CHAPTER IV.

Granny 20 was in one of her most garrulous moods, but who was there to listen? She tried to catch a nurse or probationer as they hurried by the end of the bed, with a "Listen to me now, nurse." But a smile and a nod and a "By-and-by, Granny," was all she got for her pains.

Her nearest bed-fellows were too sleepy for anything, and she had to content herself with murmuring to an imaginary audience until Sister had a moment's leisure, and came to her bedside.

"I was saying, Sister, that Mrs. 21 there is one with me. We both rue our wedding-day! And we thought--bless yer!--we thought, when we stood up so proud and made our vows, that we was the luckiest women in the world."

"And it all turned out badly, Granny?"

"Oh, well! It might have been wuss for some of us. I won't say it mightn't; but me was in too much of a hurry--that was the mischief. Why, bless yer! Mrs. 21 there says she wasn't more'n sixteen when she took a 'usband! And me? I was only just turned eighteen. We didn't know no better. We were took by a 'andsome face."

"Well, Granny, I cannot err on the side of marrying too young, whatever I do."

"Sister! You ain't never thinking of matrimoany? Don't 'ee, dear! Don't 'ee! Just take the advice of a old woman what _knows_. This is what I say. If a man comes to you and seems true enough, don't trust him! No, not if trust was to sparkle like a diamond from the end of every hair on his head, don't trust him!"

Hardly knowing how to contain herself for laughter, Sister promised to be very careful, and thanked Granny for her wise words.

"They aire wise. You may well say so," chuckled the old lady. "Now I could tell you----"

"Another time, Granny dear--and see! Here's nurse with your tea. A cup of tea! There's nothing like it, is there?"

"Bless yer--no!"

And Nurse Hudson--what of her? Had the episode of yesterday's carelessness with the words of reproof that followed been the warning Sister Warwick hoped? The watchful eyes could detect very little that was amiss that day. But she was obliged to acknowledge that the nurse's manner towards herself was not what it should be. With her new efforts not to repel her nurses by the stiffness of her own manners she ignored what she could. Later she felt glad she had done so.

After tea the medicines were given out. It was the staff-nurse's duty to-day, and following the instructions on her chart, Hudson went to and fro, pouring out the draughts, and bringing them to each bed in order.

Sister, seated by No. 10, watched her silently. But when she brought the dose for this "typhoid," she took it from her hand to administer it herself.

What instinct made her pause, before giving it, to ask:

"Is this the new medicine, nurse?"

"Of course it is, Sister!" The tone was offensive, but, ignoring it, Sister Warwick leant forward to hold the glass to the girl's lips. Again she paused. What was it stayed her hand?

She raised the glass, smelt it, and then put it to her own lips and tasted the liquid, her eyes on the chart.

"This is an overdose!" she said sternly. "Here are four times the right amount!"

For she knew in a flash what the nurse had done, and she shuddered at the thought! Hudson had certainly, as she said, given the fresh medicine the chart directed, but in her heedlessness she had not looked to see if the quantity was altered too. She had poured out two tablespoonfuls instead of two teaspoonfuls--a dose that would have caused intense suffering, if nothing worse, to the sick girl.

Sister Warwick rose from her chair and looked Nurse Hudson full in the face. Her utter scorn and indignation at this culpable carelessness rendered her speechless.

But her glance was enough!

Turning on her heel, she carried the medicine-glass into her room, placed it in a cupboard there, and locking it up, removed the key.

Nurse Hudson watched it all--miserable and self-condemned--knowing what the action meant. Now that it was done, she would have given anything to have been more careful. Her colour came and went. She stood irresolute. Her better self was urging her to go at once and with a humble apology plead for another trial with an earnest promise of a different course in the future. But she could not bring herself to do that. Pride and Selfishness had been too closely her companions lately, excluding better impulses.

No, she would not believe that Sister Warwick meant to report her to the Matron. Perhaps she would only ask for her removal to another ward; there she could make a fresh start. But she did not ask herself with what motive.

Nurse Hudson's work had always been tarnished with the discolouring influences of her own low aims. No wonder now that she failed, and did not take the one step that might have saved her nursing career.

She left the ward that evening without another word with the Sister--miserable, self-pitying, undecided, little thinking that she would never enter it again.

* * * * *

"The whole affair shall be stopped at once!" The Matron's voice was full of decision and very stern. "I will send for Hudson and tell her I cannot keep her here any longer. Nor will I sign her certificate! I am not justified, after all you tell me, in sending her away to pass herself off as a qualified nurse."

"You take a harder view of her conduct than I do, Matron." And Sister Warwick then and there began to plead for the nurse who had been such a "thorn in her side."

"You will not move me, Sister! Hudson will go! It will seem right, from many points of view, when you can look at it dispassionately. I am only very thankful that we so rarely have such a failure among the nurses, and thankful most of all that no worse harm has been done. We might have had a case for the coroner."

