Never in his boldest imaginings had he thought of such a place as he saw now. It was lofty and long, with glistening counters of glass to one side. But elsewhere there were just books! books! books!--great partitions of them, walls solidly faced with them, the floor piled with them man-high. He forgot why he had come in, forgot his big clothes, his bare feet, his girl's hair, the new blue book, and the dollar. "Yes? Well? What d' you want?" It was a man speaking, and rather sharply. He was a red-headed man, and he wore spectacles. He came to stand in front of Johnnie, as if to keep the latter from going farther into the shop. Johnnie held up the new book. "A lady bought me this," he explained; "and when I opened it I found all this money." Now he held out the dollar. There were many people in the store. Some of them had on their hats, others were bareheaded, as if they belonged there. A number quietly gathered about Johnnie and the red-haired man, looking and listening. Johnnie gave each a swift examination. They were all so well-dressed, so different from the tenants in the area building. "The lady slipped the dollar into the book for you," declared the red-headed man. "Wasn't that mighty nice of her?" Johnnie silently agreed. A dozen pairs of eyes were watching him, and so many strange people were embarrassing. He began slowly to back toward the revolving door. "What're you going to buy with your dollar, little boy?" asked a man in the group--a tall man whose smile disclosed a large, gold tooth. The question halted Johnnie. Such a wonderful idea occurred to him. The dollar was his own, to do with as he liked. And what he wanted most---- "I'm goin' to buy some more books with it," he answered. And turned aside to one of the great piles. There was more laughter at that, and a burst of low conversation. Johnnie paid no attention to it, but appealed to the red-headed man. "What's the best book y' got?" he inquired, with quite the air of a seasoned shopper. Again there was laughter. But it seemed to be not only kind but complimentary--as if once more he had said something clever or amusing. However, Johnnie kept his attention on the red-headed man. "Well, I'm afraid no two people would ever agree as to which is our best book," said the latter. "But if you'll tell me what you like, I'll do my best to find something that'll suit you." Johnnie, glancing about, reflected that, without question, Cis's speller had come from this very room! The arithmetic, too! "Got any spellers to-day?" he inquired casually--just to show them all that he knew a thing or two about books. "In several languages," returned the man, quite calmly. "I like Aladdin better," announced Johnnie. Then trying not to sound too proud, "I got it here with me right now." Whereupon he reached into the baggy shirt and drew forth Mrs. Kukor's gift. "Bless his heart!" cried a woman. "He _does_ love them!"