Nan and Ann in Thrift Town

Front matter

•IAN aS>. ANN

MEADE

»>« . 1.14

Chapter I. A Fourth Of July Adventure

“What day is this?” asked Nan one morn¬ ing, as she was the first to wake up.

Her twin sister, Ann, responded sleepily, “It is Friday, I think.”

“WHAT DAY IS THIS?” asked Nan again merrily, and Ann became wide awake and cried, “It is the Fourth of July!”

Sure enough, it was the Fourth of July, and Platteville was going to celebrate, and Nan and Ann were going to drive to Platte¬ ville with Sammy Slow-Coach, the old col¬ ored man who had lived so long he said he could see forward and backward at the same time!

“What are we going to wear?” asked Ann, and Nan said excitedly, “How are we going to get there? ’

How, indeed, were they going to get there? for their old farm horse was lame, and their car and ponies had not yet come from their old home in Tennessee.

The Twins put on their rosebud muslin dresses and their rosebud hats, and they looked so alike that they laughed into the mirror and said, “It’s a good thing we can tell ourselves apart, for every one says we look as much alike as two peas, and surely no one can tell us apart today!”

Nan said, “I do wish we would have an adventure before the day is over.” And Ann said, "I do wish we would meet a Knight, Elf, or Fairy!”

Just then the Twins, ran out-doors to get a breath of air before breakfast and wasn’t it funny at exactly the same moment as they looked down, they found two four-leaved clovers!

They said happily,

“One is for luck and one for pluck,

The four-leaved clovers see,

One is for luck and one for pluck,

Good luck for you and me.”

Now, do you suppose they had good luck that Fourth of July? Just listen and you shall hear what happened.

Father said, “You look like two rosebuds to-day and I wish you a happy Fourth of July; and here is a round, shining silver dollar for each of you.”

That was the first lucky thing that hap¬ pened, for it is fun to have money to spend, of course.

Then Mother said, “Here are two red, white and blue picnic baskets, and they are already packed for lunch.”

That was the second lucky thing that hap¬ pened.

Just as they sat down for breakfast Sammy Slow-Coach appeared at the window and said,

“We-all cannot get to Platteville to-day to witness the Fourth of July celebration, for there appears no way to get there!”

He went on to say that the white horse was lame, and the black horse was off his feed, and the old colored man looked down¬ hearted and sorrowful indeed.

Uncle Phil, who sat at the breakfast table making a frog-shaped figure, out of his nap¬ kin said,

“I really admire each rosebud gown,

I can tell you a way to get to town,

It is the Fourth of July you see,

But no one seems to notice me.”

The Twins threw their arms round Uncle Phil’s neck and kissed him and said, “Really and truly, we did forget to say good morning to you Uncle Phil, and can you suggest a way of our getting to town? You know we left our ponies in Tennessee and our bicycles are not here yet either.”

“Do tell us how we can get to Platteville in time to see the big Parade,” continued the Twins.

Uncle Phil said,

“Sammy Slow-Coach can wheel you there,

Over the meadows green and fair,

Do not laugh now for just a minute,

Think of a wheel-barrow with Twins in it.”

They all laughed, of course, for they sim¬ ply could not help it, and Sammy Slow-Coach shook all over; and Big Brother Mark came in and said, “There is a wheel-barrow at the door. Tell me, please, what is the big idea?”

Such fun as they had, laughing and talking and planning how to get to Platteville for the Fourth of July; and Nan and Ann took their picnic baskets and sat in the wheel¬ barrow and old Sammy Slow-Coach wheeled them away, and Nan and Ann cried to the rest of the family, “We hope you will get a ride, too!”

Now, wasn’t it funny, they had not been gone ten minutes when their farm neighbors, the Griswold Brothers, came by with their fastest team, and asked the rest of the family to ride, so they got to Platteville before the Twins did, after all. But perhaps this was just as well, because the family were not always looking for an adventure as Nan and Ann were!

