Brenda's Bargain: A Story for Girls

by Helen Leah Reed

The first prize was given for the Bryant scrap-book that Phœbe had made. No one certainly could find any fault with it, so neatly were the pictures arranged, and so free from daubs were the broad margins.

Every one wondered where she had found so many pictures that exactly illustrated the poems chosen, and Phœbe assured them that this had been not at all difficult, since Miss South had let her look over dozens and dozens of old magazines, from which she had been able to choose those that best suited the words.

No one dissented from the award of a volume of Bryant's poems to Phœbe, but there was more discussion when the second prize, a framed photograph of Greuze's "Head of the Dauphin," went to Haleema for a flower book. In this she had put a great variety of flower pictures, some of them mere decalcomanie, embossed groups, others colored lithographs from periodicals of all styles, while not a few were nature pictures from the magazines in which flowers were conspicuous.

Concetta and Gretchen were partly right in thinking that the very prettiest of all was the book of children that Nellie had made.

"The little sick children in the hospital will like it best, anyway," said Concetta. She did not happen to like Phœbe very well, and for the time being Nellie was especially in her favor.

"Nellie's book certainly would be more entertaining to the little sick ones in the hospital, and if she had only trimmed the edge of her pictures more carefully, and had kept the margins free from mucilage, she would have had something better than third prize."

But Nellie herself was very well contented with the award, and her beaming face testified that she did not need a champion to stand up for her rights. Concetta, therefore, found herself a minority on the committee in deciding this question, for all the others were in favor of Phœbe's having the prize.

When it came to the dolls there was less difficulty, for Miss South had decreed that the award should go to the doll whose clothes showed the neatest sewing. There were no two opinions, and as Concetta herself was not on this committee of award, no one objected to her having the pretty case of scissors that the judges handed her, after they had carefully examined all the clothes of all the dolls—a piece of work that took considerable time and thought.

But entertaining though the judging and awarding had been, the pleasantest part of this whole work came when they took the books and the dolls to the hospital.

Naturally the girls did not all go together, but in two or three detachments, and their sympathies were moved to the utmost by the sight of the helpless little ones. They were delighted when they learned that this child or that would be in the hospital but a short time; and some of them—Nellie, for example—were moved to tears on learning that one or two whom they pitied might never be well.