Sister Warwick knew the Matron's words were just. She left her and went back to her own room, sinking into her leaning-chair with the consciousness that an upset like this "took it out of her" far more than even an operation involving pain and suffering to one of her dear ward babies. And, sad at heart, she began to think of Ellen Hudson's future, then to search back in her own mind for possible opportunities missed in the past when she might have helped her more kindly. She realised bitterly that she herself might have done better too.

She sat forward then and wrote a little note and sent it round to the Nurses' Home, timed to reach Nurse Hudson just after her interview with the Matron.

It was to ask her staff-nurse to come and see her before she left. But she never came. She passed out of Sister Warwick's life from that hour, and her place knew her no more.

* * * * *

Nurse Carden's bright face and ready sympathy were a pleasant interruption to the Sister's mournful ruminations that evening. She came in a little before her usual time, and the two had a quiet chat in the "Sisters' Room" before the night work began.

Here Sister Cumberland joined them. These three women--so different in character, so united in aim and purpose--felt then the sustaining power of a friendship that was standing the wear and tear of life.

Seeing how worried the elder "Sister" was by the present, the other two drew her thoughts back to the past and to their earlier experiences in the ward.

"Do you remember?" was the introduction to many reminiscences Sister Cumberland recalled that night on duty, when she fought her fiercest fight with the craving for sleep.

Nurse Carden talked of Tommie the waif and his whimsical ways. He could not be forgotten, for it was not many days since at the lodge-gate of her own home she had seen the Tommie of to-day. Such a contrast! A sturdy, ruddy, honest country lad, loving his life as a gardener's boy, and always ready, if questioned, to say, "Oh, I belong to Nurse Carden, I do! I ain't got nobody else! But she is good to me, she is!"

So the three talked until the hour struck which took them to their various duties and closed the second of these days my pen has tried to describe--days chosen not because they were remarkably different from many others, but because they give an average picture of the cares and anxieties, the pleasures and interests that belong to a hospital Sister's life; because, too, they tell of an experience that had a lasting effect in softening Sister Warwick's character and in extending her influence over the nurses in her charge.

[THE END.]

GUS.

Ya want ti knaw aboot ma maate Gus? Set ya doon, then, an' ah'll tell ya all aboot it.

Me an' Gus wer friends fra' t' first. 'E wer a shy, quiet soort o' lad, an' t' other chaps didn't seem ti taake ti 'im at first, an' it wer soort o' loansoom for a yoong chap lodgin' aloan i' a straange plaace, specially as 'e didn't seem ti care mooch for t' public-'oose o' neets. Soa wun evening, as we wer leavin' woork, ah says ti 'im, "Coom in an' 'ave a bit o' soopper wi' ma an' ma missus, lad."

'E looked real pleased, an' said 'e would coom, bud 'e wouldn't coom straight 'oam wi' ma, as ah wanted 'im ti. Noa, 'e mun gang back ti 'is lodgins an' fettle issen oop.

My missus weant best pleased when sha 'eard 'e wer coming; mebbe, theer weant ower mooch for soopper, an' sha niver were fond o' straangers; bud 'e 'adn't been i' oor lahtle room aboove 'alf a minute afoor ah seed as sha'od taaken a fancy ti 'im. 'E com in rather shy an' bashful loike, for all 'e'd maade 'issen soa graand wi' 'is Soonday coate an' all, an' ma missus, she says--

"Set ya doon an' maak yersen at whoam, while ah get summat for ya ti eat," an' 'e set doon reet theer by t' door, on t' edge o' 'is cheer, an' 'adn't a woord to say for 'issen.

Oor lahtle lass Polly--she wer nobbut fooer year owd then--shoo com in an' stood starin' at 'im wi' 'er finger i' 'er mooth, an' at sight o' 'er 'e foond 'is tongue.

"Coom 'ere, lahtle ma'ad," says 'e; "ah'm wonnerful fond o' childer. Coom an' see what ah've got i' ma pocket."

Bud t' lahtle lass still stood beside ma, starin' at 'im as if 'e wer summat i' a show.

Gus didn't saay nowt moor, but 'e oots wi' 'is knife an' a bit o' wood and starts carvin' summat.

"Noo," says 'e, arter a bit, "what shall it be? Shall ah maak tha a 'orse, or a coo, or what?"

T' lahtle lass foond 'er toongue at that.

"A lad," says she, an' cooms a step nearer ti see what 'e wer at.

"Shoo'll be a rare wun for t' lads when shoo's a bit bigger, ah'se warran'," says 'e, wi' a laugh; an' 'e goes on carvin' t' bit o' wood in a waay 'at wer wunnerful ti me. Soon t' head an' shoolthers appeared, an' then t' legs an' arms, an' all t' while t' tahtle lass crept nearer an' nearer, an' by t' tahm t' lad wer doon, shoo wer sittin' on 'is knee an' chatterin' awaay ti 'im as if 'e wer' an owd friend.

