Wall, when they got there, The Little Maid (she had a tender heart), she
wuz pale as death, and the big tears wuz a-rollin' down her cheeks, at
the horrible sights and sounds she see all about her.

Wall, Jean hurried her up the rickety old staircase into her sister's
room, where Jean and Kate fell into each other's arms, and forgot the
world while they mingled their tears and their laughter, and half crazy
words of love and bewildered joy.

The Little Maid sot silently lookin' out into the dirty, dretful
court-yard, swarmin' with ragged children in every form of dirt and
discomfort, squalor and vice.

She had never seen anything of the kind before in her guarded,
love-watched life.

She didn't know that there wuz such things in the world.

Her lips wuz quiverin'--her big, earnest eyes full of tears, as she
started to go down the broken old stairs.

And her heart full of desires to help 'em, so we spoze.

But her tears blinded her.

Half way down she stumbled and fell.

The nurse jumped down to help her. She wuz hefty--two hundred wuz her
weight; the stairs, jest hangin' together by links of planked rotteness,
fell under 'em--down, down they went, down into the depths below.