A little farther on they overtook a small girl. She was thinly clad. Her thin face appeared pinched by the fog and cold.
“See, I have a present for you,” said Sally, taking her hand out of the pocket. In the hand were two hard-boiled eggs. She had saved them from her breakfast.
The girl’s eyes shone, but she did not take the eggs. Instead she grasped Sally by the hand. After leading her down a narrow alley, she opened a door in the brick wall, then stood politely aside while Sally, Nancy, and Mrs. Duke walked in.
“See, I Have a Present for You” Said Sally
The room they entered was a small kitchen. It was scrupulously clean. Beside a small fire on an open hearth stood the girl’s mother.
“Oh, you have brought us company, Mary!” she exclaimed. “These fine ladies from the boats. Won’t you be seated?” she invited.
“Oh, we won’t stay,” Sally smiled. “I offered Mary two eggs. I saved them just for her. Why didn’t she take them?”
“Two eggs in the middle of the month!” the mother exclaimed. “That is unheard of. One egg at the first of each month. That is all we are allowed.”
“But if the eggs are a present from America?” Sally insisted.