When they got to Platteville everything suggested a glorious Fourth of July. There were flags everywhere and the buildings were decorated with bunting, and there were crowds and crowds of people on the streets, and in the windows waiting for the big Parade to pass.

Did you ever stand on one foot, and then on the other, waiting for a Parade to begin?

Did you ever know a Parade that was to come at ten o’clock to start before eleven?

The Twins felt just that way about the Parade when it got to be ten, and ten-thirty, and then it was that their real adventure began.

Someone tapped Ann on the shoulder and said, “Our Goddess of Liberty has been taken ill and she has failed us at the last minute.”

“Who ever heard of a Goddess being ill?” murmured Ann, and Nan stared at the stranger.

The person who had tapped Ann on the shoulder said, “This is the very thing. How lucky we are! We can have a Goddess after all to-day on our float.” All this sounded like Greek, of course, to the girls.

Pretty soon the stranger suggested that one of the Twins ride in the float in the parade where the Goddess of Liberty was needed.

“We can’t see the parade then,” said Ann.

“It will be fun to be in it, though.” sug¬ gested Nan.

The stranger saw that they looked exactly alike, so she suggested that Ann ride in the parade up-street, and that Nan should be at that point and change places with her as the parade came back, and that no one would know the difference.

She took the girls off in a great hurry and dressed them exactly alike in white cheese¬ cloth dresses with gilt belts, and they wore gilt crowns that looked like crowns of gold.

Nan was to ride down-street and Ann was to ride up, and they were much excited, of course.

The stranger offered to pay them each a quarter.

The Twins did not take the quarters, for they felt very patriotic as it was the Fourth of July, and they said they were glad to ride in the parade or do anything they could for their country. Nan got on the float trimmed with Stars and Stripes and Ann drew a cape about her and stood in the street waiting for her turn to ride in the big parade.

. Now, Platteville has two big volunteer fire companies of which it is justly proud, and a wonderful new fire truck, and they led the big parade. On one fire truck rode a little boy dressed as Uncle Sam, and on the other rode little girls with flags, and the ladders were wrapped with red, white and blue.

On and on came the wonderful floats. Some of them contained wee little houses, and the Eastern Star had a float with many stars on it, one star raised like an umbrella and a little girl sitting under each point of the star.

Suddenly Ann remembered she was to be six blocks up when the parade turned to get on the float and have a chance to ride in the parade. She was in such a hurry that she dropped off her cape and moved rapidly through the crowd, and some way things did not turn out at all as you would expect on that July day, for a Clown saw her and shouted out: “Have a ride; there is room inside my cart.” He actually stopped the whole procession for her as she stepped inside the pony cart he was driving. Ann felt her crown to see if it was on straight, and the crowd cheered and cheered.

Very funny things happen in Platteville, because it is a very old town, and the fairies live in the woods near, and you may expect almost anything to take place if you happen to be there on a high day, or a holiday.

Father and Mother and Mark saw the parade.

They said, “I see Nan in the parade.” Then they said, “It is Ann in the parade”; and, of course, they were right each time, because the Twins were both in it.

It was a long parade and had Boy Scouts and little ponies in it, and the florists threw out carnations and roses. It was a merry Fourth of July and every one was very, very happy.

“Dear me,” said Mother, “if that was Nan, I shall go with her next time.”

Father said, “If that was Ann, I will tell her she must not make herself so common.”

“Where is Sammy Slow-Coach?” asked Mark, laughing.

Father and Mother and Mark rode home after the parade, but Nan and Ann went to the Park and heard the singing and speeches, and because they had been so accommodating the ladies offered them lemonade and a seat in the grandstand where they could see and hear everything.

By and by they walked about in the crowd, their little red, white and blue lunch baskets swinging on their arms.

They had loads of lunch, of course, for Mother always put it up that way, and by and by they met a dried-up little old man, and a dried-up little old woman and they offered to share their lunch with them, and have a real picnic.

