152 MADGE’S MISTAKE.

I shake my head dismally, and at last it
seems to strike him that my manner is
curious, to say the least of it, for he suddenly
goes back into the room, saying: “Come in
here, I want you.”

I limp in after him (oh, he has hurt my
foot), and stand before Mr. Mullins, who
looks aghast and somewhat uncomfortable,
for it seems to dawn upon him suddenly that
he has got me into dire trouble.

“Pray, is this the young lady?” asks
Father, taking me by the shoulder, and
turning my terror-stricken face towards the
man.

“Yes, sir,” he replies, looking in amaze-
ment from one to the other. “Yes, that’s
the young lady, sir, but I don’t wish, sir, to
get her noways into trouble; I wouldn’t ha’
called if Pd knowed there’d be any harm
done, indeed I wouldn’t, and I hope the
young lady ’Il believe me, for it’s true, every
word on’t.”

“Whether she gets into trouble or not is
my affair, not yours,’ says Father. Perhaps