"But you will not have enough to buy a warm sack for Mary, such as she should have, my darlings," she said. "Nurse told me how poorly Mary was clothed for this cold weather, and I had intended, the next time I should go out, to buy some gray flannel, and let Jane make a sack thickly lined and quilted. This will cost more than you can spare."
"Well, mamma," said Bessie, "if you will wait till after Christmas, perhaps we might earn enough to buy a sack for Mary, and we would like to do it ourselves."
"But in the mean while, the poor child would be suffering with the cold," said Mrs Bradford. "Suppose I give Mary the cloak, and you buy for Jemmy a comfortable, so that he will not need his mother's shawl."
The children agreed, though they did not look very well satisfied, for they had set their hearts on giving the warm garment to Mary themselves. Suddenly Maggie looked up at her mother as if a bright thought had come into her mind, and said, eagerly,—
"Mamma, Mary said she used to wear her mother's shawl when Jemmy did not need it. Suppose you were to buy the comfortable, and then the shawl will be at liberty for Mary, and by and by, when we have enough, we can buy the sack."
Mamma said this would do very well, and so it was arranged. Then she told them that if they wished, she would continue to give them the glove-money each month, and what they saved from it they might still spend for others who were in need; for Mrs. Bradford agreed with Maggie that this plan had been of service to her little girl, and thought it would be well to keep on with it, since it was teaching her to be thoughtful and careful herself, in order that she might be of use to others; and good habits once formed are not easy to lose.
That evening, when papa came home, he brought some glossy, crisp, new bank-notes, which he offered to Maggie and Bessie in exchange for some of the smaller money in their box. They were quite ready to take them, they were so clean and pretty; and taking out two dollars in change, Mr. Bradford put in two one dollar notes.
