Transcriber's note: Unusual and inconsistent spelling is as printed. [Illustration: "WHAT IS THE MATTER, LITTLE GIRL?"] A LITTLE MAID BY AMY LE FEUVRE AUTHOR OF "PROBABLE SONS," "TEDDY'S BUTTON," "ODD," "JILL'S RED BAG," ETC, ETC. WITH THREE ILLUSTRATIONS BY SYDNEY COWELL _SECOND IMPRESSION_ LONDON THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY 4 BOUVERIE STREET; & 65 ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD 1905 STORIES BY AMY LE FEUVRE. [Illustration] Odd Made Even. 3s. 6d. Heather's Mistress. 3s. 6d. On the Edge of a Moor. 3s. 6d. The Carved Cupboard. 2s. 6d. Jill's Red Bag. 2s. A Little Maid. 2s. A Puzzling Pair. 2s. Dwell Deep; or, Hilda Thorn's Life Story. 2s. Legend Led. 2s. Odd. 2s. Bulbs and Blossoms. 1s. 6d. His Little Daughter. 1s. 6d. A Thoughtless Seven. 1s. Probable Sons. 1s. Teddy's Button. 1s. Bunny's Friends. 1s. Eric's Good News. 1s. [Illustration] _London:_ _The Religious Tract Society_ _4, Bouverie Street._ Contents [Illustration] CHAPTER I. "THE FIRST STEP TO SERVICE" II. "IN SERVICE TO MY AUNT" III. "I'M READY FOR MY PLACE" IV. COUNTRY MUD V. "TOO FAITHFUL" VI. A "HEATHEN STOCKING" VII. "A FELLOW-GIRL" VIII. "A REAL LITTLE HOME MISSIONARY" IX. "I'M A-GOIN' BACK TO LONDON" X. "A SICK CAPTAIN!" XI. "A LITTLE TRUMP!" XII. VISITORS XIII. THE COLLECTION List of Illustrations [Illustration] "WHAT IS THE MATTER, LITTLE GIRL? CAN'T YOU GET A PLACE?" _Frontispiece_ "THEN I COME HOME WITH A BROKEN 'EART" "DON'T YOU LAY YOUR FINGER ON IT, FOR I'VE GOT MY EYE ON YER!" A Little Maid [Illustration] CHAPTER I "THE FIRST STEP TO SERVICE" SHE sat on a doorstep in Bone Alley. Her surroundings were such as you may see any day in that part of London, which is known to the upper class as the Slums. And she herself was not a striking feature in her landscape. Nine out of ten people would have passed her by, without a look or thought. She was dressed in a brown skirt, a black bodice, and a faded blue felt hat, with a wisp of black ribbon and a ragged crow's feather stuck jauntily in on one side. Her arms were hugging her knees, and two very dilapidated old boots rested themselves contentedly on a medley of orange-peel, broken bottles, and old tins. Her eyes were big and blue, her hair a nondescript brown, hanging in straight wisps round her small pinched face. But she was a dreamer.