rying. Instead he was very still and quiet.
"Trouble, does it hurt you anywhere?" his mother asked him anxiously.
"No," he said. "Not hurt any place. I wants to wide on Teddy's back some
more."
"The little tyke!" exclaimed Mrs. Martin with a sigh of relief. "I don't
believe he is hurt a bit."
"The stairs are real soft since we put the new carpet on them," remarked
Nora.
"They are well padded," agreed Mrs. Martin. "I guess that's what kept
him from getting hurt. It was like rolling down a feather bed. But he
might have got his arm or leg twisted under him and have broken a bone.
How did he happen to fall."
"We were playing Red Cross nurse," began Janet, "and Ted was a soldier
in a tent and----"
"But how could William fall downstairs if you were playing that sort of
game?" asked her mother.
"Oh, we weren't playing it then," put in Ted. "We'd changed to another
game. I was a wild Western bronco, like those on Uncle Frank's ranch,
and I was giving Trouble a ride on my back. I gave a jump when I was
near the stairs, and I guess he must have slipped off."
"There isn't any guessing about it--he _did_ slip off," said Mrs. Martin
with a smile, as she put Trouble in a chair, having made sure he was not
hurt, and that there was no need of telephoning for his father or the
doctor. "You must be more careful, Teddy. You might have hurt your
little brother."
"Yes'm," Teddy answered. "I won't do it again."
"But we want to play something," put in Janet. "It's no fun being in the
house all day."
"I know it isn't. But I think the rain is going to stop pretty soon. If
you get your rain-coats and rubbers you may go out for a little while."
"Me go too?" begged Trouble.
"Yes, you may go too," agreed his mother. "You'll all sleep better if
you get some fresh air; and it's warm, even if it has been raining."
"Maybe we can take Nicknack and have a ride!" exclaimed Teddy.
"If it stops raining," said his mother.
Ted, Jan and Trouble ran up and down in front of the house while the
rain fell softly and the big drops dripped from the trees. Then the
clouds broke away, the sun came out, the rain stopped and with shouts
and laughter the children ran to the barn next to which, in a little
stable of his own, Nicknack, the goat, was kept.
"Come on out, Nicknack!" cried Janet. "You're going to give us a ride!"
And Nicknack did, being hitched to the goat-cart in which there was room
and to spare for Janet, Ted and
|