drink
and wear!"

"Poor, poor child; but your dream may come true yet!" muttered Old
Hurricane to himself.

"Well, your honor, next day I spent another penny out of my half-dime
and looked in vain for work all day and slept at night in a broken-down
omnibus that had happened to be left on the stand. And so, not to tire
your patience, a whole week passed away. I lived on my half-dime,
spending a penny a day for a muffin, until the last penny was gone, and
sleeping at night wherever I could--sometimes under the front stoop of a
house, sometimes in an old broken carriage and sometimes behind a pile
of boxes on the sidewalk."

"That was a dreadful exposure for a young girl," said the Recorder.

A burning blush flamed up over the young creature's cheek as she
answered:

"Yes, sir, that was the worst of all; that finally drove me to putting
on boy's clothes."

"Let us hear all about it."

"Oh, sir, I can't--I--How can I? Well, being always exposed, sleeping
outdoors, I was often in danger from bad boys and bad men," said
Capitola, and, dropping her head upon her breast and covering her
crimson cheeks with her hands, for the first time she burst into tears
and sobbed aloud.

"Come, come, my little man--my good little woman, I mean! don't take it
so to heart. You couldn't help it!" said Old Hurricane, with raindrops
glittering even in his own stormy eyes.

Capitola looked up, with her whole countenance flashing with spirit, and
exclaimed: "Oh! but I took care of myself, sir! I did, indeed, your
honor! You mustn't, either you or the old gentleman, dare to think but
what I did!"

"Oh, of course! of course!" said a bystander, laughing.

Old Hurricane sprang up, bringing his feet down upon the floor with a
resound that made the great hall ring again, exclaiming:

"What do you mean by 'of course! of course!' you villain? Demmy! I'll
swear she took care of herself, you varlet; and if any man dares to hint
otherwise, I'll ram his falsehood down his throat with the point of my
walking stick and make him swallow both!"

"Order! order!" said the clerk.

Old Hurricane immediately wheeled to the right about faced and saluted
the bench in military fashion, and then said:

"Yes, sir! I'll regard order! but in the meanwhile, if the court does
not protect this child from insult I must, order or no order!" and with
that the old gentleman once more subsided into his seat.

"Governor, don't you be so noisy! You'll get yours