THREE AND ONE TO CARRY

The mathematical combinations that can be made of three plus one children are many, but just about all of them are tried out here. The three are Rosanna (18), Prue (14), and Tiger (10), who live with their father on farm in Sussex; the one is Arthur (9) a stray, not very bright waif to whom the kind-hearted Rosanna has offered shelter. Prue and Tiger feel put upon but understanding of the fact that since Arthur has broken a leg they will have to be nice to him, and eventually Prue develops a fondness, and Tiger a masculine rapport, toward the boy. Between Prue and Tiger there is a special sense of camaraderie. They all adore the motherly Rosanna, but Prue sometimes feels both resentful and guilty that she does not help in the management of the household and has begun to worry that Rosanna has let herself be too tied down to the family. As in Storm from the West (1964, p. 598, J-192), the author has done a fine job of developing the relationships in an unusually arranged family. For readers who want a little more, there is a slight, rather silly escapade involving a search for an old document to retain the family holding.