"Now I shall want some underwear for her. Lisle-thread or balbriggan, I think. Also two chemises, night-dresses, whatever petticoats are worn now and a good, serviceable dress--a sailor suit, I think. And after that shoes."
"Why, Daddy!" gasped Jeanne. "I thought you were going to buy _nails_. You _said_ nails."
Jeanne regarded her father thoughtfully. He had always been very gentle with her, but of late--yes, certainly--he had been very much kinder to her. And now, all these clothes. Was he, perhaps, going to send her to a real school--the big public school that stood so high that one could see its distant roof from the wharf? A lack of proper clothing had heretofore prevented her going--that, the distance, and her usefulness at home. She was older now, she could manage the walk. Michael disliked the task, but he _could_ look after the younger children. But with _clothes_, she could go to school. That would be splendid. Perhaps, in another year, Michael could have clothes, too.
But how particular her father was about hers. The chemises must have a little fine lace on them, he said. And the petticoats--the embroidery must be finer. Yes, the blue serge dress with the fine black braid on the sailor collar would do nicely. And next, a small, neat hat.
Jeannette gasped again. A hat! She had never worn a hat except when she had gone "up town" and then it hadn't been any special hat--just anybody's old cap. But, of course, if she went to school she'd need a hat.
"Now, if you please," said Mr. Duval, "we'd like to see some gloves."
"It's getting late for silk. Maybe you'd better take kid."
Mr. Duval did take kid ones. The sales-woman, with many a curious glance at her unusual customers, fitted a pair of tan gloves to Jeanne's unaccustomed fingers. Her fingers _wouldn't_ stay stiff. They doubled and curled; but at last the gloves were on--and off again. Jeanne gave a sigh of relief.
Then there were shoes. Jeanne was glad that the holes in her stockings were quite small ones. Supposing it had been her other pair! _All_ holes! As it was, the man to whom the clerk had transferred her customer seemed rather shocked to see _any_ holes. Was it possible that there were people--even entire families--with _no_ holes in their stockings? The fat boy that had tumbled off the wharf that morning and hadn't known her afterwards in the new pink dress, probably that fortunate child had whole stockings, because everything else about him seemed most gloriously new and whole; but surely, the greater part of the population went about in holes. Mollie, Mrs. Shannon, her father--even Old Captain. She had seen _him_ put great patches in his thick woolen socks.
