At noon on Friday, Betty White ran in to see Miss Ruth, solely for the purpose of talking about the Club meeting. “Elsa and I were saying at recess this morning,” she began breathlessly, “that we thought you had forgotten all about the story of the old lady’s doll that you were going to tell us. Will you tell it this afternoon? You can be thinking it up.”
To this Miss Ruth agreed.
Betty had in one hand a fancy-striped paper bag, full of chocolate candy. She held it toward Miss Ruth: “Take some, please. O, take more than one piece! Mother had a birthday yesterday and she gave each of us children two dollars. She hid the money in different places ’round the house, and we had to hunt for it; it was such fun.
“I like mother’s birthdays, ’cause she always gives us something,” Betty rattled on, in her usual lively fashion. “Last year she baked some new silver dollars into a cottage pudding: it looked so heavy that none of us would take any at first, except Max, but when he bit into a dollar and showed it to us, we all took some in a hurry.
“Have some more candy, please,” urged Betty, generously, holding forth the striped bag again. “I bought a lot,—twenty-five cents’ worth out of my two dollars,—so I could have some candy to eat in school. I never get found out. Don’t ever tell, will you?”
“Do I ever tell?” asked Miss Ruth.
“No,” Betty said, with an approving nod, “I don’t believe you ever do.”
“Don’t you think it would be more honourable, however, Betty, since candy-eating is not allowed in school, for you not to take the candy there?” Ruth Warren asked, looking intently into Betty’s face.
Betty lowered her eyes, but did not make any answer.