“My! it’s a lot of money,” Agnes said. “And I guess you _ought_ to have more than us—a great deal more, Ruthie. I’m glad of my two dollars. I can treat Eva Larry and Myra Stetson. And I’ll get some new ribbons, and a book I saw in a window that I want to read. Then, there’s the prettiest pair of buckles for fifty cents in the shoeshop window right down Main Street. Did you see them, Ruth? I want them for my best slippers. They’ll look scrumptious! And I’d _love_ to have one of those embroidered handkerchiefs that they sell at the Lady’s Shop. Besides, it’s nice to have a little change to rattle in one’s purse——” “Mercy!” exclaimed Ruth. “You’ve spent your allowance twice over, already. And you still hope to rattle it in your purse! You want to have your cake, and eat it, too—which is something that nobody ever managed to accomplish yet, my dear.” It was really wonderful for them all to have money of their own that need not be accounted for. They came to the luncheon table with very bright faces, despite the stormy day. They did not say anything, before Aunt Sarah, about the allowance Mr. Howbridge had given them. Ruth was afraid that Aunt Sarah might feel hurt about it. “She _is_ so touchy,” she said to the others, “about Uncle Peter’s money. And she ought to know that she is just as welcome to her share as she can be!” “I expect,” the thoughtful Tess said, “that Aunt Sarah would have enjoyed giving to us just as much as we enjoy giving to her. Maybe _that’s_ what’s the matter with her.” Perhaps that was partly Aunt Sarah’s trouble. However, there were other topics of conversation to keep their tongues busy, if the money was tabooed. Tess could not keep from talking about Tommy Rooney. “I _know_ it was Tommy I saw,” she declared. “But how could Tommy get here, clear from Bloomingsburg?” Ruth said. “You know how long it took us to get here by train.” “I know, Sister,” Tess said. “But it _was_ Tommy. And he must have had an awfully hard time.” “Do—do you s’pose he is looking for us?” queried Dot. “Don’t you fret, Dot,” assured Agnes. “He sha’n’t jump out and say ‘Boo!’ at you any more.” “It isn’t that. I guess the dark scared me more than Tommy did,” confessed Dot. “But say, Tess! Did he have his Indian suit on when he went by in the rain?” “No. Just rags,” declared Tess. After luncheon Ruth rummaged for brooms, brushes and dustcloths. Mrs. McCall asked: “What under the canopy are you girls going to do now?” “Garret. Going to clean it,” said Agnes. “You’re never going up in that garret in a storm?” demanded the widow, with a strange look on her face. “Why not?” asked Agnes, eagerly. “What do you want to bother with it for?” the good lady asked Ruth without making Agnes any reply. “So we can play there on just such days as this,” said Ruth, firmly. “It will make a splendid playroom.”