About Harriet  by Clara Whitehill Hunt
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What Harriet Did on Wednesday

A LMOST before her eyes were open on Wednesday morning Harriet called out:—

"What are we going to do to-day, Mother dear?"

And Mother answered:—

"Wait until you've eaten your breakfast, honey, and then we'll see."

Harriet jumped out of bed very quickly at that. She suspected that something nice was going to happen if she ate a good, hearty breakfast. You see, Harriet was not often a hungry little girl, and when she knew that there was to be a picnic or something else very gay she was too excited to eat at all. So Mother did not usually tell of any exciting plan until after breakfast.

This morning Harriet resolved to eat—oh, ever so much, so that Mother would decide it was safe to do the nice thing that she probably had in her mind. So Harriet ate and ate till Father joked her and poked her and said he thought she would taste as good, roasted, as a fat little stuffed pig. And finally, as Harriet kept eating and eating, her Mother laughed and said:—

"There, there, dear! You've eaten enough to last until noon! What do you say to going downtown this morning, shopping, and eating our lunch in Lerner's restaurant?"

"Oh, goody, goody!" shrieked Harriet.

So Mother knew that that meant Harriet liked the plan very much.

It did not take Mother and Harriet long after breakfast to get ready. They liked to start early when they were going shopping, so as to be in the stores before crowds of people came and made it hot and uncomfortable while they did their errands.

Harriet did not carry her pink sunshade to-day. Mother said it would be in the way downtown, where there were high stairs to climb and a great many people on the streets to jostle against them.

After a short walk down one street and over another, they came to the Elevated Railroad station. In Harriet's city the streets are so full of wagons and trolleys and motor-cars, and there are so many, many people who must travel long distances from their homes every day to get to their offices and stores and schools, that the men who make the railroads have to build some of them up in the air and some of them down under the ground! Just think of that! Under the ground they dig a long, long tunnel and lay the tracks through the tunnel, and the trains go swiftly back and forth in this long hole in the ground; and when little boys and girls ride in these underground cars and look out of the windows they can't see anything except the sides of the tunnel and the lights flashing by—no shops or horses or people or trees or anything. The railroad under the ground is called the "Subway."

There is another kind of railroad made of tracks and trains high up on great strong bridges miles and miles long through the streets. This is called the "Elevated Railroad." People often call it the "L." Harriet and her Mother were going downtown on the "L."

First they had to climb a long flight of stairs. This was slow work for Harriet's short legs. When they got to the top they stopped a minute to get their breath again. Then Mother paid the fare through a little opening in a window where a woman or a man sits all day and all night to collect fares. Then the woman unlocked the turnstile and Mother passed through it, but Harriet walked under a rail, because she was so little Mother did not have to pay a fare for her.

Now they were out on the long platform and soon the train came rushing in and they got aboard. As soon as all the passengers were in the cars, the guards on the platforms at the ends of each car slammed the gates, to shut the people in; then one guard after another reached up and pulled a rope which rang a bell to tell the motorman, "All right! Go ahead!" Then the train started.

Harriet climbed up on the seat and kneeled with her face toward the window so as to see everything they passed as they flew along. It was such fun to be up so high that you could look into third-story windows of people's houses or stores. Sometimes there were little children looking out of those high windows. Sometimes Harriet looked into a big room filled with men bent over sewing machines making coats and trousers. Sometimes she saw a room filled with girls at desks, typewriting as fast as they could make their fingers fly. Once Harriet caught a glimpse down a side street of a roof which some little children's father had made into a nice outdoor playroom. The roof had a fence around it, so the babies could not fall off, and there was an awning over the top, so it would not be too hot; and the children had their toys out there, and plants growing in boxes, and it was really a lovely play place for little city children, but of course not half  as nice as the country.

Presently the guard called out, "Ellum and Dutton!" (He meant Elm and Dutton Streets, but the guards always said "Ellum.") This was the station near the large stores, so when the train stopped and the guard opened the gates, Harriet and her Mother stepped out upon the platform. They walked very slowly down the long stairs and then they waited at the curb for a chance to cross the street.

It was a very busy street and a very noisy one at this corner. Overhead the Elevated trains every few minutes made a great noise. In the middle of the road the trolley cars ran so close together that there was a continuous "Clang! Clang! Clang!" of the motormen's gongs. There was a steady stream of heavy wagons and automobiles rumbling and whizzing by. There were people crowding down into the Subway. No wonder there had to be a mounted police at the corner to keep the wagons and cars from getting all snarled up and the people from getting run over.

Harriet loved the mounted police. Their horses were so beautiful and so intelligent. The officers were so big and handsome, their uniforms so splendid, and they sat so straight upon their horses. They stood in the midst of the roar and the rush and with one lift of the hand they made all the drivers and motormen stop their cars instantly to let a little girl and her Mother pass in safety across the street. When Harriet's fairy tales told about a mighty king or emperor whose slightest wish was instantly obeyed by his subjects, she always thought of her beloved mounted police.

When Harriet and Mother had safely reached the other side of the street, they found themselves almost at the big front door of Lerner's store where Mother always did most of her shopping.

This morning they went first into the shoe department. They sat down on the slippery leather seat and Mother bought for herself a pair of low shoes having rubber soles and heels. This is the best kind of shoe to wear if you are going to climb over slippery rocks in Maine. Harriet had to have a pair of "sneakers" too.

Then they went down to the basement of the store. This was an immense place. You could buy trunks, toys, kitchenware, bathroom supplies, tools, lamps, china, dishes—it would fill a book to tell all the things in Lerner's basement.

Mother was buying supplies this morning for the bungalow: paper towels and napkins, wooden plates for picnics, cooking dishes for the kitchen, and many other things.

