uick little laugh that had an undertone of feeling in
it, as she said:

"Well, then, I hope we shall find a Barnabas to vouch for us before
long."

And Marion knew that she, too, felt the loneliness and the sense of
belonging to no one. "We must help each other very much, we girls." This
she said to herself as they went down the steps together.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

CHAPTER II.

FLOSSY "BEGINS."

FLOSSY SHIPLEY'S first day at Sabbath-school was different. She went
over to the class of boys, who were almost young men, with trepidation
indeed, and yet with an assured sort of feeling that they would be
quiet. Just how she was going to accomplish this she was not certain.
She had studied the words of the lesson most carefully and prayerfully;
indeed, they had been more in her mind all the week than had anything
else. At the same time, she by no means understood how to teach those
words and thoughts to the style of young men who were now before her.

Still, there was that in Flossy which always held the attention of the
young men; she knew this to be the case, and, without understanding
what her peculiar power was, she felt that she had it, and believed that
she could call it into service for this new work. They stared at her a
little as she took her seat, then they nudged each other, and giggled,
and looked down at their dusty boots, guiltless of any attempt at being
black, and shuffled them in a way to make a disagreeable noise.

They knew Flossy--that is, they knew what street she lived on, and how
the outside of her father's house looked, and what her standing in
society was; they knew nothing of her in the capacity of a Sunday-school
teacher; and, truth to tell, they did not believe she _could_ teach. She
was a doll set up before them for them to admire and pretend to listen
to; they did not intend to do it; she had nothing in common with them;
they had a right to make her uncomfortable if they could, and they were
sure that they could. This was the mood in which she found them.

"Good-morning," she said, brightly; and they glanced at each other, and
shuffled their feet louder, and some of them chuckled louder, while one
of them said:

"It's rather late in the morning, ain't it? We got up quite a spell
ago."

This passed for a joke, and they laughed aloud. At this point Flossy
caught Dr. Dennis' distressed face turned that way. It was not
reassuring; he evidently expected disastrous ti