Ben Pepper

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  BEN PEPPER

  BY MARGARET SIDNEY

  AUTHOR OF "FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AND THEIR FRIENDS," "A LITTLE MAIDOF CONCORD TOWN," "OLD CONCORD," "HESTER, AND OTHER NEW ENGLANDSTORIES," ETC.

  _ILLUSTRATED BY EUGENIE M. WIREMAN_

  BOSTON: LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.

  PEPPER TRADE MARK Registered in U. S. Patent Office.

  COPYRIGHT, 1905, BY HARRIETT M. LOTHROP.

  PUBLISHED, AUGUST, 1905.

  _Twentieth Thousand_

  Norwood Press: Berwick & Smith Co., Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.

  THEN SHE HOPPED AWAY FROM POLLY AND MADE A LITTLE CHEESERIGHT ON THE SIDEWALK.]

  PREFACE

  It was quite impossible that the detailed records presented through thelater Pepper books, of the doings and sayings of the "Little BrownHouse" family, should omit Ben. He, the eldest-born of Mother Pepper'sbrood, and her mainstay after the father died, the quiet,"steady-as-a-rock boy," as the Badgertown people all called him, withlots of fun in him too, because he could not help it, being a Pepper,was worthy of a book to himself.

  So the hosts of readers of the Pepper Series decided, and many of themaccordingly be-sought the author to give Ben a chance to be betterknown. He was always so ready to efface himself, that it was MargaretSidney's responsibility, after all, to bring him more to the front, tobe understood by all who loved his life in the earlier records.

  So Margaret Sidney, despite Ben's wishes, has written this latestvolume. To do it, Polly and Joel and David and Phronsie have told hermost lovingly the facts with which it is strewn. Most of all, MotherPepper-Fisher contributed to the new book, out of a heart full ofgratitude and love for her Ben.

  MARGARET SIDNEY.

  CONTENTS

  I. THE CHRISTMAS SHOPPING EXPEDITION

  II. BEN'S PLAN

  III. HAPS AND MISHAPS

  IV. "IT'S JOEL'S OLD LADY"

  V. "THE PRESENTS ALL GO FROM SANTA CLAUS"

  VI. BEN GOES SHOPPING WITH MADAM VAN RUYPEN

  VII. "WHERE'S PIP?" AND JASPER TURNED BACK

  VIII. "ANY ONE WHO WANTS TO PLEASE JASPER," SAID BEN, "HAD BETTER TAKEUP THIS CHAP"

  IX. WHAT A HOME-COMING

  X. "I'LL LOVE HER JUST FOREVER!"

  XI. AN AFTERNOON CALL

  XII. VAN

  XIII. THE BIG BOX

  XIV. THE CHILDREN IN THE MOUNTAIN CABIN

  XV. THE MINISTER LOOKS AFTER HIS PARISHIONERS

  XVI. WHO WILL HELP?

  XVII. "NOW WE CAN HAVE OUR CHRISTMAS!"

  XVIII. TELLING ALL THE NEWS

  XIX. JOCKO

  XX. REPAIRING DAMAGES

  XXI. THE POSTPONED CHRISTMAS MORNING

  XXII. AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE

  XXIII. THE SLEIGHING PARTY

  XXIV. JASPER AND BEN

  XXV. IT WAS POLLY WHO HEARD IT FIRST

  XXVI. "COULD YOU TAKE HIM, BEN?"

  XXVII. "MR. KING, WHO IS THAT PIP YOU HAVE HERE?"

  XXVIII. BEN DECIDES THE MATTER FOR HIMSELF

  ILLUSTRATIONS

  Then she hopped away from Polly and made a little cheese right on thesidewalk

  "O dear me," wailed Polly, burrowing deeper within the folds of theblack alpaca apron

  And the first person he ran up against was a small boy, his hands fullof little wads of paper bundles

  "See what you've done; that's castor oil"

  There was an awful pause, every one staring at the smooth layer of brownpaper

  "Did you ever see such sweet little fingers?" said Polly

  Ben Pepper