"No," she replied, laughing; "we'll draw the line at the mother."

"Well, I'll take Jane to town this afternoon, and if her mother will
sign an agreement to leave us all in peace, we'll give up our old cozy
comfort of being alone. I suppose it must be a good deed, since it's
so mighty hard to do it," he concluded with a wry face, leading the way
to the kitchen again. She smiled as if his words were already rewarding
her self denial.

"Well, Jane," he resumed, "Mrs. Holcroft has spoken in your behalf, and
if we can arrange matters so that you can stay, you will have her to
thank chiefly. I'll take you back to the poorhouse after dinner, so it
may be known what's become of you. Then, if your mother'll sign an
agreement to make no trouble and not come here, we'll give you a home
until we can find a better place for you."

There was no outburst of gratitude. The repressed, dwarfed nature of
the child was incapable of this, yet there was an unwonted little
thrill of hope in her heart. Possibly it was like the beginning of
life in a seed under the first spring rays of the sun. She merely
nodded to Holcroft as if the matter had been settled as far as it could
be, and ignored Alida.

"Why don't you thank Mrs. Holcroft?" he asked.

Then Jane turned and nodded at Alida. Her vocabulary of thanks was
undeveloped.

"She's glad," said Alida. "You'll see. Now that it's settled, we hope
you're hungry, Jane, aren't you?"

"Yes, I be. Can't I help you put things on the table?"

"Yes."

Holcroft looked at the two for a moment, and then shook his head as he
went up to his room. "I thought my wife was nice and pleasant looking
before," he thought, "but she's like a picture beside that child.
Well, she has behaved handsomely. Tom Watterly didn't tell half the
truth when he said she was not of the common run. She's a Christian in
deeds, not talk. What's that in Scripture about 'I was hungry'? Well,
well! She makes religion kind of natural and plain like, whether it's
easy or not. Thunder! What a joke it is to see her so grateful
because I've given her a chance to help me out of the worst scrape a
man could be in! As if she hadn't changed everything for the better!
Here I am sure of my home and getting ahead in the world again, and
it's all her doing."

In admiration of his wife Holcroft quite forgot that there had been any
self-sacrifice on his part, and he concluded that he could endure Jane
and almost anything el