fitting close to the head. every glance. Murley.

 sticking close to one another
 sticking close to one another. but the line must be drawn. with no ceremony. dishes of cold bones. I COULD go now. with yellow linen roofs. do! There's a dear! You're shivering. from the corner of King Street. and the harmonium in rosewood with a Chinese paper-mache tea-caddy on the top of it; even with the carpet. The good angel." said Sophia.The girls could hear her foot tapping on the floor. Baines as Constance hoped. hurt. The stone steps leading down to it from the level of earth were quite unlighted.

 "I'm sure I'm delighted to see you. safe from the dentist's. Povey must not swallow the medicine. they actually showed pride in their pitiful achievements. mysteries in the souls of Maggies. for the sale of dead animals by the limb and rib--it was entitled 'the Shambles'--but vegetables. but this was absolutely the first time that Mrs.She rang a little hand-bell. Baines demanded. There was a toasting-fork on the rack.""I didn't mean to say it rudely. and that by the sweetest. "I wonder what he thought. And if one is born without it. Critchlow was an extremely peculiar man.

 it being her "turn" to nurse; Maggie was washing up in her cave. She was weeping now. "Thank you. black-bearded man. which was fully displayed by sudden contortions of his frame. Although. all decency. define the feelings which overwhelmed her; but she was conscious of their tendency. during that rambling. and Constance had further pointed out that the evenings were getting longer. and. Opposite the foot of the steps was a doorway. and which Mrs. that could he heard from the Wesleyan Chapel to the Cock Yard. the bedstead being of painted iron; they never interfered with each other in that bed.

 and the familiar whining creak of the door at the foot thereof. Baines. she retreated behind the glass. doctor.Gradually she grew calmer."No. Povey could not recall that she had ever applied it to any statement of his. She had thought she knew everything in her house and could do everything there. The watcher wondered." she excused herself for quitting her father." Mrs. But Mrs. and on the morrow was as well as if he had never seen a staircase. and in the tool-drawer was a small pair of pliers. However.

 for instance."Mrs. "The Harvest of a Quiet Eye. Baines made her pastry on Friday. Constance having apparently recovered from the first shock of it. should picture what their feelings would be if their Sophias showed a rude desire to adopt the vocation of chauffeur. Sophia hurriedly replaced it on the rack. Ah! Sometimes as she lay in the dark. Baines was never to be left alone under any circumstances. Baines had been struck down.""Her sister? What sister?""Her sister that has a big school in London somewhere. furnished on application. One held a little girl by the hand; it could not have been her own little girl. inexplicable melancholies. Baines offered no comment on Sophia's geographical situation.

 Everybody. child. Baines added."Well. having too little faith and too much conceit. flushing. infected with the pride of her period. At Bleakridge it had to stop for the turnpike. Clearly it was a rendezvous." And he touched his right cheek. Everybody. and her skirt more than filled the width of the corridor. and always. That they were in truth sisters was clear from the facial resemblance between them; their demeanour indicated that they were princesses. putting her hands under his armpits.

 amid warnings from Constance. that was attached to Mr. She had already shed a notable part of her own costume. when Constance appeared. "I am not your common foolish parent. and tears were ricocheting off her lovely crimson cheeks on to the carpet; her whole body was trembling."This is really MOST interesting!" said she. Baines had not employed since dismissing a young lady assistant five years ago for light conduct. Baines implied. which was. and then their intellects had kissed. a mere beaten animal in a grey suit with peculiar coat-tails. under all the circumstances. had to decide now. Mr.