All these supplies, with what Mother would buy in other departments, would be sent by Lerner's shipping department up to a little town in Maine where Captain Barber's steamboat would get the supplies and carry them over to the bungalow.

When Mother had finished shopping in the basement they started to go upstairs.

"Oh, Mother!" said Harriet, "please let's ride up on the revolving stairs."

So they went to the place where one could step on to what looked something like a narrow chain sidewalk, which did not stay still, but which was moving uphill all the time. And when you stepped on this sidewalk, you did not have to climb at all; you stood still and the walk itself climbed. When you got up to the main floor you stepped off the funny stair, and there you were. Harriet loved it. Her Mother would not let her ride down on this revolving stair, for fear she might get dizzy and fall.

Next Mother and Harriet got into the big elevator and rode up to the fourth floor to the furniture department. Mother wanted to buy two big, comfortable willow chairs for the bungalow living-room. While Mother was making up her mind what to choose, Harriet thought she would try to sit in every chair in the furniture department, but, dear me! It would have taken her almost all day to do that, Mr. Lerner had so many chairs to sell. There were drawing-room chairs and library chairs and dining-room chairs, bedroom chairs, kitchen chairs, and office chairs, leather chairs, satin-cushioned chairs, rocking-chairs, babies' high chairs, red, brown, yellow, and green chairs—and that isn't half the kinds there were in that great huge chair department! Harriet's knees were all tired out with climbing by the time Mother had decided on her chairs, and when they came to their next stopping-place Harriet was glad to sit still on the stool by the counter while Mother chose the flowered cretonne which was to cover the cushions for her chairs.

In other departments they bought middy blouses for Harriet and for her Mother too, and thread and needles and pins and writing paper and envelopes and stockings and other things besides.

At last Mother said, "There, I'd better stop, or Father won't have money enough left to buy our tickets to Maine!"

But of course Harriet knew that Mother was joking. Father always said they would go to Maine if they had to go barefoot!

Now it was lunch-time, so, after tidying up in the ladies' dressing-room, they got into the big elevator again and were carried up to Lerner's restaurant on the fifth floor. A great, big room was filled with little tables covered with shining silver and pretty dishes. There were many ladies and a few gentlemen and some little children at these tables. There were neat-looking waitresses flying here and there bringing trays of food to the people.

Harriet and Mother found a seat near a window. If you looked out of the window the "L" seemed very far below, and the people on the sidewalks looked very small.

Soon a pretty waitress brought a card on which was printed the names of all sorts of good things to eat. Mother chose from this card Harriet's favorite soup, then tomato and lettuce salad, rolls and butter, milk for Harriet and tea for Mother—and strawberry ice cream for both!


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Oh, but that lunch tasted good! Harriet was just as hungry as if she hadn't stuffed herself at breakfast time. The pretty waitress smiled when Harriet gave a little squeal on seeing the ice cream. There wasn't one speck of pink cream left on the plate when Harriet had finished with it, you may be sure.

After lunch Mother said, "If you're not too tired we might walk along looking into the windows a little while before we go home."

Of course Harriet was not too tired, so they went out into the noisy street again. It was even more crowded than it had been in the earlier part of the morning, so many people during the lunch hour were hurrying to their eating-places. Suddenly Harriet heard at a distance a furious "Clang! Clang!" and the people exclaimed, "Fire!" and Harriet's Mother quickly drew her into a doorway out of the crowd. Then you should have seen that street! The wagons and automobiles, quick as a wink, drew themselves close to the curbstone and stood still, the trolley cars stopped running, people who had been crossing the street flew to the sidewalks, and in an instant a fire engine dashed by and then came another and another engine, and it was perfectly wonderful to see them go so fast through that crowded street and not run over a single thing. Lots of the people ran after the engines, to see the fire, but Harriet and her Mother kept close in their place of safety, and presently the cars started again and everything moved on as before the excitement.

They walked by the "5 and 10 cent store," a place Harriet loved, because it was so easy to buy Christmas presents there for a great many people, even if one were a little girl with not much money to spend. They did not go into this store to-day.

Next they passed a window all fixed up to look like a camp. There was a real tent with a flap open showing the cot and camp-chair and trunk and other furnishings inside. There were figures of men and boys dressed in campers' clothes, some of the figures cooking a meal, others fishing, others chopping kindlings for the fire. This window was to let people know that in this store you could buy fish poles and tents and folding stoves and axes and khaki trousers and rainproof hats and everything a camper could possibly need. Harriet gazed a long time at this window.

A little farther on she gave such a shriek of delight that several people on the sidewalk turned and smiled. It was a florist's window that pleased Harriet so much. In this window was a Japanese garden, which looked so exactly like the garden where Taro and Take, the "Japanese Twins," lived, that Harriet was too happy for words in looking at it.


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There was a little winding stream with tiny curved bridges crossing it, there were queer little teahouses on little islands, there were tiny trees and tiny Japanese people standing in the garden, there were wee swans on the water—oh, it was a beautiful sight! Harriet drank it in with joy and Mother let her stand almost as long as she wished before saying:—

"Now, dear, I think we must go home."

Harriet, clinging to her Mother's hand, walked along looking backward at little Japan, and when they turned from a last look Harriet threw kisses back, for love of Taro and Take.

When they got into the "L," Harriet was too tired to care to look out of the windows and she was very willing to take a long nap when they reached home. After dinner she called for one story out of the "Japanese Twins," and then she was quite ready to be put into her little crib, where she dropped off to sleep before she had finished saying her prayers.


So this is the end of the Sixth Story about Harriet and what she did on Wednesday.