Bertie made a hurried trip to the nursery and returned with a neat
blue bag from which he poured treasures of agate and crystal.
Chick lost all interest in the candy. His professional reputation was
at stake. Never could he face the gang on Billy-goat Hill, if he
failed to fleece this lamb that Providence had so clearly thrust in
his way.
Meanwhile Myrtella was exercising an elder sister's prerogative on the
back steps, and bestowing upon her brother what she modestly called a
piece of her mind.
For Phineas, in one of his periodical backslidings, had slid too far.
His ambition to excel as a regenerate had carried him out of the quiet
pastures of the Immanuel flock, into the more exhilarating battle-
field of the Salvation Army. Lured by the prospect of recounting his
experiences on a street corner to the accompaniment of an accordion,
he had forsaken the safe shelter of the Ladies' Aid, and sought new
worlds to conquer.
The experiment had not been a success. He was now, at the end of a
year, going from door to door, ragged and unkempt, playing the small
and uninteresting role of flood-sufferer. But Phineas' spirit soared
blithely above his circumstances.
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