“Oh, Billy, did you two make that much in this short time?” Eleanor could scarcely believe her ears.
“More than that!” Mary Frances exulted. “And we’ve paid Billy back the money we borrowed from his ‘prize money’ for seeds.”
“Let me see. Forty-four and two are forty-six,” said Eleanor. “You may have sixty dollars by cold weather!”
“More likely seventy, Billy?” asked Mary Frances.
“I’ve heard of counting dollars before they were hatched,” Billy laughed.
“Is Nell a partner from now on?” asked Mary Frances.
“Yes,” Billy said, “if she helps, she shares in the profits—but, gee, I wish Bob was here!”
“Well, you know he’s coming soon!” said Mary Frances, “and, besides, you’ll be together the whole school year!”
“Say, you girls get to work!” exclaimed Billy, and they flew to gather parsley, and tiny little red peppers, and thyme, and leeks, out of which Mary Frances made penny bunches of pot herbs, while Eleanor tied some three-cent and five-cent bunches of the parsley.