what Mrs. Gresley called a "cross," and Mr. Gresley was always afraid
that the fact of its presence might become known and hopelessly
misconstrued in Warpington and the world at large.

The children knew that Hester was in disgrace, as she vainly tried to
eat the congealed slice of roast mutton, with blue slides in it, which
had been put before her chair half an hour ago, when the joint was sent
out for the servants' dinner. The children liked "Auntie Hester," but
without enthusiasm, except Regie, the eldest, who loved her as himself.
She could tell them stories, and make butterflies and horses and dogs
out of paper, but she could never join in their games, not even in the
delightful new ones she invented for them. She was always tired
directly. And she would never give them rides on her back, as the large,
good-natured Pratt girls did. And she was dreadfully shocked if they did
not play fair, so much so that on one occasion Mr. Gresley had to
interfere, and to remind her that a game was a game, and that it would
be better to let the children play as they liked than to be perpetually
finding fault with them.

Perhaps nothing in her life at the Vicarage was a greater trial to
Hester than to see the rules of fair play broken by the children with
the connivance of their parents. Mr. Gresley had never been to a public
school, and had thus missed the ABC of what in its later stages is
called "honor." He was an admirable hockey-player, but he was not in
request at the frequent Slumberleigh matches, for he never hit off fair,
or minded being told so.

"Auntie Hester is leaving all her fat," said Mary, suddenly, in a shrill
voice, her portion of pear held in her left cheek as she spoke. She had
no idea that she ought not to draw attention to the weakness of others.
She was only anxious to be the first to offer interesting information.

"Never mind," said Mrs. Gresley, admiring her own moderation. "Finish
your pear."

If there was one thing more than another in Hester's behavior that
annoyed Mrs. Gresley--and there were several others--it was Hester's
manner of turning her food over on her plate and leaving half of it.

Hester did it again now, and Mrs. Gresley, already irritated by her
unpunctuality, tried to look away so as not to see her, and prayed for
patience. The hundred a year which Hester contributed to the little
establishment had eased the struggling household in many ways; but Mrs.
Gresley sometimes wondered if