That woon moother's 'eart, for shoo's powerful set on t' lahtle lass, seem' shoo's t' oanly wun wi' 'ave--an' ah reckon ah weant far be'ind 'er i' that--an' befoor 'e left shoo'd arst 'im ti taake 'is dinner wi' us Soonday next. Arter that, Gus wer in an' oot continual, an' 'e an' t' lahtle lass wer as thick as thieves. It wer pratty ti see 'er perched o' 'is knee, wi' 'is arm roond 'er, an' ti 'ear 'er pratty prattle, all aboot 'er dolls an' toys an' sooch-like. 'E used ti call 'er 'is lahtle sweet-'eart, an' saay sha mun marry 'im when sha wer growed a bit, an' t' lahtle lass 'ud look oop i' 'is faace, as graave as graave, an' promise ti be 'is lahtle wife. 'Twer as pratty a pictur as 'eart could wish to see them thegither, an' 'e niver seemed ti tire o' 'er coompany, or care ti talk wi' me or t' missus when t' lahtle lass wer theer.

Well tahm went on, an' t' job e'd coom doon 'ere for wer nigh finished--layin' rails o' new line it wer--an' 'e wer talkin' o' leavin', for 'e weant fra' oor parts; when wun daay--ah mind it wer t' first o' April, for theer'd been soom foolin' amoong t' lads earlier i' t' daay, an' t' blackthorn wer buddin' i' t' 'edges--we wer setting on t' railway bank eatin' oor dinners. Gus wer moor talkative than ordinary that daay; ah mind 'e'd been tellin' us o' t' waay they did 'arvestin' i' 'is parts--Lancashire waay--an' 'arvest-'oams, an' sooch-like, when all of a soodden ah caught sight o' ma lahtle lass runnin' along t' line. It did gie ma a toorn, for t' doon traain 'ad been signalled two or three minutes sin', an' even as ah caught sight o' 'er, ah 'eerd it roombling along i' t' distance.

"Ma God!" ah cried. "Look theer!"

Jack Wilson--'im as lives i' yon cottage wi' t' creepers doon by t' church--shoots as lood as 'e could, "Get oft t' line, bairn! Get off t' line!" Bud Polly, sha didn't taak noa 'eed ti 'im.

Then afoor ah 'ad got ma wits aboot ma, or 'ad ony idea what 'e wer goin ti do, Gus 'ad joomped doon fra' t' bank, an' were roonnin' for 'is loife doon t' line ti meet t' lahtle lass. It wer awful to see 'im, while every moment t' thoonder o' t' train com nearer.

"Is t' man mad?" cried Wilson. "It's certain death." An' even as 'e spoke, t' train com roond t' corner.

Polly stood still, terrified, an' Gus ran on reet inti t' teeth o' t' train. Ah turned deadly sick, for ah niver thowt 'e would be i' tahm, an' it seemed nobbut a waaste o' two lives; bud 'e reached 'er joost afoor t' train did. Ah seed 'im catch 'er oop an' toss 'er on ti t' bank, an' then--then t' traan wer on 'im, an' we saw noothing moor till it 'ad past. Then ah ran ti wheer 'e wer lyin', an' an awful sight it wer. It 'aunts ma yet, thoo it's nigh on ten year sin. 'E wer livin', poor chap, an' 'e looked up at ma wi' a smile, though t' death dews were gathering on 'is faace.

"T' lahtle lass?" 'e asked anxiously.

"Saafe an' well," ah answered. "Eh, Gus, lad, tha' shouldn't 'a doon it. Ah reckon she weant woorth it."

"Niver saay that!" 'e said. "Wheer is sha? Ah'd like fine to bid her good-bye."

Polly wer cryin' wi' fright on t' bank cloas at 'and. Ah called 'er, bud at first sha 'ung back, not knawin' as it wer 'er friend as lay theer, a sickenin' sight, an' not fit for a bairn ti see.

"Niver mind, John," 'e said, sadly enough. "It's better soa. Ah wouldn't like 'er ti think o' ma like this." But ah went an' fetched 'er, an' bade 'er ti thank 'im for saavin' 'er loife.

"Nay, nay," 'e said, smoilin' oop at 'er. "Good-bye, lahtle sweet'eart. Tha'lt 'ave ti get anoother lad noo."

"Nay, ah'll waait for thee an' be thy lahtle wife," says Polly sturdily, not un'erstan'in', poor lahtle lass, as 'e wer dyin'.

"Tha'lt 'ave ti waait till tha gets ti t' New Jeroosalem, then," 'e answers, "if soa be as they'll let ma in." An' at that 'e looks serious.

Ah maade 'aste ti cheer 'im oop.

"Nay, lad, thoo need 'ave noa fear o' that," ah says. "Tha mind hoo He said, 'Inasmooch as ye 'a doon it to wun o' t' least o' these, ye 'a doon it unto Me.'"

Hoo 'is faace lighted oop at that word! Then a spasm o' agony crossed it, an' t' death rattle began i' 'is throat.

'E couldn't speak, bud 'e maade ma a sign ti send t' lahtle lass away, an' ah bade 'er roon 'oam ti 'er moother. Then ah knelt doon an' raised 'im in ma arms, an' it weant long--thank God, it weant long.

