But they got the tree uprooted, and then were able to carry it to the
little house that Margy had selected as their own private dwelling for
the play celebration.
By dragging the tree inside, roots first, they managed to get it in
without breaking off any of the glossy leaves. They stood it upright and
made it steady by placing some bricks that they found about the roots.
Its top reached the roof of the little house.
They begged some broken wreaths and chains of evergreen and even a
spray of mistletoe with berries on it. The workmen were very kind to the
smallest Bunkers. Mun Bun grew quite as excited and enthusiastic as
Margy. They worked hard to trim that tree.
"But it hasn't any lights," said Mun Bun sadly. "And that other
Christmas tree had lights."
You see, he remembered very clearly about that. And when Mun Bun played
he always wanted the play to be as real as possible.
"We'll get candles," declared Margy. "I saw candles in the kitchen house
where that nice cook lives. Let's go and ask her."
But just as they were going to squeeze out of the low door of the little
house they heard a great shouting and calling, and then suddenly the
snapping of explosive crackers--fire crackers--began!
"Oh!" gasped Mun Bun. "Who's shootin'?"
"It's firecrackers. You know, we've had 'em before. And they are in a
barrel," said Margy breathlessly.
Through the doorway of the little house in which they had set up the
"Christmas tree" the two saw their brothers and sisters, the Armatage
children, and a lot of the little negroes dancing about a barrel a
little way down the hill. Margy was right. Into that barrel somebody had
thrown a lighted bunch of firecrackers--about the safest way in which
those noisy and delightful "snappers" can be exploded.
And what a noise they made! Mun Bun and Margy almost forgot their own
play for the moment as they struggled to see which should first go out
of the door of the little house. Getting in each other's way, they were
delayed and before they could get out a great dog came bounding toward
them.
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" squealed Margy, and shrank back, leaving to Mun Bun the
opportunity of getting out if he wanted to.
"I'm not afraid of that dog," said Mun Bun. But, just the same, he did
not go out when he might have done so. "He isn't as big as Aunt Jo's
Alexis, is he, Margy?"
"But we aren't acquainted with him like we were with Alexis," whispered
the little girl.
She knew his name was Bobo. But always before when she had seen him the
great hound, with his flappy ears and wide mouth, had been chained.
"Do--do you suppose he'll want to bite us?" quavered Mun Bun, admitting
now that he was afraid of the dog. "And what does he want here in our
house, Margy?"
Margy suddenly remembered that when she had seen Bobo before he had been
chained right at this little house. Maybe it was his house, although it
was bigger than any doghouse she had ever seen before.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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