"I'm _worried_ about them," confessed Jeanne. "Their new uncle _may_ be good to them, but I'd like to know for _certain_. I'm bothered most about Annie. She's such a good, gentle little thing and Mrs. Shannon was always awfully cross to her." "While we're dressing our other dolls," said Mrs. Fairchild, "we might make a little dress for Annie." "She's almost six," sighed Jeanne. "I do wish I could watch her grow up--and teach her to be _nice_. But, of course, making a dress for her will help a little!" Of Roger, Jeanne saw but little. At first he avoided her; still, he _did_ speak, when they met face to face; and, in the course of time, he was even able to say, "Hello, Jeanne!" without blushing. Jeanne went to school. It was a long walk and she hated to miss a single moment of the outdoor life on the old dock; but going to school was something that she could do for her father. Her clothes were beginning to trouble her a little. Some were wearing out, others seemed to be getting smaller. Jeanne, you see, was growing and her garments were not. Still, the other pupils were far from suspecting that Jeanne was a motherless, fatherless waif from the Cinder Pond. She was always neat; and even daintier than many of her classmates; but the washing, ironing, and mending necessary to insure this daintiness, meant considerable work on Jeanne's part. One evening, when she had taken off her dress to replace a button, it occurred to Jeanne to feel in the pockets of her father's old coat--the coat that still hung behind the door of Léon Duval's room. She found in the pocket a letter that he had written. Except for a stamp, it was all ready to be mailed to _her_. She read it greedily. There was the usual home news; but one paragraph stood out from all the others: "Be patient and learn all you can, my Jeanne. You, in turn, can teach it all to Annie and your brothers. Even the hated arithmetic you must conquer." "Oh," sighed Jeanne, "I'm so glad I found this. I _will_ conquer those mathematics, and I _will_ teach those children, some day. Perhaps I'll have to teach kindergarten after all, so as to earn money enough to go after them. And dear me, they're growing older every minute. But, no matter how hard it is for me, I'm going to look after those children the very first minute I can." While Jeanne was waiting for the first cold weather or else for news from the Huntingtons--one _couldn't_ tell which would come first--she studied to such purpose that her first month's marks surprised even herself, they were so good.