ome force, an
instinctive reluctance, before I could compel myself to put on a
clean shirt, and snow-white vest, too recently from the hand of my
unpaid washerwoman.

"One of the young ladies upon whom I called was more than a mere
pleasant acquaintance. (And here Mr. Smith glanced, with a tender
smile, towards me.) My heart had, in fact been warming towards her
for some time; and I was particularly anxious to find favor in her
eyes. On this evening she was lovelier and more attractive than
ever.

"Judge then, of the effect produced upon me by the entrance of her
mother--at the very moment when my heart was all a-glow with love,
who said, as she came in--

"'Oh, dear! This is a strange world!'

"'What new feature have you discovered now, mother?' asked one of
her daughters, smiling.

"'No new one, child; but an old one that looks more repulsive than
ever,' was answered. 'Poor Mrs. Blake came to see me just now, in
great trouble.'

"'What about, mother?' All the young ladies at once manifested
unusual interest.

"Tell-tale blushes came instantly to my countenance, upon which the
eyes of the mother turned themselves, as I felt, with a severe
scrutiny.

"'The old story in cases like hers,' was answered. 'Can't get
her money when earned, although, for daily bread, she is dependent
on her daily labor. With no food in the house, or money to buy
medicine for her sick child, she was compelled to seek me to-night,
and to humble her spirit, which is an independent one, so low as to
ask bread for her little ones, and the loan of a pittance with which
to get what the doctor has ordered for her feeble sufferer at home.'

"'Oh, what a shame!' fell from the lips of her in whom my heart felt
more than a passing interest; and she looked at me earnestly as she
spoke.

"'She fully expected,' said the mother, 'to get a trifle that was
due her from a young man who boards with Mrs. Corwin; and she went
to see him this evening. But he put her off with some excuse. How
strange that any one should be so thoughtless as to withhold from
the poor their hard-earned pittance! It is but a small sum, at best,
that the toiling seamstress or washerwoman can gain by her wearying
labor. That, at least, should be promptly paid. To withhold it an
hour is to do, in many cases, a great wrong.'

"For some minutes after this was said, there ensued a dead silence.
I felt that the thoughts of all were turned upon me as the one who
had withheld f