1 Happy Days at the Little Brown House

CLASSIC STARTS Five-Little Peppers and How They Grew Retold from the'? Margaret Sidney/ original

CHAPTER 1 Happy Days at the Little Brown House Long, long ago, in a small village known as Badgertown, on a tiny street called Promise Lane, there was a Little Brown House in which the Pepper Family lived. There was Mrs. Pepper, who was always bent over her sewing in order to earn the money to feed her large brood of five Peppers. Her

children called her Mamsie. Ben, the oldest Pepper child, was eleven years old. He worked hard at Deacon Blodgett's and did all the outdoor chores around the Little Brown House. Polly, second oldest, was ten years old. She did all the baking, cooking, and cleaning up. And, she took care of Joel, Davie, and Phronsie, so that Mamsie could sew. By evening, the old kitchen in the Little Brown House was finally quiet. Gone was the hustle and bustle of the day. All of the Peppers, except for Ben, were busy doing small chores. Life was hard for the Peppers. Mr. Pepper had died when the youngest, Phronsie, was just a baby. Since then, Mrs. Pepper had worked hard to scrape together enough money to buy food and pay rent on the Little Brown House. Day after day, she worked cheerfully at her sewing. She made coats and did mending of all kinds. In spite of it all, the five little Peppers were a

happy bunch and filled Mrs. Pepper's heart with joy. There was only one thing missing: The Peppers had never been to school. There were so many chores and so little money, that the children had to help as best they could, every day. "I must get schooling for them somehow. I must," Mrs. Pepper promised herself as her fingers flew over the coat she was sewing. "To help Mother" was the greatest goal of each and every Pepper. Ben and Polly spent hours making secret plans, whispering to each other about how they would one day surprise Mother with all the kind things they would do for her. The younger three Peppers, Joel, Davie, and Phronsie, looked up to and loved Polly and Ben with all their hearts. The Peppers felt they were a very lucky family, indeed. They might not have much money, but they had each other, and that was all that really mattered.

"Oh my goodness," said Polly as she burst into the kitchen. "It's almost dinnertime. Ben will be home from work any minute!" Polly reached into the potato sack that hung in the mostly empty cupboard. She pulled out six potatoes, one for each of them. "I'll help you, dear, just as soon as I'm done with this mending," Mrs. Pepper said. "I want to help, too," sang out Phronsie, who toddled in on her chubby little legs and clung to Polly. "May I, Polly? May I?" "Of course you may, my pet," Polly told her, kissing the top of Phronsie's golden head. Polly set Phronsie down on a seat at the table and gave her a crust of bread and butter. "You don't need to do a thing, Mamsie," Polly said cheerily to her mother. "Phronsie and I will take care of it all." Polly hummed as she set a pot of water to boil on the cranky, old black stove. Her brown eyes twinkled in the dimming light as she peeled the

potatoes, cut up the brown bread, and set out the butter plate on the old plank-wood table. "Someday, we'll have enough candles to light the whole house every night," Polly promised herself as she watched Mamsie squint at her sewing in the growing dark. Just then, Phronsie let out a cry. "It's Ben!" Ben bounded into the kitchen, his chubby face all-aglow. His big, blue eyes shone honest and true. "Is supper ready, Polly?" Ben asked. "We're hungry," said Joel and Davie, who trailed in after Ben. "Let's eat!" Polly said, carrying the plate of potatoes to the table. "Someday, we're going to be awfully rich, aren't we Ben?" Phronsie asked, her mouth half- full. "You don't say," Ben said with a chuckle. Then in a low voice to Polly he added, "I wish