"Well?" she asked expectantly.
"We've come about Mickey Gaffney," said Sister hurriedly. "He
hasn't any shoes to wear to school and he wants to earn money to
buy 'em. He's going to work for us, some, but school starts in
about three weeks and we're afraid he won't have enough money."
"And couldn't he work for you?" chimed in Brother bravely,
determined not to let his sister have to do all the talking.
"Why, I do need a man to do odd jobs," said Miss Putnam quite
mildly. "Is he very strong?"
You see, she hadn't listened very carefully to Sister, or else she
didn't stop to think--no man wants shoes to wear to school.
"Yes'm, he's pretty strong," Sister assured her earnestly. "He's
eight years old and big for his age."
"Eight years old!" echoed Miss Putnam. "Why, that's a mere BABY!
What can such a child do to earn money?"
"Mickey can run errands and sweep and weed the garden," recited
Brother, gaining confidence since Miss Putnam neither shouted at
them nor chased them from her house. "He can dry dishes, too--he
says he does 'em for his mother."
Miss Putnam thought for a few moments.
"I'm going to need someone to do errands for me this winter when I
can't get around," she said slowly.
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