r make them one. That they have some things in common
is nothing to the point. The new woman, as I understand her, has no
mission, not even a commission. The new woman is Protest, embodied and
at present skirted, but with a protest against the skirt. Her most
longed-for goal is the Unattainable, and if by some chance she should
reach it she would be dismayed and annoyed. Meantime, with the vision
before her eyes of the table of the gods, she cries aloud that she is
forced to feed on husks, and as she must hug something, hugs a
grievance."

"Philip Derwent," interposed the vicar's wife, "you are in danger of
becoming vulgar."

"Vulgarity, madam," he rejoined, "is in these days the brand of
refinement. It is only your truly refined man who has the courage to
be vulgar in polite society. No other dares to call a spade a spade or
a lie a lie. Those who wish to be considered refined speak of the one
as an 'agricultural implement' and of the other as a 'terminological
inexactitude.' But to return to our sheep who are clamouring for
wolves' clothing----"

"Really, Philip!" protested the vicar's wife, pursing her lips more
emphatically than ever.

"The latest incarnation of Protest, if I may so speak, takes the form
of a demand for the suffrage, and is accompanied by much beating of
drums and----"

"Smashing of windows," I ventured.

He bowed. "And smashing of windows. By and by they will get their
desire."

"And so have fulfilled their mission," the squire smiled.

"By no means; they have no mission; they have simply a hunger, or
rather a pain which goes away when their appetite is stayed, and comes
on again before the meal has been well digested. Then they go forth
once more seeking whom or what they may devour."

"Tell us of the woman with a mission," I pleaded.

"Miss Holden is anxious to discover in what category she is to be
classed," laughed the squire. "You are treading on dangerous ground,
Derwent. Let me advise you to proceed warily."

"Mr. Evans, when a boy at school I learned the Latin maxim--'Truth is
often attended with danger,' but I am sure Miss Holden will be merciful
towards its humble votary."

I smiled and he continued: "The woman with a mission, Miss Holden, is
an altogether superior creature. She may be adorable; on the other
hand she may be a nuisance and a bore. Everything depends on the
mission--and the woman."

"A safe answer, Philip," sneered the vicar's wife, and the