At last, a fortnight before Christmas, Aunt Alice said they could all come shopping with her. They were to go to the town early in the morning, have their lunch in a shop, and stay till quite late in the afternoon.
It was a day to be remembered. Never had they so much money to spend. For Charity and Hope felt that they shared with Faith the excitement of choosing and buying all the presents. Aunt Alice was very good in helping them. It was only her own present that was kept secret. And she was as pleased as Faith herself when they chose together a lovely grey cloth cloak lined with white fur, for dear Granny.
Charity got her book-case, and Hope her garden tools. The saddle was chosen and paid for, and then Faith was asked what she was going to get for herself. She could not make up her mind for a long time. At last she saw a picture in a shop which greatly took her fancy. It was a little child being led up a steep hill by a shining angel. Her Aunt smiled when she was told she would like to buy it.
"I might have known something of that sort would have attracted you," she said.
Perhaps the most interesting bit of shopping was ordering the cakes in the pastry-cook's. Faith found that she wanted fifteen, and they had to be made on purpose for her.
Aunt Alice laughed at the woman's astonished face when she took the order.
"It's a good thing you have some currants and raisins at last," she said, "for otherwise it would be no good ordering plumcakes from you."
The little girls asked their Aunt to let them go into one shop by themselves, and Aunt Alice turned her head again, and pretended she did not see where they went.
Faith was very anxious over the set of furs they asked to see. At first the attendant who waited upon them looked rather suspiciously at them.
"These are very expensive," she said. "How much do you want to give?"