has been sent by God for his
salvation.'

"'May the Lord bless and strengthen her for the work,' said grandma in a
tremulous voice, laying her thin hand upon the child's head, and Angel
felt from that moment set apart, consecrated, as it were, by the last
words of that dying saint, for that night, Grandma Way went to heaven.
She remembered it now, and knew the time had come for her to act her
part. Mrs. Macarty became her sole confidential adviser.

"'I am twelve years old,' said Angel, 'and baby Matie is nearly two; I
can take care of her, if you will show me a little now and then, and I
am going to try and get along here till my father comes back again.'

"'Just hear the little woman, now,' said her listener, in open-mouthed
admiration. 'Sure it would be a tiptop way to manage, and I'll do my
best to help you through with it.'

"And this committee of two on ways and means proved so efficient, that
when William Way returned, sober and downcast, Angel just lifted up
little Mary, as bright and happy as if nothing had ever occurred to
sadden them, and that this very room had not recently been the scene of
a dreadful tragedy, of which the helpless babes were the only witnesses.

"'Ain't it wonderful?' said Mrs. Maloney, that same day; 'Way's got off
with just sixty days, and come back again, and that child putting on the
airs of a woman, a tryin' to keep house for him.'

"'And I'm sure that's right enough,' said Mrs. Macarty. 'They could not
make it out that he killed the woman directly, and who cares for poor
folks? She's dead and gone, and that's the end of her. Little them that
makes the laws care! If it was one of them there rich men on the avenue,
or a flaunting theater actress, or somebody had got jealous of somebody
else, and committed murder, there'd be a fine sensation. An' there'd be
pictures in all the shop windows, of how he or she looked in all sorts
of situations, how they looked when they was a dyin', and how they
looked after they was dead; and what the murderer eat for his supper the
night it all got found out, or whether he did not eat anything at all;
and how many fine ladies had been to console him, and how many equally
fine ministers had been to pray with him. The newsboys would be
shriekin' 'murder!' at every crossin', and every corner you turned, it
would be 'hev a paper, mum, with the latest proceedings about the
trial?' And to crown all, you'd come home, half distracted, to find the
children