So she played with them as with puppies that might gambol around her, and fawn before her, but might not smutch her robes with their dirty feet, or get the opportunity to bite her hand.
She had a house, but she had no home.

Again and again the thought came to her that in a million homes that morning the air was full of music--hearty greetings between parents and children, sweet prattle from lips unstained, merry laughter from bosoms without a care.

With a heart full of tender regrets for the mistakes and errors of the past, with unspeakable contempt for the life she was living, and with vain yearnings for something better, she rose and determined to join the throngs that were pressing into the churches.

Hastily prepared for the street, she went out, and soon, her heart responding to the Christmas music, and her voice to the Christmas utterances from the altar, she strove to lift her heart in devotion.

She felt the better for it.