ce since
that first meeting with Bennie--a very long distance! She told herself
that she had proved her ability to cope with circumstance--had proved her
worth, almost. Why, now, should the Superintendent keep her always in the
shadow of the Settlement House--why should the Young Doctor laugh at her
desire to help people? She had something to show them--she could flaunt
Bennie before their eyes, she could quote the case of Ella; she could
produce Mrs. Volsky, broken of spirit but ready to do anything that she
could. And--last but not least--she would show Lily to them, Lily who had
been hidden away from the eyes of the ones who could help her--Lily who
so desperately needed help!

All at once Rose-Marie was weary of deceit. She would be glad--ever so
glad--to tell her story to the Superintendent! She was tired of going out
furtively of an afternoon to help these folk that she had come to help.
She wanted to go in an open way--with the stamp of approval upon her. The
Superintendent had said, once, that she would hardly be convincing to the
people of the slums. With the Volsky family to show, she could prove that
she had been convincing, very convincing!

With a singing heart she approached the Settlement House. With a smile on
her lips she went up the brownstone steps, pushed wide the door--which
was never locked. And then she hurried, as fast as her feet could hurry,
to the Superintendent's tiny office.

The Superintendent was in. She answered Rose-Marie's knock with a cheery
word, but, when the girl entered the room, she saw that the
Superintendent's kind eyes were troubled.

"What's the matter?" she questioned, forgetting, for a moment, the
business of which she had been so full. "What's the matter? You look ever
so worried!"

The Superintendent's tired face broke into a smile.

"Was I looking as woe-begone as that?" she queried. "I didn't realize
that I was. Nothing serious is the matter, dear--nothing very serious!
Only Katie's sister in the old country is ill--and Katie is going home to
stay with her. And it's just about impossible to get a good maid,
nowadays--it seems as if Katie has been with me for a lifetime. I expect
that we'll manage, somehow, but I don't just fancy cooking and sweeping,
and running the Settlement House, too!"

All at once an idea leaped, full-blown, into the brain of Rose-Marie. She
leaned forward and laid her hand upon the Superintendent's arm.

"I wonder," she asked excitedly, "i