ol, too, but even
that doesn't give enough money for six of us to live on, and she is so
pale and tired all the time." She added, with a toss of her curly
head: "And I must have money to buy books, too, but helping mother is
more important."

Entirely absorbed in her own narrative now, she continued to pour out
a flood of facts with such an eloquence and persuasive use of words
that her hearer was lost in amazement over a young girl who was so
fluent in her use of language. From her frank tale he gathered that
she had been a wayward, wilful, intense, and very imaginative child,
who, despite her evident devotion to her mother, had probably given
her many hours of worry and unhappiness. It was evident also that as a
younger child she had been considered an incorrigible pupil at school,
for she seemed to have always rebelled against discipline which she
thought unnecessary.

"They could punish me all they liked," she said, with flashing eyes.
"I would never obey a rule that had not been explained to me and that
wasn't fair--never! Teachers and mothers were always telling good
little girls not to play with me, and I was _glad_! Girls the teachers
call 'good' sometimes are not that at all; they just know how to hide
things from the teachers." As her hearer made no comment, but listened
with an amused smile curving his lips, Anna continued: "I _adore_
books, but, oh, how I hate school, when the rich girls laugh at my
clothes and then at me if I tell them that my mother is poor and we
work for all we have! It isn't fair, because we can't help it, and we
do the best we can. I never would say it to them in the world--never!
In the first school I went to they used to tease the children who
were timid, and bother them so much that they would forget their
lessons and get punished when it was not their fault. But _I_ looked
after them," declared Anna, proudly. "I fought their battles for them,
until the others left them alone, because they were afraid to fight
me, I was so strong. Oh, sir," she cried, "why can't people always be
fair and square, I wonder?"

As if mesmerized by the intensity of this remarkable young reformer,
the lawyer found himself repeating, "I wonder!" as if he had no
opinions on the subject, but at the same time he was doing some
thinking in regard to such a unique character as this one before him.
When she had finished speaking he rose and put a bundle of work in her
hand. "I will help you and your brave mo