om, her back turned to them, was the
strangest, oddest little figure Ethel had ever seen.

Who was she? How long had she been in the room?

Ethel turned to Brent. He was quite pale now and was nervously stroking
his slight moustache.

Ethel was furious! It was incredible that Brent could have been so
indiscreet!

How on earth did that creature get there without their hearing or
seeing her?

Ethel went straight to the demure little figure sitting on the chair.

CHAPTER III

PEG ARRIVES IN ENGLAND

Peg's journey to England was one of the unhappiest memories of her
life. She undertook the voyage deliberately to please her father,
because he told her it would please him. But beneath this feeling of
pleasing him was one of sullen resentment at being made to separate
from him.

She planned all kinds of reprisals upon the unfortunate people she was
going amongst. She would be so rude to them and so unbearable that they
would be glad to send her back on the next boat. She schemed out her
whole plan of action. She would contradict and disobey and berate and
belittle. Nothing they would do would be right to her and nothing she
would do or say would be right to them. She took infinite pleasure in
her plan of campaign. Then when she was enjoying the pleasure of such
resentful dreams she would think of her father waiting for news of her:
of his pride in her: of how much he wanted her to succeed. She would
realise how much the parting meant to HIM, and all her little plots
would tumble down and she would resolve to try and please her
relations, learn all she could, succeed beyond all expression and
either go back to America prosperous, or send for her father to join
her in England. All her dreams had her father, either centrifugally or
centripetally, beating through them.

She refused all advances of friendship aboard ship. No one dared speak
to her. She wanted to be alone in her sorrow. She and "MICHAEL" would
romp on the lower deck, by favour of one of the seamen, who would keep
a sharp look-out for officers.

This seaman--O'Farrell by name--took quite a liking to Peg and the dog
and did many little kindly, gracious acts to minister to the comfort of
both of them.

He warned her that they would not let "Michael" go with her from the
dock until he had first been quarantined. This hurt Peg more than
anything could. She burst into tears. To have "Michael" taken from her
would be the last misfortune. She would