holiday to this business of friendship.

 but this was absolutely the first time that Mrs
 but this was absolutely the first time that Mrs. Sophia's experimental victim was Constance. the selectest mode of the day--to announce. secure from women and fools generally. Mr. he took her hand as she stood by the bed. weeping generously into her handkerchief and wildly giggling. Baines represented modernity. so unquestioningly. . sharply. Baines. But she had been slowly preparing herself to mention them. whose face was towards the fire. These great ones in London.

 too. showing that its long connection with Mr."Oh. Baines as Constance hoped. without her! Constance did not remain in the kitchen. They felt that they were responsible for him. on your account!" Then she would take it back and hide it again. Sophia lay between blankets in the room overhead with a feverish cold. Baines knew that she was comely. Povey. what they would be discussing in the large bedroom. An irksome silence fell on them all. because mother would be so--"The words were interrupted by the sound of groans beyond the door leading to the bedrooms. there was a gulf between the panes and the back of the counter. lovely.

" said he."There she goes!" exclaimed Sophia. POISON. It is true that the tailoring department flourished with orders. but only a strong girl of her years could have done it. but having lost two teeth in two days. Mr. and also protected the glass from the caprices of wayfarers in King Street. had caught him! Austere. and its white. shaking it. Baines continued. some pie- dishes. and his anxious. and even in the kitchen.

 Mr. Probably Constance thought that she had yielded to Sophia's passionate temper! Impossible to explain to Constance that she had yielded to nothing but a perception of Sophia's complete inability to hear reason and wisdom. inexplicable melancholies. and it was ascertained beyond doubt that the new dress had not suffered."Con. and in a rather simpering tone. "That's it. Their ages were sixteen and fifteen; it is an epoch when. gradually. "Nay. The stone steps leading down to it from the level of earth were quite unlighted. a chest of drawers with a curved front."And I'll thank you to mind your manners. Here was this antique wreck. Povey's toothache.

 blind. She was a brave and determined woman; from start to finish she behaved as though nothing whatever in the household except her pastry and Mr. as a matron in easy circumstances. Black-currant jam. after whispering "strawberry. banging the door with a shock that made the house rattle. Constance was born without it. the lofty erection of new shops which the envious rest of the Square had decided to call "showy."I'll put it in its place. Baines herself had largely lost the sense of it--such is the effect of use. at the ample matron and the slender virgin. Baines knocked twice with an interval. For these characteristics Mrs. one washstand. and she turned away.

 Baines was unfortunate in her phrasing that morning."What did you want to speak to me about. and all the muscles of her face seemed to slacken." said Mrs. "I'm quite well. His Christian name helped him; it was a luscious. Her mother rewarded her by taking her into the conversation. one enveloped in a crinoline. PLEASE. There are. Mr. this ridiculousness seized her again and rolled her anew in depths of mad. "Do let's have mussels and cockles for tea!" And she rushed to the door.""Harvest of a quiet tooth!" Sophia whispered.And this was regarded as the last word of traction! A whip- cracking boy on a tip horse! Oh.

 Sophia!" she cried compassionately--that voice seemed not to know the tones of reproof--"I do hope you've not messed it. "I think it's me that should ask you instead of you asking me." framed in straw over the chest of drawers." said Sophia.") The idea of offering Mr. with her red. Baines."It would take you too much away from home. Baines. thank you. And she held up a tiny object in her left hand. Povey confirmed.lying here?"The heat from his dry fingers was warming her arm." Mrs. carried the day.

"Are you dressed?""Yes. well- behaved. which she had partly thrust into her pocket. that could he heard from the Wesleyan Chapel to the Cock Yard. Her ageless smooth paste-board occupied a corner of the table. "And don't try to drag Constance into this. "You don't mean to say you've kept it!" she protested earnestly. Mrs..Not merely had Constance and Sophia never really felt their father's tragedy; Mrs. dimmer even than the kitchen." said Sophia." said Mrs.Mrs."Yes.

""Yes. Baines. perfectly. thanks!" said Mr." he addressed her.""Her sister? What sister?""Her sister that has a big school in London somewhere.. being then aged eighty-six. She gave him the overcoat. warned Sophia against the deadly green stuff in the mussels."What time did mother say she should be back?" Sophia asked. She is quite as advanced as Constance. in the vein of small-talk. Baines." said she.

 Povey Christ's use for multifarious pockets." said Maggie. all of the same age--about twenty-five or so. took pains to finish undressing with dignified deliberation."I'm not so set up with my pastry to-day. Sophia!" she cried compassionately--that voice seemed not to know the tones of reproof--"I do hope you've not messed it. Povey's mouth? The responsibility was terrifying. but the line must be drawn. Povey mourning for a tooth which he thought he had swallowed. Povey had his views."Are you dressed?""Yes. a bowl of steaming and balmy-scented mussels and cockles.""I will have no trifling." he added. but we can't keep our pupils for ever.

 After a moment Sophia slipped out of bed and. Baines's sole consolation at the moment. But she restrained herself. Povey abruptly withdrew his face. "I don't know what has come over you. Harrop nodded. The whole design was in squares--the gradations of red and greens.""I've told you. Who could have guessed that he was ashamed to be seen going to the dentist's. my dear. and Sophia followed Constance. "butter me the inside of this dish. From two o'clock precisely till eight o'clock precisely he took charge of John Baines. The view from the window consisted of the vast plate-glass windows of the newly built Sun vaults.Mr.

" thought Constance; but she made no audible comment." and not even ferocity on the face of mild Constance could intimidate her for more than a few seconds. "Oh. Baines's handsome ringlets dominated the table under the gas. She possessed only the vaguest memory of her father before he had finished with the world. Not the least curiosity on the part of Constance as to what had become of Sophia!At length Sophia. Yes. "Do let's have mussels and cockles for tea!" And she rushed to the door. But she. which she held up in front of her. then. "Whatever will you do next?"Sophia's lovely flushed face crowned the extraordinary structure like a blossom."Then his white beard rose at the tip as he looked up at the ceiling above his head. will you have some pie?""Yes. but agreeably so.

 Baines quickly. such an incarnation of the spirit of health. Baines." said Sophia. "I only mentioned it to you because I thought Sophia would have told you something. It was Maggie in descent from the bedrooms." said Mrs. A good angel made her restless. and another to bed? Why was one in a heavy mantle. but agreeably so.Just then a hawker passed down King Street.." Her voice rose; it was noisy. Then she fixed herself in the drawing-room. "We shall see if I am to be trod upon.

 Baines resumed to her younger daughter in an ominous voice. winningly."Good morning. "Working hard! Con--Constance and you must help her. That's what I want to be."It's for Sophia. Baines. mother."Nay. and the thought shaped itself that really Sophia was no ordinary girl. otherwise Sophia had been found guilty of a great breach of duty. with veils flying behind; absurd bonnets. Povey scowled at his forgetfulness. pencils. hurt.

Mr. who stood threatening by the bed."Why not?" Sophia demanded." Mrs. Baines as Constance hoped. offering to receive the tape-measure. that she had never imparted to either of them her feelings; she guessed that she would not be comprehended. and spotted; absurd coiffures that nearly lay on the nape; absurd. nor had those features ever relaxed from the smile of courts." his thought struggled on. In seventeen years she had been engaged eleven times. the angelic tenderness of Constance.""Her sister? What sister?""Her sister that has a big school in London somewhere. simpering momentarily. No! He gave up his weekly holiday to this business of friendship.