The little dried-up old man laughed and jumped up onto his feet as suddenly as a cork¬ screw, and the little dried-up old woman got up and bowed and said as they lived in a little house right near the Park she begged to invite the Twins to have dinner with them. There was much laughing and shak¬ ing hands, of course, and the house was only a stone’s throw away.

Off they all went together and spread out the picnic lunch, while the little old man and woman got milk and the biggest, finest doughnuts you ever saw!

There were portraits that smiled upon them from the walls and there were books everywhere and curios in cabinets, among them a little tin gondola from Venice that almost brought them bad luck, for the little old dried-up couple talked so much about their old home in Venice that the Twins almost forgot to go back to the park to see the ball game.

The little old man said,

“Put the rest of the lunch into the basket.

Be thrifty, please, before I ask it.”

The little old woman said,

“Save a little every day,

To learn thrift is best, I say.”

Nan and Ann said: “We are on the way to Thrift Town. We really mean to start to-morrow.”

They had a wonderful day and in the evening there were fireworks, of course.

In some way they got separated from Sammy Slow-Coach and were just wonder¬ ing how they would get home when the next lucky thing happened. The stranger who had asked them to ride in one of the floats said that the Mayor wanted to meet them to express his thanks for their help.

“Think of meeting a real live Mayor,” whispered Nan.

“Think of a Mayor wanting to thank one,” said Ann, breathlessly.

Now, the Mayor was very friendly, and when he heard that the Twins lived on a farm, he said, “I will drive you home in my own car if I can.”

Think of riding home with a Mayor!

Just as they were talking about it, here came old Sammy Slow-Coach, wheel-barrow and all, and the Twins would not hurt his feelings for worlds. So, laughing and wav¬ ing hands at the Mayor, they rode away.

Now, if the wheel-barrow had not broken down a mile from anywhere, the last lucky thing might never have happened.

The wheel came off and, of course, a wheel¬ barrow cannot be expected to go without a wheel. Sammy Slow-Coach said he would take the wheel-barrow to be mended if the Twins would walk on home alone.

They sat down a few minutes to rest, for it had been a most exciting day, when the last lucky thing happened suddenly, without a bit of warning.

From the tree overhead a voice called:

“I am Fairy Thrift, you make me sigh,

You spoiled your dresses this Fourth of July.”

The Twins peered up into the tree, but could see no one; then they looked down at their dresses, which were spotted and soiled, of course. Their pretty hats were dusty and their shoes were stubbed at the toes.

Said Fairy Thrift, “Now I suppose,

You never think to save your clothes,

And though you think it very funny,

I often talk of saving money.”

“It is the Thrift Fairy,” cried the Twins merrily. “Maybe you will take us on an adventure to Thrift Town, for Father and Mother often tell us we should go there.”

Said Fairy Thrift, “In every clime,

I give advice on SAVING TIME."

“Dear me!” cried the Twins in one breath. “Will we have to save time, too? Save clothes, save money. What else will we have to save before we arrive in Thrift Town?”

Fairy Thrift said, jumping about lightly from one branch of a tree to another:

“Though you’re Twins who look quite bright,

I think you never save your light.

Save your fuel and your health,

Worth far more than fame or wealth."

The Twins giggled, but Fairy Thrift said:

“This is no laughing matter. If you really want to start to Thrift Town, you must make up your mind to be very watchful and save even everyday things such as paper and string, and you must form the habit of mending and saving, and you will have to work out all kinds of problems in Thrift.”

“Problems,” said Nan and Ann excitedly. “How we do like to work out problems.”

Thev actually forgot it was the Fourth of July!

They actually forgot they were still far away from home, and they talked on and on to the Thrift Fairy until they fell asleep. How they ever woke up at home in their own little beds was a mystery to them until Uncle Phil said in a mysterious way next day:

“Dear Twins, you gave us quite a fright.

