Produced by Larry B. Harrison, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) [Illustration: THE LITTLE EXILES. Frontispiece] THE BABES IN THE BASKET; OR, Daph and her Charge. BY THE AUTHOR OF “TIMID LUCY,” “HEART AND HAND,” ETC. NEW YORK: ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH, 683 BROADWAY. 1859. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, by ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH, In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York. EDWARD O. JENKINS, Printer & Stereotyper, NO. 26 FRANKFORT STREET. CONTENTS. PAGE CHAP. I.--A MOONLIGHT VISITOR 5 “ II.--THE “MARTHA JANE” 13 “ III.--THE WATER-LILY 33 “ IV.--THE RED HOUSE WITH THE BLUE SHUTTERS 53 “ V.--DAPH’S SHOPPING 69 “ VI.--CLOUDS 81 “ VII.--A NEW PATH 92 “ VIII.--NEWS 107 “ IX.--A MINISTERING SPIRIT 129 “ X.--STRANGE PROCEEDINGS 146 “ XI.--ANOTHER FRIEND 155 “ XII.--HOME SCENES 176 “ XIII.--MARY RAY 190 “ XIV.--THE BASKET OVERTURNED 203 “ XV.--THE END 213 THE Babes in the Basket; OR, DAPH AND HER CHARGE. I. The Moonlight Visitor. The evening air stole gently into a quiet room in a southern island, more than sixty years ago. There were no casements in the wide windows; the heavy shutters were thrown back, and the moonlight poured, in long, unbroken streams, across the polished, un-carpeted floor. Within the large pleasant room, two children were sleeping in their curtained beds, like birds in pretty cages. Suddenly there was a cautious tread in the hall, and then a strange figure stood silently in the moonlight. Without candle, or taper, might have been plainly seen the short, strongly-built woman, whose black face and gay turban formed a striking contrast to the fair children in their loose, white night-dresses. Who was that dark intruder, and what was her secret errand, in that quiet room? It was Daph, black Daph, and when you have heard more about her, you can better judge whether she came as a friend, or an enemy, to the sleeping children of her master.