n. I did not find Mrs. Horner at home, and so there is
nothing to do but to take the child back to the people with whom she
has been living, until we can make plans for her."

But Maggie, upon being told this, burst into a perfect frenzy of
weeping. "O, don't take me back! Don't! Don't!" she cried. "She will
beat me for running away. O, you don't know her."

"But she must not," said Miss Barnes. "She can be arrested for
ill-treating you."

"You don't know her," repeated Maggie. "She will beat me like she did
oncet before, when I went to the mission school, an' some ladies give
me clothes. She took 'em away an' said I was settin' myself up to be a
lady an' she'd learn me, she would, an' she beat me tur'ble," and
Maggie hid her face at the recollection. "An' when the ladies came to
see about me," she continued, "she told me ef I dast tell 'em, she'd
do worse by me, an' she told the ladies I was a lyin' thievin'
critter, an' purtended I was ill tret, when she was a mother to me an'
never laid the flat of her hand agen me, 'ceptin' fur my good."

Maggie had been standing before Miss Barnes and the matron, her head
buried in her arm, but when telling this tale she looked with tearful
eyes straight at her hearers. She was a pitiful looking little object,
indeed, even now, with her neglected locks smoothed, her face and
hands washed, and an apron covering her ragged frock, for she was thin
and hollow-eyed, with pallid cheeks and bony little hands, which
worked convulsively as she told her story.

"What shall we do?" said Miss Barnes, her heart swelling with
sympathy.

The matron looked thoughtful. "I can't take any responsibility in the
matter, Miss Barnes," she replied, "much as I hate to turn the child
out."

"She shall not go back," returned Miss Barnes, with emphasis. "Please
get some sort of a hat for her, Mrs. Shaw, and I will go and see Mrs.
Ramsey. It is a case that needs instant attention."

Mrs. Ramsey was the wealthiest and most influential of the ladies
directly interested in the Home, and was one of the warmest-hearted
women in the world. She was, moreover, very firm and decided; once
undertaking a matter she did not let it drop till she had accomplished
what she set out to do, and therefore Miss Barnes was wise in
selecting her as an adviser.

In all her short life Maggie had never seen such magnificence as that
which met her astonished eyes as the footman in livery ushered Miss
Barnes and her charge