Page 83 (1/1)

We i upon Gwen at my house She said she and her father had spent a year in San Francisco when she was about seven years of age While there their household was looked after by two Chinese servants, naed by her father because of his refusal to perforht, had not been set down as part of his hen he was engaged So far as she knew no altercation had taken place and there were no hard feelings on either side Saood-bye and had see which, however, he refused, with true Chinese pertinacity, to assume the new duties She did not think it likely that either of these Chinareed with Maitland that it would be a point gained to be assured of this fact Maitland accordingly determined to depart at once for San Francisco, and the next day he was off

We received no letters froly, unable to tell when he expected to get back Since his return fro interest in life, but now that he was again away, she relapsed into her old listless condition, from which we found it impossible to arouse her Alice, who did her utmost to please her, was at her wit's end She could never tell which of two alternatives Gwen preferred, since that young lady would invariably express herself satisfied with either and did not seem to realise why she should be expected to have any choice in the matter Alice was quite at a loss to understand this state of affairs, until I told her that Gas in a condition of semi-torpor in which even the effort of choice seemed an unwarrantable outlay She si, save a sense of fatigue, and even what she saas viewed as from afar,--and seemed to her a drama in which she took no other part than that of an idle, tired, and listless spectator Clearly she was losing her hold on life I told Alice we must do our utmost to arouse her, to stimulate her will, to awaken her interest, and we tried one, I think, about three weeks when ht have the desired effect upon Gwen Before her father's death she had been one of thePeople's Club which devoted every Wednesday evening to the study of Shakespeare She had attended none of its s since her bereavement, but Alice and I soon persuaded her to acco week and I succeeded, by a little quiet wire-pulling, in getting her appointed to take charge of the following , which was to be devoted to the study of "Antony and Cleopatra" When informed of the task which had been i the honour at once, and the et her to promise to think it over a day or so before she refused