would prevent her meeting with John Somerville, and
obtaining from him the thousand dollars of which she had regarded
herself certain. Yet even from her prison-cell she might hold over him
_in terrorem_ the threat of making known to Ida's mother the secret
of her child's existence. All was not lost. She walked quietly to the
carriage in waiting, while her companions, in an ecstasy of terror,
seemed to have lost the power of locomotion, and had to be supported on
either side.

CHAPTER XXIV. "THE FLOWER-GIRL."

"BY gracious, if that isn't Ida!" exclaimed Jack, in profound surprise.

He had been sauntering along Chestnut Street, listlessly, troubled by
the thought that though he had given Mrs. Hardwick into custody, he was
apparently no nearer the discovery of his foster-sister than before.
What steps should he take to find her? He could not decide. In his
perplexity he came suddenly upon the print of the "Flower-Girl."

"Yes," said he, "that is Ida, plain enough. Perhaps they will know in
the store where she is to be found."

He at once entered the store.

"Can you tell me anything about the girl that picture was taken for?" he
asked, abruptly of the nearest clerk.

The clerk smiled.

"It is a fancy picture," he said. "I think it would take you a long time
to find the original."

"It has taken a long time," said Jack. "But you are mistaken. It is the
picture of my sister."

"Of your sister!" repeated the clerk, with surprise, half incredulous.

There was some reason for his incredulity. Jack was a stout,
good-looking boy, with a pleasant face; but Ida's beauty was of a
delicate, refined type, which argued gentle birth,--her skin of a
brilliant whiteness, dashed by a tinge of rose,--exhibiting a physical
perfection, which it requires several generations of refined habits and
exemptions from the coarser burdens of life to produce. The perfection
of human development is not wholly a matter of chance, but is dependent,
in no small degree, upon outward conditions. We frequently see families
who have sprung from poverty to wealth exhibiting, in the younger
branches, marked improvement in this respect.

"Yes;" said Jack, "my sister."

"If it is your sister," said the clerk, "you ought to know where she
is."

Jack was about to reply, when the attention of both was called by a
surprised exclamation from a lady who had paused beside them. Her eyes,
also, were fixed upon "The Flower-Girl."

"Who is this?"