knew that I had no friends to speak for me; he knew that I had
been dismissed from my employment at the school. Oh, Mrs. Linley,
everything I said which would have made other people suspicious
of me made _him_ feel for me! I began to wonder whether he was an
angel or a man. If he had not prevented it, I should have fallen
on my knees before him. Hard looks and hard words I could have
endured patiently, but I had not seen a kind look, I had not
heard a kind word, for more years than I can reckon up. That is
all I can say for myself; I leave the rest to your mercy."

"Say my sympathy," Mrs. Linley answered, "and you need say no
more.. But there is one thing I should like to know. You have not
spoken to me of your mother. Have you lost both your parents?"

"No."

"Then you were brought up by your mother?"

"Yes."

"You surely had some experience of kindness when you were a
child?"

A third short answer would have been no very grateful return for
Mrs. Linley's kindness. Sydney had no choice but to say plainly
what her experience of her mother had been.

"Are there such women in the world!" Mrs. Linley exclaimed.
"Where is your mother now?"