"But where is Fanny ?" As she uttered this inquiry, a sudden fear fell like a heavy weight on her heart.

Retiring from the window, she hastened to the door, where, by this time, a lady stood holding little Edie by the hand.

The child's eyes were red with weeping.
"Is this your little girl ?" asked the lady.
"Oh, mamma! mamma!" cried Edie, bursting into tears, as she sprang to her mother's side and hid her face in her garments.
"Where did you find her, ma'am?
Was she lost ?" asked Mrs.Claire, looking surprised as well as alarmed.

"Won't you walk in, ma'am ?" she added, before there was time for a reply.
The lady entered, on this invitation, and when seated in Mrs.Claire's little parlour, related that while walking through Washington Square, she noticed the child she had brought home, crying bitterly.

On asking her as to the cause of her distress, she said that she wanted Fanny: and then ran away to some distance along the walks, searching for her lost companion.