[CHAPTER VI.]
KITTY'S STORY.
THE lady sat for a few moments with her head resting on her hand, looking so very sad that Maurice dared not interrupt her. She saw his eager face at last, and went on in a hurried manner.
"Late in the fall, Mrs. Maynard's sister came from the West to make them a visit. She had a young babe about ten months old, a lovely child, to whom Kitty soon became warmly attached. The little girl was named Nellie; and they called her playfully, Nellie Bly, like the little song, you know."
"One evening there was to be a concert. The whole family were anxious to go; but there was Nellie to be taken care of. At last Kitty urged them to leave the baby with her. She was ten years old, and though playful as a kitten herself, could be very matronly when she chose."
"'I'll take such nice care of her,' she urged, 'that she will want you to go every evening. I promise you, Aunt Martha, that I wont leave her a minute.'"
"This plan was agreed to at last. Little Nellie Bly was fast asleep in the cradle. Kitty sat by her side knitting a sock for herself; the doors were all fastened except the one from which were going out."
"'There can't possibly be any danger,' exclaimed Mrs. Maynard."
"As they shut the door, Kitty called after them with a laugh, 'If I grow sleepy, I shall get my new book and read a little.'"