"As you know," he said in his strong voice, "the proceeds of this show are to be given to the Red Cross, and you may be interested to learn just how much has been netted for that good cause by to-day's unique effort on the part of the Boytown Humane Society. The treasurer, Theron Hammond, has been busy with arithmetic for the past twenty minutes and has an announcement to make."
Theron was suddenly stricken with stage fright, but he did not attempt to make a speech. He merely read the figures of his report.
"Entry fees for 26 dogs," he read, "$13.00. Attendance, 242. Gate receipts, $60.50. Total receipts, $73.50. Advertising, $8.00. Other expenses, $2.67. Total expense, $10.67. Net proceeds, $62.83."
"I wonder," remarked Mr. Hartshorn to his wife, "if a dozen women could knit $62.83 worth of mufflers in one day."
The exhibitors began taking their weary dogs home and the boys started the cleaning-up process that was part of their bargain with Mr. Morton. And so the great day ended.
The only fly in the ointment of Ernest and Jack Whipple was the fact that, although their father had been an enthusiastic spectator throughout the greater part of the afternoon, their mother had not seen fit to attend. She was very busy, she said, and anyway, dogs did not particularly interest her.
Next morning the two local papers contained full accounts of the show, to the extent of a column or more, and they treated it as one of the season's events of Boytown, giving the names of all the dogs and their owners and a complete report of the awards, besides the treasurer's report. One of them even published an editorial praising the work of the Humane Society and suggesting that the town should be proud of its boys and its dogs. Mr. Whipple and the boys devoured the contents of these papers eagerly before breakfast. After breakfast they found Mrs. Whipple reading one of them in the sitting-room.
"What are you reading, mother?" asked Mr. Whipple, but she was so absorbed that she did not answer for a time.
At length she murmured, half to herself, "Hm! I don't see yet why Remus didn't get a prize."
Whereat, it must be related, Mr. Whipple turned and winked at the boys in a most undignified manner.