They made the four balls and tried to teach the kittens to remember their own colors. But in this they were not very successful, as the kittens liked the balls so much they played with any one they could catch.
When Mr. Maynard came home, true to his word, he sent Marjorie a gift.
The bell rang, and there on the doorstep lay a parcel.
It proved to contain two picture puzzles.
"Oh, goody!" cried Midget. "These are just what I wanted. I've heard about them, but I've never had any, and Father told me last week he'd get me one. One's for you, Delight, and one's for me. Which do you choose?"
"Left hand," said Delight, as Marjorie's hands went behind her.
"But I don't know how to do puzzles. I never saw one like this."
"If you knew how to do it, it wouldn't be a puzzle. I don't know either; but we'll learn."
"I'll show you how to begin," said Miss Hart. "Wait a minute."
She went out to the dining-room, and returned with two trays, oblong, square-cornered and of fairly good size.
"Make your puzzles on these," she said, "and then you can carry them around while working on them, if you want to. You can't do that, if you make them right on the table."
So with the trays on the table in front of them the girls began. Each puzzle had about a hundred and fifty pieces, and they were not easy ones. Miss Hart showed them how to find pieces that fitted each other; but would not help them after the first two or three bits were joined, for she said the fun was in doing it themselves.
"But I can't!" said Midge, looking perfectly hopeless; "these pieces are all brownish and greenish and I don't know what they are."
"I see," said Delight, her eyes sparkling; "you must find a face, or something that you can tell what it is, and start from that."
"But there isn't any face here," said Midget; "here's one eye,--if it _is_ an eye!"
"Begin with that," advised Miss Hart. "Find some more of a face to go with it."
"Oh, yes; here's a nose and lips! Why, it just fits in!"
Soon the two children were absorbed in the fascinating work. It was a novelty, and it happened to appeal to both of them.
"Don't look at each other's picture," warned Miss Hart, "and then, when both are done, you can exchange and do each other's. It's no fun if you see the picture before you try to make it."