But buses don't wait for questions--the girls soon discovered that! Long before the fire story was told they had raced up Lake Shore Drive, passed its beautiful old homes, and were turning into Lincoln Park. Here it seemed to the girls that the city ended and fairyland began. The grass seemed greener, the lake bluer and the trees greener than any place they had seen; and hundreds of tulips peeping up through the ground here, there and everywhere, made spots of bright vivid color and beauty. "Oh!" exclaimed Mary Jane happily, "I hope the bus goes on and on forever! I'd like to keep on riding all the time!" But when, a minute or two later, they passed near the buildings of the Zoo, Mary Jane forgot all about wanting to ride forever and wanted to get out, right away quick and see all the animals she had heard lived there. "Not to-day," said Mr. Merrill, looking at his watch. "You remember we are to go back to the stores--we're just out for a bit of fresh air this time. Some other day when it's still warmer so we can get our dinner here, then we'll come and visit the Zoo. But to-day I want to get back to the stores before they close." "Of course," added Alice, "for our umbrellas." "Of course for something else too," laughed her father, and though both girls were very curious, not another word would he say. So they stayed on the bus and rode clear through the park, and up Sheridan Road a long way till the bus turned around at a corner and the conductor shouted, "Far's we go!" But the Merrills didn't get off. They wanted to keep those good front seats so they sat still and in about two minutes the bus started south and whirled them through the park and past all the same interesting sights on the way cityward. This time, Mary Jane felt very much at home in her high-up perch. She dropped in the dimes her father gave her, eyed the passing autos without a bit of fear and looked down on all the children she saw walking and playing quite as though she had lived in a city and ridden in busses all her young life. It was a very reluctant pair of young ladies that Mr. Merrill assisted to the sidewalk when the big stores and "time to get off" were reached. "But what was it besides umbrellas you wanted to get?" asked Mary Jane, suddenly remembering. "Well," said Mr. Merrill, "I haven't been through the toy department with anybody. And I have a calendar." The girls looked puzzled. What had the toy department to do with a calendar? They couldn't guess. Even Mrs. Merrill looked puzzled. "Of course if you don't intend to have birthdays since we've moved--" said Mr. Merrill teasingly. And then everybody knew! To be sure! It was almost time for Mary Jane's birthday--almost a year, it was, since the lovely birthday party when the little girl was five years old--and in the excitement of moving and getting settled and seeing new sights, even the little lady herself had forgotten how near the day was at hand.