One day all the negro servants had leave of absence to attend a meeting of some society very popular with all of their race, and there was no one left to answer the doorbell but the housekeeper.
In the afternoon Mrs. Wylde and Rosalind went out to do some shopping, and Mrs. Meade seated herself with Pet in the wide, cool hall, that she might be within hearing of the bell.
“Ain’t you doin’ to take me on the Capitol Square dis even’?” queried Pet.
“No, my precious, I can’t take you out to-day,” answered the kind old woman, putting down her knitting to caress the beautiful boy, whose sunny curls and bright black eyes were so dear to her heart.
“Den I wish dat pretty yady would tum adin,” exclaimed the child, looking longingly at the front door.
At that moment there came a hurried, nervous peal at the doorbell.
Mrs. Falconer had been driving out alone when she saw Mrs. Wylde and her daughter entering a store on Broad Street, and she almost instantly left her carriage and directed the driver to wait for her, as she desired to do some shopping.
Entering the same store, she bought a box of handkerchiefs, then, slipping out quietly, she made her way on foot to Grace Street, scarcely knowing what she meant to do, but thrilled by a wild longing to see once more the lovely child that she believed was her own.
In the absence of the family, she believed that little Pet might perhaps be permitted the freedom of the house. She might make some pretext for entering the house and awaiting Mrs. Wylde’s return. Thus she might catch a glimpse of the little one whose charms had won her heart.
She rang the bell with a trembling hand, and, to her joy and amazement, the first thing she saw when the door opened was little Pet, clinging to the dress of the white-haired, kindly looking old woman who invited her in.