"Shan't we ever have anything else to eat, Polly?" asks the child, gravely.

"Oh, yes," says Polly, cheerfully. "Lots and lots -- when our ship comes in!"

"What'll it be?" asks Phronsie, in the greatest delight, prepared for anything.

"Oh, I don't know," says Polly. "Ice cream, for one thing!"

The little Peppers dream on -- cake, ice cream . . . with pink frosting! As they learn, however, sometimes things must get worse before they get better.

In the Five Little Peppers series, Margaret Sidney (1880-1916) wrote some of the most beloved children's novels ever published.