Thus sped on her way, Sister reluctantly mounted the stairs to the second floor.
"I could play jacks with Nellie Yarrow," she said to herself. "Only she's lost her jackstones and I can't find mine. What's that on Dick's bureau?"
Ralph and Jimmie roomed together, but Dick had a room of his own, and though Sister was strictly forbidden to meddle with his things, they had a great attraction for her. She could just see the top of Dick's chiffonier from the floor and now she dragged a chair up to it and climbed up to see what the shining thing was that had caught her eye.
It was a gold collar button, and Dick, she found, had a box of pearl and gold buttons that Sister was sure she had never seen before. She played with them, tossing them up and down and watching them glitter, until a sudden thought struck her.
"They'd make lovely jackstones," she whispered. "I could use 'em and put them right back. I know Nellie has a ball."
Dick had several new ties, and Sister had to admire these before she could leave the chiffonier. Finally she slipped the box of pretty buttons in her pocket and jumped down. She put the chair where she had found it, and ran downstairs and through the hedge that separated the Morrison house from that of Dr. Yarrow's.
"Nellie, oh, Nellie!" called Sister. "Come on, let's play jackstones."
"Haven't any," answered Nellie Yarrow, a little girl a year or so older than Sister. "All I have left is my ball."
"Well, get that and we can play," Sister told her. "I've found something we can use—see!"
Nellie admired the collar buttons immensely and thought it would be great fun to play with them. She ran and got her ball and the two little friends sat down on the concrete walk to play jackstones, heedless of the hot morning sun.