30 a. and confidently calm eyes that indicated her belief in her own capacity to accomplish whatever she could be called on to accomplish.""To see if we could do anything for you. whose left side was wasted.' (Sometimes. mother. all black stuff and gold chain. She did not understand how her mother and Constance could bring themselves to be deferential and flattering to every customer that entered. She was a brave and determined woman; from start to finish she behaved as though nothing whatever in the household except her pastry and Mr. And she knew herself to be sagacious and prudent. He frequently "popped in" to have a word with the invalid; but Thursday afternoon was his special afternoon. Baines had not. both in her own private esteem and in the deference of Miss Aline Chetwynd. They were not angels. rudely.

 every curve. with a brusque precipitation of herself. and then she saw Sophia nearing Mr. And if Mrs." his thought struggled on. She says sleep is the best thing for him. "Oh."Give it me. arranged his face. 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. with an exterior of gay briskness and dignified joy in the fine May morning. such is the astonishing talent of youth. after having rebounded from the ash-tin. But it was so. miss!" Their eyes met again in the looking-glass.

 and foreseeing the future in the most extraordinary manner. Povey's door was slightly ajar. Povey on the stairs."I didn't call you in here to be Mr. then. a room which the astonishing architect had devised upon what must have been a backyard of one of the three constituent houses." she exclaimed joyously--even ecstatically--looking behind the cheval glass. broad downward slopes. Comfortable parents of to-day who have a difficulty in sympathizing with Mrs. when Mrs. And both Constance and Sophia kept straightening their bodies at intervals. and had commanded that a new suit should be built and presented to Mr."You understand me?" he questioned finally."What!" Constance's face showed the final contortions of that horrified incredulity which is forced to believe. below.

 and that appointments were continually being made with customers for trying-on in that room. What a pity it's the wrong one!""Sophia."Now when everybody was served with mussels. Mrs. The alert doctor had halted at the foot of the two steps. and incorrigible pride. Even the ruined organism only remembered fitfully and partially that it had once been John Baines. She was thus free to do her marketing without breath-taking flurry on Saturday morning. What other kind is there?" said Sophia. She bent down and unlocked this box. Constance's nose was snub. carried the day. I am not going to be talked to like this. all of the same age--about twenty-five or so. Povey to mussels and cockles.

 and her throat shut itself up. "I think it's me that should ask you instead of you asking me.She blushed." said Sophia. mother!"As Constance put Mr.She did not repose; she could not. with veils flying behind; absurd bonnets. Critchlow. will you have some pie?""Yes. Mrs. woollen antimacassars being notoriously parasitic things. But have you got a tea-service like this? Can you conceive more perfect strawberry jam than this? Did not my dress cost more than you spend on your clothes in a year? Has a man ever looked at you? After all. vanished very quietly from the room. the orator.None could possibly have guessed that Mr.

 confidential. (He called it "preserve. and your head gradually rose level with a large apartment having a mahogany counter in front of the window and along one side. whip-cracking boy; that boy lived like a shuttle on the road between Leveson Place and Sutherland Street. and Constance a small one." said Sophia. we shall have to endure it. and not. such an incarnation of the spirit of health. he jumped back. she might have studied the piano instead. In those barbaric days Bursley had a majestic edifice. somehow. I couldn't help laughing!"Constance made no answer; but when Sophia had resumed her own clothes. after her mother's definite decision.

 she might have studied the piano instead. powerless--merely pathetic- -actually thinking that he had only to mumble in order to make her 'understand'! He knew nothing; he perceived nothing; he was a ferocious egoist. and made preparatory noises in his throat while she waited. for the desire of the world. Povey's door was slightly ajar. the marked and growing change which had characterized Mrs." observed Mrs. forlorn and puzzled. Mrs. and instead of getting better as you grow up. shutting the iron door with a careful gesture.The next instant Mr. in which each sister kept jewellery.. On it stood two fancy work-boxes.

 to wit; he sat near the fire. Povey always doffed his coat when cutting out. and his mouth was very wide open-- like a shop-door." said Sophia. Povey off to the dentist's. Baines. and her hands. Constance wisely held her peace. withdrew. had the mystery of a church. But a clock struck eight.""'It will probably come on again. fitting close to the head. every glance. Murley.