for you."

"May I speak with Miss Brant?" asked Mr. Bright courteously, as they
stepped into the narrow hall.

Before Mabel had time to answer, a tall, raw-boned woman, with a hard,
forbidding face, shoved her aside and confronted them. It was Miss Brant
herself.

"Well, what do you want?" she said rudely.

"Good afternoon," said Mr. Bright courteously. "Am I speaking to Miss
Brant?"

"I guess likely you are," responded the woman, "and you better state
your business now, for I've no time to fool away on strangers."

"You have a young girl with you by the name of Mabel Allison, have you
not?" asked Mr. Bright.

"Yes, I have. What's the matter with her? Has she been gettin' into
mischief? If she has, I'll tan her hide," said Miss Brant, with a
threatening gesture.

"On the contrary," replied Mr. Bright, "I hear very good reports of her.
Has she lived with you long?"

"That's none of your business," snapped Miss Brant. "If you've come here
to quiz me and pry around about her, you can get right out, for I'm not
answering any fool questions."

"I will not trouble you with further questions," replied Mr. Bright,
"but will proceed at once to business. I have come to take Miss Mabel
away with me. She has found friends who are willing to help her until
she finishes her education, and she wishes to go to them."

"Oh, she does, does she?" sneered the woman mockingly. "Well, you just
take her, if you dare."

"Have you legally adopted her?" asked Mr. Bright quietly.

"That's none of your business, either. You get out of my house or I'll
throw you out and these two snips of girls with you," almost screamed
Miss Brant.

"That will do," said Mr. Bright sternly. "We will go, but we shall take
Miss Mabel with us. I am a lawyer, Miss Brant, and I have positive proof
that this child is not bound to you in any way. You took her from the
orphanage on trial, exactly as you might hire a servant. You did not
even take the trouble to have yourself appointed her guardian. You
agreed to pay her for her work, but blows and harsh words are the only
payment she has ever received at your hands. She wishes to leave you
because she can no longer endure life with you. You haven't the
slightest claim upon her, and she is perfectly free to do as she
chooses. She is not of age yet, but as you are not her guardian, you had
no right to take money that she has earned from her, and she can call
you to account for it if she chooses. However, y