But none of these could give a tithe of the pleasure the worked ones did; there was such fascination in counting how many stitches went to the forming of a nose, how many red and how many white to the colouring of a cheek, or the shaping of the hands, and fingers, and toes.
"I didn't know that Robert Bruce had six toes!" said Betty, very solemn with the importance of her discovery, her eyes fastened on a representation of that hero asleep in a cave, while a spider as large as his head wove a web of cables across the opening.

"Did you, Dan ?" "Didn't you ?" answered Dan gravely.

"Don't you know that in Scotland they have an extra toe in case one should get frost-bitten and drop off ?" "Of course I know it is very cold up there," said Betty, who was never willing to admit ignorance of anything; "but supposing two got frost-bitten and dropped off, what would they do then ?" Dan, pretending not to hear her question, strolled over to the bookcase.
"Surely it must be tea-time!" he exclaimed.
Betty, seeing that no answer was forthcoming, slipped from her seat to examine more closely some wax fruit which, under a glass case, adorned a side-table.
"I do think it is wonderful how they make them," she said impressively; "they are so exactly like real fruit." Mrs.Henderson, coming into the room at that moment, heard the remark, and her heart was won.

She had more than once had a suspicion that some of her visitors laughed at her treasured ornaments, and made jokes about them, and the thought had hurt her, for her affections clung to them, and particularly to the was fruit, which had been one of her most prized wedding gifts, so Betty's remark went straight to her heart.

She beamed on Betty, and Betty beamed back on her.
"You have such a lot of beautiful things, Mrs.Henderson," she said in her politest manner.