We searched for you by lantern light.”

The Twins giggled, as usual, and asked Uncle Phil if he had ever met Fairy Thrift.

His eyes twinkled as he said he thought he had met every fairy in the dells.

The Twins kept on thinking about Fairy Thrift and they wondered when he would call, but they had had such an exciting Fourth of July from that time on, every¬ thing dated with them from the Fourth of July -they spent in Platteville. They would say, ‘‘Oh, that happened before we rode in the parade on the Fourth of July,” or “That happened after we rode in the parade on the Fourth of July.”

When Mark put off a left-over firecracker almost under their very noses, they langhed good-naturedly, and when they talked about Fairy Thift to Mother, she said, “I wish that Fairy Thrift would teach you something.”

Father said,

“We love you so, it does seem funny,

You’re worth more than a mint of money.”

Mark said,

“Money to give, and money to lend,

Money to earn and money to spend.”

He asked who was a good catch, and tossed each of the Twins a round, shining, silver quarter.

They thanked Mark and said,

“We really wish we could buy a Bunny, Hurrah! Hurrah! for a mint of money.”

Father and Mother approved of their plans and said they would suggest ways of earning and saving next day.

Uncle Phil suggested,

“Off and away to bed please run;

A mint of money is lots of fun;

To-morrow you’ll be a sleepy-head If you don’t spend some hours in bed.”

The Twins ran up-stairs merrily singing:

“Ha, ha, ha, it is surely funny,

Soon we’ll be worth a mint of money.”

Chapter II. The Value Of Money

“What is that?” asked Ann.

“What is that?” asked Nan.

They asked the question next day as they heard a tap-tap-tapping on the window pane, and a merry voice called out:

“I’m Fairy Thrift, please let me in,

You now can hear my merry din;

The battle against waste we’ll win;

I’m Fairy Thrift, please let me in.”

The Twins hurried to the window and let Fairy Thrift in, saying, “You are the most useful Fairy we know.” To which Fairy Thrift replied, “There are other Fairies just as useful as I am.”

Fairy Thrift continued, “All Fairies do not talk in rhyme as I do, but, of course, all Fairies can sing.

Ha, ha, ha, you’ll think it funny,

I’ve come to ask, Do you value money?”

Nan and Ann said, “We do not know much about money, but we just love to learn things from a little Fairy like you. We will try to do as you tell us, for we certainly do want to learn how to earn money and save it, too.”

Fairy Thrift danced this way and that way, and said,

“To value money you must learn ’Tis one thing to spend and one to earn.

You may learn this to your sorrow,

Money it’s. not best to borrow.

It is a very thrifty way To save some money to put away;

Still, I have not told you all,

Don’t rob Peter to Pay Paul.”

“ ‘Rob Peter and pay Paul?’ That sounds interesting,” said the Twins in one breath. “What does that mean?”

Instead of answering their Question, Fairy Thrift asked another by saying,

“What would you do this very minute If you had to earn, let’s begin it.”

So saying, without a single word of warn¬ ing, he vanished, and Nan and Ann stared at each other out of wide-open eyes.

Nan said, “Let us pretend we just have to earn money to-day.”

Ann said, “There is the strawberry patch.” And wasn’t it queer? At this very minute Father called, “I need helpers to-day; I need extra helpers in the strawberry bed; I need strawberry pickers, two cents a box.”

“Two cents a box!” cried the Twins joy¬ ously. “We will make lots of money. We can pick boxes and boxes.

“If we work hard all day maybe we will earn a lot of money,” said Ann, and Nan clapped her hands with delight.

“Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched,” said Mark, for he always liked to tease a little.

The Twins said, “We do not see any like¬ ness between strawberries and chickens, but we suppose you mean by that saying we had better not count our money until we really earn it.”

Off they went to the strawberry bed and were surprised to hear a great chattering and scolding in a tree overhead.

