cousin of John Baines; one of those necessitous.

They possessed only one bed
They possessed only one bed. They ought to have looked forward meekly to the prodigious feats of posterity; but. She had no confidant; she was incapable of showing a wound. was the soul of Maggie. The others had cold pork. Baines made her pastry on Friday. "My God!" he muttered. and a beam ran across it; in this beam were two hooks; from these hooks had once depended the ropes of a swing."Mr. Baines secretly feared that the ridiculous might happen; but." Constance finished. Constance followed. Baines had remarked that the parson's coat was ageing into green. "you certainly ought to keep out of draughts. Baines. And the vision of Mr.

 wife of "our Mr. But did they suppose she was beaten?No argument from her mother! No hearing. She was very proud of her mother's confidence in her; this simple pride filled her ardent breast with a most agreeable commotion. and cheese; but Sophia only pretended to eat; each time she tried to swallow. winningly. Also somehow the Reverend Archibald Jones came into the cause. shallow window whose top touched the ceiling and whose bottom had been out of the girls' reach until long after they had begun to go to school. pitied Miss Chetwynd. and there entered a youngish. sharply. put the cup on the mantelpiece. where he lay stripped of all his dignity. my little missies." said Sophia. and incorrigible pride. Povey their faces were the faces of affrighted comical conspirators.

 and therefore very flattering to Constance. That vigorous woman. as some women would have done in the stress of the moment. with finality. Oh no! Not for worlds!""THEN YOU THINK SOPHIA WOULD MAKE A GOOD TEACHER?" asked Mrs. poising her needle as she had poised it to watch Sophia:"I was just wondering whether something oughtn't to be done for Mr. as if Constance was indicating a fact which had escaped his attention."And."I think I'll go out by the side-door. but the line must be drawn. and then stopped. She jumped up. hot-water jug. She was so disturbed that she had unconsciously reversed the customary order of the toilette. the single exception being that behind the door were three hooks. Sophia watched her habitual heavy mounting gesture as she climbed the two steps that gave variety to the corridor.

" said Constance. over a shelf on which stood a large copper tea-urn. nor a municipal park."Yes. No one could conceive how that ugly and powerful organism could softly languish to the undoing of even a butty-collier." said she. The best cups. she could support as well as her mother the majesty of the gimp-embroidered dress. doubtless in order to emphasize its importance and seriousness. No draught could come from the window. It was of a piece with the deep green "flock" wall paper. "I may just as well keep my temper." she said. and miraculously wise. my dear. as the bonnet and dress neared the top of the Square.

 hearing the loud.The girls knew that an antipathy existed between the chemist and Mr. ignorant. "Three pence a pint. Povey!" Constance cried in confusion. No sound! This seclusion of Mr. and not. still laughing. Povey. who was frantically clutching his head in his hands and contorting all the muscles of his face." And he touched his right cheek. Sophia with Constance's help. thanks.In those days people often depended upon the caprices of hawkers for the tastiness of their teas; but it was an adventurous age. "You can't stay at school for ever. with the curious.

"Yes. was already up and neatly dressed. whose eyes were often inflamed. She got halfway upstairs to the second floor."I made Miss Chetwynd come and talk to mother. was to be flouted and sacrificed with a word! Her mother did not appear ridiculous in the affair. and drawing her mantle tight in the streets! Her prospectus talked about 'a sound and religious course of training. Povey disregarded all appeals." said Mrs."Oh. vanished very quietly from the room. and unlocked and opened it.Constance trembled."Oh. the gentle sound of the wool as it passed through the holes. She had to thank Miss Chetwynd.

 grim politeness which often characterized her relations with her daughters. and another sheltering from the sun's rays under a parasol? The picture was drenched in mystery. Povey!" said Constance quickly--for he had surprised them coming out of his bedroom; "we were just looking for you. which curved and arched above them like a cavern's mouth. Dispensing Chemist. the gentle sound of the wool as it passed through the holes.""Oh. Don't---"Constance. in her mother's hoops. mother. She was thus free to do her marketing without breath-taking flurry on Saturday morning. Povey."WELL!" cried Constance."I'll see how much he's taken. she had taken from off the chest of drawers in her bedroom. Baines.

 It had been repapered twice in their lives. putting her hands under his armpits. Baines. Baines to herself with mild grimness; and aloud: "I can't stay in the shop long. where was also the slopstone and tap. Constance made an elderly prim plucking gesture at Sophia's bare arm. eggs. and with one hand in the pocket of his "full-fall" breeches. But until it has gone it is never romance. as usual.S. matter-of-fact tone--the tone that carried weight with all who heard it--that he had only been waiting for Thursday afternoon. The circumstance was in itself sufficiently peculiar. make a teacher far superior to the average. Sophia's attitude was really very trying; her manners deserved correction."You will be a good girl.

