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OTHER BOOKS
BY BERTHA B. AND ERNEST COBB

ARLO
CLEMATIS
ANITA
PATHWAYS
ALLSPICE
DAN'S BOY
PENNIE
ANDRE
ONE FOOT ON THE GROUND
ROBIN

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[Illustration: "Are you going to sit here all day, little girl?"]

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CLEMATIS

By
BERTHA B. AND ERNEST COBB

Authors of Arlo, Busy Builder's Book,
Hand in Hand With Father Time, etc.

With illustrations by
A. G. Cram
and
Willis Levis

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
New York and London

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Copyright, 1917

By BERTHA B. and ERNEST COBB

Entered at Stationers' Hall, London
for Foreign Countries

Twenty-second Impression

All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, must
not be reproduced in any form without permission.

Made in the United States of America

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Somerset, Mass.

Dear Priscilla:

You have taken such a fancy to little Clematis that we hope other
children may like her, too. We may not be able to buy you all the
ponies, and goats, and dogs, and cats that you would like, but we
will dedicate the book to you, and then you can play with all the
animals Clematis has, any time you wish.

                                          With much love, from
                                       Bertha B. and Ernest Cobb.

To Miss Priscilla Cobb.

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CONTENTS

Chapter                                  Page
     1.  Lost in a Big City                 1
     2.  The Children's Home               16
     3.  The First Night                   28
     4.  Who is Clematis?                  41
     5.  Clematis Begins to Learn          52
     6.  Clematis Has a Hard Row to Hoe    61
     7.  What Clematis Found               72
     8.  A Visitor                         86
     9.  The Secret                        97
    10.  Two Doctors                      109
    11.  A Long, Anxious Night            121
    12.  Getting Well                     134
    13.  Off for Tilton                   145
    14.  The Country                      160
    15.  Clematis Tries to Help           172
    16.  Only a Few Days More             186
    17.  Where is Clematis?               200
    18.  Hunting for Clematis             215
    19.  New Plans                        230
    20.  The True Fairy Story             237

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ILLUSTRATIONS

1. "Are you going to sit here all day, little girl?"
2. "I don't want to stay here if you're going to throw my cat away."
3. With Katie in the kitchen.
4. Thinking of the land of flowers.
5. Clematis held out her hand.
6. Clematis is better.
7. Off for Tilton.
8. In the country at last.
9. The little red hen.
10. Clematis watched the little fishes by the shore.
11. "I shan't be afraid."
12. A little girl was coming up the path.
13. Deborah was very hungry.
14. "Didn't you ever peel potatoes?"
15. "What are you sewing?"
16. Clematis stuck one hand out.
17. She could see the little fish.
18. In Grandfather's house.

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CLEMATIS

CHAPTER I

LOST IN THE BIG CITY


It was early Spring. A warm sun shone down upon the city street. On
the edge of the narrow brick sidewalk a little girl was sitting.

Her gingham dress was old and shabby. The short, brown coat had lost
all its buttons, and a rusty pin held it together.

A faded blue cap partly covered her brown hair, which hung in short,
loose curls around her face.

She had been sitting there almost an hour when a policeman came
along.

"I wonder where that girl belongs," he said, as he looked down at
her. "She is a new one on Chambers Street."

He walked on, but he looked back as he walked, to see if she went
away.

The child slowly raised her big, brown eyes to look after him. She
watched him till he reached the corner by the meat shop; then she
looked down and began to kick at the stones with her thin boots.

At this moment a bell rang. A door opened in a building across the
street, and many children came out.

As they passed the little girl, some of them looked at her. One
little boy bent down to see her face, but she hid it under her arm.

"What are you afraid of?" he asked. "Who's going to hurt you?"

She did not answer.

Another boy opened his lunch box as he passed, and shook out the
pieces of bread, left from his lunch.

Soon the children were gone, and the street was quiet again.

The little girl kicked at the stones a few minutes; then she looked
up. No one was looking at her, so she reached out one little hand
and picked up a crust of bread.

In a wink the bread was in her mouth. She reached out for another,
brushed off a little dirt, and ate that also.

Just then the policeman came down the street from the other corner.
The child quickly bent her head and looked down.

This time he came to where she sat, and stopped.

"Are you going to sit here all day, little girl?" he asked.

She did not answer.

"Your mother will be looking for you. You'd better run home now,
like a good girl. Where do you live, anyway?"

He bent down and lifted her chin, so she had to look up at him.

"Where do you live, miss? Tell us now, that's a good girl."

"I don't know." The child spoke slowly, half afraid.

"O come now, of course you know, a big girl like you ought to know.
What's the name of the street?"

"I don't know."

"Ah, you're only afraid of me. Don't be afraid of Jim Cunneen now.
I've a little girl at home just about your age."

He waited for her to answer, but she said nothing.

"Come miss, you must think. How can I take you home if you don't
tell me where you live?"

"I don't know."

"Oh, dear me! That is all I get for an answer. Well then, I'll have
to take you down to the station. May be you will find a tongue down
there."

As he spoke, he took hold of her arm to help her up. Then he tried
one more question.

"What is your name?"

"My name is Clematis."

As she spoke she moved her arm, and out from the coat peeped a
kitten. It was white, with a black spot over one eye.

"There, that is better," answered the policeman. "Now tell me your
last name."

"That is all the name I have, just Clematis."

"Well then, what is your father's name?"

"I haven't any father."

"Ah, that is too bad, dear. Then tell me your mother's name." He
bent down lower to hear her reply.

"I haven't any mother, either."

"No father? No mother?" The policeman lifted her gently to her feet.
"Well miss, we won't stay here any longer. It is getting late."

Just then the kitten stuck its head out from her coat and said,
"Miew."

It seemed very glad to move on.

"What's that now, a cat? Where did you get that?"

"It is my kitty, my very own, so I kept it. I didn't steal it. Its
name is Deborah, and it is my very own."

"Ah, now she is finding her tongue," said the policeman, smiling;
while Clematis hugged the kitten.

But the little girl could tell him no more, so he led her along the
street toward the police station.

Before they had gone very far, they passed a baker's shop.

In the window were rolls, and cookies, and buns, and little cakes
with jam and frosting on them.

The smell of fresh bread came through the door.

"What is the matter, miss?" The man looked down, as Clematis stood
still before the window.

She was looking through the glass, at the rolls, and cakes, and
cookies.

[Illustration: "I don't want to stay here if you are going to
throw my cat away"]

The policeman smelled the fresh bread, and it made him hungry.

"Are you hungry, little girl?" he asked, looking down with a smile.

"Wouldn't you be hungry if you hadn't had anything to eat all day
long?" Clematis looked up at him with tears in her big brown eyes.

"Nothing to eat all day? Why, you must be nearly starved!" As he
spoke, the policeman started into the store, pulling Clematis after
him.

She was so surprised that she almost dropped her kitten.

"Miew," said poor Deborah, as if she knew they were going to starve
no longer. But it was really because she was squeezed so tight she
couldn't help it.

"Now, Miss Clematis, do you see anything