The next morning a final sweeping of the doorway brought the sum up to fifteen cents. So Mother and Sally, as happy as could be, started off for a shopping trip in town.
Going to town was different from going to the city. A trip to the city meant a ride on the train, rather a long ride, and a home-coming so late that after supper you must go straight to bed. But going to town was only stepping on a bus and whirling over a country road into town, all in the space of ten minutes or so.
Mother had a few errands to do, and Sally liked shopping so well that she did not grow at all tired of watching Mother select blue-and-white wool to knit ‘perhaps a scarf or a sweater,’ she was told. Mother bought buttons, too, and thread, and a new pair of shears, sharp and shiny.
Then her errands were done, and it was time for Sally to select her present for Aunt Bee.
‘Hadn’t I better go to the Five and Ten Cent Store?’ whispered Sally, who well knew how many delightful articles might be purchased for very little money in a scarlet-and-gold Five and Ten Cent Store.
Indeed, once inside the store, there were so many objects that Sally was sure Aunt Bee would like, that it was really a difficult matter for her to make her choice.
Mother was patient and allowed Sally to wander about as long as she wished, and at last her choice was made.
‘Will Aunt Bee like these, do you think?’ asked Sally, smiling upon her purchases with pride.
And Mother, carefully looking them over, answered, ‘Yes, I think she will.’
‘You see,’ explained Sally, ‘I bought this little duck for five cents because I thought he would look pretty floating in Aunt Bee’s white glass flower bowl. He can sail under the flowers, you know, and in and out of the stems.