nnie
dangled a packet of sandwiches, "In case dear Mavis should need
refreshment on the way."

"Thanks so much," said Mavis, as she took the little packet, the
brown-paper covering of which was already grease-stained from the fat
of the sandwiches.

"Don't fail to remember me to Mrs Devitt," urged Helen.

"I won't forget," said Mavis.

"I put salt and mustard in the sandwiches," remarked Annie.

"Thanks so much," cried Mavis, as she opened the front door.

"And don't forget to be sure and travel in a compartment reserved for
ladies," quavered Helen.

"I won't forget; wish me luck," answered Mavis.

"We do; good-bye," said the two old ladies together.

Directly the door was closed, Miss Annie, followed at a distance by
Miss Helen, hurried into the schoolroom, where, pulling aside the
Venetian blind of the front window, they watched the girl's trim figure
walk down the street. The two old ladies were really very fond of her
and not a little proud of her appearance.

"She has deportment," remarked Helen, as Mavis disappeared from their
ken.

"Scarcely that--distinction is more the word," corrected Annie.

"I fear for her in the great world," declared Helen with trembling
lips; "they say that good looks are a girl's worst enemy."

"But Mavis has profited by the example of our lives, Helen."

"There is much in that, Annie. Also, she should have derived much
benefit from being, in school hours, and often out of them, in an
atmosphere influenced by the writings of the late Mr Ruskin."

With these consolations, the two old ladies toiled upstairs, and set
about packing for a fortnight's stay they proposed making with an old
friend at Worthing, for which place they proposed starting in two days'
time.

Meanwhile, the subject of their thoughts was walking to Addison Road
Station, happily ignorant of the old ladies' fears concerning the
perils of her path. To look at her, she seemed the least likely girl in
London who was about to take a journey on the chance of obtaining a
much-needed engagement. Her glowing eyes, flushed cheeks, and light
step were eloquent of a joyousness not usually associated with an all
but penniless girl on the look-out for something to do. Her clothes,
also, supported the impression that she was a young woman well removed
from likelihood of want. She was obliged to be careful with the few
pounds that she earned at Brandenburg College: being of an open-handed
disposition, this necessity