"Look here, missie, is it not a little late for you to be going out?"
"Oh, not at all, Biddy, dear. I am going a little way. I won't be long."
Then Jasmine went up to the old servant and spoke in her most coaxing and fascinating tones.
"Biddy, what did you say was the sign of a pawnshop?"
"A pawnshop, Miss Jasmine? Why, bless us and save us, miss, what have you got to say to such places?"
"Oh, nothing in particular, Bridget, only I thought I would like to know. I am always trying to get information on every kind of subject. Is the pawnshop the sign of the three balls, Biddy?"
"Yes, yes, miss—what a curious young lady! There, run out and take your walk quick, and come back as soon as possible, for though it's close on Midsummer Day we'll have the night on us before you return if you are not quick."
Jasmine left the house, nodding brightly to Bridget as she did so, and the old servant returned to her interrupted work.
"She's a bright bonnie girl," she said to herself, "and hasn't she got a winsome way? I hope she drank up her milk, for she is looking a bit pale, and I hope she won't stay out late, for it may turn damp when the dew begins to fall."
Bridget was busy over her work, and was thinking of Jasmine after all in only a very lazy and comfortable fashion when a cab drew up to the door, and Miss Egerton most unexpectedly returned. She was not in the house a moment before she asked for Jasmine.