Well, it's ten year sin, as ah said, an' it's an owd story noo, an' t' grass is green on 'is graave. T' lahtle lass keeps it rare an' gay wi' flooers. Shoo's growin' a graat gell noo, an' it weant be long afoor t' lads begin ti coom aboot 'er, for shoo's growin' bonny; bud shoo's niver forgotten Gus, an' if shoo iver did, ah wouldn't oan 'er as ma darter, that ah wouldn't!

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

MEDICAL.

FREDA.--Of the cause of exophthalmic goître but little is known for certain. Worry or anxiety often precede the onset of the disease. Unlike ordinary goître this affection is not limited in any way to certain districts, but occurs in every part of the country. "Is it curable, and if so, how long should a moderate case take to cure?" Yes, many cases do recover. When the disease is very marked, recovery is unusual. But now that surgeons have directed their attention to the disease there is every reason to believe that the severer grades of the affection may yield to operative treatment. We can no more tell you how long an attack of exophthalmic goître will last than we could tell you the day of your death. Sometimes the disease disappears in six months or a year, often it drags on for many years. As a rule, if the symptoms develop rapidly, the disease runs a rapid course. Men are comparatively rarely attacked. We can, however, call to mind a fair number of cases of exophthalmic goître in the male sex. Unmarried women of from twenty to thirty years of age are the usual victims of this disease.

WORRIED.--1. In all probability your sister would get better and stronger after marriage. Of course it depends a good deal upon the cause of her malady. She had far better go to her family doctor and get his advice upon the matter. We cannot take the responsibility of giving a definite answer to your question from such a very scanty amount of information.--2. There are so many books on travel and science, suitable to ordinary readers, that it is rather difficult to choose any particular volume. One of the best books on science for a beginner--that is, a person who is beginning to read science--is a little work called _Ants and their Ways_, by the Rev. Farren White. It is a charming little volume which will instil into anyone who reads it the habit of observation--so all-important in science. The book is very moderate in price. It is published by the Religious Tract Society. If you turn to the advertisement sheets at the back of this paper you will see notices of a number of very good books on both science and travel.

MATRON.--Obviously the book you want is the _British Pharmacopœia_. This gives definite instructions how to make up every official preparation. There is a new edition just published. For the drugs which are not in the _British Pharmacopœia_, Squire's _Companion to the British Pharmacopœia_ may be consulted. You will do well to thoroughly master the decimal measures, and to use them exclusively, as they are now official and will alone be used in the future. The old and confusing apothecaries' measures are now out of date.

ALTA.--For the bites and stings of midges, etc., rub a little dilute ammonia on the bite. This usually relieves the pain instantly. It is better to put a drop of dilute carbolic acid (about 1 in 100) upon the bite after using the ammonia. The reason for this is that the trouble from an insect's bite is dependent upon two causes. In the first place the insect actually drops poison into the bite. This, which is usually formic acid, makes the wound smart at once, but its effect passes off in a little time. Ammonia neutralises this acid and so gives instant relief. But there is a second cause of trouble which is far more serious. The bite of a fly has caused more deaths than you would think, and from this reason. Flies of all kinds are given to feed on garbage, and as they have not yet learnt to use a toothbrush, their mouths are always swarming with germs. Usually these germs are not of a very virulent kind. But suppose that a midge has been eating the carcase of an animal which has died from peritonitis. That fly is now more deadly than a viper, for on its tongue it has a poison which is capable of rapid increase if it ever finds a suitable home. If this fly bites you, you may die from the bite. Everyone knows that often an insect sting or bite does not ache or swell at first; but after several hours the place becomes hot and swollen, and if the place bitten be the hand, the arm begins to swell and the glands in the armpit enlarge. In this case a mild dose of microbes has been innoculated. Ammonia will not in most cases destroy these microbes. Therefore, we say, put a drop of dilute carbolic acid on the place as soon as you can. The ammonia simply relieves a little itching (for the poison of the insect itself is rarely dangerous), but the carbolic acid destroys organisms which are capable of great mischief. Rubbing the face and hands with oil of eucalyptus, or paraffin, will sometimes prevent insects from coming near you.

LILY, MY QUEENIE.--1. Is the skin round your eyebrows scarred? Hair never grows on scars, nor can it be made to do so by any means in our power. If there are no scars, try a little white precipitate ointment applied carefully to the eyebrows.--2. Moles cannot be cured. They can be removed by operation. If they are large and noticeable it is better to have them removed. Otherwise leave them severely alone.

PEARL.--Take our advice and see a doctor at once. Severe headache is a very common symptom, and though it is usually caused by some trivial ailment, it is often the only subjective sign of a serious disease. Your attacks suggest megraine, but they might be due to far more serious things. Without a complete personal examination no man living could diagnose your malady.

