The Birthday Party: A Story for Little Folks, Oliver Optic [most interesting books to read txt] 📗

[Pg 47]

The great day at length arrived, and every thing was ready for the party. On the lawn, by the side of the house, a large tent had been put up, in which the children were to have the feast.

Under a large maple tree, near the tent, a stage for the musicians had been erected. Two swings had been put up;[Pg 48] and there was no good reason why the children should not enjoy themselves to their hearts’ content.

I think the teachers in the Riverdale school found it hard work to secure the attention of their scholars on the forenoon of that day, for all the boys and girls in the neighborhood were thinking about the party.

As early as one o’clock in[Pg 49] the afternoon the children began to collect at the house of Mr. Lee, and at the end of an hour all who had received invitations were present. The band had arrived, and at a signal from Mr. Lee the music commenced.

“Now, father, we are all here. What shall we do?” asked Flora, who was so excited she did not know which[Pg 50] way to turn, or how to proceed to entertain the party.

“Wait a few minutes, and let the children listen to the music. They seem to enjoy it very well.”

“But we want to play something, father.”

“Very soon, my child, we will play something.”

“What shall we play, father?”

“There are plenty of plays.[Pg 51] Wouldn’t you like to march a little while to the music?”

“March?”

“Yes, march to the tune of ‘Hail, Columbia.’ I will show you how to do it.”

“I don’t know what you mean, father.”

“Well, I will show you in a few minutes.”

When the band had played a little while longer, Mr. Lee assembled the children in the[Pg 52] middle of the lawn, and asked them if they would like to march.

They were pleased with the idea, though some of them thought it would be rather tame amusement for such an exciting occasion.

“You want two leaders, and I think you had better choose them yourselves. It would be the most proper to select two boys.”

Mr. Lee thought the choice[Pg 53] of the leaders would amuse them; so he proposed that they should vote for them.

“How shall we vote, father?” asked Frank.

“Three of the children must retire, and pick out four persons; and the two of these four who get the most votes shall be the leaders.”

Mr. Lee appointed two girls and one boy to be on this[Pg 54] committee; but while he was doing so, Tommy Woggs said he did not think this was a good play.

“I don’t think they will choose the best leaders,” said Tommy.

“Don’t you, Mr. Woggs?” asked Mr. Lee, laughing.

“No, sir, I do not. What do any of these boys know about such things!” said Tommy, with a sneer. “I have[Pg 55] been to New York, and have seen a great many parades.”

“Have you, indeed?”

“Yes, sir, I have.”

“And you think you would make a better leader than any of the others?”

“I think so, sir.”

All the children laughed heartily at Master Woggs, who was so very modest!

“None of these boys and girls have ever been to New York,”[Pg 56] added Tommy, his vanity increasing every moment.

“That is very true; and perhaps the children will select you as their leader.”

“They can do as they like. If they want me, I should be very willing to be their leader,” replied Tommy.

It was very clear that Master Woggs had a very good opinion of himself. He seemed to think that the fact of his[Pg 57] having been to New York made a hero of him, and that all the boys ought to take off their caps to him.

But it is quite as certain that the Riverdale children did not think Master Woggs was a very great man. He thought so much of himself, that there was no room for others to think much of him.

The committee of three returned in a few minutes, and[Pg 58] reported the names of four boys to be voted for as the leaders. They were Henry Vernon, Charley Green, David White, and Tommy Woggs.

The important little gentleman who had been to New York, was delighted with the action of the committee. He thought all the children could see what a very fine leader he would make, and that all of them would vote for him.

“What shall we do for votes,[Pg 59] father?” asked Frank.

“We can easily manage that, Frank,” replied Mr. Lee.

“We have no paper here.”

“Listen to me a moment, children,” continued Mr. Lee. “There are four boys to be voted for; and we will choose one leader first, and then the other.

“Those who want Henry Vernon for a leader will put[Pg 60] a blade of grass in the hat which will be the ballot box; those who want Charley Green will put in a clover blossom; those who want David White will put in a maple leaf; and those who want to vote for Tommy Woggs will put in a—let me see—put in a dandelion flower.”

The children laughed, for they thought the dandelion was just the thing for Master[Pg 61] Woggs, who had been to New York.

One of the boys carried round Mr. Lee’s hat, and it was found that Henry Vernon had the most votes; so he was declared to be the first leader.

“Humph!” said Tommy Woggs. “What does Henry Vernon know? He has never been to New York.”

“But he lives in Boston,” added Charley Green.

“Boston is nothing side of[Pg 62] New York.”

“I think Boston is a great place,” replied Charley.

