men and onlookers, led by a very wet and greatly
embarrassed little girl, crossed the gardens, crossed the street and went
into a comfortable big building. There a kindly matron produced a big
bathrobe in which Mary Jane sat while her dress was wrung out and dried.
And wasn't she glad there was a good hot sun so things could dry quickly!

Finally, when Mary Jane was beginning to get awfully hungry, mother
announced that the clothes were dry and that she had pulled and stretched
them the best she could in the place of ironing. So Mary Jane dressed and
they went in search of Alice and her father.

"Well, you certainly do mix up baths with your picnics," laughed Mr.
Merrill when he saw them coming. "Remember the time you fell into
Clearwater, Pussy?"

"But it isn't so bad, really, Dadah," said Mary Jane, "and I'm not wet
now."

"So you're not," said Mr. Merrill, "but _I_ am hungry--anybody agree with
me?"

They all admitted to being nearly starved, so they found a pretty, grassy
spot close by the lake on which several beautiful swans were sunning
themselves, and there they spread out the luncheon they had brought. At
first the girls were so hungry they didn't want to do anything but eat.
But by the time they had eaten a plateful of potato salad and three or
four sandwiches, the swans discovered their lunching place and came to
call. Evidently swans were used to being treated very nicely by folks who
came to the park for they didn't seem to have a trace of fear of
strangers.

The girls tossed the crusts of the sandwiches to the edge of the water and
the swans bent their long necks and picked them up and ate them, every
crust, so daintily just as though crusts were a diet fit for kings--and
swans. The swans didn't actually come out of the water, but they came so
close to the shore that the girls could almost touch them and they soon
got to feeling very well acquainted.

So it was with some regret that they heard Mr. Merrill say, "Well, girls,
weren't we to see some of the other parks too?" And here it was four
o'clock!

The basket was packed--and there wasn't a scrap of anything a swan could
eat, you may be sure of that--and they strolled down to the roadway. In a
minute or two Mr. Merrill hailed a passing taxi and they settled
themselves for a nice long ride.

They didn't stop at any other park; Mary Jane was sure no other could be
as interesting as the one where she had had such exciting experiences and
Alice w