Louise saw this child waiting in the hall one Saturday morning, and
went down to talk to her. Tina was pretty, with great black eyes and
short dark curls, but Louise found her rather silent, for she was in
fact rather awed by her surroundings. The wide hall with its polished
floor and soft rugs seemed very grand to her unaccustomed eyes.
"I wish I could sew and embroider like your sister, then I could make
some money," said Louise.
Tina wondered why she wanted money, but only answered, "So do I."
"Bess and I have never enough money for Christmas. Is that what you
want it for?"
"No; I would give it to my father."
"Why, he wouldn't want it, would he? Hasn't he any money?"
Tina shook her head, and after some questioning she explained that her
father was a member of a small string band. He played the harp, she
said, and sometimes earned a good deal, but he had been sick, so he
lent his harp to a man who promised to keep his place for him and pay
him something besides. "But he was a bad man!" she exclaimed
vehemently, "for he broke the harp, and then ran away and would not
pay to have it mended; and now my father does not want to get well, he
is sick with sorrow."
"But can't he get it mended himself, or find the bad man and make him
pay for it?"
"It would cost a great deal of money,--fifteen dollars the music man
told my sister,--and the man who broke it has gone away to the South.
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