io8 MISS BADSWORTH, M.F.H. 



the work which should produce those results is more or less 

 a sealed book ; but there is only one thing certain, and that 

 is we have got to do it." 



Miss Badsworth sighed. 



" I feel quite despondent about it at times, Lavvy. What 

 do you propose ? " 



" May I say just what I think, auntie ? " 



** Of course, child." 



"Then, if I were in your place, I should write to your 

 correspondent," nodding towards the letter, ** and tell her 

 plainly she must carry on that work, whatever it is, you 

 giving just as much reason as you see fit. I wouldn't risk 

 the danger of the two stools if I were you." 



"But you don't know what that entails, Lavvy. You 

 must remember I have had my various schemes very much 

 at heart, and have been the mainspring of many of them ; 

 to go back and leave them in the lurch would never do." 



" Is there any one of them of vital importance, auntie ? 

 Will the world be very much the worse if they are in abey- 

 ance for, say, a year ? " 



For reply Miss Badsworth handed Mrs. Dickinson's letter 

 to her niece, and watched her face as she read it. At the 

 expense of considerable effort Lavvy showed no outward or 

 visible sign of her feelings. 



" What sort of person is Mr. Dickinson ? " was the ques- 

 tion which accompanied the return of the letter. 



It was not what Miss Badsworth expected, but she had a 

 vivid recollection of having expressed pity for that harmless 

 individual. 



"A quiet, studious, hard-working little man, my dear. 

 Why do you ask ? " 



" I rather pity him, auntie, that is all." 



Miss Badsworth was conscious of having frequently done 

 the same thing. 



" Father has had some correspondence with the secretary 

 of the Humanitarian Society. I remember he concluded 

 with a postscript recommending him not to write nonsense. 



