quious manner; now he sat huddled up on a wooden case, eating
something out of a grimy, but gaudy cotton handkerchief. At his feet
were two thin, miserable-looking children, both dressed as acrobats. Out
of the grimy handkerchief he handed them some indescribable mess, which
they seized eagerly, and ate hurriedly. A little further on, a woman,
wrapped in a big shawl, was scolding a small girl; she was one of the
children soon to appear in the fairy scene of the play, which was being
acted in the marquee they were passing. The child looked forlorn enough
as she stood sobbing and shivering in her airy muslin dress, her arms
and neck bare, and her feet shod with the thinnest of white shoes. 'They
have stolen my bright franc,' she sobbed. The woman gave her an angry
shake, and it went to Estelle's heart to see how the thin, meagre little
body shrank together after it. A tiny boy in a bright yellow and red
costume, with yellow cap and bells, watched the scene; he had a puckered
little face, down which the tears were washing off the paint. His little
soul was full of anger against the persecutor of his sister, but he was
too tiny to defend her. All he could do was to choke down his wrath like
a man, and comfort her when they should be alone again.

The scene was too much for Jack. He could not go by and let the helpless
suffer. Dropping Estelle's hand for a moment, he went up to the woman,
holding out some coins in his hand.

'How much has the child lost?' he asked sternly.

'It is a new franc that a good lady gave her. She should have brought it
to me!' screamed the woman. Then catching sight of the glitter of silver
in the sailor's hand, she cried in altered tones, 'but, Monsieur, you
see she is but a child, and though I must not let her lose things---- '

'I didn't lose it--it was stolen,' sobbed the child.

'Well, here's your franc,' said Jack, interrupting some exclamation
which the woman was about to make. 'Now let the child alone.'

He was slipping some coins into the hands of the children also, when a
cry from Estelle made him turn hastily.

(_Continued on page 274._)

[Illustration: "'How much has the child lost?' he asked."]

[Illustration: "'Come along with me,' whispered Thomas."]

THE GIANT OF THE TREASURE CAVES.

(_Continued from page 271._)

Interested in the miserable children, Estelle had moved a little away
from the rest of the party. She wanted to speak to the brave little boy,
and to g