not at Lomore, and that you must not make friends without
my leave, or else I shall feel that I cannot take care of you, and that
it's not right to keep you with me,' said Stella.

'Then I shall die in this dreadful place without you,' declared Vava in
tragic tones.

'Vava, something has happened. What is it? What has made you take such a
dislike to London? You liked it well enough yesterday,' exclaimed Stella
anxiously. She had been putting on her hat and coat as she spoke, and
had just said this, when Mrs. Ryan, the housekeeper, came in with a
tray, on which there were two cups of tea and delicious thin bread and
butter and cakes.

'I have brought you a warm cup of tea to keep the cold out on your way
home, and one for this young lady, who is your sister, as is plain to
see. Dear, dear! and to think of you two poor lambs all alone! My dear,
don't be offended with me; but if, as you say, you have no relations or
friends in London, I hope you'll count me as one, and come to me if you
are in any trouble, just as if I were'--a fine tact made the old
Irishwoman say, 'your old housekeeper,' instead of 'your mother.'

Stella held out her hand and smiled. 'Thank you, Mrs. Ryan; indeed you
are a friend, and I will come to you for advice,' she said.

'And, do you know, you remind me a little of nursie, our housekeeper at
Lomore, only she is Scotch; but I can understand your way of speaking,
and that's more than I can the people at school,' Vava remarked, with
such a tone of disgust that the other two laughed.

But Stella looked relieved. 'So that's it, is it? I suppose they laughed
at you for talking with a Scotch accent? I have often told you, Vava,
that you should not copy old Duncan as you did,' protested Stella; for
Vava talked much broader Scotch than Stella, and used words which are
not in use or understood south of the Border.

'They're stupid things, and I don't want to talk like them. Anyway, they
don't pronounce lots of their words right; they say "wat" and "ware" for
"what" and "where;" so of course I got a lot of mistakes in my English
dictation. But I beat them in my French,' she wound up triumphantly.

'You'll soon get used to that, miss, and there isn't a better school in
London than the one you're at; there's no money spared on it, for it's a
rich company that has it, though I don't know exactly why they have it,'
said Mrs. Ryan.

'I do; a rich merchant's wife founded it!' cried Vava, and poured forth