FOX.--What size corsets do you wear? Tight lacing is, or rather was, a very common cause of fatness about the face. What age are you? It is very common for women to get double chins and extra plump cheeks when they have passed their thirtieth year. Very many diseases cause fatness of the face. Kidney disease is one of the commonest of these. All we can advise you to do is to be careful about your diet. Avoid farinaceous puddings and sweets. Take plenty of exercise. No drug is of much good in obesity of any kind. Some of the mineral waters, especially Vichy, are sometimes useful to stout persons.

A WEARY AND CAREWORN GIRL.--We are exceedingly sorry that we could not answer your letter earlier. The troubles that you have gone through are enough to depress any girl of twice your age. We think that all your sufferings are due to nervousness resulting from being "run down." What the impediment in your speech is, is not quite clear from your letter. Probably it is far less than you imagine, else your mother would certainly have noticed it. The difficulty which you find in commencing to talk is due to nervousness. As your health improves, and as you grow older this will tend to disappear. We will publish an article on blushing and nervousness next month. To the last of your questions your clergyman would be more competent to give you an answer than ever we could be. Go to your pastor and tell him your troubles. He is sure to be able to comfort you in your affliction and to help you to bear your cross with patience for the sake of Him who laid down His life for you.

CROYDEN.--The habit of taking acids to cure indigestion is greatly to be deprecated. Acids and bitters are very useful in some forms of indigestion, but they should never be taken unless ordered by a physician. Alkalis, such as bicarbonate of soda, are on the other hand of great value in the majority of cases of indigestion. Indeed we will go further than this: we have never met with a case of indigestion from any cause which was not benefited, sometimes only temporarily, by alkalis. We have seen very few cases of indigestion which have been relieved by acids. Our candid opinion is that the habit of taking acids and bitters to cure disorders of the stomach or loss of appetite, is a very fertile cause of the life-long indigestion so common nowadays.

BLACK EYES.--In an answer to "Fair Isobel," which was published some months ago, the treatment of blackheads was thoroughly discussed.

EMILY PHELPS.--Your glasses do not suit you. Go to an oculist and get his prescription for another pair. Your symptoms are very common in people who use unsuitable spectacles.

BUTTERCUP.--Bunions are due to the pressure of badly-fitting boots. In the human foot the great or innermost toe bends away from the other toes. This gives to the inner border of the foot a direction slanting inwards towards the middle line of the body. Most boots are made with their inner border slanting outwards away from the middle line so as to meet the outer border of the boots at a more or less acute angle. We have therefore the great toe naturally tending to depart from its fellows, and we have the boot forcing the great toe towards, and possibly under or over, the other toes. The boot is an unyielding structure. The inner border of the foot is also practically unyielding, except at one spot, the joint of the great toe. The first toe is therefore forced inwards and its joint projects as an angle. The boot presses upon this joint, a corn forms, inflammation is set up, and the joint becomes diseased, forming a bunion. When once a bunion has developed, it is no good talking about its prevention. We must attempt to cure it, and it is not so very difficult to cure it, and keep it cured, if you fully understand how it originated. A bunion is caused by pressure upon the joint. The cure of the bunion consists of removing the pressure from the joint. To do this you should wear boots in which the inner border slopes away from the centre of the boot. We advise you to get a pair of boots of this shape made for yourself. If the bunion is intractable, you may need a "post" in the boot between the great and the second toe. Keep your foot scrupulously clean, and take a foot-bath every evening.

J. S. N.--As your mother died from heart disease, it is no wonder that you imagine your own symptoms to be likewise due to heart trouble; but the symptoms you mention are all characteristic of simple dyspepsia; not one of them is common in heart disease. When you say "at times my pulse beats very fast and sometimes irregularly," we presume that you mean that you feel your heart beating fast or irregularly, in other words, that you have palpitation. When the heart is beating fast or irregularly, as it frequently does in heart disease, it produces no symptoms which might inform the sufferer of her state. It is only by feeling the pulse that irregularities in its action can be detected. We will not say that heart disease is not hereditary, but the importance of this factor has been greatly over-estimated. Disease of the heart is very frequently due to rheumatic fever; and the tendency to rheumatism is; to a certain extent, hereditary. You will find plenty of information about indigestion in our last year's volume.

ESTHER.--We can well understand that you feel a little nervous about your chest, when you tell us that both your parents died of phthisis. You know that the risk of your developing the disease is considerable, yet it by no means follows that you will get phthisis. By no means are you certain to get phthisis. You must be very careful about yourself, and the least bit of a cough or cold which may attack you must be carefully attended to. Indeed we advise you to call in your family doctor the moment that you have any cough or other untoward symptom. Certainly you would do well to spend your winters in Switzerland.

CANARY.--1. A little dumb-bell exercise every morning will improve the form of your back and shoulders. The dumb-bells should be made of wood and not weigh more than two pounds each. Heavy bell exercise is very dangerous. It has always been considered beautiful for women to possess broad hips.--2. Why? Why do so many of our correspondents call themselves "constant readers"? Perhaps it is that they think that by using that pseudonym they will get answered sooner, or perhaps it is merely from lack of sufficient imagination to think of some phrase less commonplace.

