A smile crept over the woman’s face, making her much more pleasant to look at.
“She’s fine,” she replied. “Come here, Puffy, and speak to the kind girls who rescued you yesterday!”
The kitten ran over and jumped into Miss Grant’s lap.
“She certainly is sweet,” said Mary Louise. She cleared her throat: why couldn’t the old lady help her out by asking her a question about the clothing?
But Elsie, nervously impatient, brought up the subject they were all waiting for.
“Tell Aunt Mattie about the dresses and the coat,” she urged.
“Oh, yes,” said Mary Louise hastily. “Your niece told us, Miss Grant, that she never gets to Riverside to buy any new clothes, so when I noticed we were all three about the same size, Jane and I asked our mothers whether we couldn’t give her some of ours. They were willing, and so we brought them over this morning.”
“Humph!” was the only comment Miss Grant made to this explanation. Mary Louise could not tell whether she believed her or not and whether she was pleased or angry.
“You didn’t mind, did you, Miss Grant?” she inquired nervously.
“No, of course not. Elsie’s mighty lucky.... I only hope when she’s working as somebody’s maid that they’ll be as nice to her. It helps out, when wages are small. For nobody wants to pay servants much these days.”