The moment she picked it up the old curiosity assailed her.
"Shore I'll see what it is, anyway," she muttered, and with swift hands she opened the package.

The action disclosed two pairs of fine, soft shoes, of a style she had never seen, and four pairs of stockings, two of strong, serviceable wool, and the others of a finer texture.

Ellen looked at them in amaze.

Of all things in the world, these would have been the last she expected to see.

And, strangely, they were what she wanted and needed most.