“I think the festival on Mrs. Langley’s estate will be very nice,” Miss Mohr told the girls. “The Brownies will wear Dutch costumes, and wooden shoes. All the money we make will be for our own organization.” It was after four-thirty when the meeting finally came to an end. Vevi and Hanny were among the last to leave the library. Arm in arm they walked along the street together. “I am going to like being a Brownie,” Hanny told her new friend. “Why, I hope I can attend every single meeting.” The children were passing a drugstore window. Vevi stopped to look at a poster which advertised the coming festival. The placard did not mention the preliminary show on Mrs. Langley’s estate but told about the three-day celebration which would follow. Vevi was reading the poster when a sudden gust of wind whipped her Brownie uniform about her knees. At the same instant off went her brown beanie into the gutter. “Whoops!” Vevi exclaimed, scampering after the rolling headgear. As she snatched the beanie from the street an automobile came to a jerky halt at the curb. The strange woman Vevi knew as Mrs. Gabriel was at the wheel. She tooted her horn and glared at the little girl. “Don’t you know better than to dash out into the street!” she scolded. “I might have run you down.” Vevi had been a little careless. However, she never had come very close to the automobile. “I am sorry,” she apologized. “That wind--” Off went her beanie again, this time almost directly beneath the wheels of the stationary car. To the annoyance of Mrs. Gabriel, Vevi had to get down on her hands and knees to fish it out. “Do watch what you are doing,” the woman said. “And hang onto that hat!” The moment Vevi was safely on the curb, she drove away. Hanny had been having a time with her own belongings. The capricious wind had scattered some of her school papers. For several minutes she was kept busy gathering them up. Breathlessly the two girls huddled in the drugstore doorway. As yet there was no rain but dust was blowing wildly in the street. A newspaper flew past, plastering itself around a telephone pole. “It’s going to blow real hard,” Vevi said, pulling her sweater tight. “Hanny, you had better come home with me.” “I can’t,” the other replied. “O-oh!” Vevi looked around quickly, wondering what was wrong. She thought dust had blown into Hanny’s eyes or that another paper had been swept away. “What is it?” she asked for her little friend looked dreadfully worried. “The windmill!” Hanny said in a frightened voice. “I left it turned on. If it pumps very long in this high wind, our tulips may be ruined!” _Chapter 10_ IN THE HAYLOFT The wind was blowing steadily now, whipping the trees and sending everyone to cover. Hanny and Vevi huddled in the drugstore doorway, not knowing what to do. “I should have locked the windmill before I left the farm,” Hanny said, clutching her hat tightly to keep it from sailing away.