ook an instant fancy to the travelling companion so
strangely provided, and behaved with commendable good-temper throughout.

When at length the train ran into the railway station at Naples, Toni
suddenly found herself faced with another problem. The nurse had taken
her on trust, so to speak, and had been too grateful for her help to
seek to probe into her private affairs; but now that she must face the
mother of the pretty children, to whom she had become quite attached,
Toni realized that she would have to give some more plausible
explanation of her situation than that which had contented the impetuous
Luisa.

She got out of the carriage at last, her arms full of the children's
wraps and toys, with knees which shook under her at the thought of the
ordeal to come; but one quick look into Mrs. Moody's frank and kindly
face reassured her a little.

She soon found, moreover, that the lady was as ready to take her on
trust as the maid had been. When she had heard Luisa's voluble
explanation of the part Toni had played during the long and wearying
journey, Mrs. Moody turned to Toni with an expression of real gratitude
on her still pretty face.

"I really don't know how to thank you, Miss ... er ..." She hesitated,
and Toni quickly supplied her with the first name she could think of,
the name of her Italian mother's race. "Oh, but surely you are English?"

In her agitation Toni murmured something about an Italian father, not
meaning to deceive, but too tired out and confused to pay much heed to
her words; and Mrs. Moody put her hand kindly on the girl's arm.

"Well, English or not, you've been a god-send to Luisa and the chicks;
so if you have no friends waiting for you at this moment, you must come
home with me and let my husband thank you properly."

Somehow Toni found herself stepping into the beautifully-appointed
motor-car which waited outside the station; and ten minutes later she
was helped out of the motor and taken up a broad and palatial-looking
staircase to the large and lofty flat inhabited by her new friends.

Friends indeed they proved to be. Without the slightest hesitation they
accepted Toni's rather faltering story of an engagement in England which
had proved unsatisfactory; and on learning that her intention in
returning to Italy had been to look for another post, they looked at one
another in a meaning silence which was explained later, when Mrs. Moody
asked her quietly if she would care to underta