shower."

CHAPTER XI

JIMMIE'S SURPRISE

The "haunted" house continued to be an attraction to the children of
the neighborhood even after Miss Putnam moved in, and the ghost might
reasonably be supposed to have moved out. Alas, it was Miss Putnam
herself who now supplied the thrills.

Miss Putnam, you see, had never had much to do with children, and she
thought she disliked them very much indeed. Boys, in her opinion, made
a great deal of noise and girls always giggled and were silly. So
whenever she saw a child hanging over her gate, or even stopping to
glance at her house, she was apt to come charging out at them with a
broom. The younger ones were afraid of her and the older, larger boys
naughtily enjoyed provoking the poor old lady. So it was soon a common
sight to see several boys flying up the street, Miss Putnam after them,
waving her broom wildly.

Brother and Sister, mindful of Daddy Morrison's warning, never actually
did anything to make Miss Putnam chase them. But it must be confessed
that they used to walk through the street on which she lived, in the
hope of seeing her chase someone. Ridgeway was a quiet place in summer
time, and any excitement was welcome.

For several days after Sister's outburst because of the locked barn
door, Jimmie worked away busily in his beloved gymnasium. He would not
let either Brother or Sister as much as put their noses inside the
door, and when they tried to find out from Molly what he was doing--for
Molly could usually be depended upon to know what everyone in the
family was up to--she simply shook her head and said she had promised
not to tell.

"I wish," said Sister for the tenth time one warm morning, "I wish
there was something new to do."

"So do I," agreed Brother. "There's Jimmie--he's beckoning to us."

Jimmie stood in the barn doorway, motioning the children to come in.

Brother and Sister jumped down the three back steps in one leap and
raced toward the barn.

"Want to see what I've been making?" asked Jimmie proudly, "Come on in,
and look--there!"

The tools from the carpenter's bench which occupied one side of the
barn were scattered about on the floor where Jimmie had been using
them. All Brother and Sister could see was a wide, rather shallow box,
painted a dark green.

"Is it--is it a boat?" ventured Sister doubtfully.

"What's it for?" asked Brother.

"It's for you to play with," explained Jimmie. "I thought maybe you
would help me