er skill.

"She can never wear it. I must send her one of mine," she said,
selecting a hat which she wore when walking in the park. "You must take
it to the young lady at Mrs. Biggs's. What is her name? I don't think I
understood; they were all talking together and confused me so," she said
to her maid, who had heard of the adventure from Sam, but had not caught
the right name.

"It is Louise something. I don't remember what," she replied.

"Louise! That sounds like baby's name, and it makes my head ache to
think of it," Amy said sadly, going to the window, and looking out at
the rain and fog, for the weather had not cleared.

It was a wet morning, and Howard, who liked his ease, shrugged his
shoulders when Jack suggested that they should call upon Miss Smith.

"She ought to have her satchel and her hat," Jack said, and Howard
replied, "Oh, Amy sent Sarah off with a hat half an hour ago. She would
send all her wardrobe if she thought the girl wanted it, and, by George!
why didn't she send a pair of boots? She has dozens of them, I dare
say," he continued, as he recalled the bits of leather they had cut from
Eloise's foot, and left on Mrs. Biggs's floor.

Jack had spoken of her boots, and he readily acceded to Howard's
proposition to ask Amy if she had any cast-offs she thought would fit
Miss Smith. "They must wear about the same size, the girl is so slight,"
Howard said as he went to Amy's room, where he found her still standing
by the window drumming upon the pane as if fingering a piano and humming
softly to herself. She never touched the grand instrument in the
drawing-room, and when asked to do so and sing, she answered, "I can't;
I can't. It would bring it all back and shake up the bottle. I hate the
memory of it when I sang to the crowd and they applauded. I hear them
now; it is baby's death knell. I can never sing again as I did then."

And yet she did sing often to herself, but so low that one could
scarcely understand her words, except to know they were some negro
melody sung evidently as a lullaby to a child. As Howard came up to her
he caught the words, "Mother's lil baby," and knew it was what she
sometimes sang with the red cloak hugged to her bosom.

"Miss Amy," he said, "I wonder if you haven't a pair of half-worn boots
for the young lady at Mrs. Biggs's? We had to cut one of hers off, her
foot was so swollen."

Amy was interested at once, and ordered Sarah, who had returned from
Mrs. Biggs's, t