"

But to Toadles she said, in a solemn tone, "I hope you profited by his instructions. His race is run, we shall see him no more.' Whereupon Toadles was supposed to wipe away a tear. She began to brush out her mistress's hair, but was soon interrupted with, "That will do, Toadles; I am too tired, too worn to bear any more! And I have had a very trying scene with Miss Hilda; she has been, I find, to see that good-for-nothing old nurse of hers at Ivy Cottage again, and I have said that I will not permit it. I will be obeyed."

"As you did ought to be, ma'am ! Miss Hilda is & spiteful, ungrateful, impudent thing! And you might give me notice on the spot, ma'am, and I should say just the same, if it was with my dying breath!"

"Don't talk of her," responded Janetta, languidly, sniffing at her gold and turquoise-topped vinaigrette; "only, please understand that she is a prisoner till she can bring herself to a spirit of true contrition, and meekly beg my pardon. In the meantime she remains in her own bedroom; I have turned the key upon her.”

"But who is to help me with the dear children?" inquired Toadles, with some anxiety. "I can't do my duty by them singlehanded; I can't, indeed, ma'am! To-night I thought I should never bath them all properly, and get them to bed in decent time. I shall miss Miss Hilda in the nursery, ma'am !"

"You must get one of the under-maids," was Janetta's answer. "Miss Hilda is to remain in seclusion till she comes to a sense of her abominable misconduct. Yes! give me my warm dressinggown, and put some more coals on the fire; I am sure it must be freezing! Take care the dear children are well covered up, Toadles, and keep up the night nursery fire; I am sure I heard one of them give quite a croupy sort of cough this evening! And, Toadles, I must have a little, a very little warm brandy-and-water before I go to bed; take my keys and open the sideboard, and mix me a small glassful-quite hot, and very sweet, and tolerably strong; I hate weak, lukewarm grog! And, Toadles, mix something for yourself at the same time-whisky, or gin, or whatever you like best.”

And Toadles punctiliously obeyed her mistress. She brought Janetta her grog, "hot and sweet and strong! " and she mixed a nice comforting tumbler-full for herself, quite as hot, not quite as sweet, and just a little bit stronger! Toadles was very partial to spirits-and-water on a cold night; and lest her mistress, who could be very inconsiderate, should thoughtlessly forget her necessary creature comforts, she provided herself with a private key to the sideboard! It had sometimes occurred to Mr. Willabye that the spirit decanters wanted refilling very frequently!

CHAPTER XIV.-COLD COMFORT.

Meanwhile, Hilda had once more fastened herself into her chill and desolate chamber; get out she could not, certainly, but she could prevent any one from intruding upon her privacy, save by force, and this gave her a dreary kind of satisfaction. Janetta's coming had roused her, and this was a fortunate circumstance, as, had she been left unmolested, she would probably have fallen asleep with all her clothes on, yet most inadequately defended from the extreme cold, which was beginning to make itself severely felt. When left alone again, she sat for some time buried in deep thought, till at length her strong desire for warmth and shelter impelled her hurriedly to undress and creep into the bed, which, happily for her, was not mulct in the matter of blankets and counterpanes. There was even a shabby, but most serviceable eider-down, which she could draw over her head, and though that head ached dreadfully, and one side of her face smarted as if it had recently been scorched, she soon fell asleep, in spite of her pain and sickness of heart, and the freezing atmosphere outside.

When she awoke, which she did about five o'clock, with a sudden start, it was almost as dark as it could be; the moon had passed round to the other side of the house, and it was sinking behind the western downs, so that only some faint fading beams fell aslant the garden upon which Hilda's third-story window looked. She felt all at once very wide awake, and very hungry. At the same time she was conscious of a heavy pain in her head, and it hurt her slightly to lie on her left ear. Something extraordinary had happened to her, though she could not for the moment exactly remember what it was. But as the clouds of sleep passed away, she began to recollect and to realise her position. She was in disgrace, she was a prisoner; and oh! she was so horribly cold! How long would Janetta keep her shut up in that freezing attic? and how long was it till breakfast-time? Then it occurred to her that some kind of food had been placed at her disposal, though at the moment she had been too much overwrought to take any notice of it. She got up and looked for it; there was just as much glimmering light as sufficed to show it to her, on the chest of drawers, where it had been placed, and it did not take long to ascertain that it was partly dry bread, and partly very stale, crumbly cake. She hurried back with it into bed; it was impossible to sit up and eat it shivering in her nightdress. There was plenty of it, though it was rather tasteless, and she longed in vain for a draught of milk, as she was very thirsty, and the water in her room must be almost freezing.

It was not quite frozen, however; and in spite of its icy coldness, she took a long draught that was really grateful to her parched throat and feverish lips; and feeling much the better for her curious meal, nestled once more under the bedclothes, and fell asleep again. To her own profound astonishment, when she once more awoke, and found that it was really morning, and the rising sun casting ruddy lines upon the sea, there was no sound in the house, the family were not yet astir, though it must be nearly, if not quite, eight o'clock.

"I had better unfasten that door," she said to herself, as she fully comprehended her situation, "then there will be no fass when they bring my breakfast, if they do bring it; I can slip the bolt again presently. I remember that Janetta said she would send my meals to me. I hope she will not forget them. It would be very dismal to be shut up here without fire and without food-it would be double starvation! I don't think I shall get up just yet; it is so bitterly cold."

