"Kisses 're sweeter'n roses," she murmured, walking to the track. "I wish I'd get more of 'em."
She turned back as she heard Peg's voice calling her.
"You might toddle in an' bring home a bit of sausage," said the woman, indifferently, "an' five cents' worth of chopped steak."
Mrs. Grandoken watched Jinnie until she turned the corner. She felt a strangling sensation in her throat.
A little later she flung the kitchen utensils from place to place, and otherwise acted so ugly and out of temper that, had Lafe known the whole incident, he would have smiled knowingly at the far-off hill and held his peace.
Late in the afternoon Jinnie counted seventeen pennies, one dime and a nickel. It was a fortune for any girl to make, and what was better yet, buckled to her young shoulders in the shortwood strap was almost her next day's supply. As she replaced the money in her pocket and walked toward the market, she murmured gravely, "Mebbe Peg's kisses helped me to get it, but--but I musn't forget Lafe's prayers."
Her smile was radiant and self-possessed. She was one of the world's workers and loved Lafe and Peg and the world with her whole honest young heart.
"Thirty-two cents," she whispered. "That's a pile of money. I wish I could buy Lafe a posy. He does love 'em so, and he can't get out like Peg and me to see beautiful things."
She stopped before a window where brilliant blossoms were exhibited. Ever since she began to work, one of the desires of Jinnie's soul had been to purchase a flower. As she scrutinized the scarlet and white carnations, the deep red roses, and the twining green vines, she murmured.
"Peg loves Lafe even if she does bark at him. She won't mind if I buy him one. I'll make more money to-morrow."
She opened the door of the shop and drew her unwieldy burden carefully inside. A girl stood back of the counter.
"How much're your roses?" asked Jinnie, nodding toward the window and jingling the pennies in her pocket.
"The white ones're five cents a piece," said the clerk, "and the red ones're ten.... Do y' want one?"
"I'll take a white one," replied the purchaser.
"Shall I wrap it in paper?" asked the other.
"No, I'll carry it this way. I'd like to look at it going home."
The girl passed the rose to Jinnie.
"It smells nice, too," she commented.
"Yes," assented Jinnie, delightedly, taking a whiff.
Then she went on to the meat market to buy the small amount of meat required for the three of them.