They had earned it faithfully and well.
They were all there, drawn up in a circle about the fountain,--
Ralph and Dick and Tommy and Master Sunshine, and all the other
pupils of the school. Close by were gathered their relatives and
friends; for the formal unveiling was felt to be a most important
matter, and the whole village had turned out to witness the
ceremony.
Mrs. Norton was looking very pleased and happy over some words
that Mr. Patterson said quietly in her ear, while Lucy, now a baby
no longer, cried out from her post on her father's shoulder, "It's
dee Suns'ine's fountain, it's dee Suns'ine's fountain;" and Almira
Jane dressed in her best bib and tucker, and Jacob dressed in his
Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes, looked across at each other very
kindly.
Presently Mr. Patterson in a few words told of the events that had
led to the erection of the fountain, and Mr. Sinclair called on
Master Frederick Norton to pull down the great flag that veiled
the fountain from view. A cry of admiration went up from the crowd
as the fountain, a most beautiful work of art, burst on their
view.
At a second signal from Mr. Sinclair, plenteous streams of
sparkling water gushed into the troughs and basins, while the boys
of the Hill-top school burst into a song which their teacher had
especially prepared for the occasion.
Gyp and Tim meantime, who had followed their young masters from
home, suddenly realized what all the disturbance was about, and
with one accord they made their way through the crowd, and began
to lap up water from the dog-basins with as little concern as if
they had been used to these luxuries all their lives.
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