for Godmother had found it without difficulty.

She took two steps at once, to get nearer to the portly back in front of
her.

"What a VERY large place this is!" she said in an insinuating voice.

She hoped the admiration, thus subtly expressed in the form of surprise,
would flatter Mrs. Gurley, as a kind of co-proprietor; but it was
evident that it did nothing of the sort: the latter seemed to have gone
deaf and dumb, and marched on up the stairs, her hands clasped at her
waist, her eyes fixed ahead, like a walking stone-statue.

On the top floor she led the way to a room at the end of a long
passage. There were four beds in this room, a washhand--stand, a chest
of drawers, and a wall cupboard. But at first sight Laura had eyes only
for the familiar object that stood at the foot of one of the beds.

"Oh, THERE'S my box!" she cried, "Someone must have brought it up."

It was unroped; she had simply to hand over the key. Mrs. Gurley went
down on her knees before it, opened the lid, and began to pass the
contents to Laura, directing her where to lay and hang them. Overawed by
such complaisance, Laura moved nimbly about the room shaking and
unfolding, taking care to be back at the box to the minute so as not to
keep Mrs. Gurley waiting. And her promptness was rewarded; the stern
face seemed to relax. At the mere hint of this, Laura grew warm through
and through; and as she could neither control her feelings nor keep them
to herself, she rushed to an extreme and overshot the mark.