And even for the brief period in which she crossed to the door, and looked out upon the beautiful shining sea, her teeth chattered, and still more, she felt dizzy and sick, and was glad to stagger back again to the only place in which she could find warmth and comfort. About nine o'clock she heard steps outside her door, and a minute afterwards Toadles appeared with a small tray, on which there was a basin full of something steaming hot. Toadles vouchsafed no word; she cast a contemptuous glance at the helpless prisoner, almost hidden by the bed-clothes, placed the little waiter on the drawers, where the bread and cake had been, turned on her heel with a snort expressive of disdain, and peculiar to herself, locked the door behind her, and went back to the regions of comfort, where fires, and hot coffee, and eggs, and ham were to be procured. During the moment of Toadles' egress an appetising scent, such as pervades any house when a substantial breakfast is in progress, ascended to Hilda's attic, and made her long for something a little more palatable than boiled broad and milk, which, however, was not to be despised, as the milk was good and sweet and the bread was good, and there was plenty of both, and what there was, was smoking hot, though cooling fast in the frigid atmosphere in which it stood.

Hilda stole out of bed again and fetched her breakfast, and also the old shawl in which she had muffled herself on the previous night. She was very thankful for its warmth about her head, while she sat up and consumed her frugal meal. But she did not like boiled milk; she regarded it, indeed, with aversion, and Janetta knew this, and perhaps sent it up to her on purpose. She managed, however, to satisfy the cravings of hunger, and the warm liquid,

though not to her taste, was comforting. Having disposed of the contents of her porringer, she got out of bed again and placed the tray on her chest of drawers, imagining that some one would come presently to fetch it away; and meantime she nestled down in her bed, and drew shawl and eider-down cover about her ears, and wished she could go to sleep again; but that, of course, was quite out of the question.

The long morning passed slowly away, and Hilda began to feel frantic. No one came near her; she heard the servants moving about in the other rooms near at hand, but she remained unmolested. She would thankfully have risen and dressed herself, had the cold been less intense; but it seemed her best plan to remain where she was; there, at least, was some refuge from the extreme chill of the atmosphere. And her head still ached, and she felt glad to lie still, though already weary of inaction. It seemed a very long time till any one appeared again; but at length the key was turned, the door opened, and some one bearing her dinner entered the room. Janetta had not quite adhered to her original intentions; she had sent up currant-dumpling, and a goodly portion of it, too, to her captive upstairs, instead of the dry bread that was to be her only fare.

But it was not Toadles who brought her pudding, it was one of the younger servants, who, however, seemed afraid to speak to her. Still she looked pleasantly towards Hilda, and nodded her head encouragingly, and just as she was about to depart she whispered, 'I'll come again, Miss Hilda; I'm watched now; we are all of us sorry for you in the kitchen." And before Hilda could say a word in reply the girl was gone, and the door re-locked-so noisily, that the prisoner thought some one must be listening, with the intention of satisfying herself that "Camplin," as she was called, was trustworthy, and would obey orders.

But now Hilda's appetite was not so good as it had been; lying in bed had made her a little fastidious, and the currant-roll, though quite appreciated at the kitchen dinner-table, was not so nice as it might have been, even to Hilda's uneducated palate. The suet was not well chopped, nor the currants carefully washed and picked; and she comprehended that she was served from the kitchen, not from the dining-room, for Janetta was extremely particular in the matter of cookery, and any sort of failure was sure to excite her expressed displeasure; and again, the plate had been carried up without a cover, so that the contents were well chilled, and the very conspicuous lumps of suet congealed. Hilda would much rather have had a little bread and cheese She made the best of it, however, and occupied herself as long as possible in discussing her half-cold dumpling, for time was beginning to drag most

wearily, and she felt appalled as she thought how soon it would be dark, and wondered what she could do with herself all through the dismal evening, for she could scarcely hope that she would be favoured with a light.

She did, however, manage to get a good sleep during the afternoon, and was not unpleasantly surprised to find when she awoke that it was getting dark, and that consequently she had got through at least another hour, if not two, of the dreary, solitary day. It was quite six o'clock when once more the key was turned, and Camplin appeared with the usual tray.

"She's gone, Miss Hilda!" said the girl, as she approached the bedside-" gone to her dinner-party at Ravenage, and joy go with her! She won't be back much afore midnight, I guess ; but just drink your coffee while it's nice and hot. Cook made it on purpose for you, miss, and here's some buttered toast that's tolerably warm. Eat it up, and enjoy yourself while you can." "Where's Toadles ?

"She's quite safe, for she has got her cousin to tea in the nursery, and cook has sent them up something special to keep them quiet and satisfied. Then she is going out presently, we think, to her sister-in-law's at Orchard Farm, and as soon as she's gone I'll come up again, Miss Hilda, and see what I can do for you. You shan't be starved, anyhow!"

"Thank you, Camplin; but do you think I might have a candle ? "

"It's a burning shame if you mayn't; I'll leave that--it's a pretty long one! And p'rhaps I'd better stay no longer now, for Toadles may be on the move; but I'll be up again presently." "One word, Camplin-will my uncle be back to-night, do you know ?"

"I don't know, Miss Hilda, but I fancy not, as nothing has been said about any supper, except a sweetbread for the missis when she comes home. Of course we shall have our supper in the kitchen, and we'll take care of you, don'tee fear! There, I'll leave the candle. I wasn't told not to leave it, and it wouldn't much matter if I was. I'm not agoing to knock under to Toadles-not a bit of it! I must obey the missis, I suppose; but I wont, in more nor I can help. I'll do all I can for you, Miss Hilda, and for cook, as is as good as a mother to me."

And Camplin whisked herself away, while Hilda felt a little consoled by the candle and by her visit. It was striking seven by the church-clock when she came again, and this time cook was with her, and they brought with them a lamp and a stone footwarmer full of boiling water.

"There! that'll be a comfort to you, poor thing," said cook, as