Kates Ordeal | Page 7

to obtain a
place in one of these grand shops.
But she soon found there were streets in London almost as dimly
lighted as their own village streets at home, and shops much less grand
and imposing than those she had first seen.
At last the cab stopped, and Kate saw, to her disappointment, that it
was not a broad, fashionable thoroughfare, and the shop, with its piles
of buns and loaves of bread, was by no means imposing, but rather
old-fashioned in its appearance, and the whole street was the same,
although there were a great number of people about, and everybody
seemed in such a hurry that Kate made up her mind there must be a fire
or some accident must have happened, near at hand. All this passed
through her mind, as her box was being lifted from the roof of the cab,
as she stood on the pavement looking up and down the busy,
old-fashioned street, that was so unlike what she had fancied her new
home would be.
Her cousin Marion was behind the counter in the shop, and there

seemed to be a constant stream of customers coming and going. "This
is the best bun house in London," whispered her uncle, as he took her
hand and led her in.
The old lady, who was likewise serving, left her post when she saw
Kate and her uncle, and led the way into the cosy parlour behind the
shop. She seemed pleased with Kate's appearance and manner, and
asked her a great many questions about her home and her mother.
"We are very quiet, old-fashioned people, ourselves," she said,
"although we live in London, and I am very particular about the young
people I have to help me in the shop, and never allow them to make
friends among the customers. Be civil to all, but nothing more than that
to anyone, my dear; that is my rule, and you must remember to obey it.
Marion knows I am more strict about this than anything else, and so I
hope you will remember it, too."
"Yes, ma'am, I will," said Kate; and then the old lady asked the servant
to bring up some supper, and went back to the shop, that Marion might
come in and speak to her father and cousin.
"I am to give you some supper, and then take you to bed," said Marion,
after their greetings were over. "You will have some supper with us,
father?--Mrs. Maple told me to ask you."
"No, thank you, my dear, I want to get home, and you girls don't need
me now. I have told Kate she is always to spend the Sunday with us,
the same as you do."
"Oh, yes, of course she will," said Marion. "You see that is one
advantage of being in an old-fashioned shop like this; we have no
Sunday work," she said, turning to her cousin.
"Mother will be glad to know that," said Kate.
"Yes, you must tell her when you write," said her uncle, bidding her
good-bye.

When he was gone the girls sat down to supper, and Kate tried to eat,
but everything was so strange, and she had such an intense longing to
see her mother, that she said "yes" and "no" to her cousin's questions,
scarcely understanding what they were.
The next morning, however, she felt a good deal better, and by the end
of the week began to feel quite at home, for Mrs. Maple was not a hard
mistress, and so Kate was able to give a good account of her home,
when she wrote to her mother.
"What shall we do to-morrow--where shall we go?" said Marion, on
Saturday afternoon.
"Where do you generally go?" said Kate rather timidly. "I have been
going to ask you two or three times how you spend Sunday."
"Oh! I go home, and, if it's fine, Bella and I go for a walk, or a little
way into the country. But you will want to see London, of course."
"Yes," said Kate, rather slowly; "I should like to see some of the grand
places I have heard about, but--but don't you think we might manage to
see them another time? Don't you go to Sunday school?" she asked, in a
still lower tone.
Her cousin stared at her in blank amazement, for a minute or two and
then burst into a merry laugh. "Go to Sunday school--a young woman
like me?" she said.
"Well, not to Sunday school, exactly: I did not mean that, but to church
and Bible-class?" said Kate.
"Oh, yes, we go to church sometimes, for a change, when it's wet, and
it's a good place to see the fashions, too, but I never went to Sunday
school in my life; mother