red, and all that afternoon the four little
Blossoms spent in Linda's kitchen cooking and pulling molasses candy.
They had the sweetiest, stickiest time you ever heard of, and when
about six o'clock the rain stopped and the sun came out pure yellow
gold, they had a plate of beautiful cream-colored candy to take to
Mrs. Peter Apgar.

"Who wants to help me milk?" asked Jud, passing the kitchen door as
they were talking to his mother.

"Oh, Jud, I do!" begged Meg. "You promised to show me how."

"We'll all come," said Bobby. "Aunt Polly isn't going to have supper
till seven o'clock to-night, 'cause the minister is coming. We've got
oceans of time."

"Dot looks dressed up to me," announced Jud. "Keep her out of the mud,
somebody."

"This is my prettiest dress," said Dot serenely, smoothing down the
folds of her white dotted swiss under her coral-colored sweater.

Mrs. Sally Sweet looked mildly interested when she saw such a number
of people coming into her comfortable barnyard, and when Jud drove her
into the barn and fastened her in the stanchion, all the children
stood around to watch.

When Jud had the pail nearly full of milk, he rose carefully.

"Now, Meg," he said, "you sit here. Easy now; don't be nervous. Don't
you know a cow won't give milk if she knows you're nervous? Now work
your fingers like this----"

Meg sat on the three-legged stool and tried to do exactly as Jud told
her. Bobby and Dot and Twaddles stared at her open-mouthed. She was
actually milking a live cow!

"Keep right on; that's fine," encouraged Jud. "You're doing first
rate."

His father called him just then, and he ran to the door to see what
was wanted. Meg, beaming, kept on milking. All would have been well if
Mrs. Sally Sweet hadn't remembered her calf, Buttercup, and opened her
mouth to give a tremendous and unexpected, "_Moo!_"

The four little Blossoms were sadly startled. Meg jumped up, upsetting
the pail of milk over herself and Bobby, who stood nearest, and
knocking down Twaddles and Dot who were close behind her. As luck
would have it, both twins pitched into a heap of soft hay and were
not hurt at all. But when they scrambled to their feet, alas! streams
of yellow, bright yellow, decorated Dot's sweater and dress and
splashed Twaddles' middy blouse.

"For goodness' sake!" cried Jud, coming back in time to view this
wholesale damage. "What have you been up to now?"

Meg explained.

"There must have been eggs in that