" murmured the child. "You came home from the
lake with me. I was trying to find my echo. Did _you_ find it?"

Janice squeezed her hand, and she seemed to understand the affirmative.

"Then it's really _there_?" she sighed. "It's only _me_ that's lost it.
Well--well--Do you think I can ever find it again?"

Janice squeezed the hand firmly, and she put into that affirmative all
the confidence which could possibly be thus expressed. She did not
believe it to be wrong to raise hope of again hearing in the poor
child's heart.

Mr. Drugg came in from the back, wiping his hands and forearms of soapy
water. He had evidently been engaged in some household task. Upon closer
acquaintance he was improved, so Janice thought. He possessed the long,
thin, New England features; but there was a certain calm in their
expression that was attractive. His gray eyes were brooding, and there
were many crow's-feet about them; nevertheless, they were kindly eyes
with a greater measure of intelligence in them than Janice had expected
to find.

It proved that Hopewell had a considerable stock upon his dusty shelves;
but how he managed to find anything that a customer called for was a
mystery to Janice. She selected the few notions that she needed; and as
she did so she just _ached_ to get hold of that stock of dry goods and
straighten it out.

And the dust--and the flyspecks--and the jumble of useless scraps among
the newer stock! The interior of that old store was certainly a
heart-breaking sight. Two side windows that might have given light and
air to the place were fairly banked up with merchandise. And when had
either of the show windows been properly "dressed"?

However, Mr. Drugg was an attentive salesman and he really knew his
stock very well. It mystified Janice to see how quickly he could find
the article wanted in that conglomeration.

She remained a while to play with Lottie. Drugg came to look fondly at
the little girl putting her rag-baby to sleep in a soap-box crib.

"She's just about ruined that dress and them shoes, I shouldn't wonder,"
mused the storekeeper. "But I forgot to put out her everyday clo'es
where she could find them yesterday morning. There's so much to do all
the time. Well!" He drew the violin and bow toward him and sighed. No
other customer came into the store. Drugg tucked the fiddle under his
chin and began to scrape away.

Lottie jumped up and clapped her little hands when he struck a chord
that vib