"What makes you keep looking at me ?" said Katy to herself, or rather to the lady on the canvas.

"You needn't watch me so closely; I shall not steal anything." The lady, however, insisted on watching her, and kept her roguish glance fixed upon her with a steadiness that began to make her feel nervous and uneasy; and she was greatly relieved when she heard footsteps on the stairs.
"Mrs.Gordon will be down in a moment," said Miss Grace, in kind tones.
"Won't you come into this room and sit down ?" Katy thanked her, and Grace led her to a small chair directly under the mischievous-looking lady in the frame; and she felt a kind of satisfaction in being placed out of her sight.

But it seemed, even then, as she cast a furtive glance upward, that those roguish eyes were trying to peer over the picture frame, and get a look at her.
"Well, little girl, what do you wish with me ?" said Mrs.Gordon, a benevolent looking lady, apparently of more than forty years of age, who now entered the room.
The expression of her countenance was very pleasant, and though there were a few wrinkles on her brow and she wore a lace cap, Katy came to the conclusion that the portrait had been taken for her.

She wondered if such a dignified lady could ever have been so roguish as the picture indicated.
"Please, ma'am," stammered she, rising from her chair, "I come to see you about the house we live in." "What is your name, child ?" "Katy Redburn, ma'am." "In what house do you live in ?" "In one of yours in Colvin Court.

Mother is a poor woman, and has been sick so much this summer that she can't pay the rent." "I am very sorry for you, my child, but I refer you to my agent, Dr.
Flynch.