er so at once, and in the coolest manner.
The opportunity for airing his views on the subject was far too good
to be lost. Mrs. Challoner was alone; she was in a low, dejected mood;
the rulers of the household were gathered in an upper chamber. What
would Phillis have said, as she warbled a rather flat accompaniment to
Nan's "Bonnie Dundee," which she was singing to keep up their spirits
over a piece of hard work, if she had known that Mr. Drummond was at
that moment in possession of her mother's ear?

"Oh, Mr. Drummond, this is very sad, if every one should think as you
do about my poor girls! and Phillis does so object to being called
romantic;" for he had hinted in a gentlemanly way that he thought the
whole scheme was crude and girlish and quixotic to a degree.

"I hope you will not tell her, then," returned Mr. Drummond in a
soothing tone, for Mrs. Challoner was beginning to look agitated. "I
am afraid nothing I say will induce Miss Challoner to give up her pet
scheme; but I felt, as your clergyman, it was my duty to let you know
my opinion." And here Archie looked so very solemn that Mrs.
Challoner, being a weak woman, and apt to overvalue the least
expression of masculine opinion, grew more and more alarmed.

"Oh, yes!" she faltered; "it is very good--very nice of you to tell me
this." Phillis would have laughed in his face and Mrs. Cheyne would
have found something to say about his youth; but in Mrs. Challoner's
eyes, though she was an older woman, Archie's solemnity and Oriental
beard carried tremendous weight with them. He might be young,
nevertheless she was bound to listen meekly to him, and to respect his
counsel as one who had a certain authority over her. "Oh, you are very
good! and if only my girls had not made up their minds so quickly! but
now what can I do but feel very uncomfortable after you have told me
this?"

"Oh, as to that, there is always time for everything; it is never too
late to mend," returned Mr. Drummond, tritely. "I meant from the first
to tell you what I thought, if I should ever have an opportunity of
speaking to you alone. You see, we Oxford men have our own notions
about things: we do not always go with the tide. If your daughters--"
here he hesitated and grew red, for he was a modest, honest young
fellow in the main--"pardon me, but I am only proposing an
hypothesis--if they wanted to make a sensation and get themselves
talked about, no doubt they would achieve a success, for