message for Nelly, which would act as a
wonderful stimulus for days after it came.

As the winter wore on, however, it was evident she was not greatly
needed by her kind friends. Bessie was growing stronger every day, and
more able to assist her mother, and Nelly could not help feeling that
she was kept only because she needed a home. One day, therefore, she
asked Mrs. Ford if she thought she was not now fit to take a place.

"Well, you've got to be a good little worker, that's a fact; but
there's no hurry about your going. You're welcome to stay here as long
as you like."

"It's very kind of you, ma'am; but perhaps if you'd be looking out you
might hear of some one that would take me, and give me whatever I was
worth," said Nelly, in whom the instinct of independence was strong.

A few days after this Mrs. Ford was asked by her friend Mrs. Thompson
what she was going to do with her little Irish girl. "She is big
enough for a place," she said, "and there is no good in having a girl
like that learning idle ways. I think I know of a place that would
suit her very well."

"What place is that?" asked Mrs. Ford.

Mrs. Thompson replied that a friend of hers in the city had written to
inquire for a country girl about Nelly's age. She would have no hard
work, and would get such clothing as she required, instead of wages in
money.

"You see servants are very hard to obtain in those large places,"
remarked Mrs. Thompson, "and they always want the highest wages; and
this person isn't very well off, and keeps boarders to support
herself, so she can't afford a great deal."

"But would she be good to Nelly?" inquired Mrs. Ford.

Mrs. Thompson promised to inquire of the friend who had written to
her, in regard to this point. Her correspondent's reply was tolerably
satisfactory. Mrs. Williams, the person who wanted Nelly, was likely
to do whatever was right by any girl who might be sent her, as she was
a very respectable person, and "a church member." This last statement
weighed considerably with Mrs. Ford, and decided her to mention the
place to Nelly.

Nelly could not help feeling a throb of regret at hearing that there
really was a place open to her, for she dreaded exceedingly the
prospect of leaving her kind friends; but of this she said nothing,
and tried to seem pleased with the idea of trying the place. One great
inducement it certainly had, that it was in the city in which Lucy now
resided. She hoped to see Miss L