"Then why hasn't she been to see us?" cried Bess.
"I guess there are several reasons for that," said sensible Nan.
"Well! I'd like to know what they are," cried her chum. "Surely, she could find her way."
"Oh, yes. Perhaps she didn't want to come. Perhaps she is too proud to beg of us—just beg money, I mean. She is an independent little thing."
"Oh, I know that," admitted Bess.
"But more than likely," Nan pursued, "her reason for not trying to see us was that she was afraid she would not be admitted to the house."
"My gracious!" exclaimed Walter. "I never thought of that."
"Just consider what would happen to a ragged and dirty little child who mounted your steps—even suppose she got that far," Nan said.
"What would happen to her?" demanded the wondering Bess, while Walter looked thoughtful.
"If she got into the street at all (there is always a policeman on fixed post at the corner) one of the men at the house, the butler or the footman, would drive her away.