Frederic understood her, and speaking to the oldest of the children, he said, “Will you give me your cat?”
“No, no,” the three set up at once, and Alice whispered, “Buy her, Frederic, won’t you?”
“Will you let me have her for fifty cents?” he asked, showing the silver coin.
“No, no,” and the youngest began to cry.
“Give more,” said Alice, and Frederic continued, “Fifty cents a piece, then. You can buy a great many cakes and crackers with it”—
“And candy,” suggested Alice.
The youngest began to show signs of relenting, as did the second, but the third persisted in saying “No.” “Offer her more,” was whispered in a low voice, and glancing around the poorly furnished room, Frederic took out his purse and said, “You shall have a dollar a piece, but part of it must be saved for your mother,—besides that, this little girl is blind,” and he laid his hand on Alice’s head.
This last argument would have been sufficient without the dollar, for it touched a chord of pity in the heart of that child of poverty, and coming closer to Alice she looked at her curiously, saying, “Can’t you see a bit more’n I can with my eyes shut?” and she closed her own by way of experimenting.
“Not a bit,” returned Alice, “but I love kitty just the same, because she used to belong to a dear friend of mine. May I have her?”
“Ye-es,” came half reluctantly from the lips of the child, as she extended her hand for the money.