s will wish they had lunches just exactly like it;
and I think it's very interesting to do them up, too."

That afternoon, when Jack came home from school, he shouted up the
stairs:

"Say, Mildred, what will you take to do up lunches for the crowd? They
told me to ask you. They said they had never seen anything so good.
Where is that Caesar? I'll do about ten pages for you if you want me to."

When the lesson was over, Mildred hugged Jack gratefully. "I can do it
alone in no time now, because you're such a good teacher," she said, as
Jack squirmed away. "And, when summer comes, just think of all the
picnic lunches I can do up for everybody!"

"We won't wait till summer for a picnic," said Mother Blair. "I've got
_such_ a bright idea!"

CHAPTER IV

THE BIRTHDAY PICNIC

Just as Mother Blair declared that she had "_such_ a bright idea!" a
caller came in, and it was dinner-time before Mildred had a chance to
ask her what it was. And then her mother put her finger on her lip and
shook her head; so Mildred knew, of course, that it was a secret, and
waited till later on to hear what it was.

"Now I will tell you all about it," Mother Blair said, after she had
read Brownie a fairy story and tucked her up for the night. "Jack, you
can hear, too, and Father, if he wants to." So they all drew up around
the fire to listen.

"You remember how much Brownie loved the picnics we had last summer,"
she began. "She used to say that she would rather eat plain bread and
butter out of doors than ice-cream in the dining-room; and whenever we
took our supper and went off for the afternoon, she was so happy!"

"So she was," said Father Blair. "Brownie is her father's own daughter;
I love picnics too."

"But, Mother, we can't have a picnic at this time of year!" exclaimed
Mildred. "Just listen to the rain and snow coming down together this
minute; and the slush on the sidewalk is so deep you have to wade to
school."

"But this is just where my bright idea comes in! You see, next week will
be Brownie's birthday, and every year since she was two, she has had
some sort of a party; now this year, for a real change, I think it would
be fun to have a picnic for her, a lovely in-door picnic, for ten boys
and girls; and we'll have it up in the attic!"

"Isn't that just like Mother!" Jack exclaimed, laughing. "Who else in
the world would ever have thought of such a thing!"

"But think what fun it will be!" Mother Blair went on,