'It is possible their parents may call for them in the morning,' she
said acidly, 'but I think it is more than likely that they have been
deserted. I know if they belonged to me they'd be lost for ever
before I tried to find them!' and she rubbed a black-and-blue spot on
her person, which, if exposed, would have betrayed the shape, size,
and general ground-plan of Pacific's boot.
CHAPTER XI--RHODA FREES HER MIND
Morning dawned, and Mistress Mary and Rhoda went up the flight of
broad steps rather earlier than usual,--so early that the janitress,
who had been awake half the night with an ailing baby, was just going
in to dust the rooms.
It was she who first caught sight of the old sofa and its occupant,
and her exclamation drew Mary and Rhoda to the spot. There lay poor
Marm Lisa in the dead sleep of exhaustion, her dress torn and
wrinkled, her shoes travel-stained, her hair tangled and matted.
Their first idea was that the dreaded foe might have descended upon
her, and that she had had some terrible seizure with no one near to
aid and relieve her. But the longer they looked, the less they
feared this; her face, though white and tear-stained, was tranquil,
her lips only slightly pale, and her breathing calm and steady.
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