one special bundle of rags, coming from a village at some distance,
should have been kept apart when the day's allowance was put into
the dusters. But--"Mother always says we ought to suppose there is a
reason for things!" she said to herself. And she shook her head
resolutely, and tried to make a "button-play."

She pulled from the heap before her a dark blue garment, and turned
it over, examining it carefully. It seemed to be a woman's jacket.
It was of finer material than most of the "Egyptians," and the
fashion was quaint and graceful. There were remnants of embroidery
here and there, and the heavy glass buttons were like nothing Mary
had ever seen before.

"I'll keep these," she said, "for little Jessie Brown; she will be
delighted with them. That child does make so much out of so little,
I'm fairly ashamed sometimes. These will be a fortune to Jessie.
I'll tell her that I think most likely they belonged to a princess
when they were new; they were up and down the front of a dress of
gold cloth trimmed with pearls, and she looked perfectly beautiful
when she had it on, and the Prince of the Fortunate Islands fell in
love with her."

Buttons were a regular perquisite of the rag-girls in the Cumquot
Mill; indeed, any trifle, coin, or seal, or medal, was considered
the property of the finder, this being an unwritten law of the
rag-room.

Mary cut the buttons off, and slipped them into her pocket; then she
ran her fingers round the edge of the jacket, in case there were any
hooks or other hard substance that had escaped her notice, and that