command, when Miss Hamilton
touched my arm.

'Oh, do please go on singing as Giles says: it is such a pleasure to hear
you.' And after this I could no longer refuse.

So I sang one song after another, chiefly from memory, and sometimes I
could hear a soft clapping of hands, and sometimes there was breathless
silence, and a curious feeling came over me as I sang. I thought that the
only person to whom I was singing was Miss Hamilton, and that I was
pleading with her to tell me the reason of her sadness, and why there was
such a weary, hopeless look in her eyes, when the world was so young with
her and the God-given gift of beauty was hers.

I was singing as though she and I were alone in the room, when Max
suddenly whispered in my ear, 'That will do, Ursula,' and as soon as the
verse concluded I left off. But before I could rise Miss Darrell was
beside us.

'Oh, thank you so much, Miss Garston; you are very amiable to sing so
long. Giles was certainly loud in your praises, but I was hardly prepared
for such a treat. Why, Gladys dear, have you been crying? What an
impressionable child you are! Miss Garston has not contrived to draw
tears from my eyes.'

But, without making any reply, Miss Hamilton quietly left the room. Were
her eyes wet, I wonder? Was that why Max stopped me? Did he want to
shield her from her cousin's sharp scrutiny? If so, he failed.

'It is such a pity Gladys is so foolishly sensitive,' she went on,
addressing Uncle Max: 'natures of this sort are quite unfit for the stern
duties of life. I am quite uneasy about her sometimes, am I not, Giles?
Her spirits are so uneven, and she has so little strength. Parochial work
nearly killed her, Mr. Cunliffe. You said yourself how ill she looked in
the summer.'

'True; but I never thought the work hurt her,' replied Max, rather
bluntly. 'I think it was a mistake for Miss Hamilton to give up all her
duties; occupation is good for every one.'

'That is my opinion,' observed Mr. Hamilton. 'Etta is always making a
fuss about Gladys's health, but I tell her there is not the least reason
for alarm; many people not otherwise delicate take cold easily. It is
true I advised her to give up evening service for a few weeks until she
got stronger.'

'Indeed!' And here Max looked a little perplexed. 'I thought you told me,
Miss Darrell, that your cousin found our service too long and wearisome,
and this was the reason she stayed away.'

'Oh no; you must have misun