CHAPTER IX.
A PROMISING ADVERTISEMENT.
With no little diffidence did Miss Prudence
Semaphore, a woman quite unused to the
ways and wants of babies, present herself at
the special counter in Whiteley's devoted to
their needs, and falter out that she required
a complete outfit for an infant. The attendant
who waited on her considered that she
had a most extraordinary customer to deal
with, for the lady neither knew the age of
the child nor the names and quantities of the
needful garments, and when she finally took
everything that was suggested to her, she
required instruction as to how and in what
order the various articles were to be put on.
Having requested that a parcel of the most
indispensable objects should be given to her,
and that the remainder should be delivered
that afternoon at 37, Beaconsfield Gardens,
