e the days of Troy without some vexatious
Helen? Now don't scold me, if in this case I conjecture,--He? She?
It?"

"The letter was from a mother, pleading for her child, whom I several
years ago promised to protect and to befriend. Subsequent events
induced me to hope that she would never exact a fulfilment of the
pledge, and I was unpleasantly surprised when the appeal reached me."

"Let me understand fully the little that you wish to tell me. Do you
mean that you were unprepared for the demand, because the mother had
forfeited the conditions under which you gave the promise?"

"You unduly intensify the interpretation. My promise was
unconditional, but I certainly have never expected to be called upon
to verify it."

"What does it involve?"

"The temporary guardianship of a child ten years old, whom I have
never seen."

"He? She? It?"

"A girl, who will in all probability arrive before noon to-day."

"Peyton!"

The rose-coloured crochet web fell into her lap, and deep
dissatisfaction spread its sombre leaden banners over her telltale
face.

"I regret it more keenly than you possibly can; and, Elise, if I
could have seen the mother before it was too late, I should have
declined this painful responsibility."

"Too late? Is the woman dead?"

"No, but she has sailed for Europe, and notifies me that she leaves
the little girl under my protection."

"What a heartless creature she must be to abandon her child."

"On the contrary, she seems devotedly attached to her, and uses these
words: 'If it were not to promote her interest, do you suppose I
could consent to put the Atlantic between my baby and me?' The
circumstances are so unusual that I daresay you fail to understand my
exact position."

"I neither desire nor intend to force your confidence; but if you can
willingly answer, tell me whether the mother is in every respect
worthy of your sympathy."

"I frankly admit that upon some points I have been dissatisfied, and
her letter sorely perplexes me."

"What claim had she on you, when the promise was extorted?"

"She had none, save such as human misery always has on human
sympathy. I performed the marriage ceremony for her when she was a
mere child, and felt profound compassion for the wretchedness that
soon overtook her as a wife and mother."

"Then, my dear brother, there is no alternative, and you must do your
duty; and I shall not fail to help you to the fullest extent of my
feeble ability. Sin