midnight
In all Chicopee was there a heart so crushed and bleeding as hers ? Yes , on the grass-plat at the foot of Mrs. Bender 's garden an orphan girl was pouring out her sorrow in tears which almost blistered her eyelids as they fell . Alice at last was sleeping , and Mary had come out to weep alone where there were none to see or hear . For her the future was dark and cheerless as midnight . No friends , no money , and no home , except the poor-house , from which young as she was , she instinctively shrank . `` My mother , oh , my mother , '' she cried , as she stretched her hands towards the clear blue sky , now that mother 's home , `` Why did n't I die too ? '' There was a step upon the grass , and looking up Mary saw standing near her , Mrs. Campbell 's English girl , Hannah .