Three little Trippertrots

“Oh, my! It’s raining harder than ever!” cried Mary Trippertrot, as she and her brothers and the old fisherman ran along. “Can’t you please hold that umbrella over me better than that, Johnny? I’m getting all wet.”

“Never mind,” spoke the kind old fisherman, and he held the chair upside down over his head, so his whiskers wouldn’t get full of water. “Never mind. We’ll soon be in the false-face man’s house, and we can get good and dry.”

“Do you think he is at home?” asked Tommy.

“Who? The false-face man?” inquired the old fisherman. “Of course he’s at home. He’s never anywhere else. He never goes out, you know. Why, who would make all the false-faces if he went away? He just can’t spare the time, you see.”

“Oh, it must be dreadful to have to stay in the house all the while!” said Mary. “I wouldn’t like it a bit.”

“Well,” said the fisherman, as he tried to run in between the big rain-drops so he wouldn’t get hit by them, “there is one good thing about staying home all the while—you never get lost.”

“That’s so,” agreed Tommy. “But we’d better hurry. My boots are full of water, and my feet are wet.”

“Oh, that’s too bad!” exclaimed the fisherman. “I forgot about the water in the boots. I wonder how it got in?”

“Why, you fished them up out of the lake,” said Johnny, “and I think it must have gotten in over the tops that way. They were down under water, you know.”

“To be sure,” said the old fisherman. “The next time I catch rubber boots I’m going to have the tops covered over with shingles so the water won’t get in. But I see the false-face man waving to us, and that means he’s at home, and he wants us to hurry in. Run a little faster, children.”

So the Trippertrots ran faster, and so did Ivy Vine, the cat, for she didn’t like the wet very much; and neither did Fido, the dog; but they didn’t say anything about it. And the old fisherman ran, also.

Mary and Tommy and Johnny looked toward the little house to see what kind of a person the false-face man was. He was standing in the doorway. And he was quite a jolly sort of a man, if you will kindly take my word for it. He had on an apron all covered with spots of paint, and his arms, on which the sleeves were rolled up almost to the shoulders, had paint on them also. The children could see him quite plainly now, for all of a sudden the sky cleared up, though the ground was still very wet.

“Leave the umbrella, chair, coat and rubber boots here,” said the old fisherman. “We won’t need them, as it has stopped raining.”

So they put them down in the grass and hurried on.

And oh, so many, many pretty colors as the children saw! There were red spots on the false-face man, and green spots of paint, and pink spots, and black spots, and yellow, and brown, and purple, and gold, and silver, and even some chimney-colored spots. It was just as if a rainbow had splattered over him.

“Why is he all spotted up that way?” asked Mary, as she and Johnny splashed into a puddle and out again.

“Because he paints the false-faces,” said the old fisherman. “He paints them all sorts of colors, and, of course, some of the paint splashes on him. But bless you! he doesn’t mind it in the least; not in the least, I do assure you.”

“Does he make all the false-faces?” asked Tommy, as he stepped along.

“Everyone,” answered the old fisherman. “All those faces you see in the store windows for Hallowe’en. Wait. I’ll have him tell you about it.”

So they ran on, and now they were right at the front door of the house of the false-face man, and they could see that he was even more jolly-looking than they had at first thought.

“Don’t you make all the false-faces?” the old fisherman asked him, as he pointed to some of them hanging on the house. “Please tell the children all about it.”

“To be sure I will,” said the false-face man, with a jolly laugh. “I have just finished making a whole lot of false-faces for the children all over this country, and for some out in a city called Orange; but I think that must be a funny place. I wonder why they didn’t call it Lemon?”

“Because, if you please,” said Mary, “I think it was because lemons are sour.”

“Ha! I never thought of that!” exclaimed the false-face man. “No doubt you are right. But come in. Don’t mind the paint. It won’t come off, for it’s dry by this time.”

“I wish we were dry,” said old fisherman, as he twisted his whiskers around to squeeze the water out of them. “We are very wet, even if the paint isn’t.”

“Well, come in, and you may sit by the fire,” said the false-face man. “I’m very glad to see you.”

“And will you really tell us about making the false-faces, if you please?” asked Tommy politely.

