SAVED BY LOVE.
[CHAPTER I.]
ALL ALONE IN LONDON.
THERE are some places in London where King Dirt holds a carnival all the year round—narrow back streets, where the tall houses, almost meeting at the top, shut out every gleam of sunlight, except during the longest and hottest days of summer; and then only a narrow rift of golden glory lights up a strip in the centre, and makes the shady corners look more dark and desolate than ever.
In one of the shadowed nooks of such a street sat a little girl, her head leaning against the brick wall for a pillow; and you might have thought her fast asleep, but for an occasional sob. She had cried so long that her eyes were swollen and heavy; and even the faint light of Fisher's Lane made them ache so much that she was glad to close them.
No one noticed her for some time, but at length a girl about her own age stopped and looked at her, and at last spoke.
"What's the matter?" she said, touching her shoulder.
With a sob and a start the girl opened her eyes.
"O Elfie, is it you?" she said; and then her tears broke out afresh.