“GOOD-BYE TILL WE MEET AGAIN”
stable. He suddenly felt as if the weight of a mountain had fallen off him. He had also by this time awakened to the further conviction that it was better to make a full confession at once of anything he had done wrong or had left undone, and so he said, “And I lost the paper, too.”
Grandmamma had to consider a moment what he meant, but soon recalled his connection with her telegram, and answered kindly,
“You are a good boy to tell me! Never conceal anything you have done wrong, and then all will come right again. And now what would you like me to give you?”
Peter grew almost giddy with the thought that he could have anything in the world that he wished for. He had a vision of the yearly fair at Mayenfeld with the glittering stalls and all the lovely things that he had stood gazing at for hours, without a hope of ever possessing one of them, for Peter’s purse never held more than a halfpenny, and all these fascinating objects cost double that amount. There were the pretty little red whistles that he could use to call his goats, and the splendid knives with rounded handles, known as toad-strikers, with which one could do such famous work among the hazel bushes.
Peter remained pondering; he was trying to think which of these two desirable objects he should best like to have, and he found it difficult to decide. Then a bright thought occurred to him; he would then be able to think over the matter between now and next year’s fair.
“A penny,” answered Peter, who was no longer in doubt. Grandmamma could not help laughing. “That is not an extravagant request. Come here then!” and she pulled out her
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