ich she left
school with the best possible intentions, and announced them at home with
much dignity. But, far from being allowed to carry on her course of study,
it became a study with her two small brothers to prevent such morbid
fancies from taking effect. They won golden opinions from the servants
those holidays, who said that the young gentlemen had never been so little
trouble before. They suddenly became as full of "resources within
themselves" as Mrs. Elton herself, to the admiration of the whole family,
except of the unfortunate Urith, who might have unravelled the mystery,
since the cultivation of her domestic virtues by startling and unexpected
interruptions of her reading, occupied such of their spare time as was not
devoted to the mental exercise of devising new plans for her discomfiture
on the morrow.

But, happily for Urith, holidays are terminable, and when the boys left
she hoped to do great things. But visitors came to stay in the house,
special friends of her own, with strong theories as to the value of
co-operation in the matter of brushing their hair at night.

Midnight conversations did not conduce to work before breakfast or to much
energy after it. It was, therefore, with very mingled feelings that Urith
welcomed Aunt Rachel, her outside conscience, whose yearly visit was
usually an unmixed pleasure to her.

Having written much about her intentions at first starting, she was not
surprised when her aunt, on the first evening of her visit, settled
herself for a talk, and began--

"How is the reading going on? You were very sensible in saying that you
meant to begin at once on leaving school, so as not to get out of the
habit of work, and as you have now had three months I suppose you have
something to show for it?"

"Well, I thought I should have had, but, you see, the boys wouldn't let
me!"

"I don't see why you need have drawn the boys' attention to what you were
doing; but since they left--"

"The house has been full!"

"Yes, my dear, but as you generally do have visitors, your reading will
never flourish at this rate."

"Well, I couldn't neglect them."

"No; but they don't require entertaining before breakfast, do they?"

"No; but I was so sleepy."

"What time did you go to bed?"

"Well, I suppose I ought not to have stayed in Barbara's room, but Alice
had so many stories to tell us of her adventures that I did not leave them
till after twelve o'clock."

"As Alice is by no me