THE RAINY DAY APRON.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 26 September 1925, Page 18

THE RAINY DAY APRON.

How it did rain! It wasn’t a gentle, quiet rain either, but a rain which sent people scurrying to their houses, and made the cats and dogs hang their tails and run to shelter, and the flowers bend their heads so that their pretty faces should not get spoiled. Nina looked at it and thought that very soon rlie sky would all be poured out' on to the earth. Slie watched a horse and team go through a big puddle and laughed because it- looked as if the horse’s heavy klip, klop, made the puddle jump up. “This is a nice day to stay in and play,” she said to her mother who had just come into the room. “ Yes, a rainy day makes cozy play,” smiled her mother.

“ But I really don’t know what to play next,” said Nina slowly. “What do you play when you’ve played house and store and school and almost every“Oii, that’s easy,” said Airs. White quickly, “you play with your rainy day apron.” “I didn’t know I had one,” said Nina in surprise. “You didn’t?” Her mother laughed again and her brown eves twinkled into little lights. “Chut your eyes and maybe you’ll sec it when you open them. ’ ’

Nina shut her eyes tightly and felt something soft slip over her head. When she opened her eves she had on an apron, but she stood and stared at herself in the long mirror. “I never saw such a queer apron before in all my life,” she said. Her brown eyes were wide open and her mouth was a big round O. “That is your rainy day apron,” replied her mother, smiling at Nina ’s surprised face. The apron was made so that it slipped over her. head and covered her dress. It. was made of light coloured cloth, trimmed with —well, you never could imagine. No wonder Nina’s eyes almost popped out! “Why they’re pockets! One, two, three, five, ten—why, mother, there are almost 20 pockets on this apron!” Her pink fingers explored the pieces of blue, rod, pink, yellow, brown, violet, green, dark blue, purple, orange, and every colour you can guess, which were sewed all over the apron with pretty coloured feather-stitching. “Yes, pockets,” agreed her mother, “a rainy day apron with patchwork pockets. ” “And there’s something in the pockets ” Nina’s eyes wore shining and she was twisting her neck, and turning this way and that to get at all the pockets. “A piece of candy in the pink pocket, a penny in the blue one,j here’s a nice package of stories in the red one, a block of pink paper in the brown one, a tiny red pencil in the green one, and here’s something done up in white paper.” Nina opened it quickly. “A now puzzle! I shall have enough to do now! I do believe there is a surprise in almost every pocket. ” Her mother nodded and said, “When you have finished with that apron today I want you to put it away, and keep it especially for rainy days.” “I know,” said Nina breathlessly. “I’m going to keep the pockets full of things and play with them only when it rains. After I have looked all through the pockets to-day I’ll ctit out some new stories and put them in for the next time, and then I’ll make some things every week to put in the other pockets. When I get a penny or a new game I’ll remember to fill another pocket. It’s going to be great fun to be the pocket filler.” Just then the boll rang and Nina could sec through tho window that her little friend had come to play with her. ‘Won’t Janet, and I have fun with this 20-pocket apron,” she cried as she hurried to the door. “And, Oh—-” she stopped ami whispered, “I have just found another piece of candy in the purple pock'et and that will do for Janet. After this I’m going to keep some of the pockets full of surprises for anvom: who comes to play with me!”

“Conic in, Janet,” she said with a happy laugh as she opened the door. “I have a new game to play; it’s called the 20-pocket game and we play it with my new rainy-day apron. ’ ’