The lips of the wearer had been artificially reddened, her eyebrows and eyelids had been skilfully pencilled, her cheeks rouged.

A more extraordinary specimen of the nursing sisterhood it would have been impossible to find.

Nevertheless the result was, beyond gainsaying, both amusing and picturesque.

The lad beside Nelly watched Miss Farrell with a broad grin.

On the other hand, a lady in a thin black dress and widow's veil, who was sitting near Bridget, turned away after a few minutes' observation of the hostess, and with a curling lip began to turn over a book lying on a table near her.