loved topic of books, Janie had plenty
to say; and, as Honor was also in a communicative mood, the pair seemed
well started on the high road to friendship.

It was fortunate for Honor that she had found a congenial room-mate, as
her first days at Chessington proved rather a time of trial. She was
woefully and terribly home-sick. It seemed an absolute uprooting to
have been torn away from Kerry, and she considered that nothing in her
new surroundings could make amends for the change. Her pride upheld her
sufficiently to prevent her from showing any outward signs of misery
before the inquisitive eyes of her schoolfellows, but every now and
then the yearning for Kilmore would rise with an almost unbearable
pain, and she would have to fight hard to keep her self-control. Maisie
Talbot, she was sure, would regard home-sickness as "early Victorian",
and consequently worthy of contempt; and she was determined not to give
either Maisie or any of the others an opportunity of laughing at her.

She felt very keenly the confinement and restraint of school life. To
be obliged to study lessons and play games at specified hours, all
within a certain limited area, seemed an utter contrast to the freedom
in which she had hitherto revelled; and she would long for a scamper
with Bute and Barney, her two terriers, or a sail with her father down
the creek and out into the Atlantic. She would pour enthusiastic
descriptions of her home into Janie's ears, until the latter felt she
knew Kilmore Castle and its demesne, and the little fishing village,
with its peat smoke and its warm-hearted peasants; and the rocks and
the moors and the stream, and the green, treacherous bogs, almost as
well as Honor herself.

Notwithstanding her former reputation for unsociability, Janie, at the
end of three days, had completely lost her heart to this wayward,
impulsive daughter of Erin. It was true, Honor was apt to be trying at
times. Her gusts of hot temper, petulance, or utter unreasonableness
were rather disconcerting to anyone unaccustomed to the Celtic
disposition; but they never lasted long, and Janie soon found out that
her friend rarely meant what she then said, and was generally
particularly lovable after an outburst, with a winsome look on her face
and a beguiling, endearing tone in her voice that would have gained
forgiveness from a stone.

With the rest of the members of St. Chad's Honor was also on good
terms. She could be very amusing and ful