Norah calling loudly to
them.

"What's she saying?" asked Laddie, who had found a hen's nest in the hay
and was wondering whether he had better take in the eggs or let them stay
to be hatched into little chickens. "What's Norah want, Russ? Have we got
to come in?"

"She says come and get the thunder-and-lightning cake," said Russ, who was
listening at the barn door.

"And ice cream! She said ice cream, too!" added Vi. "I heard her!"

"Yes, I guess she did say ice cream," admitted Russ. "Come on!" and he set
out on a run toward the house.

"Wait for me! Wait for me!" begged Mun Bun, whose short legs could not go
as fast as could those of Russ.

"I'll wait for you, Mun," said Rose kindly, and she turned back and took
the little fellow's hand.

"Maybe all the cream'll melt if we don't run," said Mun, as he toddled
along beside Rose.

"Oh, no, I guess not. Norah will save some for us," said the little girl,
humming a song.

And Rose was right. Norah made all the children sit down on the side
porch, and she waited until Mun and Rose--the last to arrive--reached the
place, before she dished out the cream. Daddy and Mother Bunker were
there, too, with their dishes, and so was Jerry Simms.

"This is better than bein' in the army," said the old soldier.

"Didn't you ever have ice cream there?" asked Russ.

"Oh, once in a while. But it wasn't at all the kind Norah can make. Sure
she's a wonder at ice cream!"

"And we're going to have thunder-and-lightning cake, too!" added Rose.

"Well, I don't know what kind that is, but it sounds good on a Fourth of
July," said Jerry with a laugh. "I hope it doesn't explode when I eat it,
though, like a ham sandwich did once."

"Did a ham sandwich explode?" asked Russ, who always liked to hear the old
soldier tell army stories.

"Well, sort of," answered Jerry. "It was over in the Philippines. I was
eating my sandwich, and some of the soldiers were firing at the enemy, and
the enemy was firing at us. And a shell came pretty close to where I was
sitting. It went off with a bang, and a piece of the shell hit the
sandwich I was just going to bite."

"It's a mercy the shell didn't hit you," said Mrs. Bunker.

"Part of it did--my hand that held the meat and bread," explained Jerry.
"But it's good I wasn't biting the sandwich at the time, or I might have
lost my head. However, here comes the thunder-and-lightning cake. Now we
can see what it is."

Norah came out of the kitch