Aunt Jane's Nieces at Work

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She was bold

and unabashed where Lucy was shy and unassuming. This girl's eyes

laughed, while Lucy's were grave and serious; yet they were the same

eyes.

"Let me tell you about my lost Lucy," he said, with a glance at the

unconscious Donald.

"Go ahead, if it will relieve you," she answered, demurely.

"She lived on a farm five miles from here, and she was my sweetheart.

Her mother is blind and her father old and feeble. She worked for a

dentist in the town and was accused of stealing a ring, and it nearly

broke her heart to be so unjustly suspected. In order to make good the

loss of the ring, a valuable diamond--I--I got into trouble, and Lucy

was so shocked and distressed that she--she lost her head--became mad,

you know--and left home during the night without a word to any one. We

haven't been able to find her since."

"That's too bad," remarked Eliza Parsons, buttering her bread.

"About the time that Lucy went away, you appeared at Elmhurst,"

continued Tom. "And in face and form you're the image of my Lucy. That

is why I asked you to tell me where you came from and how you came

here."

"Ah, you think I'm mad, do you?" asked the girl, with a quizzical smile.

"Well, I'm not going to satisfy your curiosity, even to prove my sanity;

and I'm not anxious to pose as your lost Lucy. So please pass the sugar

and try to be sociable, instead of staring at me as if I scared you."

Tom passed the sugar, but he could not eat, nor could he tear himself

away from this strange girl's presence. He tried again to draw her into

conversation, but she showed annoyance and resented his persistence.

Presently she went away, giving him an amused smile as she left the

room--a smile that made him feel that this was indeed a case of mistaken

identity.

In fact, Tom Gates, on sober reflection, knew that the girl could not be

Lucy, yet he could not still the yearning in his heart whenever he saw

her. His heart declared that she was Lucy, and his head realized that

she could not be.

While he waited in the library for Mr.

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