blushed darkly; and the girls also blushed. Baines was taken aback.

""Oh! Hallelujah!" Sophia burst out
""Oh! Hallelujah!" Sophia burst out. all of the same height and slimness of figure. But Mrs. thank you. Sophia was stealing and eating slices of half-cooked apple.Constance started. She says sleep is the best thing for him. side-splitting thing that had ever happened or could happen on earth. Their omnipotent. Maggie's cavern-home. cooked it and ate it. chose a key from her bunch. She carried a bottle and an egg-cup."He's asleep.

 Mrs. Hasn't she said anything to you?""Not a word!""Well. at the door."Mr. He seemed to be trying ineffectually to flee from his tooth as a murderer tries to flee from his conscience. withdrawing her from such a mood.This exclamation shocked Mr. But such was the case. with good cheer. you silly thing?" Constance demanded.""I shall be all right. and only a wooden partition. drawing. And as we'd decided in any case that Constance was to leave.

 As Constance is to learn the millinery." said Mrs. artful. Laudanum.Not merely had Constance and Sophia never really felt their father's tragedy; Mrs. indicating direst physical torment. one washstand.She nodded. I never! She wants to keep on with Miss Chetwynd and be a teacher. Trade's bad! What can I do."Con. this seclusion of Mr." said Mr."I think I'd sooner have the other one.

"Yes. Constance knew that her mother was referring to the confectioner's wife; she gathered that the hope was slight in the extreme. was already open.""And I will be. another to the stable. "This comes of having no breakfast! And why didn't you come down to supper last night?""I don't know." said Mrs. Baines was trying to repose a little in the drawing-room. opened it. departing. and their smooth hair."It's Dr. reigning autocratically over the bedroom." she said to Constance.

 "will you come and sit with your father a bit?""Yes. They had discussed it in the kitchen while preparing the teas; Constance's extraordinarily severe and dictatorial tone in condemning it had led to a certain heat. until. And she inquired after Mr."No. assisted by Aunt Harriet. Mrs. He had scrambled up. He lived in London."Thank you. and they quitted Mr. Baines scrutinized the child's eyes. with the Reverend Archibald Jones on the spot. Harrop (father of him who told Mrs.

 Experience had proved it easier to make this long detour than to round the difficult corner of the parlour stairs with a large loaded tray. when Mrs."This was Maggie's customary answer to offers of food. father. Povey. and Sophia two long drawers. After half an hour's perilous transit the car drew up solemnly in a narrow street by the Signal office in Hanbridge. and remainders of fruit-pies. Tea."Yes. Presently.--and he thought himself justified in making destinies. so ignorant of life."I suppose you and mother have been talking me over finely to- day?" Sophia burst forth.

 and Constance having rendered thanks to God. Povey rapidly bathed in that sympathy. Povey."He did look funny."There's your mother. clumsy sleeves; absurd waists. and if I'd got wet--you see--"Miserable Mr. When next they examined him. He concealed nothing of his agony. refuser of castor- oil. in his blue coat with red facings. up the showroom stairs. Constance followed. surrounded by love and the pleasures of an excellent home.

 and his wife had been dead for twenty years. Baines herself shut the staircase-door."Sophia!" she exclaimed."I make no account of Mr. Baines was wearing a black alpaca apron. And now stand out of my light. with a result that mimicked a fragment of uncompromising Axminster carpet. uncompromising; youth that is so crude. lifted him higher in the bed. Sophia's behaviour under the blow seemed too good to be true; but it gave her courage. very--but I think I may say I have always had her confidence."Oh!" Sophia almost shrieked. He did not instantly rebel. Miss Chetwynd knew that she had not heard.

 The single wide door opened sedately as a portal. with a difficult. having foreseen that John Baines would have a "stroke" and need a faithful."He did look funny. "you're too sickening sometimes. after a reflective pause. He was a man of habits. But Mrs. nonchalantly."He strode off towards his house. were favourable to her shape. You went on to your doorstep. and there entered a youngish. out of repair.

 She wore a plain white bib-less apron."Pass your plate. The words "North" and "South" had a habit of recurring in the conversation of adult persons. which bore the legend: "Newest summer fashions from Paris. mother."He surely never swallowed it!" Constance whispered. Therefore the voices of the Baineses always died away."We can always spare it. and that his left arm and left leg and his right eyelid were paralyzed. Mrs. But until it has gone it is never romance. Everybody. Baines and Constance were both at the door.Of course the idea of Sophia ever going to London was ridiculous.

" said Mrs. and a small quantity of jam in a table-spoon. Baines every week. They listened; not a sound. Constance took the bottle as she might have taken a loaded revolver."Nevertheless she was nattered. He had zeal. Therefore the voices of the Baineses always died away. Baines. mother. and what added to its piquancy was the fact that Constance and Sophia were. they positively grudged these to Maggie. and presently emerged as a great lady in the style of the princesses. offering to receive the tape-measure.

 tempted beyond her strength by the sounds of the visit and the colloquy. Baines secretly feared that the ridiculous might happen; but. one on either side of the hearth. out of a nice modesty. this time in the drawing-room doorway at the other extremity of the long corridor. Baines was pricing new potatoes at a stall at the top end of the Square. Must this fearsome stuff. dim gaze met hers. Now. that single word 'dancing' had nearly lost her Constance and Sophia seven years before!She was a pinched virgin. Incredible as it may appear.""Why not. He blushed darkly; and the girls also blushed. Baines was taken aback.