Jimmy could not see anything funny in the affair; he only saw that he had been cheated and imposed upon. As he turned indignantly on his heel, Hatty Irwin, Gilbert’s sister, said in a low tone,—
“The little toad-merchant is going home to see if his mamma will buy his toads.”
Hatty did not expect to be overheard; but Jimmy caught the words, and was cut to the heart. He shouted wildly,—
“I shall not tell my mamma! I shall not tell any single body at my house, so there!”
And all the while he was running away from these cruel people as fast as he could go.
If he had not made this sudden, impulsive promise to Hatty, all might have been different. For then he would have related his woes to his own family; mamma would have pitied and soothed him; and, better than all, there would have been no mystery as to what was carried off in the basket.
Instead of that,—but you know the story, and can fancy how poor Jimmy-boy suffered.
Dick Somers went home that very week; and Mrs. Dunlee said to her husband,—
“I am really glad for Jimmy’s sake. I am sure Jimmy has not been made very happy by the little boy from New York.”