In an instant she sprang up, threw her arms around Misery and kissed her furrowed cheek.
"Thank you for being so kind," said she.

"I've never been away from home before and you must be a mother to me while I'm at Elmhurst." Old Misery smiled and stroked the girl's glossy head.
"Bless the child!" she said, delightedly; "of course I'll be a mother to you.

You'll need a bit of comforting now and then, my dear, if you're going to live with Jane Merrick." "Is she cross ?" asked Beth, softly.
"At times she's a fiend," confided the old housekeeper, in almost a whisper.

"But don't you mind her tantrums, or lay 'em to heart, and you'll get along with her all right." "Thank you," said the girl.

"I'll try not to mind." "Do you need anything else, deary ?" asked Misery, with a glance around the room.
"Nothing at all, thank you." The housekeeper nodded and softly withdrew.
"That was one brilliant move, at any rate," said Beth to herself, as she laid aside her hat and prepared to unstrap her small trunk.