Page:Four Little Blossoms at Brookside Farm.djvu/124

110 severely at the little girl. "I don't believe blackberry juice comes out, either. Prob'ly that dress will always be spotted now."

"Linda said when she was a little girl her mother made her wash her own dresses if she got too many dirty in one day," Dot declared. "Maybe I could wash this."

Twaddles and Bobby hadn't a very clear idea of how to wash a dress, and because it was something they had not done before, the idea appealed to them.

"We'll help you," offered Bobby generously. "I saw a piece of soap out at the barn this morning. And the rain barrel's full. Come on."

They trotted down to the barn. Neither Peter nor Jud was anywhere in sight, which was just what the washers hoped for. Of course, they argued, it wasn't naughty to wash a dress, but you never can tell what objections grown-ups are going to make. Sometimes they find fault with every single thing one wants to do.

"Let me rub the soap on," begged Dot, as Bobby unbuttoned her frock for her and she