nts they whispered together. At one point, it looked as if
they would each buy a long stick of peppermint, at another, a paper
of lozenges. But they changed their minds a great many times. And in
the end, Dorothy bought two large pickles and Mabel bought two large
chocolates. Maida saw them swapping their purchases as they went
out.

The two pennies which the twins handed her were still moist from the
hot little hands that had held them. Maida dropped them into an
empty pocket in the money drawer. She felt as if she wanted to keep
her first earnings forever. It seemed to her that she had never seen
such _precious-looking_ money. The gold eagles which her father had
given her at Christmas and on her birthday did not seem half so
valuable.

But she did not have much time to think of all this. The bell rang
again. This time it was a boy--a big fellow of about fourteen, she
guessed, an untidy-looking boy with large, intent black eyes. A mass
of black hair, which surely had not been combed, fell about a face
that as certainly had not been washed that morning.

"Give me one of those blue tops in the window," he said gruffly. He
did not add these words but his manner seemed to say, "And be quick
about it!" He threw his money down on the counter so hard that one
of the pennies spun off into a corner.

He did not offer to pick the penny up. He did not even apologize.
And he looked very carefully at the top Maida handed him as if he
expected her to cheat him. Then he walked out.

It was getting towards school-time. Children seemed to spring up
everywhere as if they grew out of the ground. The quiet streets
began to ring with the cries of boys playing tag, leap frog and
prisoners' base. The little girls, much more quiet, squatted in
groups on doorsteps or walked slowly up and down, arm-in-arm. But
Maida had little time to watch this picture. The bell was ringing
every minute now. Once there were six children in the little shop
together.

"Do you need any help?" Granny called.

"No, Granny, not yet," Maida answered cheerfully.

But just the same, she did have to hurry. The children asked her for
all kinds of things and sometimes she could not remember where she
had put them. When in answer to the school bell the long lines began
to form at the big doorways, two round red spots were glowing in
Maida's cheeks. She drew an involuntary sigh of relief when she
realized that she was going to have a chance to rest. But first sh