DORA BANNISTER TAKES TIME AND A MARE BY THE FORELOCK Very early that afternoon Miss Dora Bannister was driven to Cobhurst to call upon the young lady who had been taken sick, and who ought not to be neglected by the ladies of Thorbury.

Dora had asked her stepmother to accompany her, but as that good lady seldom made calls, and disliked long drives, and could not see why it was at all necessary for her to go, Dora went alone.
When the open carriage with its pair of handsome grays had bumped over the rough entrance to the Cobhurst estate, and had drawn up to the front of the house, Miss Dora skipped lightly out, and rang the door-bell.

She rang twice, and as no one came, and as the front door was wide open, she stepped inside to see if she could find any one.

She had never been in that great wide hall before, and she was delighted with it, although it appeared to be in some disorder.

Two boxes and a trunk were still standing where they had been placed when they were brought from the station.