“He must be smart to compare with us,” Janet declared modestly.
“Hush!” Valerie commanded. “Go on, Gale.”
“He asked me where I lived and I told him a little town on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. He wanted to know what an ocean was.”
“I hope you could tell him,” Carol murmured mischievously.
“I wish you could have seen him, girls. He is positively thirsting for knowledge. But he can’t go to school because his mother has no money with which to send him. It is a shame because an education would certainly not be lost on him. It made my heart ache just to see him and to hear him tell about how fortunate he was that Tom and Virginia and the other cowboys told him stories and taught him a little of arithmetic and spelling. He is so cheerful with what he has, his riding and fishing and hunting. He could be such a fine man because he has an insatiable ambition.
“I thought we might give him the thousand dollars. It would see him through the little country school here and by the time he is older he might be able to earn more. It would be such a good use to which to put our money. We could always remember how happy we made one little boy. It is something he wants more than anything else in the world. Just to look at him made me want it, too.
“Of course all you girls have a share in the reward and it is up to you to do as you please, but I can tell you if you should agree with me Bobby would love it--and you,” she finished.
“Hurrah for Bobby!” Carol said loudly. “I want to meet him.”
“Didn’t I say Gale’s plan would be the best?” Phyllis demanded, hugging Gale affectionately. “You always seem to know just what we’d like,” she told her chum.
Virginia hugged Gale too. “You’re a darling, Gale, to think of Bobby. I know he’ll be tickled pink. Let’s go tell him now.”