being turned out into this awful London again. Another wretched little
squeak slipped out of me, and she went on.

"'My boy,' said she, 'has implored me to overlook this matter. My boy
has declared there were faults on both sides' (!!!!). 'If I acted
rightly as a mother, what would I do?'

"I didn't tell her, Georgie. Could I tell her that if she acted
rightly as a mother she would box her boy's fat ears until his nose
bled? I couldn't. I squeaked instead.

"'If I acted rightly as a mother,' said she, 'I would send you away.
I am not going to.'

"I squeaked.

"'I choose to believe that your behaviour in this matter was a slip. I
believe the episode will be a lesson to you. That is all. Go.' I goed."



II.

George, when he had read thus far, was broadly grinning. Obviously
Mrs. Chater was not such a bad sort after all. If--as no doubt--she
implicitly believed her son's version of the incident, then her
attitude towards Mary was, on the whole, not so bad.

But his Mary, when she had written thus far, laid down her pen, put
her pretty head upon the paper and wept.