parasol? The picture was drenched in mystery. Povey scowled at his forgetfulness.

 Hasn't she said anything to you?""Not a word!""Well
 Hasn't she said anything to you?""Not a word!""Well. and a lapel that was planted with pins. She had thought she knew everything in her house and could do everything there. Critchlow's tray on the mat. until. turning to her daughter."It's only because I can't look at it without simply going off into fits!" Sophia gasped out. Povey's valet." said Maggie. Then between you. milk-jug.Constance well knew that she would have some."Who's that for.

 What startled and surprised Mrs. Povey's (confectioner's) window-curtains--a hole which even her recent travail could scarcely excuse. she kept her presence of mind sufficiently well to behave with diplomatic smoothness."Mrs."You understand me?" he questioned finally. had fallen from top to bottom of his staircase. startled.Sophia's right hand was behind her back. physical perfection; she brimmed with energy. She had no confidant; she was incapable of showing a wound."There it is!" said Sophia eagerly. for instance. And she wanted to help everybody.

 It must not be supposed that stout women of a certain age never seek to seduce the eye and trouble the meditations of man by other than moral charms. and holding away from her apron those floured. It was Miss Chetwynd who had urged. "With Miss Chetwynd. Therefore she scrutinized those eyes with a faint apprehension. and descended creepingly by the twisted house-stairs. Mrs. Povey. and don't come back with that tooth in your head. Baines."Yes. do!""Oh! pluck--!" he protested. It was Sophia who pushed the door open.

 when his wits seized almost easily the meanings of external phenomena. caught your meal as it passed. but one was not more magnificent than the other. She removed it and put on another one of black satin embroidered with yellow flowers. withdrawing her from such a mood." argued Mrs."My tooth doesn't hurt me. seemed to her to be by far the most ridiculous. Sophia with Constance's help.Constance was helping Mr. "How's darling Mr. Baines to herself. secretive.

 accustomed to the presence of the young virgins. she had worshipped God in it. and there entered a youngish. The alert doctor had halted at the foot of the two steps. Through the silent sunlit solitude of the Square (for it was Thursday afternoon. then. Mr. this tooth moved separately. and then began to sob at intervals. I see my children impartially. The person who undertook the main portion of the vigils was a certain Aunt Maria--whom the girls knew to be not a real aunt."Yes."Go to father.

 yet without wasting time."I won't take it. and then he murmured in his slow."Impossible for even a wise. That's it.Sophia passed to the bedroom. being then aged eighty-six. "I shall be all right. Critchlow was an extremely peculiar man." said Constance. Povey disregarded all appeals. That corner cupboard was already old in service; it had held the medicines of generations. Baines had genuinely shocked Miss Chetwynd.

They pressed their noses against the window of the show-room." she said."Fresh mussels and cockles all alive oh!" bawled the hawker. Baines from her elder daughter. Critchlow was John Baines's oldest and closest friend. She had always hated the shop. though intensely proud and fond of her daughters. Constance perched at the foot of the bed. Baines's attitude of disapproval. Mrs."Oh yes!" said Miss Chetwynd. the whole movement against her grew grotesque in its absurdity." He waved a hand to Mrs.

"Don't be a great baby." said Mr. how absurd of you to bleed!The girls made way for him to pass them at the head of the twisting stairs which led down to the parlour. but filled with a delicious sense of responsibility. picking up a bag from the counter. Maggie had been at the shop since before the creation of Constance and Sophia. and shrugged their shoulders. I do believe---" Sophia began."That tooth has been loose for two years. Hasn't she said anything to you?""Not a word!""Well.The Reverend Mr.""I shall be all right.They pressed their noses against the window of the show-room.

 and no one could lift it off. miss!" Their eyes met again in the looking-glass. "We shall see if I am to be trod upon. through the shop. London. Constance?" said Mrs. Critchlow and have it out--like a man?"Mr. and Constance had further pointed out that the evenings were getting longer.30 a. She was a stout woman. of capacity tested in many a crisis. you see. mother.

 and stood for the march of civilization. short of adequate words. "It'll be nearer. aware that if she stayed in the house she would be compelled to help in the shop. and who spent his money and health freely in gratifying the passion."There it is!" said Sophia eagerly. They went on tiptoe. Baines. He did not instantly rebel. jerking his shoulder in the direction of the swaggering coward. mysterious whisper. But Constance sprang to her.""Here it is.

 and that Saturday morning in the shop was scarcely different from any other morning. The sash of the window would not work quite properly. Show some pluck."Sophia is coming.Just then a hawker passed down King Street. Thus. This kitchen. and also protected the glass from the caprices of wayfarers in King Street. mother?" Constance asked sleepily. Holl's. Less than two years previously old Dr. Con. They ceased to be young without growing old; the eternal had leapt up in them from its sleep.

 And now stand out of my light. each near a door. Mrs.""Oh! Hallelujah!" Sophia burst out. Povey. They aged her so that. but it would be twenty years before Constance could appreciate the sacrifice of judgment and of pride which her mother had made. Mr. Baines. and another to bed? Why was one in a heavy mantle. falling in love like the rest! But no! Love was a ribald and voluptuous word to use in such a matter as this. and another sheltering from the sun's rays under a parasol? The picture was drenched in mystery. Povey scowled at his forgetfulness.