CHAPTER VII. A Seasonable Hint. "It was there he met with a wounded doe, She warn'd him of the toils below, He had an eye, and he could heed, Ever sing warily, warily; He had a foot, and he could speed- W. SCOTT. Ir has been seen that Susan Allen was not likely to enter upon her new situation under auspicious circumstances, and certainly nothing could be less encouraging, so far as her fellow-servants were concerned, than her reception at Fairfield Court. Mrs. Carraway rated her soundly for every thing she had done, or left undone: Mr. Abraham Goodman talked continually of the necessity of keeping everything under lock and key while the family was contaminated with the presence of paupers, and rarely sat down to his meals without descanting on the cruelty of putting 66 some people" in the way of temptation, who were not likely to be able to resist it. Miss Cordelia, the housemaid, being naturally indolent, and disinclined to the exertions of repartee, was not so sharp on Susan as the others, but contented herself with making her do the larger portion of the housemaid's work, in addition to that which properly belonged to the poor girl. But after all, the tyranny of the Fairfield domestics,-disgraceful as it was to themselves, was a very tolerable burden compared with what Susan had submitted to previously. Hard work she did not mind, and she hoped that the hard words would be Ilaid aside when it was seen that she did not deserve them. However, week after week passed away, without things growing any better, and by degrees Susan's spirits drooped, and she began to wish herself back again at Mrs. Hulks' farm, or even in some humbler service, where she could earn her bread without being subjected to unjust insinuations, and having her honesty suspected. The only person who was kind to her was Mrs. Becket, but this, of course, did her more harm than good; it made her fellowservants more than ever prejudiced against her, and in addition to their other ill-natured remarks they accused her of slyness, of servility, of endeavouring to worm herself into her mistress's favour, and so forth. While things were in this position, it happened to come into Mrs. Carraway's head that a certain flowerborder in front of her room-window wanted weeding, and so Susan was sent to the man who worked in the garden to desire him to weed it. Jackson was very sorry, but there was so much to be done in front of the house, that he could not put the back-premises in order for several days to come. Mrs. Carraway was wroth, but as the labourer was not at hand, she contented herself with scolding Susan. Susan answered meekly that she had nearly done her work, and that if the housekeeper had no objection, she should be happy to weed the border. Mrs. Carraway was mollified, and Susan commenced her labours. A good-humoured disposition, and a consciousness of having done what is right, will make even weeding in a broiling sun pleasant, and the servant of all-work found this little change in her usual occupations so agreeable, that in a short time she was wholly absorbed in eradicating daisies and dandelion-roots. The border at which she was working was almost as near the pantry, as it was to the housekeeper's room, but a tall cluster of rhododendrons, which rose in the centre of the flower-plot, together with the fact that the sun was shining full into the pantrywindow, made it next to impossible that any one in the pantry should be able to see a person occupied as Susan was, on the other side of the rhododendrons, though from her position she commanded a view of the interior of the pantry. tune. She had been at her work some time, when her attention, which had scarcely been roused by hearing the pantry window open a few minutes before, was fixed by Mr. Goodman beginning to sing a PsalmThe man had a good voice, and sang well, so Susan paused and looked up. What she then saw, surprised her not a little. The footman, after cautiously looking round him, proceeded (singing all the while) to draw the screws by which the lower parts of the iron stanchions of the window were fixed. For a moment she thought that some screw had been loose, and that Abraham was fastening it; but no, it was impossible to mistake his action; screw after screw was drawn (—there were four stanchions, and three screws to each stanchion,—) till Abraham had transferred eleven into his waistcoat pocket, and the bars, though they remained in their place, afforded no longer any security against a person attempting to enter the window, as Abraham himself made manifest, by pushing three of the four stanchions outwards, and then drawing them back to their places. The fourth bar remained immoveable. Susan Allen had never liked the footman, for he had always been unkind to her, but she had always supposed him to be a respectable servant; but now the real state of the case flashed upon her mind, and in an instant many trivial circumstances suggested themselves which confirmed it. She trembled from head to foot, and was hesitating with herself what she should do, when a third person appeared on the scene, being no other than Noodle Nelly. "Good morning to you, Master Will!" she exclaimed: "What, at your old tricks, are you?" In an instant the window was lowered, the psalmody ceased, and Mr. Abraham disappeared: in another, Nelly had passed on to the back-door of the mansion, without having perceived Susan, and was immediately joined by the footman. What passed between them Susan was too distant to hear, even if they had not been speaking in a very low tone of voice. It was evident, however, from the actions of the speakers, that when the conversation began, Wily Will was in no very placid state of temper: nevertheless by degrees he appeared to be mollified, and had actually a smile on his face, when a carriage was heard approaching the front of the house, the doorbell rang, and the footman hurried off to discharge his duties. Nelly Noodle loitered about the neighbourhood of the kitchen till she had got a few scraps |