ed the invitation for his adopted son. It is his whim for the
moment, and it is only becoming on my part to show that we are grateful
for the way in which the boy behaved. By the time a month has gone by,
I have no doubt that the boy will be back at the--the place from which
he came; but while he is at Dr Grayson's I desire that he be treated as
if he were Dr Grayson's son."

"Very well, James," said Lady Danby, in an ill-used tone of voice. "You
are master here, and we must obey."

The day of the invitation arrived. Dexter was to be at Sir James's in
time for lunch, and directly after breakfast he watched his opportunity
and followed Helen into the drawing-room.

"I say," he said; "I can't go there, can I?"

"Why not?" said Helen.

"Lookye here."

"Why, Dexter!" cried Helen, laughing merrily; "what have you been
doing!"

"Don't I look a guy!"

There was a change already in the boy's aspect; his face, short as the
time had been, was beginning to show what fresh air and good feeding
could achieve. His hair had altered very slightly, but still there was
an alteration for the better, and his eyes looked brighter, but his
general appearance was comical all the same.

Directly after breakfast he had rushed up to his room and put on the
clothes in which he had taken his involuntary bath. These garments, as
will be remembered, had been obtained in haste, and were of the kind
known in the trade as "ready-mades," and in this case composed of a
well-glazed and pressed material, containing just enough wool to hold
together a great deal of shoddy.

The dip in the river had been too severe a test for the suit, especially
as Maria had been put a little more out of temper than usual by having
the garments handed to her to dry.

Maria's mother was a washerwoman who lived outside Coleby on the common,
and gained her income by acting as laundress generally for all who would
intrust her with their family linen; but she called herself in yellow
letters on a brilliant scarlet ground a "clear starcher."

During Maria's early life at home she had had much experience in the
ways of washing. She knew the smell of boiled soap. She had often
watched the steam rising from the copper, and played among the clouds,
and she well knew that the quickest way to dry anything that has been
soaked is to give it a good wringing.

She had therefore given Dexter's new suit a good wringing, and wrung out
of it a vast quantity of sticky