Hal looked as if he were going to grumble at this, but before he had time to say anything, Miss Field came hurrying out of the shop.
"Oh, you're still here," she said; "that's all right. The lady who's just left told father to give this little parcel to missie here," and she held out something to Peggy, who was so astonished that for a moment or two she only stared at the girl without offering to take the tiny packet.
"For me," she said at last.
"Yes, missie, to be sure—for you, as I say."
Peggy took the parcel, and began slowly to undo it. Something red peeped out—Peggy's eyes glistened—then her cheeks grew nearly as scarlet as the contents of the packet, and she seemed to gasp for breath, as she held out for Hal and nurse to see the little red shoes which five minutes before she had been admiring under the glass shade.
"Nursie, Hal," she exclaimed, "see, oh see! The sweet little shoes—for me—for my very own."
Nurse was only too ready to be pleased, but with the prudence of a "grown-up" person she hesitated a moment.
"Are you sure there's no mistake, miss?" she said, anxiously. "Do you know the lady's name? Is she a friend of Missis's, I wonder?"
The girl shook her head.
"Can't say, I'm sure," she replied. "She's a stranger to us. She only just bought a pair of cork soles and these here. There's no mistake, that, I'm sure of. She must have seen the young lady was admiring of them."