"See what a nice supper we are to have," said Mrs. Toymaker.
She was smiling, but Mitzi noticed that there were tears in her blue eyes. Mitzi noticed something else besides the tears.
"Mother!" she cried. "Where is your pretty blue necklace?"
Mrs. Toymaker had always worn a string of sparkling blue beads. They were quite valuable and were her only piece of jewelry. She had loved them because Mr. Toymaker had given them to her before Mitz and Fritz were born.
Mrs. Toymaker did not answer Mitzi. She began to untie the bundles.
"See," she said. "Black bread and milk!"
"But, Mother," insisted Mitzi, "where is your necklace? Have you lost it?"
Mrs. Toymaker saw the terror in Mitzi's eyes. That necklace had seemed to the little girl the finest and prettiest in all the world. Her mother was not her mother without it.
Mrs. Toymaker did not know what to say. She drew Mitzi close and kissed her.
But Mr. Toymaker said, "Enough of this, Mitzi. Go and help prepare the supper. You are too curious!"