She said, "You are a stupid little donkey! And I am not good to you. I am not!"
"Oh, Mitz!" said her brother.
"No, I am never good to you," said Mitzi. She had found a big pickle and was beginning to gnaw at it. "And never, never will I give you the violin. Never!"
"Oh, Mitz!" said Fritz again.
"Never!" repeated Mitzi. Then she added with a smile, "Unless there is no work to be done!"
Fritz laughed.
"Come! Eat a pickle," said Mitzi.
They sat together, very happy, eating pickles. Ever since Mitzi had been a small child, she had been up to tricks and full of fun. And always, always had she been hungry!
That night when the children were in bed the toy maker and his wife talked late into the night. The toy maker was worried. He was not selling his toys. Soon there would not be money enough in the house with which to buy food. He was telling his wife that they were very poor.
| EATING PICKLES |