Hereupon the young man from next door raised his straw hat, and said "Good morning" in a polite but distant tone. He glanced at Million, then away again. In the blue eye nearest to me I think I surprised a far-away twinkle. How awful! Possibly he was thinking, "H'm! So the dragon of an aunt doesn't let the girl [Pg 23] out now without a maid as a chaperon to protect her! Is she afraid that somebody may elope with her at half-past nine in the morning?" [Pg 23] I was sorry I'd spoken. I looked hard away from the young man all the rest of the ride to Chancery Lane. Here we got off. We walked half-way up the little busy, narrow thoroughfare, and in at a big, cool, cave-like entrance to some offices. "Chesterton, Brown, Jones, and Robinson. Third Floor," I read from the notice-board. "No lift. Come along, Million." The stars had faded out of Million's eyes again. She looked scared. She clutched me by the arm. "Oh, Miss Beatrice! I do hate goin' up!" "Why, you little silly! This isn't the dentist's." "I know. But, oh, miss! If there is one thing I can't bear it's being made game of," said Million, pitifully, half-way up the stairs. "This Mr. Chesterton—he won't half laugh!" "Why should he laugh?" "At me, bein' supposed to have come in for all those dollars of me uncle's. Do I look like an heiress?" She didn't, bless her honest, self-conscious little heart. From her brown hat, wreathed with forget-me-nots, past the pin-on blue velvet tie, past the brown cloth costume, down to the quite new shoes that creaked a little, our Million looked the very type of what she was—a nice little servant-girl taking a day off. [Pg 24] But I laughed at her, encouraging her for all I was worth, until we reached the third floor and the clerk's outer office of Messrs. Chesterton, Brown, Jones, and Robinson. [Pg 24] I knocked. Million drew a breath that made the
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