o mistake; she was on the inside of things in
Bursley society! It was just as if she had removed the front walls of
every house and examined every room at her leisure, with minute
particularity. But of course a teacher of dancing had opportunities....
Denry had to pretend to be nearly as omniscient as she was.

Then she broke off, without warning, and lay back in her chair.

"I wonder if you'd mind going into the barn for me?" she murmured.

She generally referred to her academy as the barn. It had once been a
warehouse.

He jumped up. "Certainly," he said, very eager.

"I think you'll see a small bottle of eau-de-Cologne on the top of the
piano," she said, and shut her eyes.

He hastened away, full of his mission, and feeling himself to be a
terrific cavalier and guardian of weak women. He felt keenly that he
must be equal to the situation. Yes, the small bottle of eau-de-Cologne
was on the top of the piano. He seized it and bore it to her on the
wings of chivalry. He had not been aware that eau-de-Cologne was a
remedy for, or a palliative of, headaches.

She opened her eyes, and with a great effort tried to be bright and
better. But it was a failure. She took the stopper out of the bottle and
sniffed first at the stopper and then at the bottle; then she spilled a
few drops of the liquid on her handkerchief and applied the handkerchief
to her temples.

"It's easier," she said.

"Sure?" he asked. He did not know what to do with himself--whether to
sit down and feign that she was well, or to remain standing in an
attitude of respectful and grave anxiety. He thought he ought to depart;
yet would it not be ungallant to desert her under the circumstances? She
was alone. She had no servant, only an occasional charwoman.

She nodded with brave, false gaiety. And then she had a relapse.

"Don't you think you'd better lie down?" he suggested in more masterful
accents. And added; "And I'll go....? You ought to lie down. It's the
only thing." He was now speaking to her like a wise uncle.

"Oh no!" she said, without conviction. "Besides, you can't go till I've
paid you."

It was on the tip of his tongue to say, "Oh! don't bother about that
now!" But he restrained himself. There was a notable core of
common-sense in Denry. He had been puzzling how he might neatly mention
the rent while departing in a hurry so that she might lie down. And now
she had solved the difficulty for him.

She stretched out her arm, and pic