se she loved, she strove to be content
to remain alone day after day, propped up by an inverted chair upon a
wretched bed. Or, when she felt stronger, with the aid of a pair of
rude crutches, she would drag herself to the window to watch patiently
for the return of the dear bread-winners, whose toil she would so
willingly have shared.

There, in a little stuffy room, upon the top floor of the old house,
she spent the long, sultry summer; there she remained when autumn came;
there the approaching Christmas holidays were likely to find her.

How was it, then, that Ellie was generally cheery and blithe? Perhaps
her mother's prayer each morning, as she bade her good-bye to go to
work, had most to do with it. "May Jesus and His Blessed Mother watch
over you, mavourneen!" the good woman would say, with a sigh at the
necessity for leaving her.

Frequently, when the child could have wept for loneliness, the words
would keep echoing in her heart. She was a well-disposed little
creature, and those hours spent alone often brought serious thoughts,
which molded and beautified her character. But Ellie was a thoroughly
natural child: there was none of the story-book goodness about her.
She was keenly interested in everything that went on. She thought
there was no one like mother, but it was Katy who represented the world
to her,--the world of McNaughton's store, with its brightness and
beautiful wares, and its ever-changing crowd of handsomely costumed
ladies intent upon the pleasures of shopping. Any scrap of news which
one fagged out little cashgirl brought home at the close of the day was
eagerly listened to by the other; who found her enforced idleness so
irksome.

Katy had a great deal to narrate at the close of the day upon which our
story opened. Sitting upon the foot of Ellie's bed, she told how she
upset the pyramid of note-paper; and what trouble she would have been
in, but for the kind lady who so promptly came to the rescue. To
Ellie's quick imagination the story had all the charm of a fairy tale.
And when, at the close, her sister placed in her hands the orange and
the tiny box wherein lay the rose, still quite fresh and fragrant, her
face beamed with delight; and Katy went to bed very happy, feeling
herself more than repaid for having treasured them so carefully.

The next morning, when Katy reached the store, she found everybody in a
state of pleasurable excitement over the opening of the holiday goods;