With Father in Washington and Cuffy away visiting a sick cousin, almost anything might happen to the Melendys left behind at the Four-Story Mistake. In the Melendy family, adventures are inevitable: Mr. Titus and the catfish; the villainy of the DeLacey brothers; Rush’s composition of Opus Three; Mona’s first rhubarb pie and all the canning; Randy’s arrowhead; the auction and fair for the Red Cross. But best of all is the friendship with Mark Herron which begins with a scrap-collection mission and comes to a grand climax on Oliver’s birthday.

Here is Elizabeth Enright’s story of a long and glorious summer in the country with the Melendy family.