Nina picked at her gloves in embarrassment as she replied, with a simper: 

“Well, I play scales on the piano sometimes.”

“Then you are fond of music, I suppose,” said Cora, pleasantly.

“Well, I think I am.  I will ask mamma; she knows if I like it.  Is it quite correct to like music, do you think?”

The silly look which accompanied this speech made Dexie almost disgusted with her, but she turned to Cora and smiled significantly.

“Well,” said Dexie, when her double had taken her departure, “she has tired me out; but with that chin what can anyone expect?  It tells her character at a glance.”

“Tell us your opinion of her,” said Cora.  “Do you see the great difference there is between you?”

“Why, she is different every way.  First in importance is temper; there she has the best of me, for she is as mild as milk-and-water, and I own it certainly is not the ‘correct thing’ to get into such rages as I do.  She gives the impression that she is never determined about anything, and anyone can persuade her that this, or that is right, as she has no mind to solve the matter for herself.  She will go through life depending on another’s conscience to keep her straight; but with that chin what else could she do?”

“What does her chin say?” said Cora, smiling.

“‘Unstable as water; unstable as water.’  I saw the words every time I glanced at her.”

For the next few days Dexie endured much teasing about her intelligent double; but she bore it all so good-naturedly that it soon died away.

Much to everyone’s surprise, Dexie endeavored to see Nina frequently, and tried to induce her to visit them often; and Dexie laughingly gave as her reason that she would like to knock a little common-sense into her double before she left Halifax, for fear people might think that Nina was her exact counterpart in everything.

CHAPTER XXXII.

One day, as Dexie was going to the post office, she met Miss Taylor, and the memory of the adventure in the snowstorm with Lancy and Elsie rose vividly before her mind as she grasped the outstretched hand in friendly greeting.

“I am in such a dilemma, Miss Sherwood!” she exclaimed.  “I drove into Halifax with a neighbor, and he was to meet me an hour ago; but I have discovered that his usual absent-mindedness has caused him to forget all about me.  I am at my wit’s end, for mother will be alarmed at my absence.”

“Come home with me, Miss Taylor.  Oh! you must,” as a refusal rose to her lips, “and if you really must return home to-night, it can easily be managed, I know.”

After much persuasion, Miss Taylor accompanied Dexie home; and as she explained the necessity of returning that night, Mrs. Gurney told Lancy to order the horse and buggy and drive her out.