E. M. WALKER.--Cinnamon is more at home in the pantry than in pharmacy. The only medicinal action it possesses is that of all aromatic substances. It is occasionally used as a stomachic, but its chief use is for flavouring. Sometimes it is given for diarrhœa as it is a mild astringent. Cinnamon has no action on cancer, neither has any drug the slightest effect upon the course of this disease. Indeed one might put down the medicinal action of cinnamon at zero.

MABEL B.--It is not at all uncommon for the hair to fall out after a severe illness. It is, however, rare for permanent baldness to result. Usually after combing out in large quantities for some weeks or months the hair grows quickly and luxuriously again. A mildly stimulating hair-wash is often useful in these cases. Brilliantine, bay rum or rosemary hair-washes are suitable. We much doubt whether taking cod-liver oil would have any effect upon your hair, but it might help to restore your strength.

FLORRIE.--1. We know of no recipe which will remove hairs from the face without doing serious damage to the skin at the same time.--2. Try sulphur soap for a shiny face. Do not use face powder.

HELENA.--Read the answer to "Florrie" above. The Laws of Libel prevent us from giving you our opinion on the preparation which you mention. We are allowed, however, to warn you to have nothing to do with any patent medicine of which you do not know the composition. It has not been our experience that peroxide of hydrogen makes the hair grow quickly.

STUDY AND STUDIO.

IRISH MAY FLOWER.--It is rather difficult to dispose of such sketches as you describe. We should suggest that you took them to any picture dealer in your neighbourhood, and asked him to try to sell them for you. Or you might write to the Irish Ladies' Work Society, 47, George Street, Kingstown, inquiring if that would be of any use to you.

MABEL ENTWISTLE.--We are very glad that you have been enabled through our means "to make the acquaintance of two extremely nice French girls." Your writing we like very much. It is clear, definite, and has a character of its own. If we gave any hint for its improvement, it would be to avoid the lapses in the middle of a word, making the writing flow consecutively.

LA PETITE VIOLETTE.--We have not forgotten you, and are very glad you have taken up some special study. We have placed your request in "Our Open Letter Box."

WILD ROSE.--1. Your first quotation is from Tennyson's _In Memoriam_, xxvii., stanza 4.

"I hold it true, whate'er befall, I feel it when I sorrow most, 'Tis better to have loved and lost, Than never to have loved at all."

2. Look through the poetry of Thomas Moore for your second extract, and if you cannot find it there, send it again and we will place it in "Our Open Letter Box."

CATALINA.--1. Apply to the Church Sunday School Institute, Serjeant's Inn, Fleet Street, E.C., or to the Sunday School Union (undenominational), 57, Ludgate Hill, and you will receive the fullest information. The lessons for each Sunday are set forth in certain inexpensive books in detail, with comments and information upon every verse. In addition to these "lesson helps" you should read and study books upon the Old Testament and upon the life of our Lord, such as Farrar's _Life of Christ_. The Religious Tract Society has published one (_The Life of Jesus Christ the Saviour_, by Mrs. S. Watson), which is not too ambitious, and might help you. The net price is 3s. 9d.--2. Your writing is good for your age, but might be improved if the tails to your "g's," "y's," etc., were less straggling.

ERIN-GO-BRAGH.--1. We have inserted your request, but (as you give a pseudonym) not your address.--2. Your handwriting is too upright and irregular, but there is the foundation of a good hand in it.

EXILE OF ERIN.--The "Fragment" you enclose is above the average of poems submitted to us, but your metre does not flow quite smoothly enough. You should avoid too many monosyllables in these long lines.

L. A. T.--We should advise you to read Homer's "Odyssey," translated by Butcher and Lang, and if you find difficulty in understanding it, a "Primer" on the subject as well. But we think you will enjoy it. As for Plato, read "The Trial and Death of Socrates," translated by Dean Church, and consult a small history of Greece on the period (399 B.C.) Do not attempt too much at once, nor read Plato's deeper "Dialogues" to begin with. Your letter, which you ask us to criticise, is clearly written, with only one mistake in spelling.

MISS BEALEY.--We undertake no communication by post (see "Rules" in our November part and elsewhere). You will find the "Home Reading Union" an excellent society; apply to the Secretary, Surrey House, Victoria Embankment. Consult this column for amateur societies occasionally mentioned.

MISS FLORENCE E. SMITH calls attention to the "Bedford Practising Society," of which she is secretary. She will be delighted to send particulars to any fellow reader of the GIRL'S OWN PAPER. Address to her at Winfrith, The Crescent, Bedford.

HOFFNUNG.--Many thanks for your letter. By all means try again.

INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENCE.

MADEMOISELLE MARGUERITE GONTARD (address "Nikopal Mariopol Co., Mariopol, South Russia, Engineer Prauss for M. Gontard"), wishes to be put into communication with a young English lady, resident in either of the continents of Asia, Africa, America, or Australia. She desires to correspond with her either in English or French. We thank Mademoiselle Gontard for her pretty English letter. She may certainly write to us in French if she prefers to do so.

