“Who is it, Ann? Any one for me?”
“A young lady as wants to see the missis, sir. Oh, Mr. Cameron! what a deal of dust you has brought out into the ’all!”
The little man looked meekly down at his dusty garments.
“I have just been unpacking my last crate of curiosities from China, Ann. Where is the young lady? Perhaps she would like to see the relics.”
“No, sir, that I’m sure she wouldn’t; she’s all blown and spent like. She’s for all the world like a relic herself.”
Ann tripped lightly upstairs, and Mr. Cameron, pushing his spectacles high up on his bald forehead, looked with an anxious glance to right and left. Then very quickly on tiptoe he crossed the hall, opened the dining-room door, and went in.
“How are you, young lady? If you are very quick, I can get you into my sanctum sanctorum. I am just unpacking Chinese relics. I trust, I hope, you are fond of relics.”
Flower started to her feet.
“I thought, I certainly thought, Polly said Mrs. Cameron,” she remarked. “I don’t think I shall be at all afraid to live with you. I don’t exactly know what Chinese relics are, but I should love to see them.”
“Then quick, my dear, quick! We haven’t a minute to spare. She’s sure to be down in a jiffy. Now then, step on tiptoe across the hall. Ann has the quickest ears, and she invariably reports. She’s not a nice girl, Ann isn’t. She hasn’t the smallest taste for relics. My dear, there’s an education in this room, but no one, no one who comes to the house, cares to receive it.”