"Mother," said Harry, using that loved name to show that what he was about to say was something important, "Peter Burns is sick. He has not been able to work since the cannon exploded and gave him the shock, and all his peas are spoiling because there's no one to pick them. Mrs. Burns hired some boys yesterday, but they broke down so many vines she had to stop them; and, mother, would you mind if Bert and I picked some to-day? The sun is not hot.""Why, my dear," replied Aunt Sarah, "it would be very nice of you to help Peter; he has always been a kind neighbor. I don't think it would do you any harm to pick peas on a cool day like this. Bert can ask his mother, and if she is satisfied you can put on your play overalls and go right along."Both boys were given the desired permission, and when Tom and Jack heard where the Bobbseys were going they said at once they would go along.
"Are you sure your mother won't mind?" Mrs. Burns asked the boys, knowing Harry's folks did not need the money paid to pick the peas. "Of course I'm very glad to have you if your mothers are satisfied."Soon each boy had a big basket under his arm, and was off for the beautiful field of soft green peas, that stretched along the pond bank at the side of Mrs. Burns' home. Now, peas are quite an expensive vegetable when they come in first, and farmers who have big fields of them depend upon the return from the crop as an important part of the summer's income. But the peas must be picked just as soon as they are ripe, or else they will spoil. This was why Harry got his friends to turn in to help poor Peter Burns.
"I'll go down this row and you take that' ' suggested Bert to Harry. "Then we can talk to each other without hollering.""All right," Harry replied, snapping the peas off the vines and dropping them into his basket like a real farmer.
"Let's have a race," called Tom. "see who gets his basket full first." "But no skipping for big ones," put in Jack. "You have to pick everyripeone."
The boys all started in at the top of the hill, each working two rows at a time. They were so interested in the race that scarcely a word was spoken. The peas were plentiful and ripe too, so that the baskets were filling up quickly. Mrs. Burns herself was picking, in fact she had been in the field since the very first peep of dawn, and she would be sure to stay out until the darkness would drive her in.
"You are fine pickers," she told the boys, seeing how quickly they worked. "I pay ten cents a basket, you know.""I guess we can earn a dollar a day at this rate," laughed Tom, whose basket was almost full.
"I'm done," called Jack from his row.
"No, you're not," said Harry, "you have to cover the rim.""Oh!" exclaimed Jack, who had just slipped between the rows. "Oh! there goes my basket."And sure enough the big basket had been upset in Jack's fall, and most of the peas were scattered on the ground.
"Ha! ha!" laughed Bert."I'm first.My basket is full." "I'm next!" called Tom, picking his basket up in his arms.
"Well, I'll be last I guess," laughed Tom, trying hard to pick up the scattered peas.
"There's mine!" called Harry, and now all the boys carried their baskets to the big bag at the end of the field and dumped them in.
"It won't take long to fill the bag," said Harry, "and it will be so good for Peter to have them ready, for to-morrow is market day."So the boys worked on right along until lunch time, each having picked four big baskets full. August Stout came along and helped some too, but he could not stay long, as he had to cut some clothes poles for his mother.
"Well, I declare!" said Mrs. Burns, looking at the three full bags the boys had picked. "Isn't that splendid! But I can't pay until Peter comes from market.""We just did it for fun," answered Harry."We don't want any pay." "Indeed you must have forty cents apiece, ten cents a basket," sheinsisted."See what a good load you have picked!""No, really, Mrs. Burns; mother wouldn't like us to take the money," Harrydeclared."We are glad to have helped you, and it was only fun."Poor Mrs. Burns was so grateful she had to wipe her eyes with her gingham apron.
"Well," she said finally, "There are some people in this world who talk about charity, but a good boy is a gift from heaven," and she said this just like a prayer of blessing on the boys who had helped her.
"The crop would have been spoiled to-morrow," remarked Tom, as he and his companions started up the road. "I'm awfully glad you thought of helping her, Harry."It seemed all that day everything went right for the boys; they did not have even a single mishap in their games or wanderings. Perhaps it was because they felt so happy over having done a good turn for a poor neighbor.
"Say, fellows," Tom said later, while they sat on the pond bank trying to see something interesting in the cool, clear water, "what do you say if we make up a circus!""Fine," the others answered, "but what will be the show?""Animals of course," continued Tom; "we've got plenty around here, haven't we?""Well, some," Harry admitted."There's Sable, for instance." At this the boys all laughed at Tom, remembering the runaway.
"Well, I could be a cowboy, and ride him just the same," spoke up Tom. "I rode him around the track yesterday, and he went all right. He was only scared with that sulphur match when he ran away.""A circus would be fine," Bert put in. "We could have Frisky as the Sacred Calf.""And Snoopy as the Wild Cat," said Harry. "And two trained goats," August added.
"And a real human bear, 'Teddy'?" suggested Jack. "Then a cage of pigeons," went on Harry.
"Let's get them all in training," said Tom, jumping up suddenly, anxious to begin the sport.
"I tell you!" Harry planned. "We can each train our own animals and then we can bring them together in a well-organized circus.""When will we have it?" August asked impatiently.
"About next week," Harry thought, and this was decided upon.
