But even _this_ is not _the worst_! Oh, Helen! she has some of the _creatures_ whom she saw this summer, actually _staying_ in the house,--in THAT house, which we used to call Castle Graham, and were almost afraid to enter ourselves, so stately and beautiful it was! There are two of these creatures,--a girl about our age, some sort of dreadful cripple, who goes about in a bath-chair, and a freckled imp of a boy.

The girl is at -- -- Hospital for treatment, but spends _every Sunday_ at the Grahams', and Hilda devotes _most_ of her spare time to her.

The boy is at school,--one of the _best_ schools in the city.

'But _who_ are these people ?' I hear you cry.

My dear! they are simply _ignorant paupers_, who were Hilda's constant companions through that _disastrous summer_.