Said Fairy Thrift, “I have to scold,

For you are almost twelve years old;

You ought to do as you are told,

And put on aprons really old.”

The Twins laughed and ran into the house and put on old, worn aprons so that straw¬ berry stains would not matter. They found it fun to pick the ripe, red berries, and run a race to see w r ho would fill a box first.

Nan picked faster than Ann, but Mark came by and said no green berries must go in a box and no berries that were over-ripe, because they were all to be shipped away.

My! the sun grew hot!

My! the Twins’ backs and fingers began to ache!

They drew their sun-bonnets over their faces and said, “We never appreciated a dish of strawberries to eat before. We believe we have to earn a thing to know the value of it.”

Just then a bright yellow butterfly came by and the Twins just had to run for their butterfly net; and they never dreamed that the butterfly would lead them a chase over hill and dale, but they ran on and on and on until, tired and breathless, they came to the next farm.

The Twins were so hungry they did want dinner.

The farmer’s wife had the reputation of being very stingy, but she called, “Come in and help me to-day and I will give you your dinner.”

There were dishes piled on the table and floor; pans and kettles, and still some more.

The Twins began with a right good will to wash dishes.

My! how hard they worked, and how hot it was, for the farmer’s wife had a big fire in the wood stove, and she was putting up strawberries.

By and by she said they had earned thendinner, though the Twins thought they had earned a great deal more.

After dinner they started home. “I wish I had my bike,” said Ann. “I wish I had my pony,” said Nan.

“At your service,” said a boy with a pony cart who was driving along. Now, the Twins knew as well as you or I that they ought not to borrow from a stranger, or ride with a stranger; but the road was long and it was hot and dusty, and they wanted to get back to their own strawberry patch as soon as possible, so they climbed into the cart and Reckless Red, as the boy was called, drove on.

My! how that boy did drive!

My! how that pony did shy!

He was even afraid of his own shadow, and when a bee stung him the worst possible thing happened; and that right near their own farm house, so near that Father and Mother and Mark saw the whole thing. The pony ran away, turned over the cart and left the Twins in a helpless heap in the road.

“Are you hurt? Save the pieces! shouted Reckless Red.

Nan bounded up and shouted, “I am O. K.!” But Ann got up more slowly and then fell back in a heap, limp and white, crying, “Oh, my ankle is hurt!”

Reckless Red meant well if he was care¬ less, and he picked Ann right up in his strong arms and took her to the house.

“It is a sprained ankle,” said Mark.

Father and Mother said, “We will get the doctor.”

Mark ran to the telephone and Doctor Get-Well was soon on his way to bind up the sprained ankle.

Nan said, “Do you believe in unlucky days? We only earned two cents a piece and our dinner, and here was Father depending upon us and in such a hurry to get the berries picked.”

Reckless Red was not bad at heart and he bounded down to the berry patch and helped Mark steadily.

Dr. Get-Well said, speaking of luck,

“Luck and pluck are in the game,

To me all days are much the same.”

Ann had to lie curled up on the sofa a good deal and Nan sat beside her to console her for her ill luck. She said, “Just think how silly we were to chase that old butter¬ fly, and we only earned two postage stamps.”

It was at this very minute that Mother began to think about giving the Twins an allowance, and Father said it would be a capital idea, for it would teach them thrift and the value of money.

Mark had an allowance for some time, and he said, “You will soon learn if you spend for one thing you cannot have money to spend for another.”

Mother said this was very true and she would help the Twins plan how to spend part of their allowance on useful things first.

Nan had to go down to the mail box alone now, and she said as she ran back into the house: “Oh, Ann, there was a cat sitting in our rural mail box!”

Ann said, “Did you bring it home with you?”

“Of course I did!” shouted Nan, throwing a catalogue, which she had called “cat” for short, into her Twin’s lap.

“Oh, Bean, you are always playing a joke on me,” said Ann.

The Twins often called each other “Bean” or any other silly thing that came into their heads, and the queer part of this was they always understood and responded to any name they took it into their heads to call each other.

