A young lady was in a hammock on the veranda, and as they went up the steps she rose to greet them.
"What in the world have you there?" she said, gayly, flinging down the book she was reading and looking at the children with interest.
"Pennyroyal extract," said Molly, "perfectly fine for mosquito bites, bruises, cuts, scarlet fever, colds, coughs, or measles."
The young lady seemed to think it very amusing, and sitting down on the top step, began to laugh.
"It must be, indeed, handy to have in the house," she said; "where did you get it?"
The girls were dismayed. If they said they made it themselves, probably she wouldn"t buy any. They looked at each other uncertainly, and said nothing.
"I hope you came by it honestly," went on the young lady, looking at them in surprise; "you couldn"t have--of course, you didn"t--"
"Of course we didn"t steal it!" cried Molly, indignantly, "if that"s what you mean. It"s ours, our very own, every drop of it! But--we don"t want to tell you where we got it."
"It sounds delightfully mysterious," said the young lady, still smiling very much, "and I don"t really care where you did get it. Of course I want some, as it seems to be a very useful article, and I"m quite liable to attacks of--measles."
Marjorie looked up quickly to see if this very pretty young lady was not making fun of them, but she seemed to be very much in earnest, and, indeed, was already selecting a bottle from each of the three baskets.
"I"ll take these three," she said; "how much are they?"
The girls looked at each other. Not once had it occurred to them to consider what price they were to ask, and what to say they did not know.
"Why," began Marjorie, "I should think--"
"Twenty-five cents apiece," said Molly, decidedly. She knew it was a large price, considering that the extract cost nothing, but she wanted to swell the charity funds.
"Well, that"s very reasonable," said the young lady, who still seemed very much amused; "I will give you the money at once," and she took some change from a little gold purse which hung at her belt. "But if I may advise you," she went on, "you"d better raise your price. That"s really too cheap for this most useful article."
The children were so astonished at this speech that they made no reply, except to thank the kind young lady, and bid her good-by.
"Now, THAT"S something like!" exclaimed Marjorie, as they reached the road again. "Wasn"t she lovely? And to think, she said we ought to ask more money for the extract! This is a splendid business."
"Fine!" agreed Molly; "we"ll sell off all this to-day, and to-morrow we"ll make another lot and sell that. We"ll get lots of money for the Dunns."
"We"ll make more next time," said Midge, "and I"ll get Carter to drive us round so we won"t have to carry it; for we may sell two or three hundred bottles every day."
"But I can"t make so many labels," said Stella, aghast at the outlook.
"Of course you can"t," said Molly; "but I"ll tell you what! We"ll ask them to give the bottles back as soon as they"ve emptied them, and then we can use them over again, you know."
Midge was a little dubious about asking for the bottles back, but just then they turned into the next house.
It was Marjorie"s turn to speak, and greatly encouraged by their late success, she began: "Would you like to buy some pennyroyal extract? For mosquitoes, burns, and bruises. It"s only fifty cents a bottle, and we"ll take the bottles back."
The lady, who had opened the door, looked at the children as if they were escaped lunatics.
"Don"t come around here playing your tricks on me," she exclaimed; "I won"t stand it. Take your bottles and be off!"
She did not shut the door upon them, but so irate was her expression that the girls were glad to go away.
"Wasn"t she awful!" exclaimed Stella, with a troubled face. "Truly, girls, I don"t like this. I"m going home."
"No, you"re not, either!" said Marjorie. "Of course, it isn"t all pleasant, but when you"re working for charity, you mustn"t mind that.
And, besides, like as not the people at the next house will be lovely."
But they weren"t; and one after another the people, to whom they offered their wares, refused even to look at them.
At last, when they were well-nigh discouraged, a kind lady, to whom they offered the extract, seemed a little more interested than the others.
"Why," she said, looking at Stella, "aren"t you Guy Martin"s little girl?"
"Yes"m," said Stella, meekly, wondering if this fact would interfere with the sale of the goods.
"Well, then, I must surely buy some," said the lady, smiling; "how much is it?"
"Fifty cents a bottle, if you give the bottle back," said Stella, who felt that the lady"s friendliness toward her demanded that she should answer?
"Fifty cents a bottle!" exclaimed the lady. "Surely you can"t mean that! Why, pennyroyal extract isn"t worth a cent a quart!"
The girls looked genuinely disturbed. This was a different opinion, indeed, from that advanced by the pretty lady who had bought three bottles!
Marjorie suddenly began to feel as if she were doing something very foolish, and something which she ought not to have undertaken without Grandma"s advice.
"Is that all it"s worth, truly?" she asked, looking straightforwardly into the lady"s eyes.
"Why, yes, my dear,--I"m sure it could not have a higher market value."
"Then we don"t want to sell you any," said Marjorie, whose sense of honesty was aroused; and picking up her basket from the porch, she turned toward the street, walking fast, and holding her head high in the air, while her cheeks grew very red.
Molly followed her, uncertain as to what to do next, and Stella trailed along behind, a dejected little figure, indeed, with her heavy basket on her arm.
CHAPTER XVIII
WELCOME GIFTS
"It"s all wrong!" declared Marjorie. "I didn"t see it before, but I do now. That lady was right, and we oughtn"t to try to sell anything that"s worth less than a cent for fifty cents, or twenty-five either."
"Shall we go home?" asked Molly, who always submitted to Marjorie"s decisions.
"_I_ don"t think it"s wrong," began Stella. "Of course the pennyroyal isn"t worth much, but we worked to get it, and to make it, and to fix it up and all; and, besides, people always pay more than things are worth when they"re for charity."
Marjorie"s opinion veered around again. The three were sitting on a large stepping-stone under some shady trees, and Marjorie was thinking out the matter to her own satisfaction before they should proceed.
"Stella, I believe you"re right, after all," she said. "Now I"ll tell you what we"ll do: we"ll go to one more place, and if it"s a nice lady, we"ll ask her what she thinks about it, for I"d like the advice of a grown-up."