ntoxicated. She was in rags and hadn't a red
cent. That set me thinking, and when Tommy fired me from his paper and
said the best he could do was to get me a job in the country, it seemed
as if my chance to turn over a new leaf had arrived. I've turned it,"
she added, with a pathetic sigh; "but whether it'll stay turned, or not,
is a question for the puzzle page."

"Haven't you a family to look after you--or for you to look after?"
asked Beth.

"No. Brother and I were left orphans in a Connecticut town, and he went
out West, to Chicago, and promised to send for me. Must have forgot that
promise, I guess, for I've never heard of Dan since. I could draw
pictures, so I went to New York and found a job. Guess that's my
biography, and it isn't as interesting as one of Hearst's editorials,
either."

Hetty seemed pleased and grateful to note the frank friendliness of her
girlish employers, in whom she recognized the admirable qualities she
had personally sacrificed for a life of dissipation. In the privacy of
her room at the hotel she had read the first copy of the Millville
Tribune and shrieked with laughter at the ingenuous editorials and
schoolgirl essays. Then she grew sober and thoughtful, envying in her
heart the sweetness and simplicity so apparent in every line. Here were
girls who possessed something infinitely higher than journalistic
acumen; they were true women, with genuine womanly qualities and natures
that betrayed their worth at a glance, as do ingots of refined gold.
What would not this waif from the grim underworld of New York have given
for such clear eyes, pure mind and unsullied heart? "I don't know as I
can ever swim in their pond," Hetty reflected, with honest regret, "but
there's a chance I can look folks square in the eye again--and that
wouldn't be so bad."

Monday morning, when Patsy, Louise and Beth drove to their office, Miss
Briggs said nonchalantly:

"McGaffey's gone."

"Gone! Gone where?" asked Patsy.

"Back to New York. Caught a freight from the Junction Saturday night."

"Isn't he coming back?" inquired Beth.

"Here's a letter he left," said Miss Briggs.

They read it together. It was very brief; "Climate don't suit me. No
excitement. I've quit. McGaffey."

"I suppose," said Patsy, with indignation, "he intended to go, all the
while, and only waited for his Saturday pay."

Miss Briggs nodded. She was at the telegraph instrument.

"What shall we do?" asked Louise. "Can anyone e