he could see
that his meals were properly cooked and served when he came in from long
and weary expeditions into the country or amongst the poor of
Beaminster; she could help Joey and Georgie in the evenings with their
respective lessons; she could teach and care for the younger children
all day long. To her stepmother she did not feel that she was very
useful; but she could at any rate make new caps for her, new lace
fichus and bows, which caused Mrs. Colwyn occasionally to remark with
some complacency that Janetta had been quite _wasted_ at Miss
Polehampton's school: her proper destiny was evidently to be a milliner.

Nora was the one person of the family who did not seem to want Janetta's
help. Indirectly, however, the elder sister was more useful to her than
she knew; for the two went out together and were companions. Hitherto
Nora had walked alone, and had made one or two undesirable girl
acquaintances. But these were dropped when she had Janetta to talk to,
dropped quietly, without a word, much to their indignation, and without
Janetta's knowing of their existence.

It became a common thing for the two girls to go out together in the
long summer evenings, when the work of the day was over, and stroll
along the country roads, or venture into the cool shadow of the
Beaminster woods. Sometimes the children went with them: sometimes
Janetta and Nora went alone. And it was when they were alone one evening
that a somewhat unexpected incident came to pass.

The Beaminster woods ran for some distance in a northerly direction
beyond Beaminster, and there was a point where only a wire fence divided
them from the grounds of Brand Hall. Near this fence Janetta and her
sister found themselves one evening--not that they had purposed to reach
the boundary, but that they had strayed a little from the beaten path.
As they neared the fence they looked at each other and laughed.

"I did not know that we were so near the lordly dwelling of your
relations!" said Nora, who loved to tease, and knew that she could
always rouse Janetta's indignation by a reference to her "fine friends."

"I did not know either," returned Janetta, good-humoredly. "We can see
the house a little. Look at the great red chimneys."

"I have been over it," said Nora, contemptuously. "It's a poor little
place, after all--saving your presence, Netta! I wonder if the Brands
mean to acknowledge your existence? They----"

She stopped short, for her foot had ca