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 CHAPTER XVII.

A SENSATION IN "THE STAR."

When dinner was over, and the feminine boarders had filed upstairs as usual, a fresh shock awaited poor Prudence. There was sudden great excitement in the street. A dozen newsboys, with stentorian lungs, bellowed up and down Beaconsfield Gardens the words, "Extry Speschul—'orrible case—Re-volting details," alone being distinctly audible.

The women crowded to the window trying to hear, and speculating what the sensation might be. Major Jones went to the front door and bought a copy of The Star, which he kindly brought up to the drawing-room for the benefit of the ladies.

"Well, Major, what is it all about?" asked little Mrs. Whitley eagerly, when Major Jones entered the room.

"A dreadful Baby Farming Case," said the Major. "Fifteen babies discovered in