such thoughts faded from her mind; she looked out of the
carriage window as the train rushed through Didcot Junction. She felt
hungry after the meagre breakfast she had made; she remembered the
sandwiches, and, untying the greasy little parcel, was glad to eat
them. When she had finished the sandwiches, she lit another cigarette;
after smoking this, she closed her eyes the better to reflect.

Then she remembered nothing till the calling of "Melkbridge!"
"Melkbridge!" seemed to suffuse her senses. She awoke with a start, to
find that she had reached her destination.

CHAPTER THREE

FRIENDS IN NEED

Mavis scrambled out of the train, just in time to prevent herself from
being carried on to the next stopping--place. She smoothed her ruffled
plumage and looked about her. She found the station much smaller than
she had believed it to be; she hardly remembered any of its features,
till the scent of the stocks planted in the station-master's garden
assisted her memory. She gave up her ticket, and looked about her,
thinking that very likely she would be met, if not by a member of the
Devitt family, by some conveyance; but, beyond the station 'bus and two
or three farmers' gigs, there was nothing in the nature of cart or
carriage. She asked the hobbledehoy, who took her ticket, where Mrs
Devitt lived, at which the youth looked at her in a manner that
evidently questioned her sanity at being ignorant of such an important
person's whereabouts. Mavis repeated her question more sharply than
before. The ticket-collector looked at her open--mouthed, glanced up
the road and then again to Mavis, before saying:

"Here her be."

"Mrs Devitt?"

"Noa. Her."

"The housekeeper?"

"Noa. The trap. Mebbe your eyes hain't so 'peart' as mine."

The grating of wheels called her attention to the fact that a smart,
yellow-wheeled dogcart had been driven into the station yard by a man
in livery.

"Be you Miss Keeves, miss?" asked the servant.

"Yes."

"Then you're for Melkbridge House. Please get in, miss."

Mavis clambered into the cart and was driven quickly from the station.
At the top of the hill, they turned sharp to the right, and rolled
along the Bathminster road. Mavis first noticed how much the town had
been added to since she had last set foot in it; then she became
conscious that distances, which in her childhood had seemed to be
considerable, were now trivial.

The man driving her had been a gentleman's servant;