Read Online Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink - Free Book Online Page A

how the little screws came out and how the back came off, and then inside you saw all of the fascinating wheels and gimcracks. Why shouldn’t she mend it herself? She was sure that she could. She sat down with her back against the chimney and began to loosen the screws.
    It was more of a task than she had supposed. But Father’s tools were there on the shelf, and she found a screwdriver of just the size she needed. The back came off, revealing the wheels and springs. Caddie knew enough about clocks to see what was the matter. The circuit rider had wound his clock too tightly, and in some way the spring had caught so that it could not unwind as it should have done. Caddie looked it over carefully. Then she began to loosen the screws which held it in place. She had to loosen several before she found the right ones. Time slipped away unheeded,she was so deeply absorbed in the clock. Her cheeks were flushed and her face, bent low over her work, was curtained by her dangling curls.
    And then at last she loosened the right screw! Whizz! bang! the spring flew out with a whirr and hit the low ceiling. Screws and cog wheels flew in every direction. It was like an explosion. The circuit rider’s clock had suddenly flown to pieces! Caddie uttered a cry of despair and looked wildly about her. What would Father say?
    There was a low chuckle from the stairway. Caddie followed the sound with startled eyes. Standing on one of the lower steps, so that his eyes were just above the level of the attic floor, stood her father. How long he had been watching her, she had no idea.
    â€œFather,” she wailed, “it went to pieces! The circuit rider’s clock!” Her father leaned against the wall of the staircase and laughed. Caddie had almost never seen him laugh so hard. She, herself, did not know whether to laugh or cry.
    â€œFather,” she repeated, “it went to pieces!”
    Still laughing, Mr. Woodlawn came up the stairs.
    â€œLet’s pick up the pieces,” he said. “We’re going to put that clock together, Caddie. I’ve been needing a partner in my clock business for a long time. I don’t know why I never thought of you before!”
    â€œA partner!” gasped Caddie. She began to raceabout the attic, picking up screws and springs. “A real partner?”
    â€œIf you do well,” said her father. “Clara is too busy with Mother, and Tom hasn’t the patience nor the inclination. Yes, Caddie, I believe you’ll be my partner.”
    Together they sat on the attic floor and put the circuit rider’s clock in order. Mr. Woodlawn explained and demonstrated, while Caddie’s eager fingers did the work. Together they cleaned and oiled the parts and made the nice adjustments that were required. By the time the work was finished, it was growing dark in the attic.
    â€œNow take that down and show your mother, Caddie,” said Mr. Woodlawn. Together they marched downstairs, one as proud as the other, and Caddie set the circuit rider’s clock in the middle of the dining-room table.
    â€œSo you mended Mr. Tanner’s clock, did you, Johnny?” said Mrs. Woodlawn carelessly.
    â€œNo, not this time,” said her husband, with a twinkle in his eye. “Caddie did it.”
    â€œCaddie did it?” Mrs. Woodlawn and Clara and the children, who had just come in from school, crowded around to see.
    â€œIt runs,” marveled Tom, and Warren uttered an admiring “Golly!”



The circuit rider’s clock no longer looked like the “face of a dead friend.” It appeared to be very much alive and spoke up with a cheerful tick.
    Caddie never forgot the lesson she had learned that day in the attic. Wherever she was, all through her long and busy life, clocks ticked about her pleasantly, and, if they didn’t, she knew the reason why.

8. Breeches and Clogs
    The long winter evenings in the farmhouse were very pleasant times. Grouped