was mashed flat.

"Hullo! Freddie's breaking up housekeeping!" cried Bert.

"Oh, Freddie! do take the flower-pot away!" came from Flossie. "It's too
big to go into the house."

Freddie looked perplexed for a moment. "Going to play garden around the
house. This is a--a lilac tree!" And he set the flower-pot down close to
Bert's elbow. Bert was now busy trying to put a pasteboard chimney on
his house, and did not notice. A moment later Bert's elbow hit the
flower-pot and down it went on the floor, breaking into several pieces
and scattering the dirt over the rug.

"Oh, Bert! what have you done?" cried Nan, in alarm. "Get the broom and
the dust-pan, before Dinah comes."

"It was Freddie's fault."

"Oh, my lilac tree is all gone!" cried the little boy. "And the boiler
to my fire engine, too," he added, referring to the flower-pot, which he
had used the day before when playing fireman.

At that moment, Dinah, the cook, came in from the kitchen.

"Well, I declar' to gracious!" she exclaimed. "If yo' chillun ain't gone
an' mussed up de floah ag'in!"

"Bert broke my boiler!" said Freddie, and began to cry.