Produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. HTML version by Al Haines. SPARROWS THE STORY OF AN UNPROTECTED GIRL by Horace W. C. Newte CONTENTS ONE THE DEVITTS TWO MAVIS KEEVES THREE FRIENDS IN NEED FOUR MAVIS LEAVES HER NEST FIVE BARREN WAYS SIX "DAWES" SEVEN WIDER HORIZONS EIGHT SPIDER AND FLY NINE AWING TEN "POULTER'S" ELEVEN MAVIS'S PRAYER TWELVE MRS HAMILTON'S THIRTEEN MAVIS GOES OUT TO SUPPER FOURTEEN THE SEQUEL FIFTEEN A GOOD SAMARITAN SIXTEEN SURRENDER SEVENTEEN SPRINGTIME EIGHTEEN CHARLIE PERIGAL NINETEEN THE MOON GODDESS TWENTY THE WAY OF ALL FLESH TWENTY-ONE THE AWAKENING TWENTY-TWO O LOVE, FOR DELIGHTS! TWENTY-THREE THE CURSE OF EVE TWENTY-FOUR SNARES TWENTY-FIVE A NEW ACQUAINTANCE TWENTY-SIX TRAVAIL TWENTY-SEVEN THE NURSING HOME TWENTY-EIGHT MISS 'PETT'S APOTHEOSIS TWENTY-NINE THE ORDEAL THIRTY THE "PERMANENT" THIRTY-ONE PIMLICO THIRTY-TWO MISS TOOMBS REVEALS HERSELF THIRTY-THREE AN OLD FRIEND THIRTY-FOUR MAVIS GOES TO MELKBRIDGE THIRTY-FIVE THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW THIRTY-SIX A VISIT THIRTY-SEVEN MAVIS AND HAROLD THIRTY-EIGHT MAVIS'S REVENGE THIRTY-NINE A SURPRISE FORTY A MIDNIGHT WALK FORTY-ONE TRIBULATION FORTY-TWO THE WELL-BELOVED CHAPTER ONE THE DEVITTS Everyone at Melkbridge knew the Devitts: they lived in the new, pretentious-looking house, standing on the right, a few minutes after one left the town by the Bathminster road. It was a blustering, stare-one-in-the-face kind of house, which defied one to question the financial stability of its occupants. The Devitts were like their home in being new, ostentatious folk; their prosperity did not extend further back than the father of Montague, the present head of the family. Montague Devitt did little beyond attending board meetings of the varied industries which his father's energy had called into being. He was a bluff, well-set-up man, who had married twice; both of his wives had brought him money. Each time Montague chose a mate, he had made some effort to follow the leanings of his heart; but money not lying in the same direction as love, an overmastering instinct of his blood had prevailed against his sentimental inclinations; in each case it had insisted on his marrying, in one instance an interest in iron works, in another, a third share of a Portland cement business. His first wife had borne him two sons and a daughter; his second was childless.