"I was going to sell them dawgs for fifty
cents apiece when they was bigger," he finished with a fresh burst of
grief.
His joy when the girls showed him the puppies and explained how they
had found them was correspondingly noisy. He had an old gingham apron
with him, and into this the dogs were unceremoniously bundled and
securely knotted. Betty and Bobby each gave him a shining ten-cent
piece, and a blissful boy went whistling over the bridge, his world
changed to sunshine in a few brief minutes.
The car threaded a side street, turned twice, and brought up before
a quaint old house with a basement shop tucked away under a bulging
bay-window.
"This is Hale's bookshop, Miss," said Carter respectfully to Betty,
CHAPTER XVI
WHAT HALE HAD TO TELL
The door of the bookstore opened with a loose old-fashioned latch,
and one fell down two steps without warning into a long, narrow room
lined with books. Betty went first, and Bobby, stumbling, would have
fallen if she had not caught her.
"Gracious! I'm a little bit scared, aren't you?" Bobby whispered.
"It seems like such a spooky place."
It was certainly very quiet in the shop, and for a few moments Betty
thought they must be alone.
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