usic lessons on Monday,
painting on Tuesday, calisthenics and wood-carving on Thursday and
Friday. Wednesday and Saturday are half-holidays. Then from four to
six the room is common property, and we have tea together and amuse
ourselves as we choose."

"A most desirable arrangement. Thank you! Yes,--I _will_ take a scone,
as you are so kind!" said Peggy blandly; a remark which covered the five
young people with confusion, since none of them had noticed that her
plate was empty. Each one made a grab in the direction of the plate of
scones; the girls failed to reach it, while Oswald, twitching it from
Robert's hands, jerked half the contents on the table, and had to pick
them up, while Miss Saville looked on with a smile of indulgent
superiority.

"Accidents will happen, will they not?" she said sweetly, as she lifted
a scone from the plate, with her little finger cocked well in the air,
and nibbled it daintily between her small white teeth. "A most
delicious cake! Home-made, I presume? Perhaps of your own concoction?"

Esther muttered an inarticulate assent, and once more the conversation
languished. She looked appealingly at Maxwell. As the son of the
house, the eldest of the boys, it was his place to take the lead, but
Maxwell looked the picture of embarrassment. He did not suffer from
bashfulness as a rule, but since Peggy Saville had come into the room he
had been seized with an appalling self-consciousness. His feet felt in
the way, his arms seemed too long for practical purposes, his elbows had
a way of invading other people's precincts, and his hands looked red and
clammy. It occurred to him dimly that he was not a man after all, but
only a big overgrown schoolboy, and that little Miss Saville knew as
much, and was mildly pitiful of his shortcomings. He was not at all
anxious to attract the attention of the sharp little tongue, so he
passed on the signal to Mellicent, kicking her foot under the table, and
frowning vigorously in the direction of the stranger.

"Er,"--began Mellicent, anxious to respond to the signal, but lamentably
short of ideas,--"Er,--Peggy! Are you fond of sums? I'm in decimals.
Do you like fractions? I think they are hateful. I could do vulgars
pretty well, but decimals are fearful. They never come right. So
awfully difficult."

"Patience and perseverance overcome difficulties. Keep up your courage.
I'll help you with them, dear," said Peggy encouragingly, closing her