elp. So she stole softly down stairs
and out into the kitchen, where the willing maid helped her through
the difficulty.

And so the new life began. School was rather pleasant, after all. Miss
Ashurst made the lessons interesting, and while Uncle Justus had an
eye to the schoolroom where the little girls were he seldom came in,
although to him were offenders sent. Edna thought she could not
possibly endure the disgrace of being ordered into the next room, so
terrible did it seem to her. Consequently she took care to give no
cause. She soon became acquainted with the little girls, and chose her
special companions from them. They were, however, never allowed to
visit her, as she soon found out to her confusion, for in the
innocence of her heart she asked her deskmate to come and bring her
dolls one Friday afternoon, but the little visitor was not allowed to
enter the house, and was given the message that Edna was not permitted
to receive company unless invited by her aunt. Poor little Edna was
overcome with shame, and for the first time realized what real
homesickness meant.

"My mamma let me have little girls to come and play with me," she
sobbed; "and I used to go to play with them."

Aunt Elizabeth was a trifle less stern than usual; perhaps she did
have some tender feeling for the child. "Stop crying, my dear," she
said. "You and Louis may go and take a walk in the square. To-morrow I
will take you to see some children who will, I hope, make you
understand how highly favored you are. Run along, now, and get your
hat. You may stay out an hour."

In the hall Uncle Justus met her, and seeing her wet eyes asked, "What
is the matter, little girl?"

A grieving sigh was his only answer, so he patted her head and gave
her a nickel. "There is a nice little shop around the corner," he
said. "Louis can take you there to buy some candy." This showed such
real sympathy that Edna looked up gratefully and ran to find her
cousin.

"Good!" cried Louis whom she found in the schoolroom studying his
lessons for Monday. "I'm tired of staying here, and they won't let me
play with the boys in the street. There is one boy, though, that I do
know. I see him in the square sometimes; he is a jolly fellow. They
don't know I see him."

"O, is that right?" asked Edna.

"Ho! why not?"

"Why, I don't know, it's--it's kind of deceiving."

"I'd tell 'em if they'd ask me," replied Louis, conclusively. "Come,
I'll race you around the squa