,'
he told her.

Vava opened her eyes wide. 'But she is in the next room!'

'I know; but I really could not say it to her,' said the junior partner,
looking uncomfortable.

Vava looked at him keenly. 'I can't imagine why not; she's not so
frightening as all that, unless you want to propose to her,' she added
with a laugh.

Mr. Jones laughed too, although he coloured and looked fearfully at the
door, as if Stella might by some evil chance be there. 'Would she be
frightening if one proposed?' he asked in joke.

'I hope you won't, because she would not marry you, you know,' responded
Vava.

'Thank you,' said Mr. Jones. And then he added, in a dry tone, 'As a
matter of fact, I was not going to take any such liberty; I was going to
tell her'----Here he stopped.

'That you didn't want her any more?' suggested Vava.

'On the contrary, that her services were worth more to the firm than she
was being paid for them, and that her salary would be raised,' he
observed.

'How jolly! Why can't you tell Stella that straight out? She isn't
ashamed of earning money,' declared Vava.

Mr. Jones was not so sure of that. However, he so far took Vava's advice
as not to write, but simply to send the cheque of the increased amount,
and leave Stella to speak of it.

Meanwhile Mr. Jones set to work to explain not only one or two rules,
but to go through all the term's work, and spent, not half-an-hour, but
two hours at it; and Stella, who came in with her letters, could not
help feeling grateful, and admiring the young man for his good-nature
and the interest he was evidently taking in his pupil.

'Now if that does not bring you out first in the examination I shall be
surprised, that's all!' he exclaimed, when, having come to the last
rule, Vava declared that she understood them all.

'Then I shall have to give the prize to you,' she replied, laughing, and
went off.

Now it happened that Stella did not open her cheque at all that morning,
being very busy translating a long communication from a French firm, and
on the way home she took it out of its large business envelope to put
into her pocket-book, when her eye fell on the amount. 'Dear me! how
stupid of Mr. Jones; he has made this cheque out wrong. If I wanted to
cash this money it would be very inconvenient,' said Stella, who was
very particular about paying all bills and accounts regularly every
week.

'It's all right; he's raised your salary,' put in Vava.

Stella gre