CHAPTER VII.
PRUDENCE RECEIVES A SHOCK.
Miss Prudence Semaphore slept placidly. It
was her nature to do everything as placidly
as possible. Nightmares rarely visited her.
When Miss Augusta was crosser than usual,
or the latest man at 37, Beaconsfield Gardens,
on whom she tried to fix her easy affections,
showed that he had no thought of her, she
sometimes wept herself to sleep. Seldom,
however, did she experience the discomfort of
a nuit blanche.
On this particular occasion she dreamt that she was flying through space to Florida in search of the Fountain of Youth. Suddenly her wings failed her. She fell like another Icarus down, down, down, awaking with a start and a stifled gasp. She sat bolt upright in bed, and tried to think where she was. The familiar room dimly seen, the light of the street lamps, filtering through
