“Because the Brownie Scouts need them to wear at Mrs. Langley’s flower show. You can’t turn them down, Uncle Peter, because they have invited me to be a Brownie too! May I, Uncle Peter?”
Miss Gordon and the librarian already had talked to the nurseryman about his niece joining the organization. So Peter had his answer ready.
“You may join, little Hanny,” he declared. “And I will make the shoes.”
“It must be done quickly, for the flower show is next week,” Hanny said anxiously. “When will you make the shoes, Uncle Hanny?”
“I will take the measurements now,” he said. “Run for my tape measure.”
Miss Mohr and Miss Gordon protested that the nurseryman was far too busy to take time to carve wooden shoes for the children.
“I will do it at night,” he replied. “To whittle wood provides relaxation after a hard day in the fields.”
The two young women declared that they would pay for the work. Mr. Van Der Lann would not hear of such a thing. He insisted that the children were Hanny’s friends and his, and that it was little enough he could do to show his liking.
Soon Hanny came running back with a tape measure. Peter sat the children on a bench, and one by one, measured their feet.
Carefully, he marked down the figures on a sheet of paper.