toils. Critchlow.

Constance
Constance. Fixed otherwise." said Mrs. too!" said Sophia. butter. A middle-aged man was crossing the road from Boulton Terrace. without lifting her head. the regular and rapid grace of those fingers moving incessantly at back and front of the canvas. where she had caused a fire to be lighted. Mr.) "Ah! Here is dear Constance!"Constance. bad! Ye know trade's bad?" He was still clutching her arm. and unlocked and opened it. sugar- bowl. smarting eyes. to show in some way how much she sympathized with and loved everybody.

Baines. roguish. Mrs. "you're too sickening sometimes. Povey was assuming his coat. Certainly. He had zeal. for these princesses were far beyond human passions. he took her hand as she stood by the bed. mother?" the girl demanded with a sort of ferocity. mother. accustomed to the presence of the young virgins. She had no confidant; she was incapable of showing a wound. Mr."I've said nothing to mother---" Constance proceeded. But not this.

and that his left arm and left leg and his right eyelid were paralyzed. Gratis supplement to Myra's Journal. who. She lived under the eyes of her pupils. A good angel made her restless. Maggie appeared from the cave."Yes. and would never sit in it again. harsh."What ARE you laughing at. In pastry-making everything can be taught except the "hand." Mrs. John Baines was a personage."What time did mother say she should be back?" Sophia asked."Who's that for. nor a telephone.

decided to preserve her eyesight. proved indeed that Constance had ceased to be a mere girl. Povey's bed. as the penalty of that surpassing charm which occasionally emanated from the girl like a radiance. And there was a little shuffling."This is really MOST interesting!" said she. and confidently calm eyes that indicated her belief in her own capacity to accomplish whatever she could be called on to accomplish. Critchlow put the tray on a white-clad chest of drawers near the door. with a sort of cold alacrity. firmly. mother. Baines was the perfect and unthinkable madness of Sophia's infantile scheme. and then their intellects had kissed.""And I will be. and partly to their father's tendency to spoil them a little. If you think because you're leaving school you can do exactly as you like--""Do I want to leave school?" yelled Sophia.

and expanding their chests. She had youth. she did not understand it; but her mother (though a proud woman) and Constance seemed to practise such behaviour so naturally. One is born with this hand. They listened; not a sound. a busy time in the shop. rattling the toasting-fork. "There's one good thing. all of the same age--about twenty-five or so. and Mr.On the morning after Sophia's first essay in dentistry. And if you will be ill you must. but its utterance gave her relief. Now give it me!""No. Sophia's experimental victim was Constance. imposing.

"Shut that door. having foreseen that John Baines would have a "stroke" and need a faithful. "That's it. Mr. Less than two years previously old Dr." said Mr. Povey behind his back." said Constance. The groans." She put her head into the room. Povey her cheeks seemed to fill out like plump apples." said Mr."I suppose you and mother have been talking me over finely to- day?" Sophia burst forth. "Of course everything is changed now. Her employers were so accustomed to an interesting announcement that for years they had taken to saying naught in reply but 'Really."Then what SHALL you do?" Mrs.

"Not until supper. nor a telephone. chalk. Povey possibly excepted) were obsessed by a ravening appetite for that which did not concern them. as it did Constance's. beyond all undoing. cruel. This kitchen. all-wise mother was not present to tell them what to do. and worrying a seam of the carpet with her toes. 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. upon the whole. Povey."Poor old Maggie!" Constance murmured. Constance. silver without and silver-gilt within; glittering heirlooms that shone in the dark corner like the secret pride of respectable families.

"I suppose she has talked to you about becoming a teacher?" asked Miss Chetwynd. gloves."I didn't call you in here to be Mr. Povey!" Constance coughed discreetly. departing. Baines had genuinely shocked Miss Chetwynd. "I've swallowed it!""Swallowed what. and I should be--""I don't want to go into the shop. his wife and his friend. To Sophia." said Miss Chetwynd. The fact is. and also to form a birthday gift to Mrs. and he evidently remained in ignorance of his loss. fitting close to the head. Mr.

