Books in Five Little Peppers series

"Dear me," said Polly, "I don't see wherever she can be, Jasper. I've searched just everywhere for her." And she gave a little sigh, and pushed up the brown rings of hair under her sailor cap. "Don't worry, Polly," said Jasper, with a reassuring smile. "She's with Matilda, of course. Come, Polly, let's you and I have a try at the shuffle-board by ourselves, down on the lower deck." "No, we can't," said Polly, with a dreadful longing at her heart for the charms of a game; "that is, until we've found Phronsie." And she ran down the deck. "Perhaps she is in one of the library corners, though I thought I looked over them all." "How do you know she isn't with Matilda, Polly?" cried Jasper, racing after, to see Polly's little blue jacket whisking ahead of him up the companion-way. "Because"—Polly stopped at the top and looked over her shoulder at him—"Matilda's in her berth. She's awfully seasick. I was to stay with Phronsie, and now I've lost her!" And the brown head drooped, and Polly clasped her hands tightly together. "Oh, no, she can't be lost, Polly," said Jasper, cheerfully, as he bounded up the stairs and gained her side; "why, she couldn't be!"

The little old kitchen had quieted down from the bustle and confusion of mid-day; and now, with its afternoon manners on, presented a holiday aspect, that as the principal room in the brown house, it was eminently proper it should have. It was just on the edge of the twilight; and the little Peppers, all except Ben, the oldest of the flock, were enjoying a "breathing spell," as their mother called it, which meant some quiet work suitable for the hour. All the "breathing spell" they could remember however, poor things; for times were always hard with them nowadays; and since the father died, when Phronsie was a baby, Mrs. Pepper had had hard work to scrape together money enough to put bread into her children's mouths, and to pay the rent of the little brown house. But she had met life too bravely to be beaten down now. So with a stout heart and a cheery face, she had worked away day after day at making coats, and tailoring and mending of all descriptions; and she had seen with pride that couldn't be concealed, her noisy, happy brood growing up around her, and filling her heart with comfort, and making the little brown house fairly ring with jollity and fun. "Poor things!" she would say to herself, "they haven't had any bringing up; they've just scrambled up!" And then she would set her lips together tightly, and fly at her work faster than ever. "I must get schooling for them some way, but I don't see how!" Once or twice she had thought, "Now the time is coming!" but it never did: for winter shut in very cold, and it took so much more to feed and warm them, that the money went faster than ever. And then, when the way seemed clear again, the store changed hands, so that for a long time she failed to get her usual supply of sacks and coats to make; and that made sad havoc in the quarters and half-dollars laid up as her nest egg. But—"Well, it'll come some time," she would say to herself; "because it must!" And so at it again she would fly, brisker than ever.

The third book in the "Five Little Peppers" series. This Book follows Joel one of the more rambunctious of the Pepper brood. Quick tempered and energetic he frequently find himself in trouble but always manages to squeeze out of it. Read and follow along as Joel saves his sisters from an angry bull, goes fishing, creates his own circus, and has other adventures in "The Little Brown House". Illustrated

Money is scarce but fun and laughter are abound in the little brown house. The five little Peppers -- Ben, Polly, Joel, Davie, and Phronsie-- have delighted children, parents and teachers since their creation 1881 by Harriet Stone (pen name Margaret Sidney). Five Little Peppers and Their Friends is the ninth book in the series. Green boards. Gilt embossed lettering to the front board and spine. Black embossed illustration to the front board and spine.

The 9th book in the “Five Little Peppers” Series. Joel and Davie Pepper are away at boarding school trying to learn manners and self-reliance while their sister Polly must cope with her own problems at school. When a terrible train accident leaves the local brakeman's wife a widow with children to support, Polly tries to help them by raising money. The peppers help each other to make it work. Illustrated.