The Two Sides of the Shield

tters for you, ma

aimed Fergus

day, my dears. But here i

a diffe

re next Monday because Aunt Jane is wanted to add

public speaking,' said Harry. 'It

ind as to let them have the festival here. They had reckoned upon Tillington Park, where they have always had it bef

l have all sorts of games, only I'm afraid th

der than the dear 111th

t big girls?' asked V

'Twelve-year-old girls have plenty of play in them, Vals, ha

o feast?'

provide tables and forms and crockery. I must go down and talk to Miss Hacket as soon as lessons are over. Or perhaps it would save time and tr

he blackberry jam

el

d she will have to be after that

l the afternoon,' said Gillian, ch

ere will be lesso

lessons for tomorrow while I'm bound to Miss Con., I'll do mine so

l, springing about upon her chair;

d like to take the note down. They could

ou, mamma!'

s soon as we have done breakf

go?' deman

ust take care not to come back later than eleven, Mysie dear

as looking at her in the ardent hope that she would refuse the privilege of the walk, and it therefore became valuable; but there was so little alacrity i

yond everything, and replied that s

ergus and Primrose were finishing their meal; but she had to silence a storm at the 'didn't mind'-Gillian even venturing to ask how she could send one to whom it was eviden

mma,' said Valetta,

olores comes between you and Mysie, so she must take her place ac

ousins were at their studies. Was this the beginning? Somehow, though her better sense knew this was a foolish fancy, she had a secret pleasure in pitying herself, and posing to herself as a persecuted heroine. And then she was greatly fretted

taken m

Miss Dollars. You'd be

her hand. 'I saw it in the nursery,' she said, triumphantly

at the door. 'Young ladies, you are not

Only to Miss Hacket,' pleaded Mysie, as Mrs. Halfpenny l

ir than to show yourself to a blind beetle in an unbecoming way. 'Tis well that there's one in the house that knows what is befitting. Miss Dollars, you stand still; I must sort your necktie before y

n authoritative hand was extremely disagreeable to the independent young lady. Caroline had never treated her thus, being more willing to pe

'I tried to teach Lois, but nurse said she

tta and Primro

uch, and had written verses about him when she was only sixteen. And Primrose was named aft

me Miss Moh

n't here, becau

ie committed the feeding of her pets to Val, and received the note, with fresh injunctions to come

n, and there was a gener

be helped,

can't,' said Gil

!-a young lady when.... Never mind him, Dolores, he won't hurt. When Miss Constance Hacket and

wish you would

his jolly old black heart. Isn't he a dear old fellow? and he never hurt anybody in his life! It's o

erred to her comfort, and felt a good deal hurt, though Basto's antics subsided as soon as they were past the inner gate shuttin

se you ever saw. They had a nephew in the 111th, and so they came and called on us at once. Miss Hacket is a regular old dear, but we none of us can bear Miss Constance, except that m

he says she will never have another of those G.F.S.

kes it,'

he is only

day. Alethea taught the little drummer boys, and they were so funny. I wonder who teaches them now! Gill always goes down to help Miss Hacket with her G.F.S

work. What the use

ng-machines in the Southern States got out of order, and as all the machinery people we

re a recent invent

d War of Independence. No, I meant the war

ngland,' said Dolores, as if Mys

Papa told us about it. He read it in some paper, I

e of irregular unsy

defence of her father-for she would not for the world have confessed that he did not talk to her as Sir J

picking up things out of

approve of harassing children with cramming them with irregular information at all sorts of times. Let play be play and lessons b

pid!' cr

olores, 'nor the professor ei

etically, 'only that it must be very stupid not t

used to play with a little girl who could read and talk Fre

went on in a reassured voice, 'so could all of us except Jasper and Gillian, and they

a long, low 'cottage residence,' but was really two, with a verandah along the front, and a garden divided in the middle by a paling covered with canary nasturtium shrubs. The verandah on one side was hung with a rich purple pall of the dark clematis, on the other by a Gloire de Dijon rose. There were bright flower beds

p; she had a very considerable amount of nose and rather thin, dark hair, done in a fashion which, like that of her navy blue linen

should hear from her.' And as she kissed Mysie, she added, 'A

t knowing that Miss Hacket was far too ladylike to be over-famil

nswer at once till she had consulted her sister. She was not sure whether Co

oo coo-roo-oo' in the v

e dear

one that had just crept out into public life, the sister was called to the window. She was a great deal younger and more of the present day

