ant to tell her something."

"I am here," said Katie, as soothingly as she could, for her fright.

But Bertie took no sort of notice of her; evidently did not recognize
her at all, and went on:--

"It wasn't a lie! I did see her find it and put it in her pocket. That's
being a thief, isn't it? It was money--a great deal of money. I saw a
five and a nought. It wasn't a lie, I tell you! She did steal it!
Katie's a thief, for all she's so saintly."

Katie started. This, then, was the mystery; this was the secret thing
that had been setting so many against her. She had never in all her
speculations concerning the general avoidance thought of this as a
cause. Bertie must have seen her find that fifty-dollar bill and put it
in her pocket. But even if, from mere idleness, she had repeated the
story to her companions, had she told simply what she really saw, could
it be called stealing? And if Miss Eunice or Miss Etta had heard it they
would naturally have spoken of it to their brother; he would have told
the facts as he knew them, and that would have made matters all
straight.

Bertie must have altered her tale in some way, exaggerated it, or
suppressed a part. What for? Could her companion be so malicious as
simply to desire to make her unpopular and to prevent the young ladies
from looking upon her with approbation? She could not understand it. Of
course she could not, for malice and jealousy were entirely foreign to
Katie's nature, even if she had not been striving "in all her ways to
acknowledge" her Saviour. She did wish, however, that she had thought of
mentioning her good fortune and Mr. James's kindness at the time, that
all this trouble might have been avoided.

Meanwhile Bertie began to moan and cry and call for Katie; and the
latter, after speaking in vain again and again, turned to go.

"Oh, don't go away!" said Mrs. Sanderson, imperatively. "She'll know
you by-and-by; and I can't stand her calling for you; besides, if you
can just stay with Bertie and give her the medicine and drink, I might
get a chance to see to Alf., who is most as bad as she is, and see what
Nina's doing with those children; they've been screaming this half-hour.
I don't believe she's given 'em a mite of dinner, and I guess there
ain't anything in the house for supper. You just stay where you are."

Not a thought had selfish Mrs. Sanderson for the fact that she was
exposing a neighbor's child to the same evil which had overtaken her
o