"You'll be happier, Rose, if we talk of something else," said Polly,
"so I'll tell you that Sir Mortimer is strutting around our garden
this morning with a new collar that I bought for him, and the big pink
satin bow upon it is very becoming."

"And _I'll_ tell a bit of news. I sent my prize right straight to the
'Mermaid's Cave,'" said Sprite, "and pa put it in the Cliffmore bank
for me."

"Why, Sprite Seaford!" cried Rose. "How did you dare to send fifty
dollars in gold?"

"Because," said Sprite, "I didn't send it by mail. I gave it to one
of the very best men in this world, and that is Uncle John, to take
it to pa for me, and he did. He rode over to Cliffmore last Saturday.
That's a week ago, and don't you know it was a stormy day? Well, that's
why we didn't go with him."

Sprite nodded her head wisely as she spoke, and the sunbeams danced
on her rippling hair.

"And I'll tell you something I've thought of," she said. "It was Friday
after school that I asked him about sending it, and he said we'd all
take the trip to Cliffmore. And when Saturday came it was so stormy
we couldn't go. I didn't say a thing, but I must have looked
disappointed, for he said: 'Cheer up, little Sprite, for your prize
shall reach Cliffmore to-day. I'm going over there, and I'll take it
with me.'

"_Now_ I believe he wouldn't have gone so far on such a day for himself.