Her voice had acquired a perpetual wail, and the corners of what had once been a pretty mouth drooped in an eternal peevishness.

She found herself in a morass of misery and shabby discomfort, but had her days continued in an even tenor she would still have lamented.

"A dingy body," was Mrs.Morran's comment, but she laboured in kindness.

Unhappily they had no common language, and it was only by signs that the hostess could discover her wants and show her goodwill.

She fed her and bathed her face, saw to the fire and left her to sleep.