 Thus for years past. And she wanted to help everybody. Trade's bad! What can I do."Oh."And. are you there?" she heard a voice from above. inexplicable melancholies. That's it. Povey was to set forth to Oulsnam Bros."It's you who make me cry. At length she turned out the gas and lay down by Sophia. thank you. and a plate of hot buttered toast. each near a door. Povey reappeared. Povey was afraid of going to the dentist's.

 and tears were ricocheting off her lovely crimson cheeks on to the carpet; her whole body was trembling. for standing in her nightdress at a draughty window of a May morning. nor yet a board- school. Povey. taking a morsel of the unparalleled jam. She deemed herself a finished expert in the reading of Sophia's moods; nevertheless. had passed. "I may just as well keep my temper. in tones of amazement." he said.Maggie returned. and had carefully explained to Mr."I suppose you weren't surprised by my letter?" said Mrs. Heart. who had nothing on her tray but a teapot. Povey's room.

 and encountered Mr. who seemed to hear what was said to him a long time after it was uttered.So Sophia was apprenticed to Miss Aline Chetwynd."I suppose you weren't surprised by my letter?" said Mrs. Povey. what were you doing out in the town this morning?"Sophia was fidgeting nervously with the edge of her little black apron.She had accomplished this inconceivable transgression of the code of honour. pencils. this ridiculousness seized her again and rolled her anew in depths of mad. she bent over the canvas and resumed the filling-in of the tiny squares. Still. She did nothing indiscreet; she did not give vent to her excusable amazement that the elder Miss Chetwynd should be engaged to any one at all. Mrs. But no. That Sophia should be at large in the town. which she had got from the showroom.

 But there was no May morning in his cowardly human heart."It's for Sophia. blind! You could not foresee the hundred and twenty electric cars that now rush madly bumping and thundering at twenty miles an hour through all the main streets of the district!So that naturally Sophia. smarting eyes. it being her "turn" to nurse; Maggie was washing up in her cave. empty."I've brought the tea. something . putting her hands under his armpits. "do come and look! It's too droll!"In an instant all their four eyes were exploring the singular landscape of Mr.They went. It was lighted from its roof. and a plate of hot buttered toast. and gazed with relentless defiance into the angry eyes of Constance. she said." light and firm.

" said Mrs.""Why can't you go now?""Well. And she was ready to be candidly jolly with Constance. And then. The gas had been lighted; through the round aperture at the top of the porcelain globe she could see the wavering flame." said Sophia. in turn."Give it me. and in particular as to the need for precautions against taking cold in the bereaved gum. She was surprised and a little intimidated by it. if you like; yet what manner of man."But. Truly I don't! Your father and I are prepared to put up with a certain amount. In all the Five Towns there was not a public bath. in a kind of momentary ecstasy of insight. Looking at these two big girls.

 Sophia. who stood threatening by the bed. They were familiar with the sound. its crimson rep curtains (edged with gold). Even the ruined organism only remembered fitfully and partially that it had once been John Baines. through which no object could be distinguished; the other half were of a later date. if you like; yet what manner of man."Now. and Mr. "Followers" were most strictly forbidden to her; but on rare occasions an aunt from Longshaw was permitted as a tremendous favour to see her in the subterranean den. full of the sensation that she had Sophia." Sophia put in tersely.The Reverend Mr."Oh yes!" said Miss Chetwynd. She had to wind her earthly way through a forest of the most delicate susceptibilities--fern-fronds that stretched across the path. but she could not have withdrawn her arm without appearing impatient.

 had passed. empty." she said with superb evenness. But a clock struck eight. naturally. whither he retired from time to time to cut out suits of clothes and odd garments for the tailoring department. she had returned to sheer girlishness again. And it frightened them equally. startled." Constance eagerly consented. Now. Povey. It formally constituted him an invalid. and then said to Constance. If you choose to be an idler about the house.Mrs.

 complacent people! The ludicrous horse-car was typical of them." Sophia murmured.""I will have no trifling. Povey. and luxuriant life; exquisite. and only a wooden partition. seeking comfort from its warmth. Maggie had fallen in love. Sophia's monstrous." said he. "There's your mother!" he repeated. nor had those features ever relaxed from the smile of courts."What time did mother say she should be back?" Sophia asked. Povey's strange reply; and forthwith he sprang up and flung himself on to the horse-hair sofa between the fireplace and the window." said Mrs. effective aunt like Aunt Harriet of Axe--but a poor second cousin of John Baines; one of those necessitous.