Now, if Nan had not brought home the catalogue that day you might never have heard about the chambray dresses, one pink and one blue, and how the Twins really began to save money.

In the catalogue were the most charming chambray dresses. “Just the thing for school!” exclaimed the Twins. “Just the thing! Let us dip into our allowance and send at once for the dresses — ten dollai’s each.”

Mother smiled and said as Ann was laid up with her sprained ankle and Nan wanted to stay indoors with her most of the time, wouldn’t it be much cheaper and better for them to make their own dresses?

As Mother always had something ahead, she went to her emergency box and took out pink and blue chambray—just enough for two dresses. She gave the Twins the mate¬ rial to start with.

My! what fun they had borrowing a neigh¬ bor’s pattern and cutting out two simple little dresses.

Nan chose blue and Ann chose pink, and as luck would have it, the most surprising thing happened at noon.

Father came in and said, “I have a surprise for my Thrifty Twins.”

“A surprise!” they shouted. “Do tell us about it.”

Mark said, “I almost wish I was a girl to get a surprise, too.”

Father said, “I want my girls to be thrifty, so I bought a little hand sewing-machine.”

A sewing-machine on such a day! Could anything have happened nicer?

Mark helped them unbox the little machine and put it on a stand, and sure enough, when threaded, it ran by hand. They turned the wheel with one hand and guided the work with the other.

By evening the dresses were near enough done to put on, and the Twins cried:

“We can be thrifty as you would suppose,

We are really learning to make our clothes.”

It was fun to make clothes with a good pattern and pretty material and a brand new sewing-machine, you may be sure!

It was then and there that the Twins whis¬ pered to Mother, and she smiled, too, for they had an idea that they could make Mark a fine silk shirt for his birthday.

The Twins said as they had saved money by not buying dresses, they could afford to buy some silk for Mark’s shirt.

Mother told them that they would have to buy a pattern this time, and that it would take much longer to make a shirt than a simple apron dress. She said, too, that Mark was very particular about everything he wore and that the Twins would have to make button-holes and sew buttons on the shirt.

The Twins had busy little brains, and what do you think they decided to do next?

They decided that they wanted to earn some money, so they said they would open a Sewing School if Mother was willing.

Children from the farms near were de¬ lighted to come, and they paid a quarter for

every lesson the Twins gave them.

Father said it was a splendid idea for the Twins to have something to do and to learn the value of money there was no better way than to earn some.

Soon the fame of the little hand sewing-machine went far and wide, and will you believe it, Mark was so pleased with his new silk shirt that he bought them another ma¬ chine so they could both sew on the machines at the same time.

By the first of September they had earned six dollars and a quarter in their Sewing School.

Mark cried,

“Hurrah! Hurrah! for the Thrifty Twins!

Hurrah! Their saving now begins.”

Nan and Ann were pleased you may be sure but just at this time they seemed to want to spend more money than they earned, and as they wanted to get a magic lantern they even borrowed five dollars from Mark.

Fairy Thrift came dancing in singing,

“You are apt to come to sorrow If you now begin to borrow;

Think to-day and think to-morrow,

Stop a while before you borrow.”

Fairy Thrift always gave good advice and she gave the children credit for making their own dresses.

The Twins were sorry by and by that they had borrowed money from Mark for bor¬ rowed money is hard to pay back, and the Magic Lantern was not a success and it had to go back and the firm did not refund all the money.

“Oh we see,” said the Twins with interest.

The Twins were much interested in their allowance and they planned their school dresses, and school shoes, and hats.

They said to Fairy Thrift, “We are glad we met you,” and Fairy Thrift replied,

“Nan and Ann, you think it funny,

You begin to see the value of money.”

Nan said, “It helps one think of the value of money if he or she has to earn it.”

Ann said, “It is really fun to keep accounts and see how far we can stretch a dollar to make it go.”