steam-boat captain. There was Mrs. Sawyer's cook, a nice old woman, who
gave Katy lessons in cooking, and taught her to make soft custard and
sponge-cake. There was a bonnet-maker, pretty and dressy, whom, to Aunt
Izzie's great indignation, Katy persisted in calling "Cousin Estelle!"
There was a thief in the town-jail, under whose window Katy used to
stand, saying, "I'm so sorry, poor man!" and "have you got any little
girls like me?" in the most piteous way, The thief had a piece of string
which he let down from the window. Katy would tie rosebuds and cherries
to this string, and the thief would draw them up. It was so interesting
to do this, that Katy felt dreadfully when they carried the man off to
the State Prison. Then followed a short interval of Cornelia Perham, a
nice, good-natured girl, whose father was a fruit-merchant. I am afraid
Katy's liking for prunes and white grapes played a part in this
intimacy. It was splendid fun to go with Cornelia to her father's big
shop, and have whole boxes of raisins and drums of figs opened for their
amusement, and be allowed to ride up and down in the elevator as much as
they liked. But of all Katy's queer acquaintances, Mrs. Spenser, to whom
Aunt Izzie had alluded, was the queerest.

Mrs. Spenser was a mysterious lady whom nobody ever saw. Her husband was
a handsome, rather bad-looking man, who had come from parts unknown, and
rented a small house in Burnet. He didn't seem to have any particular
business, and was away from home a great deal. His wife was said to be
an invalid, and people, when they spoke of him, shook their heads and
wondered how the poor woman got on all alone in the house, while her
husband was absent.

Of course Katy was too young to understand these whispers, or the
reasons why people were not disposed to think well of Mr. Spenser. The
romance of the closed door and the lady whom nobody saw, interested her