ire there too, and if you're ever cold I hope
you'll come and sit with me. I'm out a good deal but you can always
use my room when I'm not there, if you care to. Take off your hat and
come and see it now, or are you too tired? I don't want to worry
you."

"I'm not a bit tired," Esther said, laughing; she felt a little
bewildered by this sudden offer of friendship, but June Mason
interested her, and after a moment she took off her hat obediently.

"We'll bring the cat too," Miss Mason said; she swooped down with a
quick movement and caught the cat up in her arms. "I love cats," she
said. "What's his name?"

"Charlie," said Esther shyly. "He's very thin, but they weren't kind
to him where he belonged before...."

"What a shame! I simply loathe people who are not kind to animals.
Never mind, he'll soon get all right. Now come along--I'll help you
unpack your boxes presently."

She led the way downstairs, and Esther followed.

She had been feeling a little scared of this new boarding-house. She
felt grateful for this girl's unaffected overture.

"Mine's the best room in the house," Miss Mason informed her. She
pushed open the door of a room immediately below Esther's. "Sit down
and make yourself at home. I'll get the tea in half a minute. I know
you'll have another cup. I shall, anyway. Do you smoke?"

"No," said Esther.

"Well I do. I hope you're not shocked. I find it's so soothing when
you've got nerves; and I'm a frightfully nervy person. I am hardly
ever still; I'm always on the go."

Esther could well believe it. She looked on with a slightly dazed
feeling while June Mason lit a cigarette and bustled about the room.

It was a very comfortable room, with plenty of easy-chairs and lots of
cushions all in the same pale shade of mauve.

"I didn't think there would be any rooms as comfortable as this in the
house," Esther said. "I suppose you pay a great deal for it, though."

"I don't know about that. Most of the furniture is mine and all the
cushions. Do you like my cushions?"

She put down the teapot, which she had been about to fill, and caught
up one of the cushions, plumping its softness together with her white
hands.

"Mauve is my lucky colour," she rattled on. "Everything I do in mauve
turns out well. But perhaps you don't believe in a superstition like
that?"

Esther was rather bewildered.

"I'm not sure. I never thought about it," she said hesitatingly. "But
it's a very pretty colour."

M