; "'tis a dreary night to bid you welcome. I am your Aunt Judith,
dear," and assisting the girl out of the carriage, she lifted her veil
for a single moment and laid a kiss on the fresh, young cheek. "What
have you in the way of luggage? One trunk. Well, stand here while I
go and find it," saying which she glided away and was lost to view in
the bustling crowd. In a few moments she returned, followed by a
porter bearing the modest, black box; and bidding the young traveller
come with her, left the platform, hailed a cab, and was soon driving
with her tired charge along the wet streets.

Aunt Judith gazed at the lonely little figure sitting so quietly facing
her, and mentally deciding that, wearied out and home-sick, the child
would naturally be disinclined for conversation, she leaned back on the
carriage cushion and fell into a long train of thought.

Nellie Latimer was thankful for the silence. She had left her home
early that morning for the purpose of wintering in town with her aunts,
and, as it was the first flight from the parental nest, her heart was
sore with grief and longing. She was the eldest daughter of Dr.
Latimer, a poor country practitioner, whose practice brought him too
limited an income with which to meet the expenses of the large family
of hardy boys and girls growing up around him. He had sent Nellie to
the village school, and when she had mastered all the knowledge to be
gleaned there, endeavoured to instruct her himself; but he could ill
spare the time, and so hailed with feelings of the deepest gratitude a
letter from his eldest sister offering to take Nellie and give her all
the advantages of a town education, "Let the child come, John," she
wrote in her simple, kindly style; "she will help to brighten the
hearts of three old maids, and a young face will be a cheery sight in
our quiet cottage home. She will have a thorough education, and we
shall endeavour to bring her up so that she may be a fitting helpmate
to her mother on her return home." Dr. Latimer showed the letter to
his wife, who read it thankfully. "Your sister is a noble woman,
John," she said brokenly; "let us accept her offer, and may God bless
her."

Thus it was that Nellie had left the home nest and come to live her
life in the busy town. She knew almost nothing about her aunts, and
had never seen them; for Dr. Latimer dwelt in a far-off country
village, and the distance from it to the city was very great. The
pos