At the end of that time, I fell ill myself of the same fever, and being worn out by previous watching, was declared to be in great danger.

Very little attention was paid to me while I lay for ten days extremely ill.

Indeed no one but the cook, a good-natured Welsh woman, came near me.

At length, I became delirious, and remember nothing that passed, till I found myself in a different bed and room from the one I had formerly occupied.

I felt very weak and confused, and could not imagine where I was. Being unable to get out of bed without help, I lay patiently waiting till some one might come.

At length, the door opened, and a dirty, dingylooking servant girl made her appearance.

I immediately asked where I was.

"At Mrs. Stock's, the greengrocer's, miss," replied the girl.

"Who brought me here, and where is Mrs. Leatherby?"

"Missus can tell you all about it, miss; I've been here only four days myself, but they say you have been here a week, and out of your mind all the time."

I felt still more bewildered, when a rap at my door announced a visiter, and Mrs. Leatherby's Welsh cook entered.

"Oh! Patty," I exclaimed, "do tell me the meaning of all this? Who brought me here, and what is the matter?'

"I am almost ashamed to tell you, poor thing," said the kind-hearted woman; "but the truth is, master and mistress, seeing how bad you were, and, as the doctor said, like to die, they thought the sooner you was got out of their house the better. So they had you

lifted half dead into a hackney-coach and brought to this poor lodging. The family are all gone into the country, and I am left in their house with Jobson and his wife."

"What is to become of me, Patty? do you know?" I inquired. "Am I to join them when I get well?"

"God bless you, poor dear, why they have given you a month's warning,-have you forgotten it?

"I never heard a word about it, I assure you," answered I.

"Well, I thought as much," said the good woman; "for when you were so bad, they took Jobson up to your room as a witness that they gave it, and also left a warning in writing for you, with the four months' salary due to you, as master said there should be no mistake."

This cruel abandonment of me by the Leatherbys, after I had caught the fever by close attention to and incessant nursing of their sick children, cut me to the heart, and I burst into tears.

"Don't take on so, dear," said the compassionate Patty; "I came on purpose to see how you were, and what I could do for you. have been every day to see you, only you did not know me."

"Did Mrs. Leatherby desire you to come?" I asked.

"Not she," answered the woman; "she

thinks of nobody but herself, her watch, and her brats. I am resolved to give warning as soon as I can hear of a place; for if she will ill-treat such a pretty young creature as you are, when you are ill, too, how will she use such an old thing as I am?"

I found that the lodging I was in had been taken for a fortnight, ten days of which were expired. It was a poor place in a narrow street,

close to some mews.

I felt quite sick for want of fresh air, and hoped at the end of a week to be able to move.

I did not, however, like to go, or send to Mrs. Davies, who knew nothing of my illness, for fear of conveying the infection to her house; therefore, I begged my new friend to inform me if she knew of any respectable, cheap and airy lodging she could recommend to me for a fortnight or three weeks.

She made immediate inquiries of my landlady, who said that her brother had a “beautiful house" with a nice garden to it on the Bayswater Road, which he had built at his own expense, having made a mint of money in the

noble families in which he had lived as butler. She knew that he let lodgings, and as she intended to spend the following Sunday with him, she promised to find out whether he had a room disengaged.

I was rather afraid that such a "beautiful house" would be above my means, however, I thought I could but wait to hear the terms.

Patty now took her leave, promising to come to see me the next day.

Only those who have been neglected and left alone in the world as I have been, can imagine how pleased and soothed I was by the attention and kindness of this poor

woman.

About nine o'clock the same night, as I was lying restless on my miserable bed, thinking of the past, and dreading the future, my door opened, and to my surprise, Patty made her appearance in a great bustle, and in a state of considerable excitement.

I started up, exclaiming, "What is the matter?"

"Don't disturb yourself, my dear," said