cannot truthfully be said that his presence added to the gaiety of the
meal. Mrs Connor was nervous and ill at ease, regretting, as her
daughter had foretold, that she had not ordered a hot joint for to-day,
and allowed the cold meat to be used on the morrow.

She looked gratefully at Ruth when a small dish of curry made its
appearance, in addition to the scanty menu; but Uncle Bernard had spent
some years of his life in India, and his ideas of curry evidently
differed from those of the plain cook downstairs, for after the first
taste he laid down his fork and made no further pretence of eating.

Mr Connor made several attempts to introduce interesting subjects of
conversation, but receiving only monosyllabic replies, relapsed in his
turn into silence. With every moment that passed, the girls felt less
able to imagine the reason for the appearance of a visitor who showed so
little interest in the affairs of the family; for Mr Farrell asked no
questions, paid no attention to the general conversation, and, for the
greater part of the time, appeared lost in his own thoughts.

The three little boys alone were unaffected by the general tension, and
chattered about their school adventures in their usual noisy fashion.
On another occasion Mrs Connor would have checked them, but anything
was better than the dead silence which at one time had threatened the
whole table; so she left them unreproved, and Uncle Bernard scowled at
them beneath his bushy brows in a manner the reverse of approving.

It happened that Betty occupied the seat immediately opposite the
visitor, and it was one of Betty's idiosyncrasies to repeat the grimaces
of others with an imitation as faithful as it was unconscious. When,
for example, Mollie was speaking, Betty tossed her head, tilted her
chin, and arched her brows, to the delight and amusement of the family;
and now, there she sat--good, kind, most inoffensive of creatures--
drawing her wisps of eyebrows together in a lowering scowl, and twisting
her lips into an expression of sour distaste.

The three boys nudged each other and tittered together, and Mr Farrell
looked round to discover the reason of their mirth, and beheld Betty's
transformed face peering into his own. His glance of indignation made
her flush with what appeared to be conscious guilt, though, in truth,
the poor child had no idea of the nature of her offence. Mrs Connor
beheld the incident with petrified horror, Ruth registere