brought a suspicious moisture to
Meg's own eyes and caused her to exclaim, with playful reproof:

"If you ain't the beatin'est one fer huggin' an' kissin'! Well, then,
set to; an' hear me tell: this is what me an' Jane has settled, how the
very minute the cap'n heaves in sight down the Lane, on I claps the very
pattron o' that same stuff ye're eatin' for him, an' calls it breakfast,
dinner, er supper, as the case is. When folks have been off visitin',
like he has, they can't 'spect to find things ready to hand to their own
houses, same's if they'd been round all the time. Now, eat, an' 'let
your victuals stop yer mouth'!"

This was luxurious food for one accustomed to an oatmeal diet and Glory
heartily enjoyed it, although she wished she could have given it to her
grandfather instead, but she wasn't one to borrow trouble and relied
upon Meg's word that a similar repast should be forthcoming when the
seaman required it. She did not know that the very odor of the food set
the washerwoman's own mouth to watering and that she had to swallow fast
and often, to convince herself that her own breakfast of warmed-over
coffee and second-hand rolls was wholly sufficient. In any case, both
she and Posy Jane had delighted in their self-sacrifice for the little
"Queen of the Lane," in their hearts believing that the child was now
orphaned, indeed.

It is amazing how, when one is extremely hungry, even two whole potatoes
will disappear, and very speedily Glory found that the cracked plate
from which she had eaten was entirely empty, but, also, that the
uncomfortable hunger had disappeared with its vanished contents. She
sprang up, ran to the spigot, washed and wiped the plate, and restored
it to its place on Meg's scanty cupboard, then announced:

"I shall tell my grandpa how good all you dear, dear folks has been to
me while he--he was off a-visitin'. An' he'll do somethin' nice for you,
too, he will. My grandfather says 'giff-gaff makes good friends,' an'
'one kind turn 'serves another.' He knows a lot, grandpa does; an' me
an' him both thanks you, Meg-Laundress--you darlin'!"

Away around the big neck of the woman at the tub went Glory's slender
arms, and when the patient toiler released herself from this
inconvenient embrace, there was something besides soapsuds glistening
on her hot cheek.

"Bless ye an' save ye, honey sweetness, an' may yer guardian angel keep
ye in close sight, the hull endurin' time!" cried the laundres