34. THE GIFT
December 17, 1975
The children have collected some money to buy Reverend Alden a nice birthday present. The only ones not to chip in are Willie and Nellie, who,according to their mother are “different from all the other kids” (You betcha!). They want to buy a beautiful leather bound Bible. The rest of the kids have $ 1.67 and Mary is in charge of choosing the present and ordering it. Laura has an idea that would allow them to buy an expensive Bible for the Reverend. They buy a set of homeopathic medicine that they try to sell and earn money with. Unfortunately, they can’t sell any, and are stuck with the bottles of medicine, minus a couple that they broke or lost. They are forced to go see the Reverend, explain the situation and gave him the box containing the bottles of medicine. Sunday, at Mass, the Reverend tells the congregation that he has one Bible that he cherishes above anything else, a very old Bible given to him by his father. It’s the only one he uses (hint to the Olesons who were going to give him the superb leather bound Bible). He then thanks all the children for giving him…a wooden box to put his Bible in and protect it.
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