," was all the reply given, but Katie said
afterward that she had heard that Jennie was thrown or pushed down
stairs by her drunken father. She said poor Mrs. Scott had had a very
hard life with this shiftless, drunken husband, who abused her and the
children. All the children were dead now except Jennie, who was about a
year older than Marty, and early in the winter "old Scott," as Katie
called him, died himself from the effects of a hurt received in a fight
while "on a spree." As Mrs. Scott had been ill part of the winter and
unable to work much, she had got behind with her rent, and altogether
had been having a very hard time.

Marty was very much interested in what Mrs. Scott said, and asked a
question or two on her own account.

"Who stays with your little girl when you are away?"

"Bless your sweet eyes! nobody stays with her. She just lies there her
lone self, unless some of the other children in the house run in and
out, but mostly she doesn't want their noise."

"How long has she been in bed?"

"Most of the time for eight months, miss," replied the poor mother with
a sigh.

"Doesn't she ever sit up in the rocking-chair?"

"We have no rocking-chair, but sometimes when I go home from work, or
the days I have no work, I hold her in my arms a bit to rest her."

"Has she got anything to amuse her?"

"Yes, she has a picture-book I got her last Christmas."

"Mamma!" exclaimed Marty, as soon as the door closed behind Mrs. Scott,
"just think of lying in bed since Christmas, and now it's the first of
May, with nothing but _one_ picture-book!"

"Ah! Marty," said her mother, "there are many people in the world who
have very hard times."

"Well, I don't know them all, and I couldn't help them all if I did; but
I feel that I know Jennie real well, and mayn't I give her some of my
books and playthings? a whole lot, so that she wont be so lonesome when
her mother's away."

"I was thinking of going to see her soon, and if you wish you may go too
and carry her a picture-book or something of the sort."

Marty in her usual wholesale way would have carried half her possessions
to Jennie, but Mrs. Ashford prevailed upon her to limit her gift to a
small book and a few bright cards.

"You would better see Jennie first," she said. "She may not care for
books and may be too miserable to care much for playthings."

It happened the day they fixed upon to go Mrs. Ashford brought home from
market a small measure of straw