“Try whispering, dear; and do it rather slowly.”
Nell did as she was bidden, and with complete success, which was to her a matter of rejoicing, for it would have been a fearful ordeal to be compelled to shout at the top of her voice every time she had a want to make known.
“Yes, I can hear that way; and I am very glad to see you. Come in, Miss Hamblyn, dear, and look at your room. The place is small, but it is clean and comfortable,” the old woman whispered back, as she led Nell into a cosy, spotless kitchen, and from there into an equally spotless bedroom.
“What a delightful place! I am sure that I am going to be ever so happy here!” exclaimed Nell, her heart warming to the frail old woman with the gentle, kindly face; then, stooping, she bestowed a hearty kiss and a warm hug upon her hostess, before hurrying away to the office to take over duty from the young man who had been acting as her deputy since the marriage of the former clerk had left the post vacant.
To her surprise she found that the deputy was no other than the boy Robertson who had been the inspector’s assistant when he came to Bratley.
The poor lad looked more delicate than ever, and thoroughly disgusted likewise.
“I never saw such a place as this is,” he grumbled to Nell, as she bustled about arranging matters in the office more to her own satisfaction. “It is not a telegraph operator they want here, but a heavy-goods porter. Why, I’ve had