"I don’t think we are likely to tie up any capital in that way at present!" she said, finishing the last crumb of her bread. "We are down to fourpence now. We had better keep that for to-morrow, and go without supper to-night. No, we’ll spend threepence on biscuits, and have a biscuit apiece at bed-time!" "By golly, we do go it, don’t we!" Liss looked round the room hungrily. "Isn’t there _anything_ left that we can pop?" "Nothing, I’m afraid. My jewellery is all at Netherby. I have my engagement-ring, of course—" "That stays!" announced Liss firmly. "It was lucky," she went on with more cheerfulness, "that my little Leonard did not want his back! Not that we got much for it; I always _said_ he bought it at a stationer’s! Now, if it had only been the one Reggie gave me, that would have been a different story; his was a beauty. But the little beast practically grabbed it back from me. Marjie, I _really_ think I’d better get engaged again. I could wire Toby, at—" "You will do no such thing!" said Marjorie. "Besides, you can’t send a wire for fourpence." "I suppose," continued Liss (whose motto in life was "Anything Once!") "it wouldn’t do to go and sit about in a restaurant somewhere, and get taken out to dinner by an Australian, or somebody? All right, I was only joking! Well, we must just hang on till Saturday; then there will be lots of our nice boy friends in town for the week-end, and we can make up for lost time. Meanwhile, let’s go round and see if we can’t get a job directing envelopes, or something. Carry on, partner!" *V* Towards evening our two hungry sparrows forgathered again, footsore and faint, but still smiling. Liss, who ought by rights to have been in bed consuming chicken-broth, was as white as wax. "What luck?" she enquired. "Nothing doing!" sighed Marjorie. "They will take me on at an office in Holborn as soon as my arm is well enough to write, but they wouldn’t give me an advance of pay. They just told me to report at nine o’clock on Monday." "And to-day’s Thursday! Thank them for nothing!" "Did you get anything?" asked Marjorie. "No—except that I went round to the theatre again, and they are putting on the new show a little sooner. There’s a call for rehearsal on Saturday. That doesn’t mean any salary for a long while, but I ought to be able to borrow a shilling or two from the girls. Not that it will be easy: they all need the money themselves these days, poor things! I’m cold. Let’s have our biscuit and go to bed." "I wonder what time it is?" said Marjorie, getting up from her chair. "About eight, I should say." (Watches had been hypothecated long since.) "It’s a bit early." "_Qui dort, dine,_" quoted Marjorie. "What does that mean?" "It’s what Lord Eskerley used to say when he’d been to the House of Lords. Let’s go to bed; I’m comfortably tired. London’s a big place to get about in—when one hasn’t a bus fare!"