ained gaze seemed in her
great agony fixed upon the face of Him, who, silvering the lilies of
the field and watching the flight of sparrows, has tender care for all
who trust Him. Even in this terrible trial, the girl's first thought
was of her mother; and of the disastrous effect that the misfortune
would produce upon the invalid.

"I am sorry to tell you, that we are required to search all persons
arrested under similar charges, and in the next room a female detective
will receive and retain every thing in your possession, except your
clothing. You are suspected of having secreted money, jewelry and some
very valuable papers."

"Suspected of being a common thief! I am as innocent as any angel
beside the throne of Christ! Save me at least from the degradation of
being searched. Here is my basket, and here is my purse."

She handed him the worn leather pocket-book, which contained only the
few pennies reserved to pay her passage across the ferry, and turned
the pocket of her dress inside cut.

At the tap of a hand-bell, a tall, angular woman opened the door of an
adjoining room.

"Mrs. Foster, you will very carefully examine the prisoner, and search
her clothing for papers, as well as valuables."

"Spare me at least this indignity!" cried the shuddering girl.

"Come with me, madam. We have no choice."

When the door closed behind her, the constable walked up and down the
floor.

"How deceitful appearances are! That woman looks as pure and innocent
as an angel, and I half believed her protestations; but here in the
basket, sure enough, hidden at the bottom, are the jewelry and the
gold. No sign of the papers, but she may have destroyed them.

"Thief or not, she is a grand beauty; and if her heart was not in that
prayer she put up just now, she is a grand actress also. This is a
beastly trade of ours, hunting down and trapping the unwary. Sometimes
I feel no better than a sleuth-hound, and that girl's eyes went through
and through me a while ago like a two-edged dirk."

As he vented his views of his profession, one of the policemen lighted
his pipe and puffed vigorously.

Mrs. Foster came back, followed by her victim.

"I find absolutely nothing secreted on the prisoner."

"No papers of any description?"

"None, sir."

"Madam, your basket contains the missing jewelry and money, at least a
portion of it, and I shall place it in the hands of the sheriff."

"The money and jewels are not mine. They belon