Good morning."

"That's a queer party!" did Policeman Duffer exclaim, as he watched her
far down the street. "I'm blessed if I wouldn't like to know who she is;
she ain't like the rest, somehow. _Her_ boys! Much she knows about
'em! Her _bears_ she might as well call 'em! What does she think
she can do with that set in her little hour, Sunday afternoon? Satan, he
has 'em all the week, and looks after 'em sharp; and then these
Christians come in of a Sunday, and mince a little, and think they can
upset his doings by it. Shows their sense! But she's a curious little
party; sharp, without knowing it. I'm blessed if I don't keep an eye on
her, and save her from scrapes, if I can."

Meantime, all unconscious of his good intentions, Mrs. Roberts pursued
her way down the thronged avenue, and presently turned from it entirely,
and moved down one of the side-streets with resolute steps. A daring
thought had come into her mind; she would try to find the alley where
one at least of her boys lived. It couldn't be worse than some of the
alleys at home which she had penetrated. She felt certain that by
following the policeman's directions she could find the place, and
possibly be able to minister to the boy with a broken limb. At all
events, it was necessary for her to know how her boys lived, and where
they lived, if she were to reach them. But there are alleys, and
_alleys_, as the venturesome lady found to her cost. This one into
which she was plunging excelled anything in that line which she had ever
imagined,--swarming with life in its most repulsive forms, and growing
every moment more terrifying to a well-dressed woman braving its horrors
alone.

She stopped in dismay at last, admitting, reluctantly, that the wisest