"But can't he get it mended himself, or find the bad man and make him pay for it?"
"It would cost a great deal of money,—fifteen dollars the music man told my sister,—and the man who broke it has gone away to the South."
"I am so sorry," was all Louise could say, for their talk was interrupted; but she ran upstairs immediately to tell Bess.
"Don't you wish we could have it mended for him?" she asked.
"Yes, indeed, but we haven't any money to spare from our Christmas things, and if we used it every bit it would not be enough."
"We might get somebody to help us; still that wouldn't be as nice as doing it ourselves."
"Perhaps we could have a fair, like the one Aunt Zélie had when she was a little girl. Let's ask her," proposed Bess, jumping up.
But their aunt thought it too great an undertaking. "I was several years older than you are," she said, "and we worked for six months to get ready. However," she added, seeing the disappointed faces, "you might do something else, tableaux or charades."
This idea pleased them, and they decided to talk it over at the club that afternoon.
There was no difficulty in interesting the M.Ks. They were all enthusiasm.