rked the lady, but still
searching the fair face before her with a look of curious interest.
"But," she added, "you look very young; I am afraid you are hardly
experienced enough to be a very efficient seamstress," and the lady told
herself that those delicate, rose-tipped fingers did not look as if they
had been long accustomed to the use of a needle.

"I do not understand very much about dressmaking," Mona frankly replied,
although she ignored the reference to her youthfulness; "but I can do
plain sewing very nicely, and, indeed, almost anything that is planned
for me. I distinctly stated at the office that I could neither cut nor
fit."

"Well, I can but give you a trial," with a little sigh of disappointment,
as if she regretted having engaged one so young; "and if you cannot fill
the place, I shall have to try again, I suppose. But, see here! I caught
the thread that fastened this lace to my skirt, and have ripped off
nearly half a yard. I want you to replace it for me, and you must do
it quickly, for I am a little late, as it is."

Mona dropped upon her knees beside the beautiful woman, threaded her
needle with the silk which Mary brought her, and, though her fingers
trembled and her heart beat with rapid, nervous throbs, she quickly
repaired the damage, and in a manner to win commendation from Mrs.
Montague.

"You are very quick with your needle, and you have done it very nicely,"
she said, with a smile that revealed two rows of the most perfect teeth
that Mona had ever seen. "And now tell me," she added, as she turned
slowly around, "if everything about my costume is all right, then you
may go."

"Yes," Mona returned; "it is perfect; it fits and hangs beautifully."

"That is the highest praise any one could give," Mrs. Montague responded,
with another brilliant smile; "and I believe you are really a competent
judge, since your own dress hasn't a wrinkle in it. Did you make it
yourself?"

"I--I helped to make it. I told you I do not know how to fit," Mona
answered, with a quick flush, and almost a feeling of guilt, for she had
really done but very little work upon the simple black robe which had
been made since her uncle's death.

"Well, I shall soon find out how much you do know," said the lady in a
business-like tone. "You can begin upon those sheets and pillow slips
to-morrow morning--Mary has told you, I suppose. That will be plain
sewing, and you can manage it well enough by yourself. Now you may go