She was to go to the Bird Woman’s after school for the last load from the case.  Saturday she would take the arrow points and specimens to the bank.  That would exhaust her present supplies and give her enough money ahead to pay for books, tuition, and clothes for at least two years.  She would work early and late gathering nuts.  In October she would sell all the ferns she could find.  She must collect specimens of all tree leaves before they fell, gather nests and cocoons later, and keep her eyes wide open for anything the grades could use.  She would see the superintendent that night about selling specimens to the ward buildings.  She must be ahead of any one else if she wanted to furnish these things.  So she approached the bridge.

That it was occupied could be seen from a distance.  As she came up she found the small boy of yesterday awaiting her with a confident smile.

“We brought you something!” he announced without greeting.  “This is Jimmy and Belle—­and we brought you a present.”

He offered a parcel wrapped in brown paper.

“Why, how lovely of you!” said Elnora.  “I supposed you had forgotten me when you ran away so fast yesterday.”

“Naw, I didn’t forget you,” said the boy.  “I wouldn’t forget you, not ever!  Why, I was ist a-hurrying to take them things to Jimmy and Belle.  My they was glad!”

Elnora glanced at the children.  They sat on the edge of the bridge, obviously clad in a garment each, very dirty and unkept, a little boy and a girl of about seven and nine.  Elnora’s heart began to ache.

“Say,” said the boy.  “Ain’t you going to look what we have gave you?”

“I thought it wasn’t polite to look before people,” answered Elnora.  “Of course, I will, if you would like to have me.”

Elnora opened the package.  She had been presented with a quarter of a stale loaf of baker’s bread, and a big piece of ancient bologna.

“But don’t you want this yourselves?” she asked in surprise.

“Gosh, no!  I mean ist no,” said the boy.  “We always have it.  We got stacks this morning.  Pa’s come out of it now, and he’s so sorry he got more ’an ever we can eat.  Have you had any before?”

“No,” said Elnora, “I never did!”

The boy’s eyes brightened and the girl moved restlessly.

“We thought maybe you hadn’t,” said the boy.  “First you ever have, you like it real well; but when you don’t have anything else for a long time, years an’ years, you git so tired.”  He hitched at the string which held his trousers and watched Elnora speculatively.

“I don’t s’pose you’d trade what you got in that box for ist old bread and bologna now, would you?  Mebby you’d like it!  And I know, I ist know, what you got would taste like heaven to Jimmy and Belle.  They never had nothing like that!  Not even Belle, and she’s most ten!  No, sir-ee, they never tasted things like you got!”

It was in Elnora’s heart to be thankful for even a taste in time, as she knelt on the bridge, opened the box and divided her lunch into three equal parts, the smaller boy getting most of the milk.  Then she told them it was school time and she must go.