over at Mrs. Pepper, who was
smiling at her. "You have your baby, and I have mine! Now children,
what's it all about? What has Mrs. Pepper been telling you?"

"Oh, the little brown house," cried Dicky, his cheeks all a-flame. "The
dearest little house mamma! I wish I could live in one!

"Twouldn't be the same without the Peppers in it," said Jasper. "Not a
bit of it!"

"And they had such perfectly elegant times," cried Percy, enviously,
drawing up to her side. "Oh, you can't think, mamma!"

"Well now," said his mamma, "do go on, and let me hear some of