A boy named Worthington — Worthy, his family called him — had a little sister named Mimmie, and he was the kind of big brother who made things better.
He taught her to climb trees, to swim, and to do tricks on the trapeze. In autumn he gave her rides in an express-cart, sometimes fixing up a high seat so she could ride in style. He included her in the snowball fights he had with the other boys, let her take her place behind the snow forts, and she was never afraid when she was with him.
One summer afternoon, Worthy sat very still and thought for a long time.
“I wonder if it couldn’t be done,” he said to himself at last. “I’ll try anyway.”
The next day he went to see his aunt, who had a large garden.
“Auntie,” he said, “I’ve been thinking. This summer I could hoe your beans and weed the paths. I could water the flowers every evening and do all the weeding — you’d only need someone for the heavy jobs once a week.”
He paused, then said the most important part.
“And with what you’d pay me, I thought I could buy Mimmie a pair of skates and boots in the autumn.”
His aunt smiled and engaged him as her assistant gardener on the spot.
