Page:TheBoxcarChildren1924.djvu/57

 "Earned, $1.00; Cash on hand, $3.85," read Jess aloud. Below, he had written:


 * Milk   .24
 * Bread  .10
 * Bread  .20
 * Cheese .10
 * Milk   .24
 * Beef   .20
 * Bone   .05
 * Cloth  .10

"Cloth!" exclaimed Violet. "What on earth?" Henry laughed a little, and watched her face as he drew out his last package and handed it to her.

"I thought we ought to have a tablecloth," he explained. "So I got a yard at the ten-cent store—but it isn't hemmed, of course."

With a cry of delight Violet unwrapped the brown cloth with its edge of blue. Her clever fingers were already evening the two ends. She was never so happy as when with a needle. Henry set off again with a light heart. Here was one sister curled up happily against a big tree, setting tiny stitches into a very straight hem. Here was another sister busily gathering pliant twigs into a bundle for a broom with