JUN IOR K ING ’S BUSINESS edited by Martha S. Hooker
Mike and the Fourth of July
by R ose H ardie
were telling their Mom and Dad what had happened. They told them about the spanking new doll with golden curls and a sky blue dress. They told them about the smile that spread over little Mary’s face when they brought her the doll. The two children had taken the doll out to the Olson farm and met a still weepy Mary but her tears had turned to showers of joy. And it made the other children happy too. They all agreed that Meg and Mike weren’t so uppity as they thought they were. And Mrs. Olson even planned a picnic for all of them that afternoon. The next Sunday the Olson chil dren all came to Sunday school with Meg and Mike. After that they started coming every week. And there they each one came to know Christ as their personal Saviour. For they learned of the greatest gift of all — the gift of eternal life from God. By the way this all made Meg and Mike very happy too and now they remember that particular .Fourth of July as one of the nicest they ever spent. K N O W YO U R BIBLE CLUB How much do you know about the Bible? When asked most people have to nod their heads and admit they know very little about it. So several years ago your Junior King’s Business editors came up with the idea of the Know Your Bible Club. To become a member of this club you are required to read through the Gospel of John. When this is read through a pin will be mailed and your name will be published on this page. A group of neighborhood children could gather together for a KYB Club or one could be organized in connection with a Sunday school class or youth club.
here was little Mary, brokenheart ed at her new doll’s accident. Mary’s Dad and Mom had saved and worked to get the doll and now it was a crumpled mixture of plas ter of paris, blue satin and golden wig. They were nearing the store. “ Mike,” Meg said. Her voice had an empty sound to it. “ I’ve been thinking . . . do we really need those firecrackers?” Mike kicked at a little stone in a sort of determined way. “Now what’s got into you, Meg?” Meg’s voice still had a faraway empty sound to it. “ Oh, I don’t know. She looked so sad.” “Who looked so sad?” “You know. Mary. Her doll is ruined forever.” And as if to give her statement more emphasis she added, “ Forever and forever and forever.” “ Girls.” Mike sounded disgusted. The door of the store was in front of them. It was time to make the decision. Firecrackers or no firecrackers this year? What would it he? Mike gave the sturdy old door a push and the two children walked in. Mr. Jones looked so big and fatherly this morning. In fact Meg thought to herself (with her usual imagination), “He sort of looks like a man in our Bible story last week -—- a Christian soldier!” “Can I help you two? Suppose you want some firecrackers. I have some real keen Roman candles which give a spray of 14 colors. All the youngsters like them,” the storekeeper said. Mike nudged Meg and whispered something. They had made their decision. “Mr. Jones, Meg and I were go ing to get some firecrackers but now we’ve changed our mind. We’d like to look at your dolls.” Later that evening the twins
A while later the twins were lazily walking toward the center of town. They followed the creek and Mike stopped to skip some flat stones while Meg gazed wide-eyed at a butterfly flitting from flower to flower, llie sun had its warm arms around them and it was fun just to be alive. “Well, we’ve $4 altogether. That’s pretty good for a couple of amateur bankers, if you ask me,” Mike said in a businesslike tone. “ Yes, but it wasn’t easy saving part of our spending money. More than once an ice cream cone from the soda fountain would have been nicer than a glass of homemade lemonade for a snack. But I guess now we’ll have more fun with the fireworks since we worked and saved to get them. I guess Dad would say we’ll appreciate the thing more,” Meg said. There was a saucy smile flirting around the edges of her pretty mouth. By the time they got to the store to make their noisy purchase the conversation had started to change. The reason for the change was that the twins had passed three of the Olson children back on the road. The Olsons were a fine family but their little farm didn’t make much money. Mom got eggs from them and sometimes Meg and Mike would go along to watch the chick ens but they never bothered to play with the children. Meg and Mike always felt farm children were sort of different. And anyway they never came to Sunday school. The youngest of the Olson chil dren, four-year-old Mary, was a little weepy when they saw her. Her favorite doll had just been dropped in the creek and the head was cracked in two. No wonder the little girl felt bad. Meg, who was normally a very happy, girl, felt sad all of a sudden. She had so many nice things. And
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