'But they don't come up here ever. They come in the cold weather,
and as they can get plenty of snow and ice at home, they stay down
in the plains with the palm-trees.'

'Precisely; they do,' I said.

'And besides,' Dora went on, with increasing excitement, 'this isn't
a master. You see, he doesn't send a single picture--only these
tiny things. And there's a certain tentativeness'--Miss Harris, her
parasol handle pressed against her lips, looked at me with an
eagerness that was a pleasure to look at in itself.

'A certain weakness, almost a lack of confidence, in the drawing,' I
said.

'What does that signify?'

'Why, immaturity, of course--not enough discipline.'

'He's a student. Not that it amounts to a defect, you know'--she
was as jealous already as if she possessed the things--'only a sign
to read by. I should be grateful for more signs. Why should a
student come to Simla?'

'To teach, perhaps,' I suggested. Naturally one sought only among
reasons of utility.

'It's the Kensington person who teaches. When they have worked in
the ateliers and learned as much as this they never do. They paint