"And the lack of kindness," put in Queenie, who had seen the darker side of human nature. "No, indeed there is plenty of kindness in the world. You have grown misanthropic with hard usage; you will change your mind when you come among us." "Yes, you must make allowances for me," she said, somewhat sadly; "I have been too much in contact with coarse, selfish minds to judge leniently. Cathy, how can women be so censorious to their own sex? how can they oppress and grieve a little child in the way Miss Titheridge and Fraulein oppress Emmie?" "It is too bad; but I think Miss Titheridge is obtuse; she does not understand Emmie." "Do you not think she is changed?" whispered Queenie, with a glance at the sleeping child. "She has grown thinner and paler, and her eyes are so hollow. Caleb noticed it last week." "She is growing, and needs care," was the compassionate answer, as Cathy rose and folded the shawl closer round the sleeper. "Care! that is just what she does not get. Oh, Cathy, I think poor mamma would have broken her heart if she had known what was in store for us; she was so fond of Emmie." "Hush, dear," for Queenie had covered her face with her hands, and was weeping bitterly now. "We will not talk any more; you are weary and over-tasked. You are very brave, my Queen, and seldom break down, but you are too tired to cry to-night." "Yes, it is wrong of me, but yet it has done me good," she whispered, after a short interval. They were still sitting together, hand in hand. The green candle had burnt out, but the pink one still burnt cheerily; one or two of the roses had withered; the fragments of the feast still reposed on the old red shawl; the moonbeams stole through the uncurtained window, and played fitfully on the uneven floor; a little pale face slept peacefully under the old wrapper. By and bye, when Cathy had left her, Queenie lay down, and drew the warm, sleeping child to her arms. The moon had come out from behind the clouds now; the stream of pale, silvery light flooded the room; a perfect halo shone round Emmie's fair hair. Queenie shivered, and gave a faint sob as she saw it. "She is paler and thinner," she said to herself. "Cathy noticed it, and so did Caleb. They are killing her by inches, and yet they will not see; they are straining her mind and body, and neither will bear it. Oh, mamma, mamma, she would be better off with you; but I cannot spare her, I cannot spare Emmie!" "Are you awake, Queenie? Oh, I have had such a beautiful dream. I was in a strange place, and mamma came to me, looking so kind, just like her old self, only grander; I think she had a crown on her head; and she took me in her arms and kissed me, just as she used to do, and told me to be good and patient, and to do as you told me, and that she loved us both."