aire gaily. "That's a penny to the good! Eightpence
for me--a clear saving of fivepence a week!"

Miss Rhodes resolutely refused to smile. She had the air of thinking it
ribald to be cheerful on the serious question of pounds, shillings and
pence.

"Even so, it's three-and-four, and you can't do breakfast and supper and
full board on Saturday and Sunday under seven shillings. It's tight
enough to manage on that. Altogether it often mounts up to twelve."

"Seventeen and twelve." Claire pondered deeply before she arrived at a
solution. "Twenty-nine. Call it thirty, to make it even, and I am to
begin at a hundred and ten. Over two pounds a week. I ought to do it
comfortably, and have quite a lot over."

Miss Rhodes laughed darkly.

"What about extras?" she demanded. "What about laundry, and fires, and
stationery and stamps? What about boot-mending, and Tubes on wet days,
and soap and candles, and dentist and medicines, and subs, at school,
and collections in church, and travelling expenses on Saturdays and
Sundays, when you invariably want to go to the very other side of the
city? London is not like a provincial town. You can't stir out of the
house under fourpence or sixpence at the very least. What about
illness, and amusement, and holidays? What about--"

Claire thrust her fingers in her ears with an air of desperation.

"Stop! Stop! For pity's sake don't swamp me any more. I feel in the
bankruptcy court already, and I had imagined that I was rich! A hundred
and ten pounds seemed quite a big salary. Everybody was surprised at my
getting so much, and I suppose you have even more?"

"A hundred and fifty. Yes! You must remember that we don't belong to
the ordinary rut of worker--we are experts. Our education has been a
long costly business. No untrained worker could take our place; we are
entitled to expert's pay. Oh, yes, they are quite good salaries if you
happen to have a home behind you, and people who are ready to help over
rough times, instead of needing to be helped themselves. The pity of it
is that most High School-mistresses come from families who are _not_
rich. The parents have made a big effort to pay for the girls'
education, and when they are fairly launched, they expect to be helped
in return. Some girls have been educated by relations, or have
practically paid for themselves by scholarships. Three out of four of
us have people who are more in need of help than able to