"Will you let me see that screen, miss, if you please?" he said, politely.
Nora unfastened it from the line with rather nervous fingers. The young gentleman held it up in the light, f examining it carefully. It was a moment of suspense that to Nora seemed an hour. Then she heard him say, half under his breath, "Penelope--queer--"
"Yes, sir," said Nora, earnestly; "it _is_ an odd name. I don't know how it came there; it--" Then she stopped short, remembering there was no necessity for explanation to this stranger.
The young man seemed, however, scarcely to have heard what she had said. He continued his inspection of the quaint little screen, finally lifting his eyes with a look of amusement or pleasure in them, as he said:
"How much is this?--it is wonderfully good."
"What do you think it is worth?" she asked, timidly.
"Oh, sir," exclaimed Nora, "it is mine, you see. Mrs. Bruce let me put it in the window. I--we--my mother--"
Her cheeks were crimson. She stopped, not knowing how to continue the explanation. The young man looked at her very kindly. Something in the care-worn little face, the pathetic eagerness of the eyes, told Nora's story.
"I think," said her customer--"I think it is worth about two pounds."[1]
Nora's eyes glistened. Two pounds! She could scarcely believe her senses. Was it possible!
"Oh!" she whispered. "Is it _really_--do you want it so much?"
"I want it very much," he answered. "I have a cousin named Penelope."
And almost before the young girl could realize her good fortune her customer was gone, the evidence that she was not dreaming being the two gold pieces shining in her hand.
Mrs. Bruce was delighted; but when Nora wished her to accept the money in payment for the room--the rent of which was long overdue--she stoutly refused. "Give me ten shillings," she said, busily making the change. "There, now. I've a cozy bit of supper ready for your mother, if you'll carry it up to her." A nice plate of mashed potatoes and steaming brown sausages was ready in the little parlor. Nora could hardly express her appreciation of the good woman's kindness. She carried the little tray up stairs with a grateful heart. Her mother was awake, and, putting down the supper, Nora hastened to tell her story; but to her surprise her mother listened in dismay.