The  boys  became  smarter  and  put  on  clean  clothes.  Vases
of  flowers  appeared  in  the  various  rooms  ;  ours  was  turned
out  and  cleaned,  a  disagreeable  process  so  far  as  we  were
concerned.  Moreover,  at  dinner  both  Mamham  and  Rodd
wore  dress  clothes  with  short  jackets,  a  circumstance  that
put  Anscombe  and  myself  to  shame  since  we  had  none.  It
was  curious  to  see  how  with  those  dress  clothes,which  doubt-
less awoke  old  associations  within  him,  Mamham  changed
his  colour  Uke  a  chameleon.  Really  he  might  have  been  the
colonel  of  a  cavalry  regiment  rising  to  toast  the  Queen  after
he  had  sent  round  the  wine,  so  pohte  and  polished  was  his
talk.  Who  could  have  identified  the  man  with  the  drunken
old  ruffian  of  twenty-four  hours  before,  he  who  was  drinking
claret  (and  very  good  claret  too)  mixed  with  water  and  hst-
ening  with  a  polite  interest  to  all  the  details  of  his  daughter's
journey  ?  Even  the  doctor  looked  a  gentleman,  which
doubtless  he  was  once  upon  a  time,  in  evening  dress.  More-
over, some  kind  of  truce  had  been  arranged.  He  no  longer
called  Miss  Heda  "  My  dear  "  or  attempted  any  familiari-
ties, while  she  on  more  than  one  occasion  very  distinctly
called  him  Dr.  Rodd.
So  much  for  that  night  and  for  several  others  that  fol-
lowed. As  for  the  days  they  went  by  pleasantly  and  idly.
