"Oh, no! I haven't half money enough! though I earned a great deal yesterday. I want to get a real nice one; but I don't know how much it will cost."
Ella ran to her mother's room out of breath with excitement. "How much does a bonnet cost, mamma; a straw one, with a pretty ribbon on it? Harrison is going to buy one for his mother, and we don't know how much it costs."
"We, indeed," repeated the lady with an arch glance at her husband, who was just leaving the room, "a bonnet costs anywhere from two to twenty dollars."
The child tripped back again to carry the important information.
Harrison laughed merrily at the idea of his mother in a twenty-dollar bonnet. "When I think I have enough," he said, "I shall go into a store and ask the price of such an one as I want."
"Do you work every day?" inquired Ella. "Every day but the Sabbath. I go to church then, and to Sabbath school. Perhaps I shall go to day-school next winter. If I do, I mean to study real hard."
"Who will buy your bread then?"
"Father and mother; and I shall work too when I'm out of school. I had six houses last winter where I shovelled the snow from the steps and sidewalks. I earned a new pair of shoes and a coat. Mother says, after all, the habit of diligence is worth more to me than what I earn."
"I wish I could work," exclaimed the child; "but there is nothing for me to do. Sometimes I get papa's slippers for him. I mean to do it every day. Oh! I forgot to tell you my brother is coming home to-day! He's been away at boarding school. When you come to-morrow I'll take him down here to see you. I'm so glad he's coming home. His name is Alfred,—for papa."
Harrison did not feel the same interest in the brother as he had in the sister. Though about his own age Alfred looked much older, and, though handsome, yet had an unpleasant expression upon his countenance. To please Ella he went down to be introduced to Harrison, anticipating, as he told his mother, some capital fun.