ral additions. It had been a gift from a
benevolently disposed woman, with a small endowment that was
occasionally added to. There was quite a spacious garden and an
abundance of rose vines.

Yes, Mrs. Johnson was in and they were ushered into a large old
fashioned apartment, scrupulously neat and formal. Mrs. Johnson was a
somewhat portly woman turned of sixty, whose face had settled into
severe lines, and she eyed her visitors rather suspiciously.

"I am Dr. Richards," he began with a softening of the countenance,
"and my friend Mr. Lorimer is a lawyer from New York who comes on a
matter of business concerning a little girl who was an inmate of the
Home until a little over a year ago--Marilla Bond."

"Yes"--in a rather questioning manner.

Lorimer told his story and the surprise in the woman's face was
evident.

"What is of most importance is to learn whether there are any papers
to substantiate the claim. One has to be careful in the legal
matters."

She seemed to consider. "Yes," rather reluctantly. "The person who
brought her here gave quite a box of papers and some trinkets to my
safe keeping. We take charge of them until the girls are
eighteen--then they have served out their time and are legally their
own mistresses. Ours is quite a private institution and has no
connection with the city, although it has a board of officers, of
which I am president. Of course I keep watch over the girls who are
bound-out. This Marilla has a very nice place. She was away all summer
with the family. One of our managers visited this Mrs. Borden on her
return and found everything satisfactory and the child content."

"Could we look over the papers?"

She seemed rather loth to produce them but she could find no excuse.
She recalled the fact that she had seen Dr. Richards' name in
connection with the Children's Hospital.

Certainly there was enough to substantiate the claim. A marriage
certificate, an attestation of the baby's birth, and old Dr. Langdon
was still alive, though he had retired from practice. A packet of
letters as well, two notices of Mr. Bond's accident and death.
Everything was ready for corroboration.

Mr. Lorimer gathered up the important papers. At first Mrs. Johnson
rather demurred about his taking them away.

"Why, I would have no object in destroying them. I should not be the
gainer by it. And this is the last heir we have to trace. Now we can
proceed to a settlement. The syndicate takes more than