"Yes," smiled the girl. "And doesn't your conscience prick you, sir, because I _had_ to send for you, when you should have come long ago of your own accord to see me?" she demanded playfully, motioning him to a seat. Then, before he could reply, she went on hurriedly: "I wanted to see you very much. By something that Mr. Spencer said the other evening I suspected that you were interested in the children who work in the mills--particularly interested. And--you are?" "Yes, much interested." "And you know them--lots of them? You know their parents, and how they live?" "Yes, I know them well--too well." He added the last softly, almost involuntarily. The girl heard, and threw a quick look of sympathy into his eyes. "Good! You are just the one I want, then," she cried. "And you will help me; won't you?" McGinnis hesitated. An eager light had leaped to his eyes. For a moment he dared not speak lest his voice break through the lines of stern control he had set for it. "I shall be glad to give you any help I can," he said at last, steadily; "but Mr. Spencer, of course, knows----" he paused, leaving his sentence unfinished. "But that is exactly it," interposed Margaret, earnestly. "Mr. Spencer does not know--at least, he does not know personally about the mill people, I mean. He told me long ago that you stood between him and them, and had for a long time. It is you who must tell me." "Very well, I will do my best. Just what--do you want to know?" "Everything. And I want not only to be told, but to see for myself. I want you to take me through the mills, and afterward I want to visit some of the houses where the children live." "Miss Kendall!" The distressed consternation in the man's voice was unmistakable. "Is it so bad as that?" questioned the girl. "You don't want me to see all these things? All the more reason why I should, then! If conditions are bad, help is needed; but before help can be effectual, or even given at all, the conditions must be understood. That is what I mean to do--understand the conditions. How many children are there employed in the mills, please?" McGinnis hesitated. "Well, there are some--hundreds," he acknowledged. "Of course many of them are twelve and fourteen and fifteen, and that is bad enough; but there are others younger. You see the age limit of this state is lower than some. Many parents bring their children here to live, so that they can put them into the mills." Margaret shuddered. "Then it is true, as Patty said. There are children there nine and ten years old!"