RUTH In the topmost chamber of the last of a row of somber gray stone houses in Adam Street a girl with a thin but beautiful face and large, expectant eyes sat close to the bare, uncurtained window, from which it was possible to command a view of the street below.

A book which she had apparently been reading had fallen neglected onto the floor.

Steadfastly she watched the passers-by.

Her delicate, expressive features were more than once illuminated with joy, only to be clouded, a moment later, with disappointment.

The color came and went in her cheeks, as though, indeed, she were more sensitive than her years.