home.

In the house, a great fire was burning and it looked so cozy.

"I have looked into your windows many times as I have passed and wished I
could sit before the fire and dream and dream," said the girl. "May I sit
down here for a while?"

"We will both sit here," said Mrs. King, "then I will tell you about my
little girl who used to sit here with me."

How Julia's heart ached for her friend as she told her of her love for her
own dear girl, of the plans they had made, of the sudden sickness and
death, and of the loneliness of the big house since she had gone! She had
thought Mrs. King had everything to make her happy, yet the thing she
wanted most she could not have.

"Her hair was much like yours and sometimes, as you have passed, I have
wished I could comb yours as I did hers. Would you mind if I did?" said
the mother.

"I should love to have you," said Julia.

"Well, then, when the fire has died out, we will go up to her room. In the
drawer there I have a little white dress that perhaps you would like. I
will comb your hair just as I did hers and see if the dress will fit you,"
said Mrs. King. "If you look sweet and girlish in it, I will give it to
you."

While Mrs. King slipped away to get the things needed for the
hairdressing, Julia went to the great white bathroom, and when she came
out her face was sweet and clean and every trace of the paint and powder
was gone. Her pretty brown hair was down her back in ringlets and her
face wore a look which the girls at the office had never seen there.

Then Mrs. King brushed, and brushed, and brushed till the hair was soft
and shiny. Low in her neck she coiled it, making it look girlish and neat,
fastening it with a tiny velvet circlet. Then Julia held her breath as
Mrs. King took from a drawer a little white dress. It was a simple silk
mull but it was prettily made. Below it was a dainty petticoat and at the
bottom of the drawer were white oxfords and fine, lisle stockings.

"These were ready for her graduation, dear, but she never wore them once
after they were made," said the mother softly, as she fingered the dress
lovingly.

There were tears in the eyes of the mother and tears in the eyes of the
girl as the dress was put on. And when Julia looked into the mirror she
seemed to see a strange girl. How little she looked like the girls in the
office! But she liked her hair--and she liked the looks of her face--and
she loved the simple, white dress.

Las