By this time Mrs. Conner and Agnes had come into the office, asking in much surprise who the stranger was, and what was the cause of her illness. As if there had been a previous understanding between them, the doctor and Guy were silent with regard to the recent farce enacted between them, and simply said it was some one who had come for medical advice, and it was possible she was in the habit of fainting; many people were. Very daintily, Agnes held back the skirt of her rich silk as if fearful that it might come in contact with Madeline’s plain delaine; then, as the scene was not very interesting, she returned to the house, bidding Jessie do the same. But Jessie refused, choosing to stay by Madeline, who by this time had been placed upon the comfortable lounge, where she preferred to remain rather than be taken to the house, as Guy proposed. “I’m better now, much better,” she said. “Leave me, please. I’d rather be alone.” So they left her with Jessie, who, fascinated by the sweet young face, knelt by the lounge, and, laying her curly head caressingly against Madeline’s arm, aid to her, “Poor girl, you’re sick, and I’m so sorry. What makes you sick?” There was genuine sympathy in that little voice, and with a cry as of sudden pain, Maddy clasped the child in her arms and burst into a wild fit of weeping, which did her a great deal of good. Forgetting that Jessie could not understand, and feeling it a relief to tell her grief to some one, she said, in reply to Jessie’s repeated inquiries as to what was the matter, “I did not get a certificate, and I wanted it so much, for we are poor, and our house is mortgaged, and I was going to help grandpa pay it; and now I never can, and the house must be sold.” “It’s dreadful to be poor!” sighed little Jessie, as her fingers threaded the soft, nut-brown hair resting in her lap, where Maddy had laid her aching head. Maddy did not know who this beautiful child was, but her sympathy was very sweet, and they talked together confidingly, as children will, until Mrs. Agnes’ voice was heard calling to her little girl that it was time to go. “I love you, Maddy, and I mean to tell brother Guy all about it,” Jessie said, as she wound her arms round Madeline’s neck and kissed her at parting.