So she did not stop flying until a fire was made and the table set; and just then she heard voices at the door.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE PRICE OF TOADY'S LEG.
Reuben and Mary had come; and glad enough Violet was to see them; but this, like all her days, had been so long that she forgot to say a word about her flowers and the gilded cup; she could not remember back to the morning, until her mother asked if she knew whose birthday this was; and then it all came back, and she gave more thanks and kisses than there had been flowers in the cup.
"But why is it empty?" asked Reuben.
And Violet told about the carriage, and Narcissa, and Toady's misfortune, and the kind doctor, who had waited to mend the mischief his daughter had done, and how he took her violets, leaving money in their stead.
You should have seen the old people hold up their hands when Violet showed them the coin she had only looked upon as so many bright stones.
Their marketing had not sold as well as usual, and the winter was to be a hard one for poor people, every one said; and they had been telling each other, as they came home, that if Providence had not taken care of them so well thus far, they should certainly expect to starve now.
And here stood Violet with six silver dollars! They could hardly believe their eyes. Some fairy must have given it to the child.