t of the box with chocolates--so full that the cover would
hardly go down.

Jerry thanked Mr. Bartlett with great heartiness. Fond though he was
of candy, Jerry didn't take even as much as a taste on the way home.
He would show it to his mother and Cathy and Andy but he would save it
untouched until his father got home from work.

"I wanted to prove to you that having a charge account pays off," he
would tell his father, offering him the open box, after Andy had had
the first piece--Jerry remembered that Andy was to have the first
piece. "Where else can you get something for nothing except by
charging your groceries at Bartlett's store?" That was what Jerry
would say to his father. Or something else that might occur to him
later. His father would be sure to see the advantage of charging
groceries as soon as he cast an eye on all that free candy.

Jerry whistled gaily most of the way back from the store. "Bet you
can't guess what I have," he cried, as he opened the kitchen door and
saw his mother and Cathy sitting at the kitchen table. Further
cheerful words died in his throat when he saw that both his mother and
Cathy had been crying.

"What's the matter?" Could something terrible have happened to his
father? Or to Andy? What awful thing could make his mother and Cathy
look so sad? There were envelopes and letters on the table. His mother
had been opening her mail. The bad news must have come in a letter,
then.

"Is Grandma Martin sick again?" Jerry asked.

His mother sobbed, and Jerry couldn't remember ever seeing his mother
cry. "How could you, Jerry? How could you do such a dreadful thing?"

"He didn't do it. I know he didn't to it!" cried Cathy. "Tell her you
didn't do it, Jerry. Tell her it must be a mistake."

"To think that a son of mine would be a thief!" said Jerry's mother.
And the face she turned toward him was full of hurt and
disappointment. It tore Jerry inside.

"I haven't done anything. Anything wrong," he said.

"You stand there and tell me that you haven't been charging groceries
at Bartlett's store for a month?"

"Sure I did but--"

"Oh, Jerry!" Cathy burst into tears.

"What did you do with the money?" demanded Jerry's mother. "Mischief
can be forgiven but stealing is a crime. When I opened an envelope and
found a bill for the month of April from Bartlett's store, I hoped
against hope that there must be a mistake. But now you confess you've
been deceiving me and charging the grocerie