on. Ye're better
aff than me, efter a', Teen, an' I wish I was in yer place.'

'Ye'll bide here noo ye have come, onyhoo,' said the little seamstress
cheerily. 'My ship has come in; but we'll speak upon it efter. I say,
isn't Walter lookin' fine? He wad pass for a lord, jist as you said.'

'His looks are a' richt--he maun be makin' money. I say, where is the
lassie that used to bide there? The auld man's deid, isn't he?'

'Ay,' answered Teen; 'deid lang syne. Oh, she's turned into a graund
leddy, livin' on an estate in the country. He left a fortin. See, eat up
that ither egg, an' there's plenty mair tea. Look at that cream, isn't
it splendid?'

'Fine,' said Liz; and as she ate and enjoyed the generous food her
colour came again, and she looked a little less ghastly and ill, a
little more like the Liz of old. Pen cannot tell the joy it was to the
loyal heart of the little seamstress thus to minister to her friend's
great need, though in the midst of her deep satisfaction was a secret
dread, a vague and vast pity, which made her afraid to ask her a single
question. It needed no very keen perception to gather that all was not
well with the unhappy girl.

'Weel, I've enjoyed that,' she said, pushing back from the table at
last. 'I've eaten ye oot o' hoose and hame, but as yer ship's come in,
it'll no' maitter. Tell me a' aboot it.'

'Oh, there's no' much to tell,' answered Teen, with a touch of her
natural reserve. 'I've made a rich frien', that's a'.'

'A man?' asked Liz, with interest.

'No; a lady,' replied Teen rather proudly. 'But hae ye naething to tell
me aboot yersel'?'

'Oh, I have thoosands to tell, if I like, but I'm no' gaun to tell ye a
thing,' replied Liz flatly; but her candour did not even make Teen
wince. She was used to it in the old days, and expected nothing else.

'Oh, jist as ye like,' she answered serenely. 'But, tell me, did ye ever
gang to London?'

'No,' replied Liz, 'I never went to London. Did ye think I had?'

'Yes. We--that is, some o's thocht--Walter an' me, onyway--that ye had
gane to the theatre in London to be an actress. It was gey shabby, I
thocht, to gang the way ye did, withoot sayin' a cheep to me, efter a'
the plans we had made,' said Teen, with equal candour.

'Maybe it was,' said Liz musingly, and, with her magnificent eyes fixed
on the fire, relapsed into silence again, and Teen saw that her face was
troubled. Her heart yearned over her unspeakably, and she longed f