Boys had a habit of stopping to kick with their full strength at the grating."I suppose you and mother have been talking me over finely to- day?" Sophia burst forth. Povey was to set forth to Oulsnam Bros. she could ever be imbecile enough to set him free. . A deepening flush increased the lustre of her immature loveliness as she bent over him. Povey's sanctum."I should hope you haven't. Constance knew that her mother was referring to the confectioner's wife; she gathered that the hope was slight in the extreme. He had even added that persons who put off going to the dentist's were simply sowing trouble for themselves. It was undeniable. which might not touch anything but flour.""Oh. and that if he was not careful she would have him on her hands. Baines was the perfect and unthinkable madness of Sophia's infantile scheme..

Sleep's the best thing for him. The view from the window consisted of the vast plate-glass windows of the newly built Sun vaults. undersized man. John Baines enjoyed these Thursday afternoons. with secret self-accusations and the most dreadful misgivings. She lived seventeen hours of each day in an underground kitchen and larder.She had accomplished this inconceivable transgression of the code of honour. She got halfway upstairs to the second floor. Povey her cheeks seemed to fill out like plump apples. and rank in her favour. Povey must not swallow the medicine. Baines added. the angelic tenderness of Constance. "What if I did go out?""Sophia."Who's that for..

"Now. "And it's as loose as anything. Nothing fresh?" This time he lifted his eyes to indicate Mr. sugar-tongs."Oh. But Constance sprang to her. Povey was better already. Archibald takes the keenest interest in the school. Baines. Sophia's behaviour under the blow seemed too good to be true; but it gave her courage. It utterly overcame her. and that the active member of the Local Board. Povey. Constance was braced into a moveless anguish. "We shall see if I am to be trod upon. had been transformed from John Baines into a curious and pathetic survival of John Baines.

"I don't suppose they'll be long over my bit of a job. Povey Christ's use for multifarious pockets. Baines.Then a pause. was carrying a large tray."("I gave way over the castor-oil. Baines put her lips together. Another doorway on the other side of the kitchen led to the first coal-cellar. London. arranged his face. gazed." whispered Constance. Povey. Their ages were sixteen and fifteen; it is an epoch when." she summoned her sister. He was under twenty and not out of his apprenticeship when Mr.

and only a wooden partition. as if to imply. Povey. "Of course everything is changed now. at the extremity of the Square. I hope?""Oh yes. nor had those features ever relaxed from the smile of courts. For Archibald Jones was one of the idols of the Wesleyan Methodist Connexion. It is true that the tailoring department flourished with orders."Hi! Povey!" cried a voice from the Square. but she usually reserved it for members of her own sex." said Constance."She is very well.)"I'm waiting.With the profound. and the rocking-chairs with their antimacassars.

The words "North" and "South" had a habit of recurring in the conversation of adult persons. and the ruddy driver. not for herself. Even the ruined organism only remembered fitfully and partially that it had once been John Baines. and he wanted to tell Mr."The doctor. harsh."Yes."Mother's new dress is quite finished.. "Laudanum. Sophia?""Nothing.Constance's confusion was equal to her pleasure."Has he gone back to his bedroom?""Let's go and listen. Fixed otherwise. "No.

to divert attention from her self-consciousness. a bowl of steaming and balmy-scented mussels and cockles. mother. and a plate of hot buttered toast." Sophia put in tersely. through the showroom. leading to two larders. below. She happened to be. and I said to myself."Yes. as far as the knuckles. "Of course everything is changed now. Maggie had been at the shop since before the creation of Constance and Sophia. Sophia!" she cried compassionately--that voice seemed not to know the tones of reproof--"I do hope you've not messed it. The experience of being Sophia's mother for nearly sixteen years had not been lost on Mrs.

Baines. and therefore very flattering to Constance. And as they handed the cup to Mr. picking up a bag from the counter. Baines. 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. and decided once more that men were incomprehensible. Baines wore black alpaca.Mrs. impious child. Constance was foolishly good-natured. Dusk had definitely yielded to black night in the bedroom. tried to imitate her mother's tactics as the girls undressed in their room. as the delicate labour of the petals and leaves was done. having caught a man in her sweet toils. Critchlow.