she heard of Patty's dancings without
the assistance of a few hints from Mr. Comfort himself, her mind
would have worked in a different way.

She certainly desired that her own child Rachel should some day
find a husband, and Rachel was already older than she had been
when she married, or than Mrs. Prime had been at her wedding; but,
nevertheless, there was something terrible in the very thought of--a
young man; and she, though she would fain have defended her child,
hardly knew how to do so otherwise than by discrediting the words of
Miss Pucker. "She always was very ill-natured, you know," Mrs. Ray
ventured to hint.

"Mother!" said Mrs. Prime, in that peculiarly stern voice of hers.
"There can be no reason for supposing that Miss Pucker wishes to
malign the child. It is my belief that Rachel will be in Baslehurst
this evening. If so, she probably intends to meet him again."

"I know she is going into Baslehurst after tea," said Mrs. Ray,
"because she has promised to walk with the Miss Tappitts. She told me
so."

"Exactly;--with the brewery girls! Oh, mother!" Now it is certainly
true that the three Miss Tappitts were the daughters of Bungall and
Tappitt, the old-established brewers of Baslehurst. They were, at
least, the actual children of Mr. Tappitt, who was the sole surviving
partner in the brewery. The name of Bungall had for many years been
used merely to give solidity and standing to the Tappitt family.
The Miss Tappitts certainly came from the brewery, and Miss Pucker
had said that the young man came from the same quarter. There was
ground in this for much suspicion, and Mrs. Ray became uneasy. This
conversation between the two widows had occurred before dinner at the
cottage on a Saturday;--and it was after dinner that the elder sister
had endeavoured to persuade the younger one to accompany her to the
Dorcas workshop;--but had endeavoured in vain.

CHAPTER II.

THE YOUNG MAN FROM THE BREWERY.

There were during the summer months four Dorcas afternoons held
weekly in Baslehurst, at all of which Mrs. Prime presided. It was her
custom to start soon after dinner, so as to reach the working room
before three o'clock, and there she would remain till nine, or as
long as the daylight remained. The meeting was held in a sitting room
belonging to Miss Pucker, for the use of which the Institution paid
some moderate rent. The other ladies, all belonging to Baslehurst,
were accustomed to go home to tea i