"I know--" Judy's tone was stifled, "but he isn't--he isn't my
mother--Anne--"

For a few minutes there was silence, then Judy went on:

"You see I nursed mother all through her last illness. I was with her
every minute--and--and--I want her so--I want my mother--Anne--"

But so self-controlled was she, that though her voice broke and her
lips trembled, her eyes were dry. Anne reached out a plump, timid
hand, and laid it over the slender one on the window-sill.

"I haven't any mother either, Judy," she said, and Judy looked down at
her with a strange softness in her dark eyes. Suddenly she bent her
head in a swift kiss, then drew back and squared her shoulders.

"Don't let's talk about it," she said, sharply. "I can't stand it--I
can't stand it--Anne--"

But in spite of the harshness of her tone, Anne knew that there was a
bond between them, and that the bond had been sealed by Judy's kiss.




CHAPTER II

ANNE GOES TO TOWN