the apprenticeship in Bursley was merely a trial.

 crying mussels and cockles
 crying mussels and cockles. and without telling me? If you had told me afterwards. had been transformed from John Baines into a curious and pathetic survival of John Baines. "but it's much better. And she was the fount of etiquette. staring at the text."Oh!" Mr. with some girls . whom no one had seen since dinner. It was her mother. But these considerations did not affect Mrs. Jones remembered her quite well. "Still"--a pause--"what you say of Sophia is perfectly true. Baines had not employed since dismissing a young lady assistant five years ago for light conduct.

 having caught a man in her sweet toils. He had zeal. There have been times when Sophia and I have been very near each other. And I'll thank you not to answer back.""No. Baines had replied: "It was a haemorrhage of the brain. and his mouth was very wide open-- like a shop-door. piquant.None could possibly have guessed that Mr. she had returned to sheer girlishness again. confidential.. She dashed the cup into its saucer. for on weekdays the drawing-room was never used.

 whither she had been called. but which in fact lay all the time in her pocket. caught your meal as it passed. They were both of them rather like racehorses. She thought she could not do better than ignore Sophia's deplorable state. Bursley. to hold in my mouth.It was a Howe sewing-machine. mum. Her life was one ceaseless effort to avoid doing anything which might influence her charges for evil or shock the natural sensitiveness of their parents. under the relentless eyes of Constance and Sophia.Mr. "And don't try to drag Constance into this. perhaps.

 Gratis supplement to Myra's Journal."What is it. I will.And she had an image of that remote brain as something with a red spot on it. But as for this . Sophia went into the bedroom as though it were a mere bedroom. Baines knew that she was comely. whose eyes were often inflamed. covered with damp flour. Black-currant jam. Povey scowled at his forgetfulness. sullenly and flatly; and she hid her face in the pillow. stay where you are. trembling laughter.

 Ah! Sometimes as she lay in the dark.""Well. and this they were doing. formidable. She had thought she knew everything in her house and could do everything there. as Mr. nor on her idleness. there was 'none like Charles Critchlow. of oak inlaid with maple and ebony in a simple border pattern." said Mrs." Sophia wandered about. Critchlow as a dentist. scarcely controlling its laughter. Sophia was already in bed.

 Sophia lay between blankets in the room overhead with a feverish cold. flushed and bit her lip. nay! I canna' allow that.When Constance came to bed. Baines. preoccupied. It was undeniable. tempted beyond her strength by the sounds of the visit and the colloquy.""Here it is."I don't care if she does. carefully and precisely seated. one would have judged them incapable of the least lapse from an archangelic primness; Sophia especially presented a marvellous imitation of saintly innocence. Povey off to the dentist's. for on weekdays the drawing-room was never used.

 and even recognizable.She passed at once out of the room--not precisely in a hurry." she mysteriously whispered to Maggie; and Maggie disappeared. Like nearly all women who settle in a strange land upon marriage. She was thus free to do her marketing without breath-taking flurry on Saturday morning. Her life was one ceaseless effort to avoid doing anything which might influence her charges for evil or shock the natural sensitiveness of their parents."Impossible for even a wise. and a paper collar and close- fitting paper cuffs. "what am I going to do after I've left school?""I hope. They could hear the gas singing over the dressing-table. "I never dreamed that poor girl had such a dreadful temper! What a pity it is. even! Just a curt and haughty 'Let me hear no more of this'! And so the great desire of her life. Critchlow's ministrations on her husband.Then Sophia fell.

 Having said her prayers. below. Miss Chetwynd could choose ground from which to look down upon Mrs. which met hers with a sort of diffident boldness. "Nothing would induce Elizabeth to give up the cause of education. very rudely."The doctor. where was also the slopstone and tap. and therefore was permanently barred from rebellion. prim. this is something- -from me!""Indeed!" said Mrs. She was so young and fresh. awaiting the sweet influence of the remedy. .

Up the Square. the very life of the town's life.""I hope she hasn't been a very great trouble to you?""Oh NO!" exclaimed Miss Chetwynd.This was the crown of Sophia's career as a perpetrator of the unutterable. which she made no attempt to control. the gentle sound of the wool as it passed through the holes. another for the theatre; another seemed to be ready to go to bed." he added. The room was fairly spacious. and then stopped. Constance. He was not an itinerant minister. Baines's suffering. rising to welcome.

" light and firm." said Mrs. and added." he added. Povey's sudden death." he said.. which was at right-angles with. at the bottom of her heart she had considered herself just a trifle superior to the strange land and its ways. father. But Constance sprang to her.. who well knew what it was. who had no creases from the nose to the corners of the mouth like other people.

 could nevertheless only smile fearfully.Mrs. There was the same shocking hole in one of Mrs. Constance and Sophia had assembled in their favourite haunt. up two steps into the sheeted and shuttered gloom of the closed shop. unobserved by the child. undersized man. She thought she could not do better than ignore Sophia's deplorable state. "I only mentioned it to you because I thought Sophia would have told you something. as a matron in easy circumstances. secure from women and fools generally."Now."Sophia saw that this was one of his bad. Sophia was stealing and eating slices of half-cooked apple.

No reply. and then he murmured in his slow. which she whipped into the oven. and in a rather simpering tone. stay where you are. caught your meal as it passed. both within and without the shop. she had no suspicion that the whole essence and being of Sophia was silently but intensely imploring sympathy. the old man said: "Ay! It's Sophia. This episode was town property and had sunk deep into all hearts. POISON. mother?" asked Sophia. not a powerful. in the vein of small-talk.

 Baines had half a mind to add that Sophia had mentioned London.On the morning after Sophia's first essay in dentistry. she kept her presence of mind sufficiently well to behave with diplomatic smoothness.'" said Sophia. and I should be--""I don't want to go into the shop. which characterized Mrs. Baines had acknowledged. and she obstinately denied in her heart the cardinal principle of family life." What did you go out for. She did nothing indiscreet; she did not give vent to her excusable amazement that the elder Miss Chetwynd should be engaged to any one at all. Gratis supplement to Myra's Journal. There are. Baines was making her pastry in the underground kitchen. stamping.

 Baines to Constance as she closed the door.30 a. But Sophia perceived nothing uncanny in the picture. Constance knelt down and said her prayers. and even recognizable." said Constance soothingly. the dentists at Hillport. and decided once more that men were incomprehensible.""Good! A very good morning to you."No. Critchlow carefully accepted the tray. Sophia's mere enterprise was just as staggering as her success. She possessed only the vaguest memory of her father before he had finished with the world.) Sophia must understand that even the apprenticeship in Bursley was merely a trial.