glad to see such friendship between the two." And he smiled elaborately
from Alice to Lord Manorwater.

Alice was uncomfortable. She felt she must be sitting beside some very
great man, and she was tortured by vain efforts to remember the
monosyllable which had stood for his name. She did not like his voice,
and, great man or not, she resented the obvious patronage. He spoke
with a touch of the drawl which is currently supposed to belong only to
the half-educated classes of England.

She turned to the boy who sat on the other side of her. The young
gentleman--his name was Arthur and, apparently, nothing else--was only
too ready to talk. He proceeded to explain, compendiously, his doings of
the past week, to which the girl listened politely. Then anxiety got
the upper hand, and she asked in a whisper, _a propos_ of nothing in
particular, the name of her left-hand neighbour.

"They call him Stocks," said the boy, delighted at the tone of
confidence, and was going on to sketch the character of the gentleman in
question when Alice cut him short.

"Will you take me to fish some day?" she asked.

"Any day," gasped the hilarious Arthur. "I'm ready, and I'll tell you
what, I know the very burn--" and he babbled on happily till he saw that
Miss Wishart had ceased to listen. It was the first time a pretty girl
had shown herself desirous of his company, and he was intoxicated with
the thought.

But Alice felt that she was in some way bound to make the most of Mr.