which Dolores studied them, and Mysie studied the doves, l

tation, she thought she might wait just to help Miss Hacket to put

arrive ye

e day b

be a great ch

ed it

nk,' said Miss Constance. 'No variety, no advanta

es

te revelation-the opening of another world. And I understand that Mr. Mauric

and plaything of the guests, incited to say clever and pert things, which then w

as any ideas. You can't conceive how borne and prejudiced every one

working Goosey Goosey G

e in and see, I don't know which to take; I brought three

d a regular aesthete! He made her do a dado all sunflowers last year, but they are a little gone out now, and are very staring

d I not give for such opportuniti

an vase, where the water must have been as much out of their reach as that in the pitcher was beyond the crow's; and a third, of Little Bo Pee

bled her to give great enlightenment to this poor country mouse; so she gladly went to the bedroom, with a muslin-worked toilet-cover, embroidered curtains, plates fastened against the wall, and table all over knick-k

Hacket's calls for her sister brought the tow downstairs more than ten minutes had passed! Mysie was too much dismayed, and in too great a hurry to do anything but cry, 'Come along, Dolores,' and set off at such a gallop as to scandalize the Londoner, even when Mysie recollected that it was too public a place for running, and slackened her pace. Dolores was soon gasping, and with a stitch in her side. Mysie would have exclaimed, 'What were

coming out of the dining-room greeted them with,

looking out of the schoolroom. 'My de

. 'At least it was my fau

take a lesson now. Dolores looks quite done up! I shall send you both to lie down on your beds and learn your poetry for an hour. And you mu

ting them off their morning's lessons. It was a pity that she felt too forlorn and sullen even to complain when Gillian brought up Macaulay's 'Armada' for her to learn the first twelve lines, or she might have come to an understanding, but all that was elicited from her was a glum 'No,' when asked if she knew it already. Gillian told her not to keep her dusty boots on the bed, and she vouchsafed no answer, for she did not consider Gillian her mistress, though, after she was left to herself, she found them so tight and hot that she took them off. Then she looked over the verses rather contemptuously-she who always learnt German poetry; and she had a great mind to a

d the hall, but the schoolroom door was open, and

per eadem, the ba

ear, go and wash your face, and try

she had been crying all the time she had been learning, over her own fau

Vincent, 'have you com

res. 'I went to

one the same. I believe it was what Lady Merri

Miss Vincent was no relation, and she thought it a

ve me such a stupid, childish, sing-song nursery rhyme

otten,' said Miss Vincent gaily. Then seeing the cloud return to Dolores's face, she added, 'You have been bro

he had learnt from her books that governesses were not uniformly so cruel as

e was made to depart. Dolores asked whether to go into the drawing-room, and was told that Lady Merrifield preferred

le and sympathetic at Dolores on the opposite side of the table, but discussed lawn-tennis tournaments with her neighbour, which was quite as little interesting to the general public as was the G.F.S. However, as soon as Primrose had said grace, Lady Merrifield proposed to take Miss Hacket down to the stable-yard; and the whole train followed excepting the two girls, who trusted Hal to see whether their pets wou

a voice as though she were rathe

h a lovely name that Constance could not mangle it, and was sure there was some reason for it. The girl had, in fact, been named after a Spanish lady, whom her mother had known and admired in early girlhood, and to whom she had made a promise of na

icated to her new friend in the window-seat of her room. When the two ladies went home, Constance told her sister that 'dear little Dolores was a rem

herself not wanted, had

ely. 'I've ever so much morning's work to make u

fatigue, crying, and dinner had made her brains dull

while I do my algebra, and then we'll go over your German verbs together. I'll tel

an equation, and prepare her Virgil, to the sound of scal

opeful and persevering, and though there still was a 'bill of parcels' where 11 and 3/4 lbs. of mutton at 13 and 1/2d. per lb. refused to come right, Lady Merrifield kissed her, said she had been a diligent child

, and scowled, as she stood at the fr

said Mysie. 'Or haven't

king one answer serv

t. Shall I ask mam

e messes! And what's the use i

ch fun,'

a cookery class at Dublin a

your lessons, you can't g

field presently crossed the h

ting to say those ver

arn them, I went to

, my dear. Suppose we

ith her, explaining what was new to the girl, and vividly describing the agitation of Plymouth, and the flocks of peo

flecting all this time that she was being punished while Mysie was enjoying he