THE BEAUTIFUL SOUL. 15i

on the outside of the house ascending to two
or three different stories. ‘The door leading to
the first story was not fastened, and they entered
at once, without knocking, into a narrow passage,
and, looking through an open door on their
left hand, saw a number of washerwomen busy
at their tubs in different parts of a large room.
One of these women was very neat in her person,
and seemed quiet in her manners, and, as she
looked up for a moment at the strangers, Lucy
saw that she had a modest, agrecable coun-
tenance. The others were talking loudly, and
were very slovenly in their appearance. One
of them was a young girl, seemingly about seven-
teen years of age. Lucy was struck by her
bright black eyes, her curling hair, and her fine
colour. At the first glance she said to herself,
“How pretty she is!” but the next moment she
felt that her appearance was not pleasant, for her
hair was rough and uncombed, her face far from
clean, and her frock torn in the back, and hang-
ing half off of one shoulder. As she caught Mr.
Lovett’s eye resting on her for a moment, she
hung her head on one side with a simpering