Hemstead patiently, carefully, and with the utmost deference, assisted the helpless creature down the stairs.
"You're as polite to her as if she were a duchess," said Lottie, in a low tone.
"She is more than a duchess. She is a woman," he replied.
Lottie gave him a quick, pleased look, but said, "Such old-fashioned chivalry is out of date, Mr. Hemstead."
"He's right, miss," said the old woman, sharply. "I'm not Dutch."
Lottie dropped behind to hide her merriment at this speech, and Hemstead appeared, with his charge clinging to his arm, at the kitchen door, which her ample form nearly filled.
"My sakes alive! Auntie Lammer, how did you get down here?" said
Mrs. Gubling. "We hain't ready for you yet."
"No matter," said Mrs. Lammer, "I thank the marcies I've got down safe, and I'm goin' to stay till I git my supper."
"Can I help you?" asked Lottie, glancing curiously around the room.
They looked with even more curiosity at her; and a strange contrast she made, in her rich and tasteful costume and rare beauty, with those plain, middle-aged, hard-working women, and the small, dingy room.