was not in the
least offended by his refusal. If this scheme failed, she had others to
fall back upon. "I'm fond of Faith, you know," she added.

"I know," said the Beggar Man. "And you have been most kind. I shall
never be able to thank you for what you have done for us both."

Peg said, "Oh, chuck it!" but she looked pleased.

She went back to Faith and told her that she had failed.

"Never mind, honey," she said, when she saw the girl's disappointment.
"If at first you don't succeed, you know, try, try, try again, as they
used to tell us in the copybooks; and I'm not done yet. You'll have to
go off with him alone, and I'll come along later."

"I shall never go," said Faith.

It was curious how determinedly she stuck to that. Even Peg marvelled at
her unexpected display of will-power. She did not understand how deeply
ingrained in the girl's soul the failure and death of her father had
been, or how the loss of her mother had reawakened and added to its
power.

"You'll have to let the twins go, anyway," Peg said bluntly. "Why, it
would be a crime to try and keep them, bless their hearts! After all the
new frocks he's bought them, you ought to see!"

"I don't want to see them," said Faith passionately, the tears rushing
to her eyes. "Nobody will ever love them as I do."

But she knew she was powerless to keep the twins with her. Mr. Shawyer
came and talked to her about it. He pointed out kindly but firmly that
her husband was their natural guardian now, as she herself was under
age.

"He is doing and will do everything in his power for their happiness,"
he said. "He has been most kind and generous. It's all for the good of
the little girls, too, and they are quite happy to go. Don't you think
it's rather selfish of you to try and stand in their way?"

She gave in at last, but it almost broke her heart. She had got it into
her head that if her mother could know, she would be angry with her for
parting with them; all the more angry because it was Forrester who was
paying for it all. Her mother had hated him, and Faith believed that
therefore it was her duty to hate him also.

She broke down when it came to saying good-bye. There was a cab at the
door, piled with the twins' new luggage, and Mrs. Shawyer was waiting to
take them to school.

Up to the last moment they had been wildly excited and full of delight,
but the sight of Faith's pale face and tears was a signal for them to
give way also.

They clun