he good Irish lady waited for the affirmative droop from the eager
eyes.

"An' maybe ye found the door locked, an' not knowin' yer sister had
moved away an' Miss Johnson, what goes to the car stables a-cleanin' by
the day, livin' in her room now, ye set the choild down in the empty
room a-nixt to it, an' run down to ask me as to whir yer sister had
gone, now, didn't ye, Rosy O'Brien?" and Mrs. O'Malligan's garlanded
bonnet fell over one ear in the good soul's excitement.

Thus far apparently she was right.

"An' I wasn't to home, for sure I niver seen ye," ventured Mrs.
O'Malligan, her hands now on her hips as she gazed at the girl and
pondered.

She was right again.

"An' what happened thin, I niver can say no further!"

The doctor, referring to a note book, spoke next. "She was brought
here," he said, "on the seventh of last July, about six o'clock in the
evening, having been knocked down by a horse at the corner of Camden and
Lisiden Streets."

"Whist!" cried Mrs. O'Malligan, her shawl fallen to the floor, her
bonnet now hanging by the strings down her back, "that's our own corner,
an' it's as plain to me now as the nose on yer face! Not findin' me to
home, ye were runnin' over to the grocery to find out from yer sister's
husband's brother Bill whativer had become of the family!"

The sharp Irish lady had hit it again, and Miss Ruth here interrupted to
ask Miss Bonkowski if she could remember the date on which the child had
been found in the vacant room. After some thought and debate, Miss Norma
declared it to have been on the morning of the eighth of July, because
her own birthday came on the fifteenth and she remembered remarking the
child had then been with them a week.

But here the whole party came to a standstill, and the wild, imploring
look came back in poor Rosy O'Brien's eyes.

The doctor laid his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "Don't fret, my
girl, it will all come right now in time. It is no wonder," turning to
Miss Stannard, "she has been so slow getting better. I have said a
hundred times the girl had something on her mind."

Miss Ruth turned to Rosy again. "Does the child's mother, or do her
people live here in the city?" she inquired.

The eyelids failed to move, which according to the doctor meant _no_.

"What will we do," sighed Miss Ruth, "for the more the child is asked,
the more perplexed we get, and now----"

"Sure an' we'll ask Mrs. Buckley, Rosy's sister, an' she'll tell u