At this point Mrs. Chandos brusquely interposed, speaking in Hindustani, and mother and daughter had a loud altercation, which lasted for some minutes. "Well, well, well! let a-lone, let a-lone!" exclaimed the old woman, who had evidently had the worst of the argument. "Verona, child, I hope you may be lucky. Some day I must try your fortune in the crystal; this is not a good day, it is the twenty-fifth." "Your Nani is taken up with signs, and tokens, and cards, and spells," grumbled Mrs. Chandos, "just like any old bazaar woman. Oh, you will be surprised at her ways!" "I hope she will get used to all our ways, for some of them are funny," rejoined Mrs. Lopez good-humouredly, and she nodded her head till her three chins shook again. "Yes, you will, miss, oh, so many fine things; but there is no other home for you, and you cannot live in the river, and be at enmity with the crocodile!" Verona stared at the speaker with an expression of complete bewilderment. "Pah! it is only one of mother's silly proverbs," explained Mrs. Chandos; "here, sit down," pushing a cane stool towards her. Her daughter gladly accepted the morah, and while her two relatives once more discussed her in voluble Hindustani, her eyes wandered languidly around the room. The floor was covered with soiled matting and one handsome Persian rug. The walls were ornamented with gaudy-coloured prints; in a corner was a low charpoy, or bed, with red-lacquered legs and heaped high with pillows; a press, an ancient bureau, a card-table, and a cooking-stove completed the furniture. Nani's shoes, which were small, an umbrella, which was large, occupied a prominent position; a dress on a peg still retained the voluminous outline of her figure: there were also her domestic pets. In a rude tin cage on the bureau dozed, as Verona subsequently discovered, a peculiarly rude green parrot. The empty fire-place, instead of exhibiting the usual paper frills, made a comfortable cot for a huge black cat. In an angle beyond the press lay some larger animal, and Verona received a distinct shock when she discovered that the object of her curiosity was a full-sized goat. "Ah!" cried Mrs. Lopez, as she caught her eyes. "The go-at! But she is so tame--tame as the cat; I keep her for my coffee; I make it myself fresh, fresh every three days, and see it roasted and ground--just what fills three bottles. Oh, it is awfully good! You shall have some to-morrow, when I will tell your fortune." "And your Nani will stuff your head with nonsense and proverbs," said Mrs. Chandos. "No-a, indeed! they all feete," protested her mother. "Verona is sensible, thatt I can see, and now she is in her father's house she will be content, and will stretch her feet to the length of the sheet. Won't you, child?" "I am not looking for riches and luxuries, ma'am." "Yes. But hitherto you have had five fingers in the ghee. You do not know what it is to be poor." As this was true Verona remained silent.