“I think your friends are real nice, Johnny Leslie,” said Katy, as she turned, with her empty basket, and her hand full of small coins, to leave the yard, “and I won’t come back, if you don’t like me to, but I don’t see _why_ you don’t!” and she walked dejectedly away.
But before she reached the gate, Johnny had fought his battle—and won it. He sprang after her, and held open the gate, as he would have done for his mother, saying, loud enough for every one to hear him,—
“I’m glad you’ve had such good luck, Katy! Come back every day, if you like, and you wait for me here after school, and I’ll show you a first-rate place to buy things, where the man won’t cheat you!”
She thanked him all too profusely, as she went slowly through the gate, and then he turned, feeling that his face was fiery red, to receive the volley which he fully expected, and had braced himself to bear. But it was not exactly the sort of volley for which he was prepared.
“Hurrah for Johnny Leslie!” called one of the little boys; the others caught it up with a deafening cheer, and an unusual amount of “tiger,” and Johnny saw that they were quite in earnest.
And then came back to his mind once more the words which had so often come there, since he had read the quaint and beautiful story of “The Pilgrim’s Progress from this world to a better,”—“The lions were chained.”
The fact was, several of the boys had heard about Katy through Tiny and their sisters, but they could not, or rather would not, resist the temptation to tease Johnny, when they saw the foolish annoyance which her coming had caused him. It has often been noticed how a word, or even a look, will turn the tide, in affairs like this, and even in much larger ones, and Johnny’s bold championship of Katy had done this at once.
It was a good day for her when she invaded the playground, for Johnny kept his word about showing her where to buy, and, knowing as he did the things which would be most likely to sell well, the result was that, after a few lessons, poor little Katy, who was slow rather than stupid, began to show real judgment in her purchases. She was always modest and quiet in her manner to the boys, and the result of this was that their chaffing never passed the bounds of harmless fun. They called her “The Daughter of the Regiment,” and threatened her with dire penalties, should she not always come “first and foremost” to their playground with her new stock.