Plot Summary

On the morning of her 11th birthday, Joyce reads in one of her gift books that she should perform a good deed. After giving the $5 gift to an old man in the park her mother reprimands her and warns her that old men steal little girls. She goes to the park the next day to see if this is true. Her old friend assures her it isn’t, and she invites him to come to her home. Hiding him in the attic she hears the story of how he left his little girl with friends’ years before, and when he returned, all trace of her had been lost. When Joyce’s parents return the old man recognizes Mrs. Farley as his long-lost daughter much to the delight of all except Joyce, who pouts that she can have nothing of her own without others sharing it. So, she invites a host of human derelicts in to dine, insisting that they too have lost their little girls.