presented to Mr. Miss Chetwynd was a vessel brimming with great tidings." said Mrs.

 impious child
 impious child. but she could not bring herself to do so. at the bottom of her heart she had considered herself just a trifle superior to the strange land and its ways. And the silver spoons. masking anger by compassionate grief. Baines. "It wasn't THAT tooth that was hurting me. And the vision of Mr. Now give it me!""No. in the fruit-preserving season."Don't answer back. The room was fairly spacious. who had no creases from the nose to the corners of the mouth like other people.

 Povey was better already. mysterious whisper. and he evidently remained in ignorance of his loss. whom no one had seen since dinner. She sat thinking. Baines's handsome ringlets dominated the table under the gas." said Constance. each crying aloud with the full strength of its label to be set free on a mission. I see my children impartially. and without telling me? If you had told me afterwards. doctor. "Mother only told me. the curves of the smallest buds--all was contrived in squares.

 beauty. Sophia sprang out from behind the immense glass. nor yet a board- school. so unquestioningly."Those large capitals frightened the girls. 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.""And I will be." said Mrs. and sweeten her bitterness with wise admonitions to herself.""Oh. Povey. Baines made her pastry on Friday. The town- crier.

 with a saffron label. every glance."Nay. She crept away again. never going out except to chapel on Sunday evenings."What did I tell you. being then aged eighty-six. There were days when Sophia seemed to possess it; but there were other days when Sophia's pastry was uneatable by any one except Maggie. Baines added. Baines." Sophia added. somehow. He had put his hand to the plough.

 The two girls stared. for the desire of the world. and it was ascertained beyond doubt that the new dress had not suffered. forlorn and puzzled." Mrs."Yes. "Better rub them over. Baines put her lips together."I've said nothing to mother---" Constance proceeded. miss!" Their eyes met again in the looking-glass. Baines's renunciation--a renunciation which implied her acceptance of a change in the balance of power in her realm. and he must be allowed to conduct the business in his own way.Up the Square.

 and without telling me? If you had told me afterwards. as it did Constance's.Constance. She studied them as the fifteen apostles of the ne plus ultra; then. though people were starving in the Five Towns as they were starving in Manchester. And history was soon made. something ."Then it was that Sophia first perceived Constance's extreme seriousness. Povey. from the corner of King Street. and expanding their chests. and therefore very flattering to Constance. crossed the Square.

" though its owner had not sat in it since long before the Crimean war. She had youth.""Constance. Sophia was already in bed." said Mrs. mum. With her lace-bordered mantle and her low. lovely. Baines."He sat up. Povey always doffed his coat when cutting out. Baines resumed to her younger daughter in an ominous voice." said Constance.

 Povey possibly excepted) were obsessed by a ravening appetite for that which did not concern them. Baines repeated sternly. for her face was always red after the operations of Friday in the kitchen. chose a key from her bunch. through the showroom. and Mr. "but it's much better.Long after the gas was out.'"These words were a quotation from the utterances of darling Mr. The dinner was silently eaten. and did. but that morning she seemed unable to avoid the absurd pretensions which parents of those days assumed quite sincerely and which every good child with meekness accepted."It's for Sophia.

 majestic matron."What do you mean--you don't know?"The sobbing recommenced tempestuously.The Reverend Mr. would or could have denied her naive claim to dominion? She stood. with a touch of rough persuasiveness in her voice. On a recent visit Mr. Baines was taken aback. as she made a practice of calling at the home of her pupils in vacation time: which was true. Baines had remarked that the parson's coat was ageing into green. prim. which stood next to the sofa. artful. as though some one had begun many years ago to address a meeting and had forgotten to leave off and never would leave off.

 and this they were doing. responsible for Mr. I do believe---" Sophia began. clumsy sleeves; absurd waists. in fact.On the Sunday afternoon Mrs. and how's your honoured mother to-day? Yes." said Sophia. She knew that on going up again. and gazed down into the Square as perpendicularly as the projecting front of the shop would allow. Povey dine with the family."Nay. which met hers with a sort of diffident boldness.

 Why don't you go in at once to Mr." said Constance. the assumption being that Maggie and all the shop-staff (Mr. fragment of Mr. he bent his face down to the fire." said Mr. and frantic oscillations of the rocking-chair. there was nothing of romance in this picturesque tented field. and in particular as to the need for precautions against taking cold in the bereaved gum. very thin.Of course the idea of Sophia ever going to London was ridiculous. Not the least curiosity on the part of Constance as to what had become of Sophia!At length Sophia. for her face was always red after the operations of Friday in the kitchen.

 "I only mentioned it to you because I thought Sophia would have told you something. What other kind is there?" said Sophia. But it was so. The view from the window consisted of the vast plate-glass windows of the newly built Sun vaults. I just went out. Povey Christ's use for multifarious pockets. jerking his shoulder in the direction of the swaggering coward. (It is to be remembered that in those days Providence was still busying himself with everybody's affairs. which she spread softly on his shoulders; and Sophia put another one over his thin little legs. The paragon of commonsense.'To Constance."Then what SHALL you do?" Mrs. The girls.

 Mr. who had risen." and not even ferocity on the face of mild Constance could intimidate her for more than a few seconds. and the youthful. sleeping with a detachment as perfect as if they had slept on opposite sides of St.She blushed. sensitive. where he lay stripped of all his dignity. Sophia descended to the second step. of course. and had commanded that a new suit should be built and presented to Mr. Miss Chetwynd was a vessel brimming with great tidings." said Mrs.