anked Miss Mee and was about to press on her the trinket that
she had previously purchased as a parting gift for her old friend; but
Helen checked the girl with a gesture signifying that her sister was
about to speak.

Mis Annie was less prosy than her sister.

"Take this, dear, and God bless you."

Here she handed Mavis her much-prized copy of Sesame and Lilies,
likewise containing the autograph of the great Mr. Ruskin; at the same
time, she presented Mavis with a box of gloves.

Mavis thanked the generous old ladies and gave them the little presents
she had bought for this purpose. To Miss Helen she handed a quaint old
workbox she had picked up in the shop of a dealer in antiquities; to
Miss Annie she gave her A three-quarter-length photograph in a silver
frame.

The two old ladies' hands shook a little when they took these
offerings; they both thanked her, after which Miss Helen rose to take
formal farewell of Mavis.

She spoke the words that she always made use of when taking final leave
of a pupil; usually, they came trippingly to her tongue, without the
least effort of memory; but this morning they halted; she found herself
wondering if her dignity were being compromised in Mavis's eyes.

"Dear Mavis," she said, "in--in issuing from the doors--er--portals of
Brandenburg College to the new er--er--world that awaits you beyond,
you--you may rest assured that you carry--"

The old lady stopped; she did not say any more; she sat down and seemed
to be carefully wiping her spectacles. Mavis rose to go, girl-like; she
hated anything in the nature of a scene, especially when made over such
an insignificant person as herself. At the same time, her farewell of
the two old ladies, with whom she had lived for so long, affected her
far more than she would ever have thought possible. Halfway to the
door, she hesitated; the noise made by Miss Annie blowing her nose
decided her. In a moment, she had placed her arms about Miss Helen and
Miss Annie, and all three women were weeping to their hearts' content.

Some seventy minutes later, it was two very forlorn-looking old ladies
who stumbled into the train that was to take them to Worthing.
Meanwhile, Mavis had packed her few remaining things and had gone down
to the kitchen to say good-bye to Amelia.

Directly Amelia caught sight of her and she burst into tears. Mavis,
somewhat disconcerted by this evidence of esteem, gave Amelia five
shillings, at which the servant wep