The windows of the kitchen were of ground glass. They were made to let down at the top, but could not be raised at the bottom. When they were let down, I noticed that the younger women, if I were out of the way a moment, sprang upon the window-seat, which was a deep recess, and stood looking out. I inferred from the manner of doing it, and the apprehensive look they gave me, when detected, that it was breaking the rules to do so. But no one informed me of such a rule, and I did not think it necessary to inquire. I could see no possible harm that could come to them from looking through the bars upon the grass, and trees, and flowers of the grounds. Positive good might arise from changing the tenor of their thoughts. If they stood longer than I thought best, I sent them to do something for me. One day, Annie O'Brien had mounted the window-seat, in my absence from the kitchen, and when I went back, was exercising her powers of description upon what she saw, for the entertainment of the others. The window through which she was looking, commanded a view of the yard, the office, and the walk through which the public found entrance to the buildings. "An arrival, an arrival!" called Annie, in a loud whisper. "Who is it? Is it anybody that we know?" asked one of the girls that had been brought in with her. I stood behind the furnace a moment to notice what was going on. "Yes, there is Tom Ticket. I wonder what he has been doing." "Nothing new, of course! They wanted a carpenter down here, so they sent up for him. The carpenter was discharged the other day, and I heard one of the men say they'd have another down in a few days,--they knew just where to lay their hands on one of the best in the city." "Do you mean to say, Lissett, that they can have a man brought down here a prisoner, because they want a carpenter?" I asked. "Yes, ma'am. They know he drinks, and can prove it, but they don't want too many at a time, so they let him run till they want him; then, they have him taken up, and fetched down here." My face must have expressed the utter abhorrence I felt of such work. O let us cleanse our whited sepulchres! Is there not work enough within our own borders to employ our Christian men and reforming women! We need not go abroad for work with such festering sores in our own vitals. For very shame let us cleanse these places!--were my thoughts. Here was another occasion for glib Annie O'Brien to hold forth; and such occasions were never slighted by her. "Half that come in here," she said, "are not doing anything when they come. My coming, when I came, was a put up job." "What do you mean by that?" "A policeman was hired to take me up. I was sitting in a store, about nine o'clock in the evening, when he came in and told me to follow him." "Who put him up to it?"