Meantime Phronsie had sat right down on the floor, and was cuddling up the doll without any face, against the little yellow cat.
Joel stumbled off after the girl. "Don't cry," and he twitched her arm.
"You be still, and go right away," cried the girl, turning on him as well as she could for the pile of bundles, and she stamped her foot in rage; "you've made me smash that doll, and they'll take it out of my pay, and now I can't get my mother any Christmas present at all." The tears were rolling down her cheeks, and her face worked dreadfully.
"They shan't!" declared Joel, his black eyes flashing.
"An' now you'll make me smash these, I s'pose," said the cash-girl. "You go right away, you bad boy, you. Boo-hoo-hoo!"
"I'll tell 'em I did it," said Joel, bounding off to overtake the floor-walker. "Say, oh, do stop!" for he had almost reached the office door. "Mister, please," and he seized the end of the departing coat, Polly and Ben both calling, astonished as they saw him fly past, to stop.
"Hey? Oh, is that you?" The floor-walker smoothed out his face when he saw who it was.
"Yes," said Joel, "it is, and you mustn't make that girl pay for that doll."
"Oh, don't you worry about that," said the floor-walker, easily, with a smile, "she's a careless thing and I must make an example of her, or she'll break something else. It's all right, my boy," and he put his hand, where the big diamond ring shone up from the little finger, familiarly on the sturdy shoulder.
"It isn't all right," declared Joel, hotly, "and she didn't do it. I knocked her with my arm and that old doll fell off;" he swallowed hard. What an awful hole that would make in his pocket-book! Perhaps he wouldn't be able to buy only half as many things for his Christmas presents as he had scrawled on the list within it, and the blood surged all over his round cheeks to his stubby black hair. "How much did it cost?" he asked faintly.