me thinking about the happy old
days at home.

The one unpleasantly was the conduct of the little maid they kept. She
was a round rosy-faced girl of about fifteen, I suppose, but dressed in
every respect, cap and apron and all, like a woman of five-and-twenty.
In fact she looked like a small-sized woman with very hard-looking shiny
dark eyes.

Upon her first entrance into the room bearing a bright tin kettle, for
the moment I thought that as she looked so fierce, it was she who
uttered little snorts, hisses, and sputtering noises. But of course it
was only the kettle, for she merely looked at me angrily and gave a
defiant sniff. As the evening went on, I found that this was Maria, and
it soon became evident that Maria did not like me, but looked upon me as
a kind of intruder, of whom she was as jealous as a girl of her class
could be.

Pleasant evenings always pass too rapidly, and it was so here; I could
not believe it when the hands of the little clock on the chimney-piece
pointed to nine, and I rose to go.

"How soon it seems!" sighed Mrs John. "Well, Mayne,"--it had soon come
to that--"you must call and see us again very soon--while we are here,"
she added, slowly.

"Ah, and who knows but what he may come when we are far away!" said Mr
John. "The world is only a small place after all."

"Where should you go?" I said, earnestly. "I would come if I could."

"Possibly to Canada," said Mr John. "But there, we are not gone yet.
You will not feel lonely, dear, if I walk a little way with our
visitor?"

She gave him a very gentle smile, and as I held out my hand, she drew me
to her and kissed me.

I could not say "Good-bye" then, for there was a strange choking feeling
in my throat which made me hurry away, and the last thing I heard as I
went out was the sharp banging and locking of the little gate, followed
by another defiant sniff.

"Come and see us as often as you can, Mayne," said my new friend at
parting. "We never had any children, and it is a pleasure to us to have
young people about us, for since my misfortunes we have lived very much
to ourselves. In fact, my dear wife's health has made it necessary that
she should be much alone."

"But she is getting better, sir?"

"Oh, rapidly now; and if I can get her abroad--Ah, we must talk about
this another time. Goodnight."

"Good-night."

It was like the opening out of a new life to me, and I walked back to
Camberwell as if the distance wa