"I—I—gave mine all away."
"To whom did you give them?" asked the President, who had entered the room unnoticed.
"To a little girl I met on the hill yesterday. Her toes were sticking through hers and she looked dreadfully cold, and kept stamping her feet to keep them from freezing."
The President swallowed a lump in his throat.
"She did not need two pair to keep her feet warm, did she?"
"She was twins."
"Wh-at?"
Peace jumped. "Well, she said she had a sister just her same age at home, who hadn't any shoes at all."
He took her by the hand, led her to her room, and after seeing that the wet shoes and stockings were replaced with dry ones, he lectured her kindly about giving away her belongings in such a promiscuous manner without first consulting her elders. And having won her promise for future good behavior, he went down town to purchase new shoes for the shoeless culprit, satisfied that Peace would remember his words of caution, and that they should not again be disturbed by the too generous acts of this zealous little home missionary.
And Peace did remember for a long time, but one day when the two younger children had been left alone with the servants, temptation again invaded this little Garden of Eden, and the brown-haired Eve yielded.