"It is very big," Violet answered, somewhat awed by the size of the building; "are there a great many pupils?"
"Nearly two hundred—that is, counting both boarders and day-scholars."
"So many as that!" exclaimed Violet. "I do hope I shall be put in your class, Ann," she continued eagerly, "but I am afraid that is not very probable."
"Why not?" inquired Ann. "Oh, you think because I am a year older than you that I know more than you do. I'm not at all forward for my age, am I, mother?"
Mrs. Reed shook her head smilingly. She had already discovered that Violet was, in many ways, a precocious girl, and thought it very likely she was as advanced in general knowledge as her daughter.
Turning away from Helmsford College, they now left the fashionable suburb behind them, and soon Violet found the streets, through which they passed, narrower, the houses dingier, and the air less fresh and clear. Tall buildings with small windows and high chimneys appeared in sight, and the only pedestrians they met were those of the working-classes, most of whom looked insufficiently clad and pinched with cold. Violet wondered how Mrs. Reed had learnt to know her way about in such a labyrinth of streets. By-and-by, on turning a corner, they came upon a figure clad in a blue serge gown with an old-fashioned cloak and bonnet, and they were accosted by the clear, decided voice of Dr. Elizabeth Ridgeway.
"Mrs. Reed, you Ann too! And here is my little travelling-companion! How do you do, all of you?"
"We are quite well, thank you," Mrs. Reed answered, as they shook hands, in turn, with the lady doctor. "Ann and I are showing Violet—no need to introduce you, I know—something of Barford, and I have a call to make in this district."
"I see. I am going to visit a patient in that house opposite, a sad case."
"Indeed?" Mrs. Reed said questioningly.