Peggy in Her Blue Frock | Page 6

sky and the white
clouds seemed almost as glad as he. Alice walked quietly along, taking
hold of her mother's hand; but Peggy had to run along ahead of them
every now and then. She wanted to dance and shout with the joy of it
all.
"Oh, Mother, there's Mrs. Butler and her canary-bird," said Peggy, as
they passed a small gray house. "Let's stop and make her a call."
"Not to-day," said Mrs. Owen. "We'll never get our shopping done if
we stop to call on all the neighbors."
When they came to the smoothly finished stone wall in front of the
Thorntons' large place, Peggy climbed up so she could have the
pleasure of walking across it.
"Come, Alice," she said, helping her small sister up.
"Oh, children," said their mother in despair, "we shall never get
downtown."
But they did get there at last, although they met several of their
neighbors on the road, and Peggy stopped to caress a black pussy-cat
and make friends with a yellow collie dog. The shop seemed very dark
after the brightness of the spring sunshine outdoors. The saleswomen
seemed sleepy and not at all interested in what they were selling. Peggy
thought they probably did not live so far from the village; they could

not have had such a joyous walk as they had had, or met so many
friends.
"Oh, that beautiful collie dog! How lucky the Thorntons were to have
him! And the black pussy was a darling, not half so beautiful, of course,
as Lady Jane, but still, a darling." She sighed when she thought of Lady
Jane.
She had slipped away again to her old home, and a few days later the
same boy had brought her back in the same basket. The children had
not seen him, for they were at school when he came, and their mother
did not ask him how many children there were in the family. She had
discovered, however, that his name was Christopher. They had kept
Pussy in the house since then, hoping in this way to get her used to the
place. But she seemed very anxious to get out, and in this April weather
Peggy did not feel it quite kind to keep her indoors. She would not like
it herself, and one should do as one would be done by.
Peggy's mother went to the back of the store, where there was a man
behind the counter who seemed more alive than the girls. Peggy
followed her mother, but Alice's attention had been caught by some
doll carriages.
"I want you to show me something strong and serviceable for frocks for
my little girl, who is very hard on her clothes," said Mrs. Owen.
Peggy hung her head. She wished her mother had not said that. The
man did not look as if he ever could have been hard on his clothes,
even when he was a small boy.
"This plaid is a great favorite," he said.
Mrs. Owen asked the price, and it was too high. "Why, it is double
what it was before the war," she said.
Everything was either too expensive or too frail. Mrs. Owen bought
some white materials for best dresses for Peggy, but there seemed to be
nothing in the shop that would do for common.

"I am afraid I shall have to wait until later in the season," said Mrs.
Owen. "I suppose you'll have new things in?"
"The new goods will be more expensive still."
Mrs. Owen sighed. There were drawbacks about having so little money.
She had turned to leave the store when the man called after her:
"Mrs. Owen, I have something on the top shelf I think may suit you. It's
strong as nails, and it's cheap. It's almost as strong as the stuff butcher's
frocks are made of."
Peggy gave a little cry of pleasure when she saw it, for it was such a
delicious color. It made her think of the sky when it was a deep blue.
Mrs. Owen was attracted to it because it was dark enough not to soil
easily. But Peggy did not think of this; she just thought what a pleasure
it would be to be dressed in something so pretty. It was so cheap that
Mrs. Owen could hardly believe her ears when the man told her the
price.
"We got in a lot of the material before the prices went up," said he. "It
is entirely out of fashion now. Nobody wants it."
Peggy and her mother cared nothing about the fashion; and indeed they
seemed to set the fashion, whatever they wore.
"How many yards are there in the piece?" Mrs. Owen asked. He told
her and she made a rapid calculation. "I'll take it all," she