eeze it with the rings on I
might be forced to cry out, and then all would be up."

"You may do that, and then I'll be quite comfortable."

Miss Frost did so, and Maud and Rosamund walked on a little in front.

"I can't tell you how astonished I am," said Maud, dropping her voice,
"to see her here. We heard of your extraordinary behavior--I mean your
noble behavior, for father said you were most noble; but to think of
your bringing her here! How did you induce her to come?"

"She will one day be a splendid girl, one of the best in the world,"
said Rosamund; "and the fact is, I wanted your help. I can't quite
manage her alone. I want your help, dear. Will you give it?"

Maud's frank blue eyes looked into Rosamund's dark ones, and over Maud's
face there came a softened gleam.

"When I look at you I can believe almost anything," she said. "But to
think of that girl ever being what you say! Did she not nearly kill our
Cartery dear?"

"I know that; but remember she is very young, and could not realize what
she was doing. However, I ask you to trust me, and to help me now with
the task I have undertaken. I mean to reform her, and to give her back
to her mother, not, as she considers herself, a changeling, but a
beautiful, strong, and splendid character, the sort of woman God meant
her to be."

"Then I think you are very noble," said Maud, "and I will help you all I
can; but you must not expect poor Cartery to appear too. That is more
than can be endured. She has rushed into the house, and is probably in
hysterics. Yes, I am sure she is, for Bertha has disappeared too, and
Bertha is her devoted slave."

"Never mind about Miss Carter now. Let us attend to our duties. I will
manage Irene. Shall she and I take a table and help to give these
children as much food as they want?"

This plan worked fairly well for a short time, until it was gradually
whispered that the person who was helping them to slices of cake and
bunches of bread-and-butter was no less than that dreaded creature Miss
Irene Ashleigh of The Follies. Then the boys and girls shrank away, for
had they not heard of her pranks, and might they not expect toads and
frogs to come out of their mouths, and other horrors to happen if Miss
Irene had anything to do with them? They therefore began to decline
Irene's cake, and to say, "No, thank you, miss," in a very timid voice
when delicious-looking pieces of bread-and-butter and jam were offered
to them. On the ot