rible, but that
she was sure he was a good teacher, and that she had not been so
frightened as she expected. Then it was Norah's turn. She played her
favourite pieces, one after the other, while Mr Morris sat at the edge
of the table, watching and listening. Never a word of praise or blame
did he say until she had finished the third selection. Then he looked
at her fixedly with his light, grey eyes (they _were_ rather goggled,
after all!), and said quietly, "Well, and what do you mean to do?"

"Mean to do? I--I don't think I understand."

"Are you content to be a young lady amateur who plays well enough to
entertain her friends in her own drawing-room, or do you mean to work
seriously, and make a first-rate performer? You can do as you like.
You have the talent. It is for yourself to decide."

Norah's face was a study in its raptured excitement. "Oh-oh!" she cried
breathlessly, "I'll work--I don't care _how_ hard I work! I love it so
much. I want to do my very, very best."

"Then I'll work too, and do all I can to help you!" said Mr Morris in
return. He jumped off the table as he spoke, and advanced towards her,
rubbing his hands as one who prepares for a pleasant task. "Now then!"
he cried; and for the next hour Norah was kept hard at work, with never
another word of praise, but with many sharp corrections and reminders to
call attention to hitherto unsuspected faults. She was radiantly happy,
nevertheless, for the first step towards correcting a fault was to
discover its existence, and what was the good of a teacher who did not
point out what was wrong? At four o'clock Mr Morris took his
departure, and Norah found that Edna had retired to her room to rest, as
was her custom every afternoon. Mrs Freer was also invisible, but Rex
came to join her in the drawing-room, looking particularly cheerful and
self-satisfied.

"Well, has the old fellow departed? How are the knuckles? Is he any
good? He looks a miserable little shrimp."

"He's a delightful teacher! I like him immensely! He told me I could
be a splendid player if I would only work hard enough."

"Oh, well, I could have told you as much as that myself." It was clear
that Rex thought it the polite thing to inquire about the success of the
music lesson, but also that his attention was fixed on some other
subject. "Look here!" he said suddenly, "the mater and Edna always rest
for an hour or two in the afternoon, and I promised to look after