ral, in coming to a new abode,
that I should wish to know something of that abode. There should have
been a hired girl here ready to receive and get supper for us. Since
there is not one to receive us, bring that rocking chair, my dear, and
I will direct you how to proceed."

The child did as she was told, and her mother was soon rocking on the
snuggest side of the kitchen stove, interspersing her rather
bewildering orders with various reflections and surmises.

Sketching the child Jane is a sad task, and pity would lead us to
soften every touch if this could be done in truthfulness. She was but
twelve years of age, yet there was scarcely a trace of childhood left
in her colorless face. Stealthy and catlike in all her movements, she
gave the impression that she could not do the commonest thing except in
a sly, cowering manner. Her small greenish-gray eyes appeared to be
growing nearer together with the lease of time, and their indirect,
furtive glances suggested that they had hardly, if ever, seen looks of
frank affection bent upon her. She had early learned, on the round of
visits with her mother, that so far from being welcome she was scarcely
tolerated, and she reminded one of a stray cat that comes to a dwelling
and seeks to maintain existence there in a lurking, deprecatory manner.
Her kindred recognized this feline trait, for they were accustomed to
remark, "She's always snoopin' around."

She could scarcely do otherwise, poor child! There had seemed no place
for her at any of the firesides. She haunted halls and passage-ways,
sat in dusky corners, and kept her meager little form out of sight as
much as possible. She was the last one helped at table when she was
permitted to come at all, and so had early learned to watch, like a
cat, and when people's backs were turned, to snatch something, carry it
off, and devour it in secret. Detected in these little pilferings, to
which she was almost driven, she was regarded as even a greater
nuisance than her mother.

The latter was much too preoccupied to give her child attention.
Ensconced in a rocking chair in the best room, and always in full tide
of talk if there was anyone present, she rarely seemed to think where
Jane was or what she was doing. The rounds of visitation gave the
child no chance to go to school, so her developing mind had little
other pabulum than what her mother supplied so freely. She was
acquiring the same consuming curiosity, with the