she said sweetly. "I am so glad to see you
again, dear." She put up her pretty old face to be kissed. "And this is
our new teacher. I'm delighted to meet you. My son has been singing your
praises until I'm half jealous, and I'm sure Janet ought to be wholly
so."

Poor Janet blushed, Anne said something polite and conventional, and
then everybody sat down and made talk. It was hard work, even for Anne,
for nobody seemed at ease except old Mrs. Douglas, who certainly did not
find any difficulty in talking. She made Janet sit by her and
stroked her hand occasionally. Janet sat and smiled, looking horribly
uncomfortable in her hideous dress, and John Douglas sat without
smiling.

At the tea table Mrs. Douglas gracefully asked Janet to pour the tea.
Janet turned redder than ever but did it. Anne wrote a description of
that meal to Stella.

"We had cold tongue and chicken and strawberry preserves, lemon pie and
tarts and chocolate cake and raisin cookies and pound cake and fruit
cake--and a few other things, including more pie--caramel pie, I think
it was. After I had eaten twice as much as was good for me, Mrs. Douglas
sighed and said she feared she had nothing to tempt my appetite.

"'I'm afraid dear Janet's cooking has spoiled you for any other,' she
said sweetly. 'Of course nobody in Valley Road aspires to rival HER.
WON'T you have another piece of pie, Miss Shirley? You haven't eaten
ANYTHING.'

"Stella, I had eaten a helping of tongue and one of chicken, three
biscuits, a generous allowance of preserves, a piece of pie, a tart, and
a square of chocolate cake!"

After tea Mrs. Douglas smiled benevolently and told John to take "dear
Janet" out into the garden and get her some roses. "Miss Shirley will
keep me company while you are out--won't you?" she said plaintively. She
settled down in her armchair with a sigh.

"I am a very frail old woman, Miss Shirley. For over twenty years I've
been a great sufferer. For twenty long, weary years I've been dying by
inches."

"How painful!" said Anne, trying to be sympathetic and succeeding only
in feeling idiotic.

"There have been scores of nights when they've thought I could never
live to see the dawn," went on Mrs. Douglas solemnly. "Nobody knows what
I've gone through--nobody can know but myself. Well, it can't last very
much longer now. My weary pilgrimage will soon be over, Miss Shirley.
It is a great comfort to me that John will have such a good wife to look
afte