Dowey remembered that she
had that pot of jam and that Mrs. Mickleham had stood treat last time;
and soon they were all three descending the area stairs, followed
cringingly by the Haggerty Woman.
They have been extremely merry, and never were four hard-worked old
ladies who deserved it better. All a woman can do in war-time they do
daily and cheerfully. Just as their men-folk are doing it at the Front;
and now, with the mops and pails laid aside, they sprawl gracefully at
ease. There is no intention on their part to consider peace terms until
a decisive victory has been gained in the field (Sarah Ann Dowey), until
the Kaiser is put to the right-about (Emma Mickleham), and singing very
small (Amelia Twymley).
At this tea-party the lady who is to play the part of Mrs. Dowey is sure
to want to suggest that our heroine has a secret sorrow, namely, the
crime; but you should see us knocking that idea out of her head! Mrs.
Dowey knows she is a criminal, but, unlike the actress, she does not
know that she is about to be found out; and she is, to put it bluntly in
her own Scotch way, the merriest of the whole clanjamfry.
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