“Yes,” said the maid shortly, and closed the door in the very faces of the disappointed children.

Troubled, but not disheartened, the girls walked back along the path, a little less gayly, and trudged on to the next house.

Here the lady herself opened the door.

“Do you want to buy some pennyroyal extract?” began Marjorie, a little timidly, for the expression on the lady’s face was not at all cordial.

“It’s fine,” broke in Molly, who saw that Midge needed her support; “it’s lovely for mosquito bites, you just rub it on and they’re all gone!”

The lady seemed to look a little interested, and Stella being honestly anxious to do her share, so far conquered her timidity as to say in a faint little voice, “We made it ourselves.”

“Made it yourselves?” exclaimed the lady.  “No, indeed, I don’t want any!” And again the cruel door was closed upon the little saleswomen.

“It was my fault,” wailed Stella, as they went away with a crestfallen air; “if I hadn’t said we made it ourselves, she would have bought it.  Oh, girls, let me go home and make labels.  I don’t like this selling, much.”

Midge and Molly both felt sure that it was Stella’s speech that had stopped the sale, but they were too polite to say so, and Midge answered: 

“Never mind, Stella dear, I don’t think she was very anxious for it, anyway, but, perhaps, at the next house you needn’t say anything.  You don’t mind, do you?”

“Mind!  No, indeed!  I only said that to help along, and it didn’t help.”

So, at the next house, Stella was glad to stand demurely in the background, and this time Molly took her turn at introducing the subject.

A young lady was in a hammock on the veranda, and as they went up the steps she rose to greet them.

“What in the world have you there?” she said, gayly, flinging down the book she was reading and looking at the children with interest.

“Pennyroyal extract,” said Molly, “perfectly fine for mosquito bites, bruises, cuts, scarlet fever, colds, coughs, or measles.”

The young lady seemed to think it very amusing, and sitting down on the top step, began to laugh.

“It must be, indeed, handy to have in the house,” she said; “where did you get it?”

The girls were dismayed.  If they said they made it themselves, probably she wouldn’t buy any.  They looked at each other uncertainly, and said nothing.

“I hope you came by it honestly,” went on the young lady, looking at them in surprise; “you couldn’t have—­of course, you didn’t—­”

“Of course we didn’t steal it!” cried Molly, indignantly, “if that’s what you mean.  It’s ours, our very own, every drop of it!  But—­we don’t want to tell you where we got it.”

“It sounds delightfully mysterious,” said the young lady, still smiling very much, “and I don’t really care where you did get it.  Of course I want some, as it seems to be a very useful article, and I’m quite liable to attacks of—­measles.”