Mr. Carter laughed and so did Miss Wright, and the children who were listening giggled. But in a moment Mr. Carter put out his hand.
“Let me take it, Meg,” he said gently. “I know just the place for it. One of the Bureau workers told me yesterday about a poor old lady who has no one to love and take care of her. She sits all day long in a ward with seven other old ladies and we are going to make up a special little basket for her because she is ill. It will be a pretty basket with a little tea and candy and other dainties old ladies like in it and on the very top we’ll put Twaddles’ bottle of cologne. How will that be?”
“And I’ll put a bow of cheerful red ribbon on it,” promised Miss Wright. “Be sure and tell Twaddles, Meg, that we think it was lovely of him to send such a gift.”
“He’ll be—he’ll be thankful!” stammered Meg and then Mr. Carter and Miss Wright and the children laughed again, but as the principal said, proper laughing was good for them all.
“Now upstairs with you, every one,” he said presently, when everything was in order, “the assembly bell will ring in five minutes and we don’t want any stragglers. Tim Roon, put that apple back; I’m surprised I should have to speak to anyone about touching the gifts meant for the poor and sick.”
Tim Roon, a boy in Bobby’s room, though two or three years older than Bobby who was seven and a half, tossed the apple he had taken from the table angrily back and it fell to the floor and rolled under the table. Bobby crawled under and brought it out and dusted it off carefully with his clean handkerchief. Then he put it with the other apples and went upstairs with Meg who had waited for him.
“Won’t Twaddles be glad about the cologne?” said Meg happily. “I do think Mr. Carter is just as nice!”
“Yes, he is,” agreed Bobby, “and you could see he remembers Twaddles. So does Miss Wright. Well, I’ll see you at recess, Meg.”
Twaddles and Dot had paid a visit to the school the term before and it was not likely that anyone who had met the twins would ever forget them. Mr. Carter did not and neither did Miss Wright. As for Miss Mason, who had taught Bobby and Meg last year and in whose class Meg was this term, she was always asking about Twaddles and Dot, and she declared she quite looked forward to the time when they should be old enough to come to school.
Meg missed Bobby very much and often wished that they could go through school in the same grade. But he was a class ahead of her and they saw each other only at recess, once the school day had started. This morning, as soon as the recess gong sounded, a stream of children headed for the basement to inspect the thank-offerings again.