that affirmative all
the confidence which could possibly be thus expressed. She did not
believe it to be wrong to raise hope of again hearing in the poor
child's heart.

Mr. Drugg came in from the back, wiping his hands and forearms of soapy
water. He had evidently been engaged in some household task. Upon
closer acquaintance he was improved, so Janice thought. He possessed
the long, thin, New England features; but there was a certain calm in
their expression that was attractive. His gray eyes were brooding, and
there were many crow's-feet about them; nevertheless, they were kindly
eyes with a greater measure of intelligence in them than Janice had
expected to find.

It proved that Hopewell had a considerable stock upon his dusty
shelves; but how he managed to find anything that a customer called for
was a mystery to Janice. She selected the few notions that she needed;
and as she did so she just _ached_ to get hold of that stock of dry
goods and straighten it out.

And the dust--and the fly-specks--and the jumble of useless scraps
among the newer stock! The interior of that old store was certainly a
heart-breaking sight. Two side windows that might have given light and
air to the place were fairly banked up with merchandise. And when had
either of the show windows been properly "dressed"?

However, Mr. Drugg was an attentive salesman and he really knew his
stock very well. It mystified Janice to see how quickly he could find
the article wanted in that conglomeration.

She remained a while to play with Lottie. Drugg came to look fondly at
the little girl putting her rag-baby to sleep in a soap-box crib.

"She's just about ruined that dress and them shoes, I shouldn't
wonder," mused the storekeeper, "But I forgot to put out her everyday
clo'es where she could find them yesterday morning. There's so much to
do all the time. Well!" He drew the violin and bow toward him and
sighed. No other customer came into the store. Drugg tucked the
fiddle under his chin and began to scrape away.

Lottie jumped up and clapped her little hands when he struck a chord
that vibrated upon her nerves. There she stood, with her little,
upraised face flooded by the spring sunshine, which entered through the
side doorway, a gleam of pleasure passing over her features when she
felt the vibration of the minor notes. They were deeply engaged, those
two--the father with his playing, the child in striving to catch the
tone