52 FANNY, AND HER DOG NEPTUNE.

 "Then, mother, what is it that ails you? You have
been crying, and you won't tell me why."
 Mrs. Dale was in the habit of telling Fanny everything
of her concerns that the child could fully comprehend.
She wished the sympathy, communion, and companionship
between them, which was her greatest earthly pleasure,
should be as perfect as is possible between a mother and
a child of ten years ; and after a little hesitation, she said,
"You know, Fanny, I thought I had paid our debts to
the last penny, and now here is a bill sent in to me,
amounting nearly to ten pounds, and we have but twenty
shillings in the world, and, certainly, there is nothing left
to be sold."
 "No, I am sure there is not," said Fanny, looking
mournfully around the empty apartments, of which the
doors were all open. As she spoke, as if to remind her
there was yet one unsold thing, Neptune walked slowly
in. All the blood in her body seemed to gush into her
head and neck as the truth that she might pay this debt
darted through her mind. She did not speak. She even
turned away her head, as if, by not seeing Neptune, she
could exclude the thought.
 "The recollection of this bill," continued Mrs. Dale,
"will be a continual torment to me, for I see no better
prospect of paying it in future than now. My salary at
Mrs. Smith's, with the strictest economy, will barely meet
our necessary expenses, and your school-bills, most neces-
sary of all, since your education is to qualify you to earn
your future living."
 "And yours too, dear mother," said Fanny, glancing
her tearful eyes at Neptune, and for the first time think-
ing it possible, for her mother's sake, she might part with
her preserver. "But what is the bill for ?" she asked,
turning her mind eagerly from the consideration of how
it was to be paid.
 "For some purchases of your father," replied Mrs.
Dale, hastily thrusting the bill, which was lying on the
table, into her portfolio. The bill was from Delmonico,
the restaurateur, and for sundry bottles of champagne and