‘And this little pink baby is made of soap. Would you ever think it, Mother? It looks just like a real baby to me. I thought Uncle Paul would like to see it smiling at him when he comes home at night and washes his hands. He so often wishes that he had a little girl like me, and a baby is much nicer than a little girl, I think.’
Yes, Mother agreed with Sally that Uncle Paul could not fail to like this present.
‘The soap baby cost five cents, and that left me another five cents,’ went on Sally. ‘So I bought this big, thick stick of pink-and-white peppermint candy, all wrapped up in shiny paper, too. Aunt Bee likes peppermints. She almost always can find one for me when I go over to see her.
‘Are we going straight home now, Mother? I want to give my presents to Aunt Bee as soon as ever I can.’
So the moment Sally reached home, she ran over to Aunt Bee’s with her hands full of presents. And never was any one more surprised than Aunt Bee when the parcels were tumbled into her lap and she was told that they were all for her.
‘Open them, open them,’ cried Sally, ‘and tell me which you like the best. I think they are all pretty, the prettiest presents I ever saw.’
When Aunt Bee untied the string—bright green string, Sally was glad of that—and took off the paper, she thought just as Sally did, that they were the prettiest presents she had ever seen.
‘You must put the duck in the water, Sally,’ said she, leading the way into the house.
So Sally did. And away floated Master Duck under the pink roses, looking as much at home as if he had spent all his days in Aunt Bee’s white glass bowl.
‘Let us go upstairs and stand the soap baby where Uncle Paul will see him the first thing to-night,’ said Aunt Bee next. ‘Do you mean him to wash his hands with the baby, or is he only to stand and smile at Uncle Paul?’