“I am, for the present, until I can make some other arrangement for you. Don’t look so distressed, little woman; are you afraid I won’t be able to look after you properly?”
“No, oh, no,” cried Gretel, eagerly. “I should love to live with you, only—only it’s all been so very sudden, and if I had known I wasn’t coming back I could have taken my things.”
“What things?” her brother asked, kindly.
“Father’s picture, and his letters, and my books. Oh, do you think Mrs. Marsh will let me have them? I should be so very unhappy without Father’s letters.”
Mr. Douane assured her that all her possessions should be sent to her, and he spoke in a tone of so much conviction, that Gretel’s spirits began to rise very rapidly, and by the time the taxi drew up before the big Fifth Avenue hotel, she was as happy, and as eager for new adventures as any little girl starting on her first journey could possibly be.
They went up a great many stories in an elevator, walked along a wide corridor, with doors on both sides, and finally entered a sitting-room, which was so high up that Gretel could see over the tops of the neighboring houses, and even catch a glimpse of the boats on the river. Here her brother told her to take off her jacket, and make herself comfortable, while he rang the bell for the housekeeper.
In a few minutes the housekeeper appeared, accompanied by a stout young woman, with very red hair, and a rather pleasant face.
“This is the maid I mentioned to you, sir,” the housekeeper explained. “I telephoned to her at once, and found she was still out of a place. She hasn’t been very long in this country, but I know her people at home in England, and she can show you some excellent references from our best families.”
The young woman then stepped forward with a courtesy, and Gretel noticed that she looked kind, although she was not at all handsome.
“Is this the little girl, sir?” the housekeeper went on, glancing rather curiously at Gretel’s shabby frock, and the hat that looked decidedly the worse for wear.