"ERIN-GO-BRAGH" would like to correspond with a French girl of about her own age--twenty-one.

FLORENCE writes a kind letter from which we quote a sentence. "I am wondering whether some little girl belonging to the readers of our GIRL'S OWN PAPER would care to have an older friend to write to; she would receive in return sympathy if in trouble, and an interest would be taken in all she might care to confide to one whom she could perhaps learn to look upon in the light of an elder sister." We regret that it is against our rules to undertake direct postal communication; but if any little girl sends us her address, we will insert it here for "Florence" to see. Perhaps some lonely, or motherless, or sad little girls might be glad to find a friend.

OUR OPEN LETTER BOX.

LA PETITE VIOLETTE wishes to find a poem with a refrain to each verse "Belle Marquise." She saw a quotation from it as a heading to a chapter in a book entitled _Woman and the Shadow_.

MISS M. A. C. CRABB and ELPIS answer LENNOX by referring the verse she quotes--

"Alas! how easily things go wrong,"

to a poem in the 19th chapter of George Macdonald's "Phantastes: a Faerie Romance." They agree in saying that the second verse is not by the same pen.

PETERKIN, GERTRUDE ASHWORTH, KLONDYKE, B. D. WARD, M. E. BATES, "STICK," R. M. COOKE, MABEL ENTWISTLE and "THE ELDEST GIRL," inform Ethel Rimmer that Christina Rossetti's poem beginning--

"When I am dead, my dearest, Sing no sad songs for me,"

has been set to music by Malcolm Lawson, and is entitled "Hereafter," in keys E♭ and G. It appeared in the June number of the _Strand Musical Magazine_ for 1895. "A LOVER OF THE 'G.O.P.'" says it has been set to music by C. A. Lee, either for a soprano or an alto voice.

R. C. R. suggests to GOLD DUST that the poem "Tit for Tat" is contained in "Original Poems for Infant Minds," by Jane Taylor, her sisters and brother. If this is the poem sought for, we may add that the volume is published by Routledge.

ONE OF THE FIRST READERS, AZIE, asks for the author of a poem entitled "Maggie and the Angels," containing two lines--

"Maggie, are they the angels? And be they always there?"

PERSEVERANZA would be glad to know the publishers of a picture-book of performing frogs or cats from which she could copy for painting on dessert doyleys.

L B. N. R. wishes to know the author of the following lines--

"There is a river which flows for ever, And the flowers that bloom on its banks Grow bright, as they glitter in grateful endeavour To vie in a perfume of thanks."

MISCELLANEOUS.

EDITH.--The origin of the Lions as a device on the Royal Arms we trace to William the Conqueror, who introduced those of Normandy. These two original Lions were supplemented by a third, added by Henry III., it is generally supposed, for Aquitaine.

MATER.--To make an economical Christmas cake, take half a pound of butter, place in a bowl, and break five eggs over it, stirring continuously, while a second person sifts in slowly a pound and a half of currants (well washed, dried, and carefully picked), three-quarters of a pound of flour, and two ounces of citron peel chopped to moderately small pieces. Place in a papered shape--not buttered--several folds of paper being laid at the bottom of the tin, and bake in moderately hot oven during three hours.

SEMPER PARATUS.--We answer two questions, and you have asked nineteen! It is impossible to describe the several Scotch tartans otherwise than by coloured illustrations. These you will find in a book published by W. and A. K. Johnston (Edinburgh and London), entitled, _The Scottish Clans and their Tartans_, now in its second (if not third) edition. Some account of every Clan is given.

ANXIOUS.--Rheumatism will, no doubt, be made worse by exposure to damp and draughts; but the origin is in acidity, which crystallises in the joints and muscles. You should abstain for a time from butchers' meat, and from sweet things. Attend to the action of the liver, which may be torpid; and if the pain be in the arms and shoulders, you should perform all kinds of exercises with them, and employ friction and rubbing with suitable embrocation. If you do not perform exercises, the joints and sinews will become stiff.

A. E. C.--_Noah's Ark_, by Darley Dale, is published as a book by F. Warne, Bedford Street, Strand. Price 3s. 6d.

HELEN OF TROY.--You will find several families of the name Marshall--though not necessarily related--in Burke's _Landed Gentry_. Perhaps you can claim your connection with one of them. The first on the list is G. H. Marshall, of Patterdale Hall, Westmoreland, descended from John of Yeadon Hall, Co. York, who made a large fortune from the mechanical improvements in a branch of the linen manufacture. There is Marshall of Treworgley, Cornwall; Marshall of Penwortham Hall, descended from M. of Ardwick, near Manchester; Marshall of Ward End House, Co. Warwick, descended from M. of Perlethorp, Co. Nottinghamshire; and Marshall of Broadwater, Surrey, apparently the oldest family of that name, anciently spelt Marchal, and long resident in that county. None of these families have the same arms, nor crest. The first-named (of Patterdale) has none ascribed to them in the _Landed Gentry_. You had better consult the second volume in some library.

OUR PUZZLE POEMS.

