Carolyn Wells

Marjorie's Vacation Carolyn Wells

In the Maynards' side yard at Rockwell, a swingful of children was slowly swaying back andforth. The swing was one of those big double wooden affairs that hold four people, so theMaynards just filled it comfortably. It was a lovely soft summer day in the very beginning of June; the kind of day that makesanybody feel happy but a little bit subdued. The kind of day when the sky is so blue, and theair so clear, that everything seems dreamy and quiet. But the Maynard children were little, if any, affected by the atmosphere, and though theydid seem a trifle subdued, it was a most unusual state of things, and was brought about byreasons far more definite than sky or atmosphere. Kingdon Maynard, the oldest of the four, and the only boy, was fourteen. These facts hadlong ago fixed his position as autocrat, dictator, and final court of appeal. Whatever Kingsaid, was law to the three girls, but as the boy was really a mild-mannered tyrant, notrouble ensued. Of late, though, he had begun to show a slight inclination to go off onexpeditions with other boys, in which girls were not included. But this was accepted by hissisters as a natural course of events, for of course, if King did it, it must be all right.