Dinney's breath was fairly taken away. He stood there on the sidewalk
stock still, looking into the face of the girl before him. At last he
said in an awed voice:

"Honest?"

"Honest," answered Gloria.

The boy drew a long breath. Five dollars! Instantly there came before
him some little red shoes for Hunkie, and some stockings, and maybe a
little red cap. But there was not time to go further into the matter as
to what five dollars might stand for. Gloria's hand was grasping his
shoulders with a firm grip.

"Will you find it out, Dinney? Will you? Will you come to me straight
with the name and to nobody else?"

What she saw of honesty and truth in Dinney's face so satisfied the girl
that her hands fell from the thin shoulders, and she in turn drew a
long breath as though she had found at last something she had long
been seeking. Then she looked down at Dinney. "I am going to tell you,
Dinney, just why I am wanting to find out. You would like to know a nice
secret; something we can keep to ourselves--a wonderful secret!" Dinney
was all expectation. At last he said, "Ma used to tell me things. She
told me lots the rest of the folks didn't know. All about pa and how
it was when they first married and lots more. I never told anyone else
around, as she said not to."

"And you won't tell this? We will have it all to ourselves, and it will
make you want to help me. Sometimes boys can find out things big folks