"Oh, may we see the letters?" asked Marjorie, eagerly.
"Yes—I don't mind. You people sure treated her white. I don't know what's got into her."
The woman crossed the room, which was untidy and dirty, and pulled out a drawer in the table. There, among heterogeneous trash, Marjorie noticed several letters. Mrs. Hammer tossed them into Miss Phillips's lap.
"You can read them all," she said, "while I go look to the baby."
Miss Phillips noticed Marjorie's excitement, and politely handed her the letters—there were three of them,—which the girl opened with trembling fingers. Apparently, all of them were short.
"This must be the first," she said, and read aloud,
"Dear Ma,
"I ran away in that girl's bot becaus a girl insulted me. I brot my clothes and a pencil and I stayed at an empty hous to-night.
"Frieda."