“Fanny!” he instantly exclaimed; and in the next moment the child was in his arms, clinging to him, and weeping for joy at her return.

With a wonderful calmness, Mrs. Claire received Fanny from her husband, murmuring as she did so, in a subdued, yet deeply gratified voice—­

“O, God!  I thank thee!”

But this calmness in a little while gave way, and her overstrained, but now joyful feelings, poured themselves forth in tears.

Poor child!  She too had suffered during these three never-to-be-forgotten days, and the marks of that suffering were sadly visible in her pale, grief-touched countenance.

To the earnest inquiries of her foster-parents, Fanny could give no very satisfactory answer.  She had no sooner left the square with the lady mentioned by little Edith, than she was hurried into a carriage, and driven off to the cars, where a man met them.  This man, she said, spoke kindly to her, showed her his watch, and told her if she would be a good girl and not cry, he would take her home again.  In the cars, they rode for a long time, until it grew dark; and still she said the cars kept going.  After a while she fell asleep, and when she awoke it was morning, and she was lying on a bed.  The same lady was with her, and, speaking kindly, told her not to be frightened—­that nobody would hurt her, and that she should go home in a day or two.

“But I did nothing but cry,” said the child, in her own simple way, as she related her story.  “Then the lady scolded me, until I was frightened, and tried to keep back the tears all I could.  But they would run down my cheeks.  A good while after breakfast,” continued Fanny, “the man who had met us at the cars came in with another man.  They talked with the lady for a good while, looking at me as they spoke.  Then they all came around me, and one of the men said—­

“’Don’t be frightened, my little dear.  No one will do you any harm; and if you will be a right good girl, and do just as we want you to do, you shall go home to-morrow.’

“I tried not to cry, but the tears came running down my face.  Then the other man said sharply—­

“’Come now, my little lady, we can’t have any more of this!  If you wish to go home again tomorrow, dry your tears at once.  There! there!  Hush all them sobs.  No one is going to do you any harm.’

“I was so frightened at the way the man looked and talked, that I stopped crying at once.

“‘There!’ said he, ‘that is something like.  Now,’ speaking to the lady, ‘put on her things.  It is time she was there.’

“I was more frightened at this, and the men saw it; so one of them told me not to be alarmed, that they were only going to show me a large, handsome house, and would then bring me right back; and that in the morning, if I would go with them now, and be a good girl, I should go home again.