Mr. and Mrs. Peterkin were to go in the carryall, and take up the
lady from Philadelphia, and Ann Maria, with the rest, was to
follow in a wagon, and to stop for the daughters of the lady from
Philadelphia. The wagon arrived, and so Mr. Peterkin had the
horse put into the carryall.
A basket had been kept on the back piazza for some days, where
anybody could put anything that would be needed for the picnic as
soon as it was thought of.
Agamemnon had already decided to take a thermometer;
somebody was always complaining of being too hot or too cold at
a picnic, and it would be a great convenience to see if she really
were so. He thought now he might take a barometer, as
"Probabilities" was so uncertain. Then, if it went down in a
threatening way, they could all come back.
The little boys had tied their kites to the basket. They had never
tried them at home; it might be a good chance on the hills.
Solomon John had put in some fishing-poles; Elizabeth Eliza, a
book of poetry. Mr. Peterkin did not like sitting on the ground,
and proposed taking two chairs, one for himself and one for
anybody else. The little boys were perfectly happy; they jumped in
and out of the wagon a dozen times, with new india-rubber boots,
bought for the occasion.
Before they started, Mrs. Peterkin began to think she had already
had enough of the picnic, what with going and coming, and trying
to remember things.
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