“To be sure I will,” was the answer. “Do you mind if I sing it?” and the false-face man looked at the children, and then at Ivy Vine, who was trying to get her fur dry with her red tongue.

“No. I think they would like very much to hear you sing,” spoke the old fisherman.

“Do you think the dog or cat would mind?” went on the false-face man. “Some dogs don’t like music.”

“Oh, I don’t believe they would mind your singing,” said Tommy, and the false-face man and the old fisherman began to laugh, though the Trippertrots didn’t know why.

“Well, then, here goes for the song,” said the false-face man after a while. “It’s not a very good one, as I made it up myself, but it’s the best I can do. And I’ll sing it to the tune of Hum-dum-dum diddle-iddle-um.”

Then he sang this song:

“I think that is a very nice song,” said Mary, when the false-face man had finished.

“Thank you,” replied the false-face man, making a low bow.

“Oh, goody!” cried Tommy. “When is Hallowe’en?”

“To-night,” answered the old fisherman.

“And will you really make false-faces for all of us?” inquired Johnny.

“To be sure I will,” said the false-face man, “and I’ll make one for Ivy Vine, and for Fido the dog. Then we’ll have a party, just as I sung about.”

“Oh, but I forgot!” exclaimed Mary. “We can’t stay to any Hallowe’en party.”

“Why not?” asked Tommy.

“Because we’re lost,” said his sister. “We must try to find our way back home, or mamma and papa will be alarmed about us.”

“That’s so,” said the two boys.

“Oh, don’t worry,” spoke the false-face man. “I think I can find your home for you after a while, and it is early yet.”

That made the children feel better, and they thought they might stay just a little while longer; anyway, until they got their false-faces.

“Now, what kind of faces do you want?” asked the man, who was all covered with paint spots.

“I want an Indian’s!” exclaimed Tommy.

“You shall have it,” said the false-face man.

“And I want one like Little Jack Horner, who sat in the corner,” said Johnny.

“You shall have it,” said the false-face man, with a jolly laugh, “and you may sit in the corner of my shop here, and perhaps we can find a Christmas pie so you can put in your thumb and pull out a plum.”

“Oh, that will be jolly!” exclaimed Tommy.

“And now what kind of a false-face do you want, Mary?” asked the old fisherman.

“Oh, I think I would like one of Old Mother Hubbard who went to the cupboard,” said the little Trippertrot girl.

“And you may have that,” promised the false-face man. “And I have a cupboard, and you have the dog, so if we can find a bone the cupboard won’t be bare.”

Then he gave the children their false-faces, and he found a bone for Fido, who barked three times, to say thank you; and there was some milk for Ivy Vine. Then the children put on their false-faces, and there was one for Fido. He was dressed up like a monkey; and as for Ivy Vine, she had a false-face like a wax doll, and she was very cute-looking.

And the false-face man didn’t need any false-face himself, as he was all covered over with paint, anyhow. And whom do you suppose the old fisherman dressed up like? Why, who else but Santa Claus, and he wore his own whiskers. Then they had a party, and Johnny put his thumb in a pie and pulled out a whole bag full of sugar plums. Oh, they were just having the grandest time, when, all of a sudden, there came a knock on the door!

“Ha! I wonder who that can be?” asked the false-face man.

“I’ll look,” said the old fisherman.

So he looked, and who should be there but the Trippertrots’ nursemaid, Suzette.

“Oh, children!” exclaimed Suzette, when she saw them. “You must come home at once! I have been looking everywhere for you! Your mamma is much worried. Come home at once!”

“We didn’t mean to run away,” said Mary, “but the sawhorse and the clothes-horse and the rocking-horse got going so fast that we couldn’t stop them. So we got lost.”

“But we’re not lost now, any more!” exclaimed Tommy, as the nursemaid walked into the house.

“And here is a little present for Suzette,” spoke the false-face man, as he gave her a face that looked like a Chinese lady, with a pigtail down her back.

And then, when the children had said good-by to their two friends, the fisherman and the false-face man, they started home with Suzette, taking Ivy Vine and Fido with them, and also their false-faces.

But they hadn’t been home very long before they ran away again, and then they had another adventure.