For an instant she and Susan stared at one another. Then they ran wildly about the room looking in every nook and corner for the missing jar, much to baby Johnny’s entertainment. He sat on the floor sucking his fingers, and he laughed and chuckled and kicked his heels up and down as he watched the exertions of his sister and her friend.
“Here it is,” called Letty at last. “By the doll’s bed.” And from under the bed, where slumbered Lolly face downward, out rolled the little holly jar.
“But where is the money?” demanded Letty. Her first fright over, she was growing angry.
“There is something in Johnny’s mouth,” announced Susan.
With a practiced hand, Letty put her finger into the baby’s mouth and out came the quarter.
“Oh, you! You!” cried Letty. Her face grew pink and she gave Johnny a shake that sent him backward upon the floor.
Treated so unkindly and robbed of his new plaything, Johnny burst into a wail that brought his mother hurrying to his side.
While she listened to Susan and Letty, who both talked at once in their excitement, Mrs. Spargo was feeling carefully in Johnny’s mouth and, when at last she spoke, she said:
“The first thing to do is to find the money, for until we do I shall be afraid that Johnny has swallowed some of it. Do you know how much you had?”
“Five tens, one quarter, two fives, and four pennies,” answered Susan and Letty in a breath.