MY NIGHTINGALE. 11

that the man whom he had asked to
manage things for his wife had run away
with all the money. So Holger and his
mother had hardly anything left in the
wide world, and had to leave their pretty
little home and live in Liljegade. Frue
_ despersen (rue means Mrs. in Danish)
-was too proud to ask her friends for help,
and perhaps she carried this feeling a
little too far, for she would not let any
one know where she lived, and con-
sequently was soon forgotten.

‘The years went by, and Holger was
seven years old, and was to go to school.
He was rather pale but tall for his age,
with blue eyes and fair hair—so fair as to
be almost white. He was a quiet and
thoughtful boy, old-fashioned and dreamy.
His great pleasure was to sit on the edge
of the wharf near by and gaze at the green
water playing in and out of the wooden
piles. Sometimes it was quiet there,