Sambo of the bandy legs slammed the carriage door on his young weeping mistress. He sprang up behind the carriage.
"Stop!" cried Miss Jemima, rushing to the gate with a parcel.
"It's some sandwiches, my dear," she called to Amelia. "You may be hungry, you know; … and Becky—Becky Sharp—here's a book for you, that my sister—that is, I—Johnson's Dixonary, you know; … you mustn't leave us without that! Good-bye! Drive on, coachman!—God bless you!"
And the kind creature retreated into the garden, overcome with emotion.
But, lo! and just as the coach drove off, Miss Sharp suddenly put her pale face out of the window, and flung the book back into the garden—flung it far and fast—watching it fall at the feet of astonished Miss Jemima; then sank back in the carriage, exclaiming: "So much for the 'Dixonary'; and, thank God, I am out of Chiswick!"
The shock of such an act almost caused Jemima to faint with terror.
"Well, I never—" she began. "What an audacious—" she gasped.
Emotion prevented her from completing either sentence.
The carriage rolled away; the great gates were closed; the bell rang for the dancing lesson. The world is before the two young ladies; and so, farewell to Chiswick Mall.
CUFFS FIGHT WITH "FIGS"
[Illustration: CUFF'S FIGHT WITH "FIGS.">[