At the same moment the clergyman, on his way to the meeting at the Ragged School, stopped to speak to the teacher, and looked at Elfie.
"What is the matter, my child?" he asked.
"Susie's bad, sir; she can't eat the apple I've brought home for her."
"I am going to see what it is," said the teacher. "Susie Sanders is one of our best scholars."
"Where is your mother, my dear?" asked the clergyman.
"Susie's mother is dead, and I ain't got one," said Elfie.
"I think I will come with you, and see about these girls," said the minister; and he and the teacher followed Elfie to Fisher's Lane.
Poor Elfie was in a great fright, for it was quite dark, and they had no candle, and how the visitors were to find their way upstairs, she did not know. At the door she paused, and whispered, "We live at the top of the house, teacher, and we can't afford to buy candles."
The clergyman overheard the whisper, and put his hand into his pocket. "Here's sixpence, child; run and buy a candle and a box of lucifers."
Elfie darted off, but when she laid the money on the counter at the shop, she saw that instead of a sixpence the minister had given her a half-sovereign. What riches it seemed to her! How much she could buy with all this money! And instinctively her hand went over it as it lay on the counter.