XLVI.— AFTER THE PARTY 206 XLVII.— HOW MISS SPICER AND ELLEN POST FRATERNIZE 210 XLVIII.— FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS 213 XLIX.— MR. MAHONE 217 L.— A BARGAIN AT LAST 221 LI.— A BOY IN PRISON 224 LII.— THE SECOND ARREST 228 LIII.— THE WOMAN IN THE LAUNDRY 230 LIV.— PREPARING FOR THE WEDDING 234 LV.— EVA’S TEMPTATION 238 LVI.— MRS. SMITH BRINGS PAINFUL NEWS 242 LVII.— IN HASTE FOR THE WEDDING 246 LVIII.— MOTHER AND SON 253 LIX.— THE EXAMINATION COMPLETED 259 LX.— AN UNEXPECTED WITNESS 264 LXI.— WAITING FOR NEWS 271 LXII.— THE MORTGAGE 276 LXIII.— THE PRICE OF A BRACELET 280 LXIV.— THE ADOPTION 283 LXV.— IN THE PARK 286 LXVI.— THE INDIA SHAWL 292 LXVII.— THE PAWNBROKER GETS HIS PRICE 296 LXVIII.— MISS SPICER RECEIVES HER DISMISSAL 299 LXIX.— THE TRUTH 304 LXX.— OUR CHILD 308 LXXI.— A DOUBLE WEDDING 313 THE REIGNING BELLE. CHAPTER I. THE SHOPPING PARTY. Around her were such glowing colors, in masses, or floating airily through the room, that a face less richly tinted would have seemed pale by contrast. Behind her was a pile of India shawls, in which the rays of a gorgeous sunset seemed to have mellowed down in one soft, glowing heap. By her side was a morning-dress of Oriental cashmere, with vivid palm leaves running far up the skirt, which trailed down from the wire skeleton that supported it, and swept the floor like the plumage of a peacock. In fact this vast show-room was one panorama of bright, beautiful things; and most beautiful of all was the young girl, with her rich complexion, just verging on the brunette, and her large, blue-gray eyes, that looked out from their sweeping lashes like shadowed waters where the rushes grow thickly. Her hair, too, was lustrous and abundant, neither black, auburn, nor brown, but with a gleam of each as the light chanced to fall on it.