"Of course the care of her occupies much of my time. But by sewing late into the night, I might be able to earn sufficient to pay our rent and buy enough to keep us alive, were it not for the carelessness of the rich about paying for work." "At this very time I am threatened with being turned out of my room into the street, which I feel sure would cause my dear mother's death, because Mr. T—, one of the richest men in the city, will not pay me 'my just dues.' I have done embroidery for his wife, and she always screws me down to the lowest rates, but instead of paying promptly, as she promised, and which I told her was absolutely necessary in order to keep us from starving, she puts it off from time to time on the paltry plea that she can not get the money from her husband. "This morning, after a visit from my landlady, I resolved to go directly to his office. Nothing but my extreme necessity would have given me courage enough to do so. I was shown into his counting-room where there were two or three gentlemen. And when he asked my business, supposing I was a book-agent, I told him my sad story, and begged him by the love he professed for his Saviour, to pay me my just debt. "He expressed the greatest surprise: said he had never heard of me before: apologized repeatedly for the inconvenience caused by the mistake, and asked me to follow him to the desk, where I should be paid with interest. "I did so with a light heart; but what was my terror when I found he was conducting me to the door. And when beyond the hearing of any one, he abused me in the vilest language, threatening me with imprisonment if I ever dared show my face in his office again. "Now, dear sir, for the want of thirty dollars, justly earned, I must leave my shelter, see my poor mother die in the street, and be left a helpless orphan to end my days,—where? I do try to forgive my enemies, but it is very hard to do so. "Your miserable friend, "SARAH BARROWS." "Yes, Mr. Knowles, that's all true," exclaimed Helen, thrusting the open letter back into the gentleman's hand, with an unnatural laugh. "That's the kind of piety that prevails in the family of my revered guardian. I happened to overhear him talking to Sarah once in the hall. And if I had not run after her and emptied the contents of my purse into her hand, I think she would never have come to this last trial, she would have starved to death.