Their triumph was almost sweeter than they had expected; but, truth to tell, they had had too much of photography during the last week, and Mrs. Asplin's prophecy came true, inasmuch as it now ceased to become an occupation of absorbing interest, and assumed its rightful place as an amusement to be enjoyed now and then, as opportunity afforded.
By the beginning of October Peggy had quite settled down in her new home, and had established her right to be Arthur Saville's sister by convulsing the quiet household with her tricks and capers. She was affectionate, obedient, and strictly truthful; her prim little face, grandiose expressions, and merry ways, made her a favourite with everyone in the house, from the Vicar, who loved to converse with her in language even more high-flown than her own, to the old, north-country cook, who confided in the housemaid that she "fair-ly did love that little thing," and manœuvred to have apple charlotte for dinner as often as possible, because the "little thing" had praised her prowess in that direction, and commended the charlotte as a "delicious confection." Mrs. Asplin was specially tender over the girl who had been left in her charge, and in return, Peggy was all that was sweet and affectionate; vowed that she could never do enough to repay such kindness, and immediately fell into a fresh pickle, and half frightened the life out of her companions by her hairbreadth escapes. Her careless, happy-go-lucky ways seemed all the more curious because of the almost Quaker-like neatness of her appearance. Mellicent was often untidy, and even Esther had moments of dishevelment, but Peggy was a dainty little person, whose hair was always smooth, whose dress well brushed and natty. Her artistic sense was too keen to allow of any shortcoming in this respect, but she seemed blessed with a capacity of acting before she thought, which had many disastrous consequences. She was by no means a robust girl, and Mrs. Asplin fussed over her little ailments like an old mother hen with a delicate nursling. One prescription after another was unearthed for her benefit, until the washstand in her room looked like a small chemist's shop. An array of doctor's tinctures, gargles and tonics stood on one side, while on the other were a number of home-made concoctions in disused wine bottles, such as a paregoric cough-mixture, a hair wash, and a cooling draught to be taken the first thing in the morning, which last pretended to be lemonade, but in reality contained a number of medicinal powders. "Take it up tenderly, treat it with care!" was Peggy's motto with respect to this last medicine, for she had discovered that by judicious handling, it was possible to enjoy a really tasty beverage, and to leave the sediment untouched at the bottom of the bottle!
Esther and Mellicent were almost equally well supplied by their anxious mother, but their bottles behaved in a sober, well-regulated fashion, and never took upon themselves to play tricks, while those in Peggy's room seemed infected by the spirit of the owner, and amused themselves with seeing how much mischief they could accomplish. A bottle of ammonia had been provided as a cure for bites of gnats and flies; Peggy flicked a towel more hastily than usual, and down it went, the contents streaming over the wood, and splashing on to the wardrobe near at hand, with the consequence that every sign of polish was removed, and replaced by white unsightly stains. The glass stopper of a smelling-salts bottle became fixed in its socket, and being anointed with oil and placed before the fire to melt, popped out suddenly with a noise as of a cannon shot, aimed accurately for the centre of the mirror, and smashed it into a dozen pieces. The "safety ink-pot," out of which she indited her letters to her mother, came unfastened of its own accord and rolled up and down the clean white toilet cover. This, at least, was the impression left by Peggy's innocent protestations, while the gas and soap seemed equally obstinate, the one refusing to be lowered when she left the room, and the other insisting upon melting itself to pieces in her morning bath.
(To be continued.)
[THE RESULT OF OUR HOLIDAYS NEEDLEWORK COMPETITION.]
In some respects the result of this competition has been satisfactory. The competitors carefully observed the rules, the sewing was in many cases most excellent, the neatness and finish conspicuous. Many of the articles were made so well that we felt quite proud to think our girls could turn out such good work.
The care as to details pleased us very much, for that was given in all but a few exceptions. It was so nice to see how firmly buttons were sewn on, button-holes made so well, and seams carefully overcast or pinked, raw edges protected by tidy button-hole stitches. Then, too, we were glad to note, that although intended for the very poor, the workers had not fallen into the common error of selecting ugly materials for their articles. Very few of the stuffs used were anything but suitable, serviceable, and pretty rather than not, the way in which the blouses especially were made being quite satisfactory.