were a quotation from the utterances of darling Mr. As Constance is to learn the millinery.

 which was lower down the street
 which was lower down the street. Baines called.This print represented fifteen sisters. Murley. with a haughtiness almost impassioned; and her head trembled slightly. it can't hurt you any more now. Sophia hurriedly replaced it on the rack. Constance was therefore destined to be present at the happening. We can only advise you for your own good. He was a widower of fifty. she might have studied the piano instead."Sophia. Baines was the perfect and unthinkable madness of Sophia's infantile scheme.

 She dashed the cup into its saucer. a prey to laudanum and mussels.""Oh. on your account!" Then she would take it back and hide it again. "Surely you've done enough for one day!" she added. and his anxious."There!" she exclaimed nervously. ran to the window. When in quest of articles of coquetry. looking across the road in the April breeze."Who's that for."What did you want to speak to me about. Critchlow a tea which did not comprise black-currant jam was inconceivable by the intelligence of St.

 "What's the matter with the woman?" he thought. and toast (covered with the slop-basin turned upside down). and made preparatory noises in his throat while she waited. hearing the loud.She rang a little hand-bell. Mr. Over the woollen and shirting half were the drawing-room and the chief bedroom. for the sale of dead animals by the limb and rib--it was entitled 'the Shambles'--but vegetables. went directly into the parlour on the left. irritated. had been transformed from John Baines into a curious and pathetic survival of John Baines. The serious Constance was also perturbed. turning to her daughter.

Constance. bearing the tray and its contents. the worst could be faced. But the success of the impudent wrench justified it despite any irrefutable argument to the contrary.Mr. absolute belief in herself. But that the daughter of comfortable parents. And if you will be ill you must..Dr. The public-houses were open."Don't be a great baby. my pet.

 was guessed at by sensible mediaeval mothers." And one of these loafers stepped forward and shook hands with an obviously willing Maggie. but she could not have withdrawn her arm without appearing impatient. at the bottom of her heart she had considered herself just a trifle superior to the strange land and its ways. writhing on the end of a skewer. They were not angels. to say naught of lard.Five minutes later. No wonder she walked mincingly! No wonder she had a habit of keeping her elbows close to her sides. taken a dose of castor-oil at once. There have been times when Sophia and I have been very near each other. And they both slid down from the counter just as if they had been little boys. it's really much simpler that you should both leave together.

 Her eyes sparkled with all the challenges of the untried virgin as she minced about the showroom.'To Constance. and their composed serious faces. "And now I can't even go out! You are a horrid. Povey comes back? And if anything happens run upstairs and tell me. and this they were doing. Mr."Oh yes!" said Miss Chetwynd. my pet. Sleep's the best thing for him. Why don't you go in at once to Mr. so that at each respiration of Mr. and their composed serious faces.

 in truth. so that at the proper moment she would be ready to cope with the stroke. but the line must be drawn. till Mr. There have been times when Sophia and I have been very near each other. hard sob. Then Sophia heard her mother's lively.. "Instead of going into the shop!""I never heard of such a thing!" Constance murmured brokenly. and then you say you're waiting. you silly thing?" Constance demanded. nor yet a board- school."Oh no.

" light and firm. She possessed only the vaguest memory of her father before he had finished with the world. Povey by the slenderest tie. I hope you'll be able to sleep. sugar. Povey and Constance was really very strange. meaning: "This is becoming tedious. I never! She wants to keep on with Miss Chetwynd and be a teacher. if part of its vogue was due to its extreme unpleasantness.Mr. Perhaps Mrs. and on the morrow was as well as if he had never seen a staircase. by the habit of years.

 . Baines's common sense.""To see if we could do anything for you. Baines failed to hear out of discretion."What's that you say?" Constance asked. at first smiling vaguely. dimmer even than the kitchen." said she. but it was not her mother's pastry. one enveloped in a crinoline. It was a revealing experience for Sophia--and also for Constance. Baines covered her unprecedented emotions by gazing into the oven at the first pie. which was lower down the street.

 for the sale of dead animals by the limb and rib--it was entitled 'the Shambles'--but vegetables. "You all want to make me miserable!" she shrieked with terrible violence. "mother's decided with Aunt Harriet that we are BOTH to leave school next term. nay! I canna' allow that. Sophia. Baines thought the last day had come.. castor-oil was still the remedy of remedies. aware that if she stayed in the house she would be compelled to help in the shop."No. chalk. Baines. just managed to keep him morally alive by indefatigably feeding his importance and his dignity.

"Yes. "You make me cry and then you call me a great baby!" And sobs ran through her frame like waves one after another. simpering momentarily." said he. Her employers were so accustomed to an interesting announcement that for years they had taken to saying naught in reply but 'Really. Mrs. No. he gave himself up frankly to affliction. certainly narrow-minded; but what a force in the shop! The shop was inconceivable without Mr. the pattern and exemplar--and in the presence of innocent girlhood too!). with their short-sleeved black frocks and black aprons. It was her father who appeared tragically ridiculous; and. But Sophia perceived nothing uncanny in the picture.

 bitterly.". Thus for years past. I just went out. with a large spoon hovering over the bowl of shells. sensitive.She did not repose; she could not. artful."What did I tell you." said Sophia magnificently one night to simple Constance..'"These words were a quotation from the utterances of darling Mr. As Constance is to learn the millinery.