emaining three other silver quarters. I
watched my twenty-five-cent piece drop into Mrs. Pitbladder's purse, and
heard the greedy mouth of that receptacle snap shut.

"Mintie," Mrs. Pitbladder spoke briskly, "show this girl to the
sitting-room, and then go and find Mrs. Lumley and tell her to come to
me at once."

Mintie, who had now finished lacing the matron's shoes, rose eagerly
and, with a shy glance toward me, made for the door. I hesitated, and
looked at Mrs. Pitbladder.

"You may go now," she said, with a wave of the pudgy hand.

"Excuse me," I replied, considerably abashed, quite as much by the
curious looks of the little girls as by the annoyance of having to
remind the matron about the fifteen cents change still due me--"excuse
me, but I gave you twenty-five cents."

"And I gave you your change, my dear," the matron returned suavely but
decisively.

"I beg your pardon for contradicting you," I replied firmly, and without
taking my eyes from hers, which blinked unpleasantly. "You did _not_
give me any change."

"Look in your purse and see," said Mrs. Pitbladder.

"It is quite unnecessary," I replied; "but I will do so to satisfy you";
and I opened the purse again and showed my three remaining silver
pieces, which to further satisfy her I took out upon my palm and then
turned the purse's lining inside out.

But Mrs. Pitbladder did not seem impressed. I for my part resolved to be
equally insistent, inspired as I was with the determination that comes
to desperate people. There were fifteen cents due me, and nobody should
cheat me out of a single one of those precious pennies if I could
possibly prevent it. There was a short silence in which we took each
other's measure, the children looking on in evident enjoyment of the
situation. Finally the old lady opened the purse again and gave me the
change due, though she grumblingly maintained that it was I, not she,
who was in error.

When the door closed at last upon us, my small companion clutched my
hand and gave it a jubilant squeeze. "Golly! that did me good," she
whispered as we were going down-stairs. "She always lets on to make
mistakes about the girls' change, only most of 'em is so scairt of her
they just let her beat them out of it."

While the child went to find Mrs. Lumley I waited in the sitting-room.
It was an empty, ugly place, with bare floors and whitewashed walls, the
latter decorated, like those of the office, with framed scriptural
tex