"Move your chairs up to the drop-table," said Mrs. Prim, "and help me take off the hulls."
That was what she always said; but Ninny fancied that her voice was sharper than usual. They all three hulled in silence (Flaxie was not allowed near the table); and then Mrs. Prim herself took the berries off the large white platters and arranged them in the boxes: she never let the children do that; and Ninny always observed that she was very sure to put the largest berries on top.
"They are unusually nice to-day," said Mrs. Prim, as she placed the boxes carefully in a market-basket, and gave the basket to the little girls; "and you may tell Mr. Potter that I expect half a dollar a box for them, and am not willing to take a cent less."
"Yes'm," murmured Flaxie, as Lucy and Ninny trudged off down the dusty street, with the basket between them.
Mr. Potter was in a very pleasant mood, called them nice little girls, gave them all three some candy, and said he was perfectly willing to pay fifty cents for such strawberries as theirs. He took the eight boxes out of the market-basket, and, in their places, put back eight empty ones; then gave Ninny a two-dollar bill for Mrs. Prim.
When they returned to Mrs. Prim's, there was no one at home but Kitty Maloney.
"The money is in one of those boxes, Kitty," said Ninny.
But Kitty did not hear; for she was just opening the oven door to look at the Sunderland pudding.
The children loitered along toward home. The sun was cooling his face behind a cloud, and there was really some comfort now in walking. Ninny forgot Lucy's unlucky speech in the garden, and only thought how glad she should be for some dinner.
In the afternoon, the sun came out of the cloud, and finished ripening some more strawberries; and, next morning, Ninny, Lucy, and Flaxie were again in the beautiful garden, picking into the same yellow basket. Afterward, they sat with Mrs. Prim beside the drop-table, and helped hull the berries as usual.