Immediately after dinner, little Johnny Buffum appeared in the door-yard and announced that he had come to play with Prue.  He wore a blue-checked pinafore, below which could be seen his short snuff-colored trousers and little bare feet.  Upon his head jauntily sat a large straw hat with a torn brim through which the sunlight sifted, where it lay, a stripe of gold upon his little freckled nose.

“I’m glad you’ve come, Johnny,” said Prue.  “Let’s play school.”

“All right,” agreed Johnny, “I’ll be the teacher.”

“And I’ll play I’m Randy, and Tabby can be me,—­you ’member to call her Prue when you speak to her,—­and Johnny, this rag doll will be you,” said Prue.

“That old doll’s a girl,” objected Johnny.  “I won’t let no girl doll be me.”

But Prue argued that it would be enough better to be represented by the despised rag doll, than not to be in the school at all, so half convinced, the game began and the two children were so occupied when Randy started for her walk to the Centre, that her little sister quite forgot to coax to be allowed to “go too.”

As she trudged along the sunny, dusty road, Randy hummed a merry little tune, her footsteps keeping time to its rhythm and her heart beating faster as she thought of her delightful errand.

Arrived at the store she asked Mr. Barnes to show her the piece of cloth from which her father had bought on the night that he had driven to the Centre.

“Joel!” called Silas Barnes, “show Randy Weston that second piece of cloth from the top, will ye?  I’ve got ter finish opening this barrel o’ sugar.”

Joel placed the cloth upon the counter, saying,

“Is that the piece ye mean?”

“Yes, that is it,” said Randy.

“Didn’t yer pa git ’nough?” questioned Joel.

“Oh yes,” said Randy, “but I want this for something else.  I’ll take eight yards.”

“Why that’s ’nough for a whole gaown,” said Joel, but a shade of annoyance passed over Randy’s sweet face and as she showed no disposition to explain, the clerk cut off the number of yards with the injured air of one whose kindly interest had been unappreciated.

When the cloth had been made into a neat parcel, Joel looked up and extended his hand for payment, when to his utter astonishment, Randy informed him that she had yet another errand.

“I’ll look at some shoes now,” she said with quite an air, for this was her first shopping trip and a very happy one.

“Fer yourself, Randy?” asked Joel.

“I wish them to be my size, so I’ll try them on,” was the answer.

“Well ef they’re ter be your size, they’re to be yourn, ain’t they?” queried Joel, determined if possible to know all about this wild extravagance.

Randy had changed her gold piece for a bill before she left home, well knowing that the bill would attract less attention.

Assuming not to have heard his question, Randy took her parcels, and gave Joel her bill.  Joel took the money, but he could not resist the temptation to ask one more question.