A thin little hand reached forth and patted the sobbing woman on the shoulder. “Never you mind, Miss Newton, I’ll find your money for you. How much did you lose, and where do you think you lost it?” Teddy was transformed into a small edition of a knight-errant about to go to the rescue of a lady in distress. “What kind of a purse was it?”
“Ten dollars,” gurgled the Gobbler. “I don’t know where I lost it. It was all I had. Oh-h-h! It was a little, black pocketbook.”
“Don’t you cry, now. I’ll find it,” promised Teddy hopefully. He began a rapid search among the piles of tinware. This time, however, he was extremely careful not to disarrange them. Next he darted up and down the aisles, peering under the tables, his alert eyes scanning every inch of the floor, but to no purpose.
“Maybe someone’s picked it up and taken it to the ‘Lost and Found,’ or to Mr. Duffield. You stay here. I’ll go and see.”
Down the department hurried the little figure, anxiously inquiring of the various salespersons, “Have you seen Miss Newton’s purse?” But no one had seen it. A knot of sympathetic clerks gathered about him, asking eager questions and shaking their heads in denial. A hurried trip to the “Lost and Found” proved fruitless. Mr. Duffield disclaimed all knowledge of it.
“I guess it’s gone for good,” remarked a woman. “Somebody’s always ready to snap up money and keep it. She might as well brace up and make the best of it. I know how it goes, though. I lost my salary once, and I never heard of it again.”
“It was all the money she had,” Teddy found himself repeating mechanically. “I hate to go and tell her we can’t find it.”
“I’ll tell her,” volunteered the woman. “Where is she?”