r that she need not heat her house up, and she had
brought them in. I heard the kitchen door open.

Presently Mrs. White stole in again and tried to listen politely to
the reading, but her expression was so strained to maintain interest
that one could see the anxiety underneath. I knew what worried her
before she told me, as she did presently. "I have rolled those
biscuits up in a cloth," she whispered, "but I am dreadfully afraid
that they will be spoiled."

Mrs. Jameson began another selection, and I did pity Mrs. White. She
whispered to me again that her table was not set, and the biscuits
would certainly be spoiled.

The selection which Mrs. Jameson was then reading was a short one,
and I saw Mrs. White begin to brighten as she evidently drew near the
end. But her joy was of short duration, as Mrs. Jameson began another
selection.

However, Mrs. White laid an imploring hand on Flora Clark's arm when
she manifested symptoms of rising and interrupting the reading. Flora
was getting angry--I knew by the way her forehead was knitted and by
the jerky way she sewed. Poor Harriet Jameson looked more and more
distressed. I was sure she saw Mrs. White holding back Flora, and
knew just what it meant. Harriet was sitting quite idle with her
little hands in her lap; we had set her to hemming a ruffle for the
missionary's wife's dress, but her stitches were so hopelessly uneven
that I had quietly taken it from her and told her I was out of work
and would do it myself. The poor child had blushed when she gave it
up. She evidently knew her deficiencies.

Mrs. Jameson read selections from Robert Browning until six o'clock,
and by that time Mrs. White had attained to the calmness of despair.
At a quarter of six she whispered to me that the biscuits were
spoiled, and then her face settled into an expression of stony
peace. When Mrs. Jameson finally closed her book there was a murmur
which might have been considered expressive of relief or applause,
according to the amount of self-complacency of the reader. Mrs.
Jameson evidently considered it applause, for she bowed in a highly
gracious manner, and remarked: "I am very glad if I have given you
pleasure, ladies, and I shall be more than pleased at some future
time to read some other selections even superior to these which I
have given, and also to make some remarks upon them."

There was another murmur, which might have been of pleasure at the
prospect of the future reading, o