the
result just given. But from a true delicacy, the faithful old servant
did not stay to watch the girl as she adopted the new garb which
belonged to the new fortunes, though she need not have been afraid.

For a moment Amy held the gray dress in her hand, feeling it almost a
sacrilege to put it on. She remembered it as the morning gown of her
mother, plain to the extreme, yet graceful and precious in her sight
because of the dear wearer. Then she lifted the garment to her lips, and
touched it lightly.

"Mother, darling, it is a good beginning. It seems to me it is like a
sister of mercy putting on her habit for the first time. It is a
protection and a benediction. If I can only put on my mother's beautiful
character with her clothing, I shall do well, indeed." Then she examined
the alterations which Cleena had been instructed by the cottager to
make, and was able to smile at them.

"The new sewing and the old do not match very well, but it will answer,
and it does fit me much better than I would have thought. My! but I must
already be as large, or nearly so, as she was. Well, no time for
thinking back now. It's all looking forward, and must be, if I am to
keep my courage."

Then she knelt beside her bed, prayed simply and in full faith for
success in her efforts to provide for her beloved ones, and went below,
smiling and gay.

"Think of it, Cleena Keegan. This is Monday morning. On seventh day I
expect to bring back two splendid dollars and put into your hands. I,
just I, your own little Amy. Think of the oatmeal it will buy."

It was not in Cleena's heart to dampen this ardor by remarking how small
a sum two dollars really was, considered in the light of a family
support; and, after all, oatmeal was cheap. Fortunately, it also formed
the principal diet of this plainly nurtured household, and even that
very breakfast to which the young breadwinner now sat down.

But the meal was exquisitely cooked, and the hot milk was rich and
sweet. Also, there lay, neatly wrapped in a spotless napkin, the mid-day
luncheon, which Cleena had been told to prepare, and which Mrs. Jones
suggested should be of something "hearty and strong" for "working in the
mill beats all for appetite."

Then Amy took the big gingham pinafore, that Cleena had also prepared,
and with her little parcels under her arm, skipped away down the slope
to the Joneses' cottage, where Gwendolyn was to meet and escort her to
her first day's work.

"P