"Yes, ma'am; that's just what he said," added Katy, satisfied
with the impression she had produced.

"Is your mother ill now?" asked Mrs. Gordon.

"Yes ma'am; she has not been off her bed for twelve weeks."

"What does Dr. Flynch say, my child?"

"He says my mother deceived him; that she told him a falsehood;
and that she had money, when she didn't have a cent."

"It is too bad, mother!" exclaimed Grace.

"Hush, Grace; probably Dr. Flynch knows best, for he certainly
would not turn a poor sick woman out of doors because she did not
pay the rent. There may be, as he says, some deception about it,
which he can penetrate and we cannot."

"There is no deception about it, ma'am," pleaded Katy, much
disturbed by this sudden damper upon her hopes. "She has not got
a single cent. She wouldn't tell a lie, and I wouldn't either."

There was something in the eloquence and earnestness of the child
that deeply impressed the mind of the lady, and she could hardly
resist the conclusion that her agent had, in this instance, made
a mistake. But she had great confidence in Dr. Flynch, and she
was very unwilling to believe that he could be so harsh and cruel
as the little girl represented. She had heard of the tricks of
the vicious poor, and while she was disposed to be very tender of