re
were chairs only for the parents--saw that Andy looked very earnest
and a little scared. He got to going the wrong way once but was
quickly turned around by his kindergarten teacher. Jerry was glad for
Andy's sake when the Maypole dance was over.

Now came the crowning of the King and Queen. Cathy wore a white
billowy dress and her mother's pearl necklace. She was flushed and her
eyes shone.

"What a little charmer she will be in a few years," Jerry heard one of
the mothers say.

"Yeah! A snake charmer," Jerry thought. He knew though that that was
not the kind of charmer meant. Jerry did not want Cathy to charm
anybody, especially boys. It made him mad if he saw her look moony at
a boy. "Mush" was what Jerry called a certain way some of the girls
and boys looked at each other. It was definitely not for him.

Jerry managed to slip away before the exercises were quite over. A
spring song by the combined fourth and fifth grades rang in his ears
as he left the schoolyard. Everybody would be free to go home at the
end of the song, but Jerry wanted to get a head start. He wanted to
surprise the family with the box of candy the minute they got home.

He ran all the way to the Bullfinches'. "In an awful hurry. See you
later," he said, rushing in and grabbing the tobacco pouch of money
from the grandfather clock. Then he was off for the store, running as
if chased.

[Illustration]

Mr. Bartlett, for once, was alone in the store.

"I came to pay the bill," gasped Jerry, and he emptied the contents of
the tobacco pouch on the counter.

"Bring the bill with you?" asked Mr. Bartlett.

What bill? Jerry did not know anything about a bill. But he had saved
all the grocery slips. He had gone over to the Bullfinches' the
night before and added and added. He was sure the money was the right
amount.

Mr. Bartlett looked up the amount due in a ledger. He was a bit grumpy
about having to count so much chicken feed, as he called it, as he
counted the change. "It's all here," he said finally.

For an awful moment Jerry was afraid he was not going to get a bonus
for paying the bill. It was with enormous relief that he saw Mr.
Bartlett reach for a half-pound pasteboard box.

"It was a fair-sized bill and I'll give you a full half pound," said
Mr. Bartlett. "Anything you prefer?"

Jerry said he would like a few pink and green mints. With pleasure he
watched Mr. Bartlett arrange a row of varicolored mints and fill up
the res