Sarah's first start in life

by Adelaide M. G. Campbell

Eaton Place was soon reached, and Mr. Brown pulled up at the door of the house where Sarah was to begin her new duties. The bell was rung, and the door was opened by a footman in silk stockings and powdered hair. Of course Sarah was much too frightened to ask this grand man what she should do, so she made Dick ask him if he might take her box upstairs, and whilst Sarah and her father were saying the real good-bye, Dick and the footman went up to the attic with the box. Dick, who was a friend of his, told him a little about Sarah, that this was her first place, and that he and she were engaged, etc. Mr. Brown had just driven off when Dick arrived downstairs to take his departure also.

"Now, miss," said Charles the footman, "will you come downstairs and have a cup of tea and see all your future friends?"

"I should like to very much," said Sarah; "but I must take off my jacket, and where can I put it?"

"Oh!" said Charles, "we arn't too particular, leave it anywhere."

Now, Sarah had been brought up, quite properly, to think tidiness one of the greatest virtues; however, she said nothing, and trotted happily away with her jacket on her arm.

At the bottom of the dark staircase, her jacket was rather roughly taken from her by Charles and flung on the dresser. "Well," thought Sarah, "if this is the way my things are to be treated, they won't last me long, and how can I get others?" However, the sound of tea-cups and laughter soon drove such thoughts out of her head, and she was shown into a fairly large room, in which about five servants were talking very merrily, and altogether making rather an unnecessary noise. Directly the two appeared there was a dead silence, and one of the housemaids called out to Sarah to come and sit beside her. She took the offered place, and had only just seated herself when she was asked all sorts of questions, as e.g. "How long have you been in service?" "What wages did you get?" and many others of the same kind. Sarah at last found time to answer all these various questions, which she did with her usual good temper, and, during loud exclamations, managed to tell them a little about her former life. She did not quite like all this catechising, but not wanting to be thought disagreeable, made the best of it. When she had finished, Edith, the housemaid, began at once to tell Sarah some of the trials of their downstairs life.

She told her that the cook, who was then in the kitchen, was very cross, and would be sure to give her a lot to do, and as she did not like any kind of dirty work herself, the kitchen-maid had to do it all, and keep the kitchen spotless. Sarah was rather frightened by this account of the cook, and begged Edith to tell her more; but she had some work to do, and could not stop to chat any longer. In a few minutes in came Mrs. Ellis, the cook, and told Sarah to hurry up as there were some pots to wash, and poor Sarah had to gulp down her cup of tea and eat her bread and butter very fast.

"Please, ma'am, may I first go and take off this dress?" asked Sarah, in a timid little voice.

"No," said Mrs. Ellis; "can't you pin that one up? It ain't so grand, you need not take such care of it."

Now, it was Sarah's best dress, so she thought this was very unkind, and told the cook she had no better, and was afraid of spoiling the neatest she had.