She did not even kiss it, but her tears dropped upon its head as she thought how short the time since up in the old garret at home she had dressed rag dolls for the Katy who was now a mother. And still in a measure she was the same, hugging Helen fondly when she said good-night, and welcoming her so joyfully in the morning when she came again, telling her how just the sight of her sitting there by baby's crib did her so much good. "I shall get well so fast," she said; and she was right, for Helen was worth far more to her than all the physician's powders, and Wilford, when he saw how she improved, was glad that Helen came, even if she did sometimes shock him with her independent ways, upsetting all his plans and theories with regard to Katy, and meeting him on other grounds with an opposition as puzzling as it was new to him. To Mrs. Cameron, Helen was also a study, she seemed to care so little for what others might think of her, evincing no hesitation, no timidity, when told one day, the second day after her arrival, that Mrs. Banker was in the parlor and had asked to see Miss Lennox. Mrs. Cameron did not suspect how under that calm, unmoved exterior, Helen was hiding a heart which beat most painfully as she went down to meet the mother of Mark Ray, going first to her own room to make some little change in her toilet, and wishing that her dress was more like the dress of those around her--like Mrs. Cameron's, or even Esther's and the fashionable nurse's. One glance she gave to the brown silk, Wilford's gift, but her good sense told her that the plain merino she wore was far more suitable to the sickroom, where she spent her time, and so with a fresh collar and cuffs, and another brush of her rich hair, she went to Mrs. Banker, forgetting herself in her pleasure at finding in the stranger a lady so wholly congenial and familiar, whose mild, dark eyes, so like Mark Ray's, rested so kindly on her, and whose pleasant voice had something motherly in its tone, putting her wholly at her ease, and making her appear at her very best. Mrs. Banker was pleased with Helen, while she felt a kind of pity for the young girl thrown so suddenly among strangers, without even her sister to aid and assist her. "Have you been out at all?" she asked, and upon Helen's replying that she had not, she answered: "That is not right. Accustomed to the fresh country air, you will suffer from too close confinement. Suppose you ride with me. My carriage is at the door, and I have a few hours' leisure. Tell your sister I insist," she continued, as Helen hesitated between inclination and what she fancied was her duty. To see New York with Mrs. Banker was a treat indeed, and Helen's heart bounded high as she ran up to Katy's room with the request.