d. A physician had
assured her that the case was not incurable, and for two hundred dollars
the child could be watched and nursed, and eventually her spine might be
straightened. She said that since the accident that had made the child
as she was, her mother had become a drug fiend. One evening her cousin--a
young man who was a chauffeur--invited her mother to join a party and
they took a joy ride. On their way home, being under the influence of
wine, they knocked down and ran over a child near Mrs. Hasting's house.
Letting her out, they sped quickly on for fear of arrest. Upon
discovering that it was her own child, and what was worse, that from that
night she was to be a hopeless cripple, the mother nearly went insane.
Still she kept her secret and no one suspected that she had been one of
the parties in the car. Her remorse drove her to take the drug. Under its
influence she told Mattie. At that time the girl was earning six dollars
a week, three of which she was paying to her mother, supposing her to be
buying food for the invalid. When she discovered the truth she threatened
her with exposure and tried to buy little Mollie nourishing delicacies
herself, but three dollars would barely pay for the necessities of life,
and she became discouraged and desperate. In the store she saw a customer
drop her purse. She placed her foot upon it and when the lady had gone
she picked it up. The purse contained forty dollars and some cards, etc.
After depositing thirty-five dollars in the bank she took five and bought
the child fruit, books, and ice cream. It seemed to put new life into
Mollie. She took small articles from time to time, and pretending that
they had been given her she sold them. Her remorse was terrible. She was
unhappy. If only she could work harder and earn more. At that time she
heard of the Camp Fire Girls--of the useful and wonderful things that
they learned so that in time they became competent to demand and receive
large salaries. She loved Miss Kate and asked her if she might join. Kate
assented, and it was then that the girls first met her. Gradually the
desire to collect the two hundred dollars for Mollie came back, and with
it the temptation to steal. She took money from every girl. She was even
willing, after placing Mollie in the Hospital, to go to prison, if only
the child could be cured. She felt that some day she would be caught with
the goods. She adored Miss Kate and took nothing from her. Finally she