d her more than slipshod English or any idiom or
idiotcy of modern parlance in the mouths of her bright young
daughters: to speak of any young man except Dick without the
ceremonious prefix was a heinous misdemeanor in her eyes. Dulce would
occasionally trespass, and was always rebuked with much gravity. "You
could have said 'her brother,' could you not?"

"Oh, mammie, I am sure Providence intended you for an old maid, and
you have not fulfilled your destiny," retorted Dulce, who was rarely
awed by her mother's solemnity. "All that fuss because I said
'Archie!' Oh, I forgot, that name is sacred: the Rev. Archibald
Drummond adores his sister Grace."

"And she must be very nice," returned Mrs. Challoner with an indulgent
smile at her pet Dulce. "I am sure, from what Miss Drummond told us
this morning, that she must be a most superior person. Why, Phillis,
she teaches all her four younger sisters, and one of them is sixteen.
Miss Drummond says she is never out of the school-room, except for an
hour or two in the evening, when her father and brothers come home.
There are two more brothers, I think she said. Dear what a large
family! and Miss Drummond hinted that they were not well off."

"I should like to know that Grace," began Phillis; and then she shook
her head reflectively. "No, depend upon it, we should be disappointed
in her: family paragons are generally odious to other folk. Most
likely she wears spectacles, and is a thin thread-papery sort of
person."

"On the contrary, she is a sweet-looking girl, with large melancholy
eyes; for Miss Drummond showed us her photograph. So much for your
imagination, Phil?" and Dulce looked triumphant. "And she is only
twenty-two, and, though not pretty, just the sort of face one could
love."

"Some people's swans turn out to be geese in the end," remarked
Phillis, provokingly; but she registered at the same time a mental
resolve that she would cross-examine Mr. Drummond on the earliest
opportunity about this wonderful sister of his. Oh, it was no marvel
if he did look down on them when they had not got brains enough to
earn their living except in this way! and Phillis stuck her needle
into Miss Milner's body-lining so viciously that it broke.

The sharp click roused Nan's vigilance, and she looked up, and was at
once full of pity for Phillis's pale face.

"You are tired, Phil, and so are we all," she said, brightly; "and, as
it is our first day of work, we will not overdo