“That’s because you have never been to New York,” said Master Woggs. “They will, of course, all vote for me next time. If they do, I will show them how things are done in New York.”

“Pooh!” exclaimed Charley, as he left the vain little man.

While all the children were[Pg 63] wondering who would be the other leader, Flora was electioneering among them for her favorite candidate; that is, she was asking her friends to vote for the one she wanted. Who do you suppose it was? Master Woggs? No. It was David White.

The hat was passed round again, and when the votes were counted, there was only[Pg 64] one single dandelion blossom found in the hat.

Tommy Woggs was mad, for he felt that his companions had slighted him; but it was only because he was so vain and silly. People do not often think much of those who think a great deal of themselves.

There was a great demand for maple leaves, and David White was chosen the second leader, and had nearly all the[Pg 65] votes. The boys then gave three cheers for the leaders, and the lines were formed. Mr. Lee told Henry and David just how they were to march, and the band at once began to play “Hail Columbia.”

The children first marched, two by two, round the lawn, and then down the centre. When they reached the end, one leader turned off to the[Pg 66] right, and the other to the left, each followed by a single line of the children.

Passing round the lawn, they came together again on the other side. Then they formed a great circle, a circle within a circle, and concluded the march with the “grand basket.”

This was certainly a very simple play, but the children enjoyed it ever so much[Pg 67]—I mean all but vain Master Woggs, who was so greatly displeased because he was not chosen one of the leaders, that he said there was no fun at all in the whole thing.

About half an hour was spent in marching, and then Mr. Lee proposed a second game. The children wanted to march a little longer; but there were a great number[Pg 68] of things to be done before night, and so it was thought best, on the whole, to try a new game.

[Pg 69]

[Pg 70]

The Old Fiddler.

[Pg 71]

IV.

When the children had done marching, Mrs. Lee took charge of the games. Several new plays, which none of them had heard of before, were introduced. The boys and girls all liked them very well, and the time passed away most rapidly.

Just before they were going[Pg 72] to supper, an old man, with a fiddle in his hand, tottered into the garden, and down the lawn. He was a very queer-looking old man. He had long white hair, and a long white beard.

He was dressed in old, worn-out, soldier clothes, in part, and had a sailor’s hat upon his head, so that they could not tell whether he was a soldier or a sailor.

As he approached the children,[Pg 73] they began to laugh with all their might; and he certainly was a very funny old man. His long beard and hair, his tattered finery, and his hobbling walk, would have made almost any one laugh—much more a company of children as full of fun as those who were attending the birthday party.

“Children,” said the old[Pg 74] man, as he took off his hat and made a low bow, “I heard there was a party here, and I came to play the fiddle for you. All the boys and girls like a fiddle, because it is so merry.”

“O mother! what did send that old man here?” cried Flora.

“He came of himself, I suppose,” replied Mrs. Lee, laughing.

“I think it is too bad to[Pg 75] laugh at an old man like him,” added Flora.

“It would be, if he were in distress; but don’t you see he is as merry as any of the children?”

“Play us some tunes,” said the children.

“I will, my little dears;” and the old man raised the fiddle. “Let’s see—I will play ‘Napoleon’s Grand March.’”

The fiddler played, but he[Pg 76] behaved so queerly that the children laughed so loud they could hardly hear the music.

“Why, that’s ‘Yankee Doodle,’” said Henry Vernon; and they all shouted at the idea of calling that tune “Napoleon’s Grand March.”

“Now I will play you the solo to the opera of ‘La Sonnambula,’” said the old man.

“Whew!” said Henry.

The old man fiddled again,[Pg 77] with the same funny movements as before.

“Why, that’s ‘Yankee Doodle’ too!” exclaimed Henry.

“I guess he don’t know any other tune.”

“You like that tune so well, I will play you ‘Washington’s March;’” and the funny old fiddler, with a great flourish, began to play again; but still it was “Yankee Doodle.”

And so he went on saying[Pg 78] he would play many different tunes, but he played nothing but “Yankee Doodle.”

“Can’t you tell us a story now?” asked Charley Green.

“O, yes, my little man, I can tell you a story. What shall it be?”

“Are you a soldier or a sailor?”

“Neither, my boy.”

“The story! the story!”[Pg 79] shouted the boys, very much excited.

“Some years ago I was in New York,” the old man commenced.

“Did you see me there?” demanded Tommy Woggs.

“Well, my little man, I don’t remember that I saw you.”

“O, I was there;” and Tommy thrust his hands down to the bottom of his pockets, and strutted up the space between[Pg 80] the children and the comical old fiddler.

“I did see a very nice-looking little gentleman——”

“That was me,” pompously added

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