A NEW DEPARTURE.

We are publishing Three Puzzle Poems in succession dealing with accidents and the way to meet them, and the following is the second of the series. The lines should be carefully committed to memory for the sake of the valuable instruction they contain.

In addition to the ordinary monthly prizes THREE SPECIAL PRIZES are offered for the best solutions of the whole series.

The first Special Prize will be THREE GUINEAS; the second Special Prize, TWO GUINEAS, and the third Special Prize, ONE GUINEA.

A careful record of mistakes will be kept, and these prizes will be awarded to those competitors who perpetrate the fewest in all three puzzles.

If a winner of one of these prizes has already received an ordinary prize in the series, the amount of the smaller prize will be deducted. This will then be sent to the most deserving non-prize-winner in the list relating to the puzzle for which the prize in question was awarded.

OUR NEW PUZZLE POEM.

⁂ Prizes to the amount of six guineas (one of which will be reserved for competitors living abroad) are offered for the best solutions of the above Puzzle Poem. The following conditions must be observed.

1. Solutions to be written on one side of the paper only.

2. Each paper to be headed with the name and address of the competitor.

3. Attention must be paid to spelling, punctuation, and neatness.

4. Send by post to Editor, GIRL'S OWN PAPER, 56, Paternoster Row, London. "Puzzle Poem" to be written on the top left-hand corner of the envelope.

5. The last day for receiving solutions from Great Britain and Ireland will be February 17, 1899; from Abroad, April 17, 1899.

The competition is open to all without any restrictions as to sex or age.

OUR SUPPLEMENT STORY COMPETITION.

SELF OR FRIEND?

A STORY IN MINIATURE.

FIRST PRIZE (£2 2s.).

Margaret A. Fish, 49, Foregate Street, Worcester.

SECOND PRIZE (£1 1s.).

Rose Cook, 2, South Cliff, Lowestoft.

THIRD PRIZE (10s. 6d.).

Edith Ivens, Mayfield, Station Road, Llandaff, nr. Cardiff.

VERY HIGHLY COMMENDED.

Emily M. P. Wood, Woodbank, Southport.

HONOURABLE MENTION.

Mary Adamson, Eastbourne; Lucy H. Chapman, Weston-super-Mare; "Conor," Bonchurch, I.W.; Rose L. Connor, Greenock, N.B.; "Editha," Birmingham; Kate Collins Ensor, Atherstone; "Excelsior," North Bow, E.; Annie F. Hepple, N. Shields; E. Marian Jupe, Warminster; "Mignonette," New Cross, S.E.; Edith Miller, Judd St., W.C.; Agnes Osborne, Sidcup; Minnie Reeves, Twyford; Lucy Richardson, York; Enid G. St. Aubyn, Retford; Mary Adéle Venn, West Kensington Park; L. M. Willis, Harrogate; Mabel Wilson, Bedford Park.

* * * * *

TO THE COMPETITORS.

MY DEAR GIRLS,--To the prize winners and to those of you also who failed to gain prizes, I offer my hearty congratulations on the excellent papers you sent in. The work of selecting the very best was much less difficult than that of choosing a few for "Honourable Mention," out of hundreds of really good ones.

It may interest you to know why some of you failed to obtain a place in the list of honours. Twenty-eight competitors were disqualified by breaking the rule as to size of paper and space to be filled. Then there were several charming essays on the story which were not miniatures of it. In a considerable number necessary parts of the outline were omitted, hence the work was incomplete.

It gave me true pleasure to note how thoroughly most of you grasped the lesson which the story was intended to convey.

Do not be disheartened. Try again. Such good papers cannot be called failures, and the exercise will benefit you whether you gain prizes or not.

Your affectionate old friend, RUTH LAMB.

* * * * *

OUR NEXT STORY COMPETITION.

STORIES IN MINIATURE.

_Subject_:--"THE G. O. P. SUPPLEMENT FOR JANUARY."

WHEN MY SHIP COMES HOME.

BY SARAH DOUDNEY, Author of "A Cluster of Roses," "A Flower of Light," etc.

We offer three prizes of TWO GUINEAS, ONE GUINEA, and HALF-A-GUINEA for the three best papers on our "Story Supplement" for this month. The essays are to give a brief account of the plot and action of the story in the Competitor's own words; in fact, each paper should be a carefully-constructed _Story in Miniature_, telling the reader in a few bright words what THE GIRL'S OWN STORY SUPPLEMENT for the month is all about.

One page of foolscap only is to be written upon, and is to be signed by the writer, followed by her full address, and posted to The Editor, GIRL'S OWN PAPER, in an unsealed envelope, with the words "Stories in Miniature" written on the left-hand top corner.

The last day for receiving the papers is January 20th; and no papers can in any case be returned.

_Examiners_:--The Author of the Story (Sarah Doudney), and the Editor of THE GIRL'S OWN PAPER.

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Transcriber's Note: The following changes have been made to this text.

Page 218--prevenche changed to pervenche.

Page 222--parafin changed to paraffin.