(EMILY _enters with a basket of shoestrings_) EMILY.--Shoestrings to sell! Does anybody want shoestrings? Dear me, how cold it is! To-morrow is Christmas, and I must earn money enough to buy a basket of coal. Who wants a nice pair of shoestrings? RUTH (_entering_).--This is a cold day, little girl, and you are thinly clad. Now, if my Uncle Peter, were here I know what he would do: he would buy you a shawl. EMILY.--As soon as I get rich, I mean to buy one myself. Can I sell you a pair of shoestrings? RUTH.--What is the price? EMILY.--Only two cents a pair. RUTH.--Then you may give me three pairs. Here are six cents. (_Takes out her purse, and pays_ EMILY, _but, in putting it back, lets it fall on the ground._) EMILY.--Thank you; and a merry Christmas to you! RUTH.--I wish I could make your Christmas a merry one, poor child; but I have done what I could. Good-by. (_Goes out._) EMILY.--Oh, if more such customers would come along, how glad I should be! Will any one buy a nice pair of shoestrings? (_Sees the purse, and picks it up._) What is this on the ground? A purse! And it has money in it. One dollar, three dollars--Dear me! That young lady must have dropped it. I must run and give it to her. Where is she? (_Puts down her basket, and goes out._) (MARY _enters, and looks at the basket._) MARY.--A basket on the sidewalk! What does it mean? (_Takes it up._) It is full of shoestrings. I will take it to my mother, and ask her to find the owner. (MARY _takes up the basket, and is going out, when_ RUTH _enters._) RUTH.--Are you the girl I bought shoestrings of? MARY.--No: I have not sold any. These are not mine. RUTH.--Have you seen any thing of a purse about here? MARY.--No: I have seen no purse. (_Goes off-with the basket._) RUTH.--- Oh! here comes the little girl I was looking for; and she has my purse in her hand. (_Enter_ EMILY.) That is my purse, little girl. EMILY (_giving_ RUTH _the purse_).--Take it. I was looking for you. But where is my basket of shoestrings? RUTH.--Why, that little girl yonder has it. See her there, crossing the street. EMILY.--It is my basket. She has taken what does not belong to her. RUTH.--Run, and bring her to me. (EMILY _starts to go out._) Stop! What is your name? EMILY.--Emily Swift. RUTH.--Well, Emily Swift, I think you are mistaken in supposing that the little girl meant to steal your basket. Bring her to me. (EMILY _goes out._) What a pleasant thing it would be to have a purse so full, that one could keep on giving from it, and never find it empty! But here come the children. (EMILY _leads in_ MARY). EMILY.--Here she is. She says she was taking the basket to her mother, so that her mother might find the owner. RUTH.--And do you doubt her word? EMILY.--Doubt her word? Not I! She is too good a little girl to tell a falsehood. Just look in her face, and you will see that she speaks the truth. RUTH.--Yes, Emily Swift, you are right.