ghter, who was clinging to his knees, and
pleading with her whole soul, "Mrs. Rosenberg, I'm sorry to trouble you,
but if you will be kind enough to keep this little runaway girl till I
send for her, I shall be very much obliged."

"O, certainly, Mr. Parlin; certainly, sir," replied the Jewess, smiling
very sweetly, and trying to pat Dotty's head, which was in such violent
motion that she only succeeded in touching the end of her nose. No one
who had looked at Mrs. Rosenberg at that moment would have suspected her
of being a vixen. She was sure Mr. Parlin would pay her handsomely if she
kept his daughter there for a day or two; and the prospect of a little
money always made the poor woman very amiable.

"Thank you, madam," said Mr. Parlin, gently disengaging himself from
Dotty. "When you are tired of my little daughter, will you please let me
know? Goodnight, Mrs. Rosenberg; good-night, Alice."

And, before Dotty had time to scream again, he was gone.

For a moment she stood quite still, gazing at the door-latch; then rushed
out into the darkness, calling, "Papa, papa!" But Mrs. Rosenberg laid her
strong hands upon her, and brought her back.

"So your mother didn't say you might come? I thought it was queer. Hush!
hush! Don't go into fits, child. There are no bears in this house, and
nothing will hurt you."

Mrs. Rosenberg's manner was much kinder than it had been before; and with
a child's quick insight, Dotty perceived that her father's coming had
wrought the change.

"I want to go home! I want to go home!" cried she, with another
passionate outburst. "O, take me--do! They won't send for me, never! Take
me, and I'll give you--O, Mrs. Rosenberg, I'll give you--"

For a little while there was quite a scene at the little grocery, and it
repented Mandoline that she had ever hidden Dotty's hat. The trundle-bed
waked up at both ends and screamed; the black and tan dog, who slept
under the counter in the store, barked lustily; the parrot in the blue
cage called out, "Quit that! quit that!" and Mrs. Rosenberg was afraid a
policeman would come in to inquire the cause of the uproar. She pattered
about in a pair of her husband's cotton-velvet slippers, and tucked all
her little ones into bed again, very much as if they had been clothes in
a boiler, which she was forcing down with a stick. She was a woman who
would be obeyed; and Dotty, finding it of no use to hold out against
fate, went up stairs at last, and lay down be