cried the mother, taking me by the
shoulders with a sort of grip I had
never felt before. "I never saw such a
child -- never!"

An old woman with a face like a hen
leaned over the back of the seat.

"What's she done? What's she
done?" she demanded. The mother
told her, as the grandmother comforted
the hurt baby.

"Go back to your seat and stay
there!" commanded the mother. "See
you don't come near here again!"

My lips trembled with the anguish I
could hardly restrain. Never had a
noble soul been more misunderstood.
Stupid beings! How dare they! Yet,
not to be liked by them -- not to be un-
derstood! That was unendurable.
Would they listen to the gentle word
that turneth away wrath? I was in-
clined to think not. I was fairly pant-
ing under my load of dismay and de-
spondency, when a large man with an
extraordinarily clean appearance sat
down opposite me. He was a study in