costly, nothing luxurious; yet to Monica it appeared richly
furnished. A sense of strangeness amid such surroundings had more to
do with her constrained silence for the first few minutes than the
difficulty with which she recognized in this lady before her the
Miss Nunn whom she had known years ago.

'I should never have known you,' said Rhoda, equally surprised. 'For
one thing, you look like a fever patient just recovering. What can
be expected? Your sister gave me a shocking account of how you
live.'

'The work is very hard.'

'Preposterous. Why do you stay at such a place, Monica?'

'I am getting experience.'

'To be used in the next world?'

They laughed.

'Miss Madden is better to-day, I hope?'

'Alice? Not much, I'm sorry to say.'

'Will you tell me something more about the "experience" you are
getting? For instance, what time is given you for meals?'

Rhoda Nunn was not the person to manufacture light gossip when a
matter of the gravest interest waited for discussion. With a face