old," said Peace, a great pity surging through her breast as
she saw the swollen, purple hands trying to hide under ragged sleeves of
a pitifully thin coat.

"Ver' col'," repeated the beggar, finding her tongue.

"And hungry?"

"Not'ing to eat today."

Peace made a sudden dive at the dirty, unkempt creature, jerked her into
the warm hall, and calling over her shoulder to the organ-grinder on the
walk, "Go on playing, old man, she'll be back pretty soon!" she slammed
the door shut, pushed the child into a chair by the glowing grate, and
turned to Allee with the command, "Go ask Gussie for something to eat.
Tell her a lunch in a bag will do. She's always good to beggars."

"No beggar," remonstrated the little foreigner. "Earn money. Some days
much. Little this day. It so col'."

"Is that all the coat you have?" Peace demanded, eyeing the scant attire
with horrified eyes.

"All," answered the child simply, and she sighed heavily.

"I've got two. You can have one of mine," cried Peace, forgetting
wisdom, discretion, everything, in her great pity for this hapless bit
of humanity.

"You mean it? No, you fool," was the disconcerting reply.

"I'm not a fool!"

"No, no, not a fool. You jus' fool,--joke. You no mean it."

"I do, too! Wait a minute till I get it, and see if it fits. You're
thinner'n me, but you're about as tall."

She rushed eagerly up the stairway, and soon returned with the pretty,
brown coat which she had found on her bed Christmas morning. Into this
she bundled the surprised beggar child, pleased to think it fitted so
well, and explained rapidly, "I got two new coats for Christmas. Grandma
said the red one was for best, so I kept that one, but you can have
this. Keep it on outside your old rag. It will be just that much warmer,
and tonight is awfully cold. Here's a pair of mittens, too. Wear 'em;
they're nice and warm."

Thrusting Allee's bag of lunch into the blue-mittened hands, Peace
opened the door and let the newly-cloaked figure run down the walk to
the impatient man stamping back and forth in the street. They watched
him minutely examining the child's new treasures, but they could not see
the avaricious gleam in his ugly eyes, nor did they dream that the
precious brown coat would be stripped off the shivering little form just
as soon as they were out of sight around the corner, and bartered for
whiskey at the nearest saloon.

So happy was Peace in thinking of this other child's happin