"Where do you live?" asked Bessie.
"Over there in that hotel," answered Belle.
"Why, do you?" said Bessie. "My soldier lives there too. He never told us about you."
"Who is your soldier?" asked Belle.
"Colonel Rush; don't you know him?"
"No," said Belle; "I never saw him."
"Why, how very queer to live in the same house and not to know him!" said Bessie; but Jane, who heard what they said, explained to them that people might live for months or years in that great building, and yet never know more of one another than if they lived in different cities. The children thought this very strange and unsociable; but Belle and the colonel were a proof that Jane's words were true.
"I think we'd better try to bring you acquainted with Uncle Horace and Aunt May," said Bessie; "they'll be very kind to you, I know."
"Did you never see us when we went to the hotel?" asked Maggie. "We go there very often."
"No," said Belle. "But then I have not been here very long. I used to live in my home."