brought her here?" he resumed, addressing himself to the woman
again.

"The first floor back, sir."

"Show me the way to it."

He stooped, and lifted Magdalen in his arms. Her head rested gently on
the sailor's breast; her eyes looked up wonderingly into the sailor's
face. She smiled, and whispered to him vacantly. Her mind had wandered
back to old days at home; and her few broken words showed that she
fancied herself a child again in her father's arms. "Poor papa!" she
said, softly. "Why do you look so sorry? Poor papa!"

The woman led the way into the back room on the first floor. It was very
small; it was miserably furnished. But the little bed was clean, and the
few things in the room were neatly kept. Kirke laid her tenderly on the
bed. She caught one of his hands in her burning fingers. "Don't distress
mamma about me," she said. "Send for Norah." Kirke tried gently to
release his hand; but she only clasped it the more eagerly. He sat down
by the bedside to wait until it pleased her to release him. The woman
stood looking at them and crying, in a corner of the room. Kirke
observed her attentively. "Speak," he said, after an interval, in low,
quiet tones. "Speak in _her_ presence; and tell me the truth."

With many words, with many tears, the woman spoke.

She had let her first floor to the lady a fortnight since. The lady had
paid a week's rent, and had given the name of Gray. She had been out
from morning till night, for the first three days, and had come home
again, on every occasion, with a wretchedly weary, disappointed look.
The woman of the house had suspected that she was in hiding from her
friends, under a false name; and that she had been vainly trying to
raise money, or to get some employment, on the three days when she was
out for so long, and when she looked so disappointed on coming home.
However that might be, on the fourth day she had fallen ill, with
shivering fits and hot fits, turn and turn about. On the fifth day she
was worse; and on the sixth, she was too sleepy at one time, and too
light-headed at another, to be spoken to. The chemist (who did the
doctoring in those parts) had come and looked at her, and had said he
thought it was a bad fever. He had left a "saline draught," which
the woman of the house had paid for out of her own pocket, and had
administered without effect. She had ventured on searching the only box
which the lady had brought with her; and had found nothing in it but a