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readily. She had come te live in Melchester from a village on the Great Plain, and this was the first time that she had ever seen a steam-cireus ; she could not understand how such wonderful machines were made, She had come to the city on the invitation of Mrs. Harnham, who had taken her into her household to train her as a servant if she showed any aptitude. Mrs. Harnham was a young lady who before she married had been Miss Edith White, living in the country near the speaker's cottage ; she was now very kind to her through knowing her in childhood so well. She was even taking the trouble to educate her. Mrs. Harnham was the only friend she had in the world, and being without children had wished to have her near her in preference to anybody else, though she had only lately come; allowed her to do almost as she liked, and to have a holiday whenever she asked for it. The husband of this kind young lady was a rich wine-merchant of the town, but Mrs. Harnham did not care much about him. In the daytime you could see the house from where they were talking. She, the apeaker, liked Melchester better than the lonely country, and she was going to have a new hat for next Sunday that was to cost fifteen and ninepence.

Then she inquired of her acquaintance where he lived, and he told her in London, that ancient and smoky city, where everybody lived who lived at all, and died because they could not live there. He came into Wessex two or three timea a year for professional reasons; he had arrived from Wintoncester yesterday, and was going on into the next county in a day ortwo. For one thing he did like the country better than the town, and it was because it contained such girls as she.

Then the pleasure- machine started again, and, to the light-hearted girl, the figure of the handsome