Living Alone

committees. They need not be mentioned in detail. The names of two others were Miss Meta Mostyn Ford and Lady Arabel Higgins. Miss Ford was a good woman, as well as a lady. Her hand

as fortunately left dry. She had a husband, but no apparent tragedy in her life. These two women were obviously not native to their surroundings. Their eyelashes bro

y to assist it to remain at war for the present. They were the nucleus of a committee on War Saving

f persuading poor people to save money. The s

in by the street door, rushed into the middle of the room, and got under the table. The mem

" panted the perso

nds, and then, as no pursuing outcry declared itself, t

urn out a heroine sooner or later. But perception goes out of committees. The more committees you belong to, the less of ordinary

ace. Her clothes were much too good to throw away. You

ned frankly. "There is an unin

Ford, pronouncing the H in "why" with a

. "Because I couldn

o buy the bun?" asked Miss Ford

had had a good deal of

his morning I was of the leisured classes

bel would have called "too dretful." If one is well dressed one is proud, and may look an angel in the eye. If one is really shabby one is even prouder, one often

ed all that money?

n ten m

all six members. Se

. Don't you know that your country is engaged in the greatest conflict

nger, "I did. That's

drowned by this reply. One coul

ehaved foolishly," she said. "We are all too dretfully anxious to subscribe what we ca

blushed. "Of course it doesn't. But it is fun, don't you t

into silence by Miss Ford. "Of course it's al

h people do not only hear w

ee the recei

she sought. The sixth member noticed several packets labelled MAGIC, whic

. It really was a War Loan receipt, and the name and address on i

cial worker, and had not yet acquired a taste for making fools o

the Stran

nd address," said La

e it up. Don't you think 'The B

Ford. She had attended eight

ot smiling, but pleasantly showing her teeth. "You gave a f

book, or by forgetting to take away the parcels you have bought in poor little shops? Or by standing and looking with ostentatious respect at boy scouts on the march, always bearing in mind that these, in their ow

h. "You amuse me," she said, but not in the kind of

ttee, and a committee, of course, exist

that laughter the tears came into her eyes. "Didn't you like wh

em to be-if not drunk-sufferi

of hysteria?" asked the Strang

orary fiction. She had a lot of friends in the writing trade. She knew artists too, and an actress, and a lot of people who talked. She very nearly did something clever herself. She c

"I didn't know that noise was called laugh

ecution of their duty, and this fancy, I think, reflects their pureness of heart. They spend their days among soft substances most beautiful to touch; and sometimes they sell honest

airmen were very important. She nodded curtly to the Mayor and

ger: "It's no use talking nonsense. We all see through you, you cannot deceive a committee. But to a certain extent we believe your st

ow much, did you? What d'you think of Thelma ... Thelma Bennett Wat

pen helplessly. "But th

do? What about Iris ... Hyde?... You see, the truth is, I was never ac

n "Thelma Bennett Watkins," in self-defence. "This, I take it,

my trade as Magic, and they registered it on my card as '

rade really?" a

Stranger, unbuttoning once

ound upon her toes, and she faced her watchers again. The committee jumped, for the blind ran up, and outside the window, at the end of a stra

e voices of lambs pealed l

mbers of committees, and to the song of April there are no words. What

as the barred sun for a skylight, and winds that are but hideous draughts rush under her door. London knows much, and every moment she learns a new thing, but this she shall never lear

t upon magic. The lamp had tremulously gone out. Coloured flames danced about the Stranger's head. One felt t

ingers, and whispering "Puss, Puss." The lamp relig

er, seemed to be talking by itself, without the assistance of the Mayor himself. One could see that he

will. It must be confusing for such an orderly animal as the cat to exist in this intermittent

er lips, and said: "Now you mention it, I think I'll go do

in the room had reminded her of very familiar things, and for a few seconds she had stood upon a beloved hill, and had looked down be

n, and dismissed April, Miss Ford continued to look at the window. But she cleared her thro

wasting this committee's time. This young person needs no assistance from us." She turned to the Strang

st into

ger took

ow you better," she said. She grew very red. "I say, I

that something of this sort is always

he wen

go out by the door, somehow. Look-she's left s

a bro