s well have spoken to the hatstand: Mrs. Gurley had
sailed off, and was actually approaching a turn in the hall before
Laura made haste to follow her and to keep further anxiety about her
box to herself. They went past one staircase, round a bend into shadows
as black as if, outside, no sun were shining, and began to ascend
another flight of stairs, which was the widest Laura had ever seen. The
banisters were as thick as your arm, and on each side of the
stair-carpeting the space was broad enough for two to walk abreast:
what a splendid game of trains you could have played there! On the
other hand the landing windows were so high up that only a giant could
have seen out of them.

These things occurred to Laura mechanically. What really occupied her,
as she trudged behind, was how she could please this hard-faced woman
and make her like her, for the desire to please, to be liked by all the
world, was the strongest her young soul knew. And there must be a way,
for Godmother had found it without difficulty.

She took two steps at once, to get nearer to the portly back in front
of her.

"What a VERY large place this is!" she said in an insinuating voice.

She hoped the admiration, thus subtly expressed in the form of
surprise, would flatter Mrs. Gurley, as a kind of co-proprietor; but it
was evident that it did nothing of the sort: the latter seemed to have
gone deaf and dumb, and marched on up the stairs, her hands clasped at
her waist, her eyes fixed ahead, like a walking stone-statue.

On the top floor she led the way to a room at the end of a long
passage. There were four beds in this room, a washhand-stand, a chest
of drawers, and a wall cupboard. But at first sight Laura had eyes only
for the familiar object that stood at the foot of one of the beds.

"Oh, THERE'S my box!" she cried, "Someone must have brought it up."

It was unroped; she had simply to hand over the key. Mrs. Gurley went
down on her knees before it, opened the lid, and began to pass the
contents to Laura, directing her where to lay and hang them. Overawed
by such complaisance, Laura moved nimbly about the room shaking and
unfolding, taking care to be back at the box to the minute so as not to
keep Mrs. Gurley waiting. And her promptness was rewarded; the stern
face seemed to relax. At the mere hint of this, Laura grew warm through
and through; and as she could neither control her feelings nor keep
them to herself, she rushed to an extreme and o