rather disappointed.

"Muzzer," he said in a low voice, tugging at his mother's skirts, "I saw
such bootly boo boots in the man's winder."

His mother smiled.

"Yes, dear," she replied, "they're very pretty, but they wouldn't last
so long, and I suspect they cost much more."

Ted looked puzzled.

"What does thoo mean?" he said, but before his mother had time to
explain, the active shopman had reached down the "bootly" boots and held
them forward temptingly.

"They're certainly very pretty," said baby's mother, who, to tell the
truth, was nearly as much inclined for the blue boots as Ted himself.
"What is the price of them?"

"Three and sixpence, ma'am," replied the man.

"And the black ones, the little black shoes, I mean?"

"Two and six," replied the man.

"A shilling difference, you see, Ted," said his mother. But Ted only
looked puzzled, and his mother, occupied with the boots, did not
particularly notice him.

"I think," she said at last, "I think I will take both. But as the blue
boots will be best ones for a good while, give me them half a size
larger than the little black shoes."

The shopman proceeded to wrap them up in paper and handed them to Ted's
mother, who took out her purse and paid the money. The man thanked her,
and, followed by her little boy, Ted's mother left the shop.

Ted walked on silently, a very unusual state of things. He was trying to
find out how to express what he wanted to ask, and the ideas in his head
were so new and strange that he could not fit them with words all at
once. His mother turned round to him.

"Would you like to carry the parcel of baby's shoes for her?" she said.

"Oh ses," said Ted, holding out his left hand. But as his mother was
giving him the parcel she noticed that his right hand was already
engaged.

"Why, what have you got there?" she asked, "a stone? Where did you get
it? No, it's not a stone--why, can it be a lump of soda?"

"Ses," returned Ted with the greatest composure, "it are a lump of soda.
I thought it would be very suseful for thoo, so I took it out of that
nice man's shop."

"My dear little boy!" exclaimed his mother, looking I don't know how.
She was rather startled, but she could not help being amused too, only
she thought it better not to show Ted that she was amused. "My dear
little boy," she said again, "do you not understand? The things in the
shop belong to the man--they are his, not ours."

"Ses," said Ted. "I know. But he