did you call up?"

"Daddy," answered Brother serenely. "He said I could call the office
again at half-past twelve. What you got, Louise?"

"Secrets," said Louise mysteriously. "People with birthdays shouldn't
ask questions."

She hurried on toward the kitchen and in a few moments the children
heard her laughing with Molly.

"I think Brownie is hungry," insisted Sister. "Aren't you ever going to
feed him?"

"Of course he's hungry," chimed in Grace, who had overheard. "There's a
bowl of bread and milk Mother fixed for him before breakfast, out on
the back porch, with a plate over it to keep the cats out. Take him out
there and feed him, Brother."

Brownie was indeed very hungry and the children enjoyed watching him
eat the bread and milk Mother Morrison had fixed for him. After he had
eaten it all up, they took him out on the grass to play, but that fat
little brown puppy, instead of playing with them, curled up and went to
sleep.

"Never mind--here comes the party!" cried Sister, whose bright eyes had
spied a wagon turning into the drive.

CHAPTER VIII

THE PARTY

"The party" happened to be the ice-cream, and Brother and Sister
watched eagerly as the delivery boy carried the heavy wooden tub in
which the cream was packed, up the back steps.

"Going to have a party?" he smiled at them as he came back to his
wagon. "Have a good time!"

The pretty little notes of invitation, which Mother Morrison had
written to six boys and six girls, friends of Brother's and Sister's,
two weeks ago, had said from "four to six," so it was time to dress in
the best white clothes soon after lunch. Indeed, Brother's collar bow
was not tied before the doorbell rang, and Nellie Yarrow arrived.

"I suppose she lived so far away, she thought she might be late," said
Louise.

She ran downstairs and showed Nellie where to put the present she had
brought for Brother.

After that the other boys and girls came, one by one, and Brother soon
had a little pile of presents on the living-room table. He opened each
one, and said thank you to the child who had brought it, and he forgot
to be shy, so that he really enjoyed it all very much.

Charlie Raynor and his sister, Winifred, were the last to come, and
Winifred was excited over something.

"I had the most awful time with Charlie!" she announced earnestly, to
sympathetic Mother Morrison. "He acted dreadful!"

Winifred was two years older than Charlie and felt responsible f