onfronted me with the sum total it had reached.
It actually came within measurable distance of half-a-crown, an amount I
had as yet never been able to call my own. I was overwhelmed by such
proofs of my recklessness, and henceforth resisted the wiles of the
Lowther Arcade. So the lesson was not lost on me; it sank deep into my
heart, whence I have on more than one occasion been able to bring it to
the surface. But I am bound to confess that I never was radically cured.
I have periodical relapses when the old craving comes upon me, and the
taste for beautifully fashioned angels, for china and for glass, and I
revel in a bargain, and exult when I have picked up something every girl
ought to have. Whilst the glorious fit is on, I am privileged to forget
all I learnt in the sum-total lesson.

My experiences in the Lowther Arcade were soon to be suddenly
interrupted, and for a long time it was even doubtful whether I should
ever again be able to put in an appearance in that place or anywhere
else. I caught the scarlet fever, not in the slums as it might be
thought, but at school, where a regular epidemic had broken out. Our
class-rooms in King's College were down in the basement, and those who
knew said that the outbreak was due to the fact that the filth-laden
river came right up to the feet of the grand old building, and washed
them dirty day and night; other wiseacres contended that it was more
likely to be the churchyard of St. Mary-le-Grand just opposite which had
done the mischief. As far as I can remember, nobody mentioned the
drains, which in those days had not yet come into notice and fashion,
and could do their level best for the multiplication of bacilli without
being hampered by meddlesome sanitary inspectors. Well, whatever may
have been the malignant source which poisoned me, it had done its work
thoroughly, and developed my scarlet fever in its most virulent form. It
was a terrible time I went through. I was at death's door, but
fortunately that sombre portal remained closed, and I was not bidden to
cross the grim threshold.

No, I was destined to live and to fight the battle of life with whatever
fighting powers I might possess. Later on I was to wrestle more than
once with the grim immortal who only spares each of us mortals till his
hour-glass tells him it is time to use his scythe. And if I wrestled
well and am here to tell the tale, it is because by my side watched day
and night that best of nurses, my m