n's story to
her mother, but that lady was "not at home," and Delia understood that
to mean that Mrs. Newton declined to receive either her or her
explanation. She went home angry and disappointed.

"I guess the little girl ain't much hurt," she announced to Nan.
"She's in bed to be sure, but I guess that's more on account of her
cold than anything else. She isn't going to be crippled, Nan, now
don't you fret. She'll be all right. Now you see if she ain't."

Nan's own flushed cheeks and brilliant eyes, the result of her
yesterday's chilly adventures, worried the good woman not a little. If
she had dared she would have liked to "coddle her child," but Nan was
not one of the coddling kind, and would have scorned being made a baby
of. She went about the house in one of her unhappy moods, restless and
wretched and unable to amuse herself, and finding the hours
never-endingly long.

When the bell rang she welcomed the sound as a grateful diversion and
ran to the balusters and hung over the railing to see who might be the
new-comer. She was glad of any break in the monotony of such a
miserable day.

When Delia opened the door and admitted Mr. Turner, Nan's heart gave a
big leap. Visions of what might be in store for her, the result of
Mrs. Newton's action against her, thronged her brain and made her
shudder with apprehension. What if Mr. Turner had come to say that she
was to be sent to the House of Correction, or some horrid
boarding-school where one don't get enough to eat and where one
couldn't poke one's nose outside the door. A set expression settled on
the girl's face that did not augur well for her reception of whatever
plan the lawyer might have to propose.

When Delia came to call her, she sighed. She saw plainly enough that
Nan's "contrary fit" was on, and she wondered how much the lawyer would
accomplish by his visit under the circumstances.

Nan went down to him sullenly determined to stand by her guns and
absolutely refuse to be committed to either a reformatory or any other
establishment of a similar character.

"How do you do, my dear?" was Mr. Turner's kindly greeting as the girl
entered the room.

Nan replied, "Very well, sir," thinking, at the same time, that she
would not be disarmed by kindness nor permit herself to be cajoled into
doing anything she did not wish to do. No one really had the right to
order her about, and she would resolutely oppose any one who assumed
such a right.