from for a week, but she has a father and a grandmother and a nurse to
take care of her while I am gone. It makes me feel so sorry for these
poor little things turned out in the world alone."

"Bless you, ma'am!" exclaimed Ellen cheerfully. "The 'omes they're
going to be a sight better than the 'omes they've left behind. Naow
there's 'Enery; 'is mother died hin a drunken fit. 'E never knew
nothink hall 'is life but beating and starving, till the Haid Society
took 'im hin 'and.

"Then there's Sally. Why, Sally's living 'igh naow--hoff the fat hof
the land, has you might say. Heverybody knows 'ow 'er hold huncle
treated 'er!"

Mrs. Estel smiled as she glanced at Sally, to whom the faucet of the
water-cooler seemed a never-failing source of amusement. Ellen had put
a stop to her drinking, which she had been doing at intervals all the
morning, solely for the pleasure of seeing the water stream out when
she turned the stop-cock. Now she had taken a tidy spell. Holding her
bit of a handkerchief under the faucet long enough to get it dripping
wet, she scrubbed herself with the ice-water, until her cheeks shone
like rosy winter apples.

Then she smoothed the wet, elfish-looking hair out of her black eyes,
and proceeded to scrub such of the smaller children as could not
escape from her relentless grasp. Some submitted dumbly, and others
struggled under her vigorous application of the icy rag, but all she
attacked came out clean and shining.

Her dress was wringing wet in front, and the water was standing in