ht in the hall,
and Eva turned the handle of the door, expecting it to open; but in
vain. Then it flashed upon her that she was locked out, and must either
wait there for an hour and a half or else go to church; neither of which
things did she wish to do. A thought then struck her, and she knocked at
the Hackneys' door; but they were all out, it appeared, for she knocked
in vain. So turning away in annoyance, Eva sauntered back to the main
street where Amy had gone to church.

'I believe that Scotchwoman did it on purpose; she thought I ought to go
to church, and so she locked me out of my own home. But if she thinks
she's going to manage me she's very much mistaken, as she will find, and
I'll just show her that,' she said to herself; for she had just come to
a brilliantly lighted kinematograph show, and made up her mind to go in
there.

It was the first time she had gone there on Sunday, and to make herself
feel more comfortable she had to remind herself that she must put her
foot down and not be dictated to by strangers; and soon the music and
the scenes before her distracted her thoughts, and this was what Eva
really wanted. For some of her thoughts were troubling her, and she
wanted to banish them.

But unfortunately the pictures could not last for ever, and when they
were over there was Mrs. Morrison to face; and though Mrs. Morrison had
a very kindly face, and had been very friendly and nice to Eva, whom she
liked, the latter had a feeling that she could be very stern, and that
she would disapprove of going to an entertainment on Sunday evening. To
her surprise, when she came out there were no churchgoers to be seen in
the streets, and when she passed Amy's church it was in darkness, and
she guessed that it must be past nine o'clock, and that the others would
be home.

'That comes of leaving my watch at home and trusting that man, who said
we should be out before nine,' she muttered to herself, and hurried to
Heather Road.

'Here she is!' cried a voice as Eva opened the gate; and Vava, who was
standing looking out of the bow-window, came running to the door to
greet her.

'We are so very sorry you were locked out! Mrs. Morrison understood you
were both going to church, and she hurried home so as to be back before
you. But it will not happen again; we will have a latch put on, and have
our own keys,' said Stella, apologising.

'It doesn't matter. I had a headache, so did not go to church,' said
Eva.

'A