Mrs. Hamilton, and in five minutes the two ladies were
chatting pleasantly together, and Mrs. Randall had almost ceased to
wonder why her neighbor should have intruded upon her at this
unseasonable hour. Mrs. Hamilton made friends with Jack in a way that
won his heart at once, and Betty sat watching her with frank admiration.
At last the visitor said:

"And now I must really explain my reason for troubling you at this time
of the evening, Mrs. Randall. My little Winifred has taken a great fancy
to your Betty, and is most anxious to make the acquaintance of Jack as
well. She and I are going for a drive in the park to-morrow afternoon,
and I have come to ask you if you will allow Betty and Jack to go with
us."

The color deepened in Mrs. Randall's face, and she began to be a little
formal again.

"You are very kind," she began politely, "but I am afraid----"

A low exclamation from both children checked the words on her lips, and
she glanced anxiously from one eager little face to the other. Betty was
actually pale with suppressed excitement, and Jack's blue eyes said
unutterable things.

"You needn't be afraid to trust Jack to us," Mrs. Hamilton went on, just
as if she had not heard her hostess's courteous words; "the janitor can
carry him up and down stairs, and I promise to take the very best care
of him."

"You are very kind," Mrs. Randall said again, and this time there was
more warmth in her tone. "The children would enjoy it immensely, I know.
You would like to go, wouldn't you, Jack, darling?"

"Like it! Oh, mother, I should love it better than anything in the
world."

Of course there was no more hesitation after that, and when Mrs.
Hamilton went downstairs ten minutes later, it was to tell Winifred the
good news that Mrs. Randall had given her consent, and that the carriage
was to be ordered for three o'clock the following afternoon.

"I rather like Mrs. Randall," Mrs. Hamilton said to her husband when
Winifred had slipped away to her room, to tell her children all about
her Thank Offering; "she is a lady, one can see that at once, and, oh,
Phil, she was playing the piano when I went upstairs. I haven't heard
such music in years. I think she has seen better days, and is inclined
to resent anything that seems like patronage. There is a look in her
eyes that somehow made my heart ache."

Mrs. Randall was very silent for some time after her visitor had left.
She closed the piano, and went away to sit by