o was afraid
of finding himself in trouble, she still held the blind and whimpering
dog in her uninjured arm.

She wanted to get away as quickly as possible from the crowd, but her
head swam and her feet were uncertain. Then she heard a quiet voice
behind her.

"Has there been an accident? I am a doctor," it said.

"A young woman trying to kill herself along of an old dog," said the
tram-driver indignantly. "As though there wasn't enough trouble for a
man already."

"Let me see," the doctor said, coming to Mary's side. "Ah, I can't make
an examination here. Better come with me, my child. I am on my way to
the hospital. My carriage is here."

"Not to hospital," said Mary faintly. "Let me go home; they would be so
frightened."

"I shan't detain you, I promise you. But this must be bandaged before
you can go home. Ah, is this basket yours, too?"

Someone had handed up the basket from the tram-track, where it had lain
disgorging cabbages and other articles of food.

"I will send you home as soon as I have seen to your arm," the doctor
said, pushing her gently towards his carriage. "And the little dog--is
he your own? I suppose he is, since you nearly gave your life for him?"

"He is not mine," said Mary faintly. "He belongs to Lady Anne--Lady Anne
Hamilton. She lives at No. 8, The Mall. She will be distracted if she
misses the little dog. She is so very fond of it."

"Ah! Lady Anne Hamilton. I have heard of her. We can leave the dog at
home on our way. Come, child."

The Mall was quite close at hand. They drove there, and just as the
carriage stopped at the gate of No. 8, which had a long strip of green
front garden, overhung by trees through which you could discern the old
red-brick house. Lady Anne herself came down the gravel path. Over her
head was a little shawl of old lace; it was caught by a seed-pearl
brooch with an amethyst centre. She was wearing a quilted red silk
petticoat and a bunched sacque of black flowered silk. She had
magnificent dark eyes and white hair. Under it her peaked little face
was the colour of old ivory. She was calling to her dog, "Fifine,
Fifine, where can you be?"

A respectable-looking elderly maid came hurrying after her.

"I've looked everywhere, my lady, and I cannot find the little thing,"
she said in a frightened voice.

Meanwhile, the doctor had got out of the carriage and had taken Fifine
gently from Mary's lap. Now that Mary was coming to herself she began to
disc