ust arrived."

"What are you getting?"

"A pound a week," Beth answered, that being her exact income; "but I
have a little by me besides, to keep me going till I get started, you
know."

Ethel Maud Mary nodded her yellow head intelligently, and began to
climb the narrow flight of stairs which led to the attics, moving her
lips the while, as if she were making calculations. There was no
carpet on this last flight of stairs, but the boards were well washed,
and the attic itself smelt sweet and clean.

"This is it," Ethel explained. "Mr. Brock is in the other, next door.
There's only two of them. This is the biggest room, but the other is
north, and has the biggest window, and being in Art, he's got to think
of the light. If you look out there to the right, you'll see some
green in the Park. You'll like the Park. It's no distance if you're a
walker. Now, just let's see. I've been calculating about the money.
Mr. Brock pays fourteen shillings, but you'll not be able to afford
more than seven out of a pound. You shall have it for seven."

"But surely that will be a loss to you!" Beth exclaimed.

Ethel sat herself down on the side of the bed and smiled up at her.
"I'll not pretend we couldn't get more if we waited," she said; "but
waiting's a loss, and we're doing very well downstairs, and can afford
to pick and choose. You'll find in business that it pays better in the
end to get a good tenant you can trust, who'll stay, than one who
gives you double the amount for a month, and then goes off with the
blankets."

"You don't deceive me a bit," said Beth, sitting down opposite to her
on a cane-bottomed chair. "Your good-heartedness shines out of your
face. But I'm not going to take a mean advantage of it. There's an
honest atmosphere in this house that would suit me, I feel, and I am
sure I shall do well here; but all the same I won't come unless you
make a bargain with me. If I take the rooms for such a small sum now,
while I am poor, will you let me make it up to you when I succeed? I
shall succeed!" The last words burst from her involuntarily, forced
from her with emphasis in spite of herself.

"That's what _I_ like to hear; that's spirit, that is!" Ethel Maud
Mary exclaimed, nodding approvingly. "You'll do all right. So it's a
bargain. Washing's included, you know. You didn't bring your box, did
you?"

"No, I left my luggage at Charing Cross when I arrived last night. I
slept at the hotel," Beth answered.

"At