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Page 44
The two little girls were to wander about as they pleased until noon,
when they were to meet the Wendells in the shadow of Industrial Hall and
eat their picnic lunch together. The two parties arrived together from
different directions, having seen very different sides of the Fair. The
children were full of the merry-go-rounds, the balloon-seller, the toy-
venders, and the pop-corn stands, while the Wendells exchanged views on
the shortness of a hog's legs, the dip in a cow's back, and the
thickness of a sheep's wool. The Wendells, it seemed, had met some
cousins they didn't expect to see, who, not knowing about Betsy and
Molly, had hoped that they might ride home with the Wendells.
"Don't you suppose," Mrs. Wendell asked Betsy, "that you and Molly could
go home with the Vaughans? They're here in their big wagon. You could
sit on the floor with the Vaughan children."
Betsy and Molly thought this would be great fun, and agreed
enthusiastically.
"All right then," said Mrs. Wendell. She called to a young man who stood
inside the building, near an open window: "Oh, Frank, Will Vaughan is
going to be in your booth this afternoon, isn't he?"
"Yes, ma'am," said the young man. "His turn is from two to four."
"Well, you tell him, will you, that the two little girls who live at
Putney Farm are going to go home with them. They can sit on the bottom
of the wagon with the Vaughan young ones."
"Yes, ma'am," said the young man, with a noticeable lack of interest in
how Betsy and Molly got home.
"Now, Betsy," said Mrs. Wendell, "you go round to that booth at two and
ask Will Vaughan what time they're going to start and where their wagon
is, and then you be sure not to keep them waiting a minute."
"No, I won't," said Betsy. "I'll be sure to be there on time."
She and Molly still had twenty cents to spend out of the forty they had
brought with them, twenty-five earned by berry-picking and fifteen a
present from Uncle Henry. They now put their heads together to see how
they could make the best possible use of their four nickels. Cousin Ann
had put no restrictions whatever on them, saying they could buy any sort
of truck or rubbish they could find, except the pink lemonade. She said
she had been told the venders washed their glasses in that, and their
hands, and for all she knew their faces. Betsy was for merry-go-rounds,
but Molly yearned for a big red balloon; and while they were buying that
a man came by with toy dogs, little brown dogs with curled-wire tails.
He called out that they would bark when you pulled their tails, and
seeing the little girls looking at him he pulled the tail of the one he
held. It gave forth a fine loud yelp, just like Shep when his tail got
stepped on. Betsy bought one, all done up neatly in a box tied with blue
string. She thought it a great bargain to get a dog who would bark for
five cents. (Later on, when they undid the string and opened the box,
they found the dog had one leg broken off and wouldn't make the faintest
squeak when his tail was pulled; but that is the sort of thing you must
expect to have happen to you at a county fair.)
Now they had ten cents left and they decided to have a ride apiece on
the merry-go-round. But, glancing up at the clock-face in the tower over
Agricultural Hall, Betsy noticed it was half-past two and she decided to
go first to the booth where Will Vaughan was to be and find out what
time they would start for home. She found the booth with no difficulty,
but William Vaughan was not in it. Nor was the young man she had seen
before. There was a new one, a strange one, a careless, whistling young
man, with very bright socks, very yellow shoes, and very striped cuffs.
He said, in answer to Betsy's inquiry: "Vaughan? Will Vaughan? Never
heard the name," and immediately went on whistling and looking up and
down the aisle over the heads of the little girls, who stood gazing up
at him with very wide, startled eyes. An older man leaned over from the
next booth and said: "Will Vaughan? He from Hillsboro? Well, I heard
somebody say those Hillsboro Vaughans had word one of their cows was
awful sick, and they had to start right home that minute."
Betsy came to herself out of her momentary daze and snatched Molly's
hand. "Hurry! quick! We must find the Wendells before they get away!" In
her agitation (for she was really very much frightened) she forgot how
easily terrified little Molly was. Her alarm instantly sent the child
into a panic. "Oh, Betsy! Betsy! What will we do!" she gasped, as Betsy
pulled her along the aisle and out of the door.
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