“A very devoted brother, I must say,” Peggy said meaningly, with a sly side-glance at Rosamond, who was trying not to mind the teasing which Peggy seemed so to delight in.
“Adele,” Starr said to change the subject and also because she had been wondering about it, “wouldn’t it be nice if we all contributed toward a fund with which to buy Gertrude a birthday present?”
“Oh, yes,” Carol exclaimed, “and let it be something that Trudie would just love to have but cannot afford to get for herself.”
“I know what that something would be,” Adele said brightly. “Last year Trudie told me that though she cared nothing for rings and gaudy jewelry, she would so like to have a string of pearls. Her Uncle Pierson was visiting there at the time. He was in the room, absorbed in his reading, we supposed, but he must have overheard, for when he went away, he left an envelope addressed to Gertrude in which there was a message and a twenty-dollar bill crisp and new. In the little letter he told her that the money was to be spent as she most desired. Of course he supposed that Trudie would buy a string of pearls.
“She was so happy and she asked me if I would go to Dorchester with her on a shopping expedition, and so, the very next day, we set out.
“When we reached a jeweler’s shop, I expected Gertrude to turn in, but instead she went just beyond to a dry-goods store. I was indeed puzzled until Trudie, looking at me with happy eyes, exclaimed, ‘Daddy and Mother have been invited to a convention in Boston where so many pleasant things are to happen, but Mummie said she couldn’t go, and I know why she can’t. It’s because she hasn’t had a new best dress in ten years. There are so many babies growing up, and each time Mother has a little money saved, it has to be spent for them, but now, she is going to have a new dress and go to that convention.’”
“Isn’t that just like our Gertrude?” Doris Drexel said. “What did she buy?”
“She bought black broadcloth for a suit,” Della told them, “and then, as there happened to be a sale, she also bought enough soft lilac silk for a dress to wear in the evening. I saw it after they had it made, and it was the sweetest thing with some old real lace in the neck and sleeves.”
“Adele,” Evelyn Dartmoor said, “I am glad that you told us about it. If you will appoint me treasurer of the fund, I will promise you that on her sixteenth birthday, Gertrude will receive the prettiest string of pearls that can be found in Buffalo.”
“Good!” Della declared. “We will each give our contribution to Evelyn.” Then she added, “I can’t understand where Bettykins is. I told her that we were to meet here at this hour. I believe that I will go and hunt her up.”