When the printers and pressmen strolled through on their way home, they were approached and most of them contributed. Dummy gave a quarter. He did like children. Joan remembered the day of the picnic. And Chub added his bit. Mack gave a whole dollar.
The total was overwhelming—almost ten dollars and fifty cents! To-morrow morning, Joan and Amy would take Tommy to Davis’ Department Store and outfit him.
They chose Davis’ for two reasons. It was Plainfield’s largest store—four stories high, with an elevator. And Tommy’s mother was working there. They stopped for a brief chat with her at the handkerchief section. Joan and Amy sat down on the round, twisty stools before the counter, while Tommy gurgled at seeing his mother in this unexpected place.
Her dark eyes shone with pride as they always did when she saw Tommy. She carried him over to show him to the floorwalker and other bosses.
When she came back, she was beaming. “Mr. Dugan liked Tommy so well he said for you girls to tell whoever waits on you that the things are for me,” she told them. “And you’ll get the employee’s discount.”
Then Tommy was perched upon the glass show case, where he swung his sandaled feet unconcernedly while the other salesgirls admired his blue eyes and sunny smile. Joan’s mother had mended the torn overalls with a neat patch so that they didn’t look too forlorn.
Finally, good-bys were said, and they went on up in the elevator to the second floor, where the things Tommy’s size were sold.
It was fun to select everything new for him. And with the discount they could buy a lot. Little underwear suits of cross-barred material, short socks in a variety of colors, sturdy little slippers, two play suits, and a white suit with tiny trousers, for best. It had a yellow duck embroidered on the pocket.
They decided to dress him up so his mother could see him when they passed her counter again. The ducky suit was buttoned on the fat, squirming Tommy, Dutch-blue socks were pulled up around his plump, pink legs, and the new slippers were put on. All the clerks in the children’s section chimed in with the two girls in adoring the little boy. He looked like a different child.
Tommy himself staggered about, almost bursting with importance over his new possessions. Joan and Amy turned from him to hand his sodden little garments to the girl behind the desk to be wrapped with the new things. It didn’t make a very big package and they decided to take it along with them instead of having it sent.