The Merry Five by Penn Shirley
The Merry Five are Molly, Kirke, and Weezy Rowe and their friends, twins Paul and Pauline Bradstreet. As the Rowes prepare for a summer stay at Santa Luzia, Captain Bradstreet invites Molly and Kirke to visit his family’s canyon camp. Weezy feels painfully left out, while the household is disrupted when baby Donald shuts himself inside a locked trunk during packing. He is rescued just in time, clutching the missing key. At Santa Luzia, the Rowes stay at Mrs. Kitto’s boarding-house, “The Old and New,” where the children enjoy the beach and swimming lessons. Mrs. Rowe suggests inviting their delicate young neighbor, Harry Hobbs, to join them. Molly and Kirke initially dislike the prospect, finding Harry troublesome and embarrassed by his clothes, but reluctantly agree. Their efforts to entertain him make them increasingly fond of him. While the children fish near the wharf, Weezy, impatient with warnings and eager to fish on her own, falls into the ocean after Harry accidentally jerks a wriggling fish toward her. Harry runs for help, and Mrs. Rowe believes Weezy has drowned. In fact, Weezy has climbed into a punt, used its rope to work her way ashore, and then fallen asleep on the bluff. Her family finds her safe, though exhausted. Captain Bradstreet later explicitly invites Weezy as well as Molly and Kirke to Camp Hilarious, ending her grievance. At the Bradstreets’ camp in Sylvan Canyon, the reunited Merry Five explore the woods, visit Mr. Arnesten’s ranch, and meet the Wassons at their bee-ranch. Auntie David tells how, as a child, she and Captain Bradstreet gathered gold from miners’ tailings and sluices, saving it to buy their mother the gold watch she still treasures. The children are touched by the Wassons’ affection for their dead dog, Mèdor, and compose an epitaph for his grave, which greatly pleases the couple. After returning home, Molly and Pauline plan costumes for the coming street masquerade. On the way to collect Donald’s new frocks, they see little Essie Hobbs sitting between electric-car rails. As the car rushes downhill, Molly leaps onto the track and pulls Essie to safety moments before the wheels pass where she had been. Though Molly insists she acted without thinking, her family and Miss Hobbs regard her as a heroine. At the Admission Day masquerade, Molly and Pauline disguise themselves as California and the United States, while Kirke and Paul disguise themselves as girls in white sunbonnets. The children successfully confuse one another until Zip recognizes Molly and then dislodges Kirke’s mask. Their secrets exposed, they end the evening laughing over their disguises and shared adventures.
By Penn Shirley · First published 1914 · Genre: Children's Fiction, Family Fiction, Juvenile Adventure Fiction · 12 chapters · 25,617 words
First lines
The Merry Five were Molly, Kirke, and Weezy Rowe, and their twin comrades, Paul and Pauline Bradstreet, who lived over the way. Paul, Pauline, and Molly were now fourteen years old, Kirke was twelve, and little Miss Weezy seven. The story begins with the Rowes at luncheon-time.
"O papa! I'm so glad we're going to the beach," cried Molly, laying down her fork.
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Genres
- Children's Fiction — The narrative is written for young readers, focusing on children's experiences, dialogue, play, fears, and lessons in an accessible, lively style.
- Family Fiction — The Rowe family's affectionate domestic life, parental guidance, sibling relationships, and shared summer journey form the story's central framework.
- Juvenile Adventure Fiction — The children encounter small-scale adventures involving travel, camping, fishing, swimming, wildlife, and moments of peril, especially Weezy's fall into the ocean.
- Coming-of-Age Fiction — Molly and Kirke gradually confront selfishness, social embarrassment, responsibility for younger children, and the value of generosity toward Harry Hobbs.
Tags
children's fiction · juvenile literature · adventure · friendship · group of children · mystery · outdoor activities · school holidays · family life · humor · British children's literature · middle-grade fiction
What this Textopian page supports
The Merry Five is listed on Textopian as a novel by Penn Shirley, dated 1914 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Novel
- Author: Penn Shirley
- Date: 1914 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Children's Fiction, Family Fiction, Juvenile Adventure Fiction, Coming-of-Age Fiction, Domestic Fiction
- Length: 25,617 words
- Structure: 12 chapters, 857 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for The Merry Five by Penn Shirley
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph
Contents
- The Merry Five
- Donald Hides
- Santa Luzia
- Learning to Swim
- At the Beach
- Fishing for Weezy
- Going into Camp
- The Little Miners
- The Bee-Ranch
- Five Young Poets
- Molly a Heroine
- The Street Masquerade