“Oh, Letty, I want that for Grandmother,” said Susan, forgetting both her shyness and her manners as she pointed a forefinger at an object which she felt sure would delight Grandmother beyond words.
It was a pale-blue stocking-darner with a little girl painted on one side and a little boy on the other, and Susan knew in her heart that she would never be happy again unless she could carry it home to-morrow and place it in Grandmother’s hands.
“That is twenty-five cents,” said the lady, and she waited patiently while Susan and Letty put their heads together and consulted whether they ought to spend so large a sum.
At length Letty decided it.
“We will,” said she recklessly.
So the stocking-darner was wrapped and tied and handed over to Susan, who, without a single qualm, watched Letty take the precious quarter from its resting-place in the green pocketbook and hand it across the counter. It was money well spent, she thought.
“Now we must buy something for my mother,” said Letty. “How do you like this, Susan?”
It was a long purple box covered with bunches of violets and scrolls of gilt. In it were three cakes of strongly scented violet soap.
“I like it,” said Susan, sniffing vigorously. “The box is pretty, too. Maybe your mother will give it to you when it is empty.”
“I will take this, please,” said Letty, with the air of an experienced shopper.