The Real Charlotte. 59 



" Well, and do you ? and who do you get to wake you ? " 

 — her quick voice treading sharply on the heels of his quiet 

 one. " I used always to have to sit beside Uncle Robert in 

 church to pinch him at the end of the sermon." 



** / find it very hard to wake at the end of the sermon 

 too," remarked Christopher, with an experimental curiosity 

 to see what Miss Mullen's unexpected cousin would say 

 next. 



"Do y' indeed?" said Francie, flashing a look at him of 

 instant comprehension and complete sangfroid. " I'll lend 

 the schoolmistress a hat-pin if you like ! What on earth 

 makes men so sleepy in church I don't know," she con- 

 tinued; "at our church in Dublin I used to be looking at 

 them. All the gentlemen sit in the corner seat next the 

 aisle, because they're the most comfortable, y' know, and 

 from the minute the clergyman gives out the text — " she 

 made a little gesture with her hand, showing thereby that 

 half the buttons were off her glove — " they're snoring ! " 



How young she was, and how pretty, and how inex- 

 pressibly vulgar ! Christopher thought all these things in 

 turn, while he did what in him lay to continue the con- 

 versation in the manner expected of him. The effort was 

 perhaps not very successful, as, after a few minutes, it was 

 evident that Francie was losing her first freedom of dis 

 course, and was casting about for topics more appropriate 

 to what she had heard of Mr. Dysart's mental and literary 

 standard. 



" I hear you're a great photographer, Mr. Dysart," she 

 began. " Miss Mullen says you promised to take a picture 

 of her and her cats, and she was telling me to remind you 

 of it. Isn't it awfully clever of you to be able to do 

 it?" 



To this form of question reply is difficult, especially when 

 it is put with all the good faith of complete ignorance. 

 Christopher evaded the imbecilities of direct response. 



" I shall think myself awfully clever if I photograph the 

 cats," he said. 



" Clever ! " she caught him up with a little shriek of 

 laughter. " I can tell you you'll want to be clever ! Are 

 you able to photograph up the chimney or under Norry's 

 bed ? for that's where they always run when a man comes 



