Mrs. Pullen felt somewhat annoyed as she saw the dolls and furry animals which were strewn upon the sands, at the same time she was flattered by the admiration exhibited of her little daughter, and the endearments lavished upon her. She considered them all well deserved (as what mother would not?)--and it struck her that Harriet Brandt must be a kindhearted, as well as a generous girl to spend so much money on a stranger’s child.

“She certainly does seem wonderfully good with you,” she observed presently, “I never knew her so quiet with anybody but her nurse or me, before. Isn’t it marvelous, Nurse?”

“It is, Ma’am! Baby do seem to take surprisingly to the young lady! And perhaps I might go into the town, as she is so quiet, and get the darning-wool for your stockings!”

“O! no! no! We must not let Miss Brandt get tired of holding her. She is too heavy to be nursed for long!”

“Indeed, indeed she is not!” cried Harriet, “do let me keep her, Mrs. Pullen, whilst nurse goes on her errand. It is the greatest pleasure to me to hold her. I should like never to give her up again!”

Margaret smiled.

“Very well, Nurse, since Miss Brandt is so kind, you can go!”

As the servant disappeared, she said to Harriet, “Mind! you give her to me directly she makes your arm ache! I am more used to the little torment than you are.”

“How can you call her by such a name, even in fun? What would I not give to have a baby of my very own to do what I liked with? I would never part with it, night nor day, I would teach it to love me so much, that it should never be happy out of my sight!”

“But that would be cruel, my dear! Your baby might have to part with you, as you have had to part with your mother!”

At the mention of her mother, something came into Miss Brandt’s eyes, which Margaret could not define. It was not anger, nor sorrow, nor remorse. It was a kind of sullen contempt. It was something that made Mrs. Pullen resolve not to allude to the subject again. The incident made her examine Harriet’s eyes more closely than she had done before. They were beautiful in shape and color, but they did not look like the eyes of a young girl. They were deeply, impenetrably black--with large pellucid pupils, but there was no sparkle nor brightness in them, though they were underlaid by smoldering fires which might burst forth 

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