"Think shame how you says! My mama wouldn't let me to take whole bunches of lunch from a lady! It ain't for ladies to give lunches off on the street!" With a flirt of her shabby little skirts, the child turned her back on Betty and walked haughtily away.
It was Betty's first experience with that peculiar type of dignity and self-respect, and she was bewildered at the sudden fury of the indignant child.
But the box was still to be disposed of, and Betty looked around for another opportunity. She was tempted to throw it away, but the thought of Ellen's dainty morsels being wasted was so disappointing that she resolved to try once more anyhow.
"I didn't think it was so hard to give food away in town," she reflected, smiling grimly at her predicament. "Oh, I do believe it's going to rain!"
The sky had suddenly clouded over, and there were portents of a coming shower. Betty looked at the clouds, and resolved to make one more attempt to bestow her charity, and if that failed she concluded she must throw away the box. As Dorothy had said, she couldn't very well walk into a large hotel carrying a box of luncheon. It would look ridiculous. And even if she did have to throw it away, she had the satisfaction of knowing she had tried to utilize it. The drops began to fall, but they were large and scattered, so Betty thought she had time for one more attempt at her good work before she ran for shelter.
A poor-looking man came toward her, and Betty stopped him. She had become timid about the box by this time, so, unconsciously, she spoke as if asking a favor.
"Wouldn't you like a box of nice food to take home?" she said, as she hesitatingly held the box out to him.
"Do you mean to give it to me?" he asked, in such a threatening tone that Betty recoiled a little. She thought quickly. Here was another who would take offense at being looked upon as an object of charity. It flashed through her mind that if she asked him to pay a small price he would keep his self-respect and get far more than the value of his money.
"No," she stammered; "I mean to sell it to you--for ten cents."
It seemed awful to ask money for it, but surely he could pay that much, and Betty felt instinctively that he would refuse it as a gift.