"My dear child, do you invite every stranger to stay with you if you think he is poor?"
"Of course not. But he looked so lonely and lost somehow, and he doesn't seem to have anyone belonging to him, and I was sorry for him."
"And so you gave him that song-book you value so much?"
"Yes," said Jean, looking rather ashamed. "But," she brightened, "he seemed pleased, don't you think? It's a pretty song, 'Strathairlie,' but it's not a pukka old one—it's early Victorian."
"Miss Jean, it's a marvel to me that you have anything left belonging to you."
"Don't call me Miss Jean!"
"Jean, then; but you must call me Pamela."
"Oh, but wouldn't that be rather familiar? You see, you are so—so—"
"Stricken in years," Pamela supplied.
"No—but—well, you are rather impressive, you know. It would be like calling Miss Bathgate 'Bella' to her face. However—Pamela—"