"All right, sir," said Dick Fulton, "I agree. And I think a picnic in
the house will be dead loads of fun."

"That's the way to talk," said Mr. Maynard, "and now the picnic will
begin. The first part of it will be a nutting-party."

"Oho!" laughed Marjorie. "A nutting-party in the house is 'most too
much! I don't see any trees;" and she looked around in mock dismay.

"Do you usually pick the nuts off of trees?" asked her father,
quizzically. "You know you don't! You gather them after they have
fallen. Now nuts have fallen all over this house, in every room, and all
you have to do is to gather them. Each may have a basket, and see who
can find the most. Scamper, now!"

While Mr. Maynard was talking, Sarah, the waitress, had come in,
bringing seven pretty baskets of fancy wicker-ware. One was given to
each child, and off they ran in quest of nuts.

"Every room, Father?" called back Marjorie, over her shoulder.

"Every room," he replied, "except the kitchen. You must not go out
there to bother cook. She has all she can attend to."

This sounded pleasant, so Marjorie went on, only pausing for one more
question.

"What kind of nuts, Father?"

"Gather any kind you see, my child. There was such a strong wind last
night, I daresay it blew down all sorts."

And truly that seemed to be the case. Shrieks of surprise and delight
from the whole seven announced the discoveries they made.

They found peanuts, English walnuts, pecan nuts, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts,
almonds, hickory nuts, black walnuts, and some of which they didn't know
the names.

The nuts were hidden in all sorts of places. Stuffed down in the
cushions of chairs and sofas, on mantels and brackets, under rugs and
footstools, on window sills, on the floor, on the chandeliers, they
seemed to be everywhere. All over the house the children scampered,
filling their baskets as they went.

Sometimes two would make a dash for the same nut, and two bumped heads
would ensue, but this was looked upon as part of the fun.

The older children gathered their nuts from the highest places, leaving
the low places for the little ones to look into.

Rosy Posy found most of those on the floor, behind the lace curtains or
portieres, as she toddled about with her basket on one arm and Boffin in
the other.

At last the whole house had been pretty thoroughly ransacked, and the
nutting-party returned in triumph with loaded baskets.

"Did you look under the sofa pillows on t