lion of the springtime, out under the leaves.

People laugh when they hear the story. You see, it all came about
because the children told tales on each other, and it was a good
joke on them.

But as Clematis stood there, before Mrs. Snow and Miss Rose, she
didn't see the joke at all. She cried, and hid her face in her
arms.

"Come here, dear," said Mrs. Snow. "It is all right, and you shall
have every dandelion you find in the yard."

"Wasn't it stealing?" sobbed Clematis.

"No, it was all right, if you found it first."

"And can I have all I find first?"

"Yes, indeed you can."

Clematis lifted her head, and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Oh," she said, and seemed happy once more. She smoothed the limp
little flower in her hot hand.

"And now," said Mrs. Snow, "I wonder if you can tell us some more
about yourself."

"Yes'm, I'll tell you all you ask, and I won't tell any lies."

"I'm sure you won't. Perhaps you can remember, now, where you lived
before you came here."

Clematis shook her head. "I told Miss Rose every single thing," she
said, "except--"

"Except what?"

"Except that I ran away."

Clematis hung her head again.

"Why did you run away?"

"Well, wouldn't you run away, if you had to stay in a yard all day
that was nothing but bricks?"

Mrs. Snow smiled. "Perhaps I would," she replied.

"Didn't you ever go out at all?" asked Miss Rose, who had been
listening.

"Just sometimes, to go over to the store. Just across the street and
back, and that was all bricks, too."

[Illustration: Clematis held out her hand]

"Do you think you could find your way home again, if Miss Rose went
with you?"

Clematis shook her head. "Oh, no. It was a long, long way. I was
most dead from walking."

Mrs. Snow thought a moment. Then she said, "Miss Rose tells me that
you have not learned to read. Is that true?"

"Yes'm, I never learned to do anything except count the change I
got. But I can learn to read, and do numbers, too."

Clematis spoke without sobbing now. She was thinking of the country,
where girls went who did well.

"Do you think you could take her in a class by herself for a short
time?" Mrs. Snow asked, turning to Miss Rose.

Miss Rose was about to answer, when one of the older girls came to
the door.

"What is it, Ruth?"

"Please, Mrs. Snow, a man wants to see you."

"What is his name?"

"His name is Smith. He wants to see you about a little girl."

As she said this,