THE BLACKMAILING OF TOM MOORE
After bidding good-bye to the visitor most of the children crowded noisily out of the door, rejoicing at their resumption of freedom, but Patsy, he of the red hair, seated himself deliberately on the front bench and immediately became deeply interested in his arithmetic, his presence for the moment being completely overlooked by Moore, whose attention was attracted by the attempt of a ragged little miss to make an unnoticed exit.
"Little girl," said Moore, gently, "why are you going without saying good-bye to me? What have I done to deserve such treatment from a young lady?"
The child thus reproached, a tiny blonde-haired maiden, dressed in a faded and ragged frock, looked timidly at her questioner, and flushed to her temples.
"I thought you would n't want to say good-bye to me, sir," she answered, shyly.
"And why not, alanna?"
"'Cause I 'm poor," she whispered.
A tender look came into Moore's eyes and he crossed to the side of the child, his generous heart full of pity for the little one's embarrassment.
"I 'm poor, too," he said, patting her yellow curls. "Where do you live, my dear?"
"Down by the Mill, sir, with my auntie."