logy to him, performed in her own mind, gave her a curious
delight.

"I wish she would sell," said Hilda, to whom the ownership of a slum was
obnoxious.

"Very soon your consent would be necessary to any sale."

"Really!" she exclaimed, agreeably flattered, but scarcely surprised by
this information. "I should consent quick enough! I can't bear to walk
down the street!"

He laughed condescendingly. "Well, I don't think your mother _would_
care to sell, if you ask me." He sat down.

Hilda frowned, regretting her confession and resenting his laughter.

"What will your charges be, please, Mr. Cannon?" she demanded abruptly,
and yet girlishly timid. And at the same moment she drew forth her
purse, which she had been holding ready in her hand.

For a second he thought she was referring to the price of
rent-collecting, but the appearance of the purse explained her meaning.
"Oh! There's no charge!" he said, in a low voice, seizing a penholder.

"But I must pay you something! I can't--"

"No, you mustn't!"

Their glances met in conflict across the table. She had known that he
would say exactly that. And she had been determined to insist on paying
a fee--utterly determined! But she could not, now, withstand the force
of his will. Her glance failed her. She was disconcerted by the sudden
demonstration of her inferiority. She was distressed. And then a feeling
of faintness, and the gathering of a mist in the air, positively
frightened her. The mist cleared. His glance seemed to say, with
kindness: "You see how much stronger I am than you! But you can trust
me!" The sense of adventure grew even more acute in her. She marvelled
at what life was, and hid the purse like a shame.

"It's very kind of you," she murmured.

"Not a bit!" he said. "I've got a job through this. Don't forget that.
We don't collect rents for nothing, you know--especially Calder Street
sort of rents!"

She picked up her basket and rose. He also rose.

"So you've been looking at my Victor Hugo," he remarked, putting his
right hand negligently into his pocket instead of holding it forth in
adieu.

IV

So overset was she by the dramatic surprise of his challenging remark,
and so enlightened by the sudden perception of it being perfectly
characteristic of him, that her manner changed in an instant to a
delicate, startled timidity. All the complex sensitiveness of her nature
was expressed simultaneously in the changing tints of her face, the
c