rigid nature that her hope of salvation lay. If she
could once get M. P. on her side, all might yet be well again.

So she began to lay siege to Mary's good-will--to Mary, who took none
but the barest notice of her, even in the bedroom ignoring her as if
she did not exist, and giving the necessary orders, for she was the
eldest of the three, in tones of ice. But it needed a great wariness on
Laura's part. And, in the beginning, she made a mistake. She was a
toadeater here, too, seeking to curry favour with M. P. as with the
rest, by fawning on her, in a way for which she could afterwards have
hit herself. For it did not answer; M. P. had only a double disdain for
the cringer, knowing nothing herself of the pitfalls that lie in wait
for a temperament like Laura's. Mary's friendship was extended to none
but those who had a lofty moral standard; and truthfulness and honesty
were naturally the head virtues on her list. Laura was sharp enough to
see that, if she wished to gain ground with M. P. she must make a
radical change in her tactics. It was not enough, where Mary was in
question, to play the echo. Did she, Laura, state an opinion, she must
say what she meant, above all, mean what she said, and stick manfully
to it, instead of, at the least hint, being ready to fly over to Mary's
point of view: always though, of course, with the disquieting proviso
in the background that her own opinions were such as she ought to have,
and not heretical leanings that shocked and dismayed. In which case,
there was nothing for it but to go on being mum.

She ventured, moreover, little unobtrusive services, to which she
thought neither of the girls could take exception; making their beds
for them in the morning, and staying up last at night to put out the
light. And once she overheard the friend, who was called Cupid, say:
"You know, M. P., she's not such a bad little stick after all."--But
then Cupid was easy-going, and inclined to be original.

May answered: "She's no doubt beginning to see she can't lie to US. But
she's a very double-faced child."

It was also with an eye to M. P.'s approval that Laura threw herself,
with renewed zeal, upon her work. And in those classes that called only
for the exercise of her memory, she soon sat high. The reason why she
could not mount still higher was that M. P. occupied the top place, and
was not to be moved, even had Laura dreamed of attempting it.

And at length, after three months of unrem