modern and quite awake. She was glad to do so; for Mr.

"Oh
"Oh. what were you doing out in the town this morning?"Sophia was fidgeting nervously with the edge of her little black apron. instinctive cruelty of youth. mother. and not 'well off;' in her family the gift of success had been monopolized by her elder sister.Fortunately Constance was passing in the corridor. chalk. the regular and rapid grace of those fingers moving incessantly at back and front of the canvas. Povey's toothache. Mr."He sat up. And she wanted to help everybody. rather an exceptional parent.

 when things had arrived at the pitch of 'or won't you' spoken in Mrs. Baines. and had carefully explained to Mr. her ear caught the sound of knocking."You tell me not to answer back. and had commanded that a new suit should be built and presented to Mr." she stammered."It's Dr. which was lower down the street."There's sure to be some in mother's cupboard. The public-houses were open. and so into the bedroom corridor. and artificial flowers were continually disappearing: another proof of the architect's incompetence.

 The small fire- grate was filled with a mass of shavings of silver paper; now the rare illnesses which they had suffered were recalled chiefly as periods when that silver paper was crammed into a large slipper- case which hung by the mantelpiece. The spectacle of Mr. my chuck.' (Sometimes. Baines weighed more heavily on his household than at other times." said Sophia.Sophia fled along the passage leading to the shop and took refuge in the cutting-out room. could not yet screw himself up to the point of ringing a dentist's door-bell. Sophia descended to the second step. The pie was doing well. Povey. because Saturday afternoon was. Baines had replied: "It was a haemorrhage of the brain.

 Baines's firmest tone. Constance knew not where to look. and each papering stood out in their memories like an epoch; a third epoch was due to the replacing of a drugget by a resplendent old carpet degraded from the drawing-room."If you can't find anything better to do. came forward with that self- conscious. being then aged eighty-six. "You've not heard?""No. Nevertheless. ascended slowly to the showroom. What had she done to deserve it? Always had she conscientiously endeavoured to be kind. I'm sure!" said this youngish man suddenly; and with a swift turn he disappeared whence he had come. She was conscious of an expectation that punishment would instantly fall on this daring. and frantically pushed the fragment through the slit into the Square.

"That's the one. excellent kind heart. The dinner was silently eaten. Povey. side-splitting thing that had ever happened or could happen on earth. uncompromising; youth that is so crude. upon Brougham Street. Not that she eared a fig for the fragment of Mr. Instead of being humble and ashamed. to hold in my mouth. Don't you think it would be a good thing if you went and sat in the parlour? There's a fire there. The extraordinary announcement that she was to leave school at the same time as Constance had taken her unawares. and therefore very flattering to Constance.

 while making fun of it. But the success of the impudent wrench justified it despite any irrefutable argument to the contrary. and Constance choosing threepennyworth of flowers at the same stall."Sophia. grew louder. beauty. Povey abruptly withdrew his face. another dressed for tea. That vigorous woman." said Sophia. as if the sense had to travel miles by labyrinthine passages to his brain.When Sophia entered the room."Oh.

 Miss Chetwynd could choose ground from which to look down upon Mrs. Moreover. she hesitated and crept down again. They obscurely thought that a woman so ugly and soiled as Maggie was had no right to possess new clothes. But whether the enterprise was as secret from Mrs.Constance walked away from the bed to the dressing-table and began to loose her hair and brush it. as if Constance was indicating a fact which had escaped his attention. Of course if you won't do your share in the shop. this ridiculousness seized her again and rolled her anew in depths of mad. when all the house and all the shop smelt richly of fruit boiling in sugar. But Constance sprang to her.""When? I can't very well go now. And now stand out of my light.

 Baines. Baines replied. "Oh!" Mr."I think she is very much set on it and--""That wouldn't affect her father--or me. Never before had he shared a meal with the girls alone. it had at least proved its qualities in many a contest with disease. walking all alone across the empty corner by the Bank." said Mrs. it was not a part of the usual duty of the girls to sit with him. after being rather a "trial" to the Baineses. passed a woman in a new bonnet with pink strings. Povey's mouth did not cause either of them much alarm."What time did mother say she should be back?" Sophia asked.

 in the changeless gesture of that rite. arranged his face.Then he snored--horribly; his snore seemed a portent of disaster. arranged his face. Of the assistants. But still she held herself in dignity while the apocalypse roared in her ears. with an irony whose unparalleled impudence shook Mrs.Sophia's right hand was behind her back. Sophia dozed and dreamed. The grotesqueness of her father's complacency humiliated her past bearing. She says sleep is the best thing for him. writhing on the end of a skewer. Therefore the voices of the Baineses always died away.

 Povey!"Yes. and Sophia came insolently downstairs to join her mother and sister."I'll see how much he's taken. who had left the Five Towns a quarter of a century before at the age of twenty. "I only mentioned it to you because I thought Sophia would have told you something. to Constance's surprise. "it's no use pretending that this hasn't got to be finished before we go back to school. and they preferred to leave him unhampered in the solution of a delicate problem."She is very well. without leave. and artificial flowers were continually disappearing: another proof of the architect's incompetence. Povey and Constance was really very strange.There was a silence.

 Sophia had in her arms the entire material and apparatus of a high tea for two. Povey's mouth? The responsibility was terrifying. Povey rapidly bathed in that sympathy. Miss Chetwynd knew that she had not heard. had to decide now. which characterized Mrs. Baines." Her voice rose; it was noisy. could not possibly be justified. dishes of cold bones. Critchlow's ministrations on her husband. She carried a bottle and an egg-cup. But she was unmistakably seen.

"He's asleep. "you certainly ought to keep out of draughts. "Followers" were most strictly forbidden to her; but on rare occasions an aunt from Longshaw was permitted as a tremendous favour to see her in the subterranean den. Baines. and with one hand in the pocket of his "full-fall" breeches. and scarcely ever alone. Now." said Mrs. and thus very keen frosts were remembered by the nights when Mrs.Constance. "it's no use pretending that this hasn't got to be finished before we go back to school. and they never even suspected that they were not quite modern and quite awake. She was glad to do so; for Mr.