Millicent accepted the suggestion readily enough, for her mother had been cleaner than her class. Pollyooly helped her wash and dry and brush out her mass of silken hair, and lent her a clean frock of her own. Presently, after the good meal on the top of her fast, Millicent turned very sleepy, and Pollyooly let her sleep. She was still sleeping when the Honourable John Ruffin returned home. Pollyooly did not at once hurry to him with her news. She cut his bread and butter very thin and nice, and followed his instructions about the making of tea with scrupulous exactness. She carried the tray into his sitting-room and set it beside him. Then she hesitated, looking at him. He looked up from the evening paper he was scanning, smiled his usual smile of appreciation at her angel face, and said amiably: "Well, Mrs. Bride: what is it?" When he did not call her Pollyooly he called her "Mrs." Bride, because they had decided that "Miss" Bride did not sound sufficiently dignified a name for a housekeeper. "Please, sir: I've got a little girl here," said Pollyooly in a somewhat anxious, deprecating tone. "A little girl?" said the Honourable John Ruffin in a natural surprise. "Yes, sir. Her mother's dead; and they wanted to send her to the workhouse; but she ran away," said Pollyooly quickly. "Curious that England's little ones should fly from the home she offers them," said the Honourable John Ruffin in his most amiable tone. "Yes, sir. And she hadn't had anything to eat and she was very hungry, so I brought her home to dinner," said Pollyooly still quickly. "A very proper thing to do," said the Honourable John Ruffin. "And I thought I'd ask you if she could stop here, sir--with me and the Lump--till she gets some work to do. There'd be lots of room for her, sir; and she wouldn't bother you at all," said Pollyooly in a tone of anxious pleading. "To get work might take a long time," said the Honourable John Ruffin gravely. "Yes, sir; it might," said Pollyooly no less gravely, for she knew well the difficulty of getting work in London. "And do you propose to keep her till she finds work?" said the Honourable John Ruffin in the tone of one who finds it difficult to believe his ears. "Oh, yes, sir. She wouldn't eat much," said Pollyooly in a tone of cheerful serenity. "Out of the exiguous wages Mr. Gedge-Tomkins and I pay you?" "Yes, sir. I can do it quite well," said Pollyooly confidently; and then she added hopefully: "And perhaps it wouldn't be for long." "On the other hand it may be for years and it may be forever," said the Honourable John Ruffin in a despondent tone. "Oh, no, sir: I'm sure it wouldn't be as long as that," said Pollyooly confidently. The Honourable John Ruffin looked at her earnest, anxious pleading face for half a minute. Then he said: