ink Chirk! what could a girl be like with such a name as that?
Hilda fancied her a stout, buxom maiden, with very red cheeks and very
black eyes--yes, certainly, the eyes must be black! Her hair--well, one
could not be so sure about her hair; but there was no doubt about her
wearing a pink dress and a blue checked apron. And she must be smiling,
bustling, and energetic. Yes! Hilda had the picture of her complete in
her mind. She wondered that this active, stirring girl never came up to
the farm; but of course she must have a great deal of work to do at
home.

By this time Hildegarde had reached the cottage; and after a moment's
hesitation she knocked softly at the green-painted door. No one came to
open the door, but presently she heard a clear, pleasant voice from
within saying, "Open the door and come in, please!" Following this
injunction, she entered the cottage and found herself directly in the
sitting-room, and face to face with its occupant. This was a girl of her
own age, or perhaps a year older, who sat in a wheeled chair by the
window. She was very fair, with almost flaxen hair, and frank, pleasant
blue eyes. She was very pale, very thin; the hands that lay on her lap
were almost transparent; but--she wore a pink calico dress and a blue
checked apron. Who could this be? and whoever it was, why did she sit
still when a visitor and a stranger came in? The pale girl made no
attempt to rise, but she met Hilda's look of surprise and inquiry with a
smile which broke like sunshine over her face, making it for the moment
positively beautiful. "How do you do?" she said, holding out her thin
hand. "I am sure you must be Miss Hilda Graham, and I am Bubble's sister
Pink.

[Illustration: "THE PALE GIRL MADE NO ATTEMPT TO RISE."]

"Please sit down," she added. "I am so _very_ glad to see you. I have
wanted again and again to thank you for all your kindness to my Bubble,
but I didn't know when I should have a chance. Did Bubble show you the
way?"

Hildegarde was so astonished, so troubled, so dismayed that she hardly
knew what she was saying or doing. She took the slender fingers in her
own for an instant, and then sat down, saying hastily: "Oh, no! I--I
found my way alone. I was not sure of its being your cottage, though I
thought it must be from what Bubble told me." She paused; and then,
unable to keep back longer the words which sprang to her lips, she said:
"I fear you have been ill, you are so pale. I hope it has n