"The child's large blue eyes instantly filled with tears, her lips quivered, and she turned quickly and went back into the hut. I felt a sudden sickness at my heart, and I saw my friend pass his hand across his eyes.
"Presently we followed her in, and Mr. Barr took her hand and kindly said, 'My child, you can not remain in this place. Come home with us, and we will take every possible means to find your father.'
"'Ay,' said the boatman's wife, 'Mr. Barr is a good gentleman, and he'll do all he ken for ye.'
"The child was attracted by his kindly manner, as indeed every one was with whom he had to do, and she readily consented to go.
"We gave some money to the boatman to relieve his present necessities, and tenderly placing our little charge in the carriage, drove rapidly back to the city. It is needless to say that her father was never found.
"Before I left Worcester I told Mr. Barr that as I was a young man of some means, and happily for myself had a disposition to do some good in the world rather than to live in selfishness, I would esteem it a favor if I might be permitted to educate this little girl, so that she could sustain herself in a manner that would not be burdensome, and that would at the same time give her a place among refined people. Mr. Barr was pleased with my request, and willingly gave his consent; so little Mary was at once placed in an excellent school."
"Grandpa, what was her name besides Mary?" asked Walter.
"I will tell you by-and-by," said grandpa.
"Shortly after this," continued the old gentleman, "I returned to America, and it was several years before I visited England again; but finally business compelled me to cross the ocean once more, and you may be sure that I was not long in seeking my old friends and my little protégée. But she was no longer little; she had grown to be a lovely young lady, gentle, intelligent, and beautiful."
"And what was her name?" we all asked, in chorus.