"I don't think it is right, Janice," she declared, over and over. "I don't see how I can accept the dress from you, when I have nothing to give in return."
"Oh, that is a very niggardly way to receive," cried Janice, shaking her head. "If we can't accept a present save when we can return it—why, daddy says that is the most selfish thought in the world."
"Selfish!"
"For sure! We are too selfish to allow other people to enjoy giving. Don't you see? It's fun to give."
"But it is not fun to be the object charity," complained Amy, with some sullenness.
"Why, my dear," exclaimed Janice Day, "you are not always going to be poor. Of course not. Some day you will be lots better off. Gummy will grow up and go to work, and then you will all be well off. And, besides, this sort of giving, between friends, isn't charity."
"Gummy wishes to go to work now," sighed Amy. "But mother wants to keep him at school."
"He might work after school and on Saturdays."
"Oh, that would be fine! But who would give him such a job? You see, we do not trade much with the storekeepers, and mother isn't very well known—"
"You wait!" exclaimed Janice. "I believe I know somebody who needs a boy."