“I mustn’t tell; Uncle Ned told me not to. You see, he asked me what I wanted most for Christmas, and at first I said some little strawberry-birds like Betty’s, and then we talked it over, and he said he couldn’t get them very well in cold weather, and perhaps grandmother wouldn’t like them, so we decided on something even nicer,—something the whole Club will like.”
“I think it’s mean to tell just a little bit, and not tell the rest,” declared Betty.
“But I should think you’d like to know you are going to have something, anyway,” said peacemaker Alice. “Will Miss Ruth like it, too?”
“I think so; I am sure she will,” Elsa answered, joyfully.
Seeing the cloud on Betty’s face, Alice spoke up quickly: “Don’t you think we ought to decide to-day on something to give Miss Ruth for Christmas,—maybe something from all of us?”
“Yes, I’ve been thinking about that,” exclaimed Betty, diverted by the suggestion. “Mother said she would help us decide.” And Betty ran out into the hall, calling “Mother! Mother, dear!”
Presently Mrs. White came into the nursery. Being an affectionate and thoughtful woman, she felt that it was wise not in any way to discourage the generous impulses of the little girls. “How will this plan suit you?” she asked, after they had talked the matter over for a few moments: “Each one of you bring to me the amount of money she can perfectly well afford to give for a present, and no one shall know how much the others give; then all of you go with me some day after vacation begins, and we will choose the present.”
This plan suited the girls perfectly.
“And it makes another surprise,” cried Elsa in great delight. “We have so many now that I am almost getting them mixed up.”
Mrs. White’s motherly heart was rejoiced at Elsa’s brighter, happier face. “The Club and the being with other children are doing her a world of good,” she said to herself wisely.