“Happy birthday, dear,” said her mother, giving her a kiss.

“Why, Mother,” laughed Connie, suddenly feeling quite cheerful, “I thought you had forgotten. And Daddy too!”

“Look beside your plate if you think that,” teased her father.

Connie ran into the breakfast room. Beside her plate was a small package wrapped in tissue paper.

“It’s a birthday present, isn’t it?” she said, untying the pink ribbon. Of course she knew it was.

“A gift for the nicest little girl in the world,” declared her mother, smiling.

Connie couldn’t guess what her parents had given her. She pulled away the tissue paper and a ring popped out. On it was a design of a dancing Brownie, and her own initials.

42 “Oh, a Brownie ring!” cried Connie, doing a dance of her own on the carpet. “Just what I wanted!”

42

Connie was very proud of her new birthday ring. She showed it to the mailman when he brought the morning letters, and to the Brownies at school.

Only one thing bothered Connie. She had received no package from her Grandmother and Grandfather Williams. When she returned home at three o’clock, she asked her mother if a gift had arrived.

“Not yet, Connie.”

“Do you suppose they forgot my birthday, Mother?”

Mrs. Williams replied she was quite certain they hadn’t. She thought the package possibly had been delayed in the mail and might arrive the next day.

“But tomorrow won’t be my birthday,” said Connie. “I would so much rather have the present today.”

“Tell me, has Veve seen your new Brownie ring?” asked her mother quickly.

“Not yet,” Connie replied, wondering why her mother had asked the question.

“You may go over for a while,” suggested Mrs. Williams. “But don’t stay longer than half an hour.”

At the McGuire home, Veve acted almost as if43 she had expected Connie. She wore a bright new pink gingham dress, and her dark curls had been brushed until they shone. However, she still had a trace of her cold.

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