Kate feared the bird would cost too much.
“Nonsense, child,” said Paul, grandly; “why, I have more than seventy-five cents. How much have you?”
“Twenty-eight, I think,” said Kate.
“Well, then!” Paul answered; “that’s more’n a dollar. You can buy ’most anything for a dollar, child.”
They opened the banks, and counted the money three times, to make sure. It came out different every time, but they had about one dollar and fifteen or eighteen cents. It was all in small pieces and looked enough to buy an elephant. Paul tied it all up carefully in the corner of his handkerchief.
Then, after they had helped their mother to tidy the rooms, they got permission to go to market for her. She told them what to buy, and Paul was glad when his mother told them to get some cranberries for sauce, and a plum-pudding that came in a tin can. With their turkey, what a feast these would make!
The market was not far away, but it was so crowded that Paul and Kate had to hold hands tight. For a long time they could get no attention, but at last, by pulling one of the marketmen’s aprons, Paul made him listen. Paul bought all the things on their list, and then said, proudly:
“Please show me some of the biggest turkeys.”
The marketman, pointing to a long row, remarked:
“There they are—all weighed and marked. Pick out the one you want.”