"As Laurie's head?" offered Ned, helpfully. "Say, you sell 'most everything here, don't you? Are those cream-puffs?"
Ned slipped a hand into his pocket and Laurie coughed furiously. Ned's hand came forth empty. He turned away from temptation. "They look mighty good," he said. "If we'd seen those before we'd had all that ginger-ale--"
Polly spoke detachedly. "You can have credit if you like," she said, placing the empty bottles aside. "The doctor lets the boys run bills here up to a dollar. They can't go over a dollar, though."
"Personally," observed Laurie, jingling some coins in a trousers pocket, "I prefer to pay cash. Still, there are times--"
"Yes, a fellow gets short now and then," said Ned, turning for another look at the pastry counter. "Maybe, just for--for convenience, it would be a good plan to have an account here, Laurie. Sometimes a fellow forgets to put any money in his pocket, you know. Does your mother make these?"
"Yes, the cream-cakes, and some of the others. The rest Miss Comfort makes."
"That's another funny name," said Laurie. "Who is Miss Comfort?"
"She's--she's just Miss Comfort, I guess," replied Polly. "She lives on the next corner, in the house with the white shutters. She's quite old, almost seventy, I suppose, and she makes the nicest cake in Orstead. Everybody goes to her for cakes. That's the way she lives, I guess."
"Maybe we'd ought to help her," suggested Ned, mentally choosing the largest and fattest cakes on the tray. "I guess we'll take a couple. How much are they?"
"Six cents apiece," said Polly. "Do you want them in a bag?"
"No, thanks." Ned handed one of the cakes to Laurie; "we'll eat them now." Then, between mouthfuls; "Maybe you'd better charge this to us. If we're going to open an account, we might as well do it now, don't you think?"
Polly retired behind a counter and produced a long and narrow book, from which dangled a lead pencil at the end of a string. She put the tip of the pencil between her lips and looked across. "You'd better tell me your full names, I think."
"Oh! Edward and Laurence. You can charge us each with two bottles and one cake."
"I like that!" scoffed Laurie. "Thought you were treating to cakes?"
"Huh! Don't you want to help Miss Comfort? I should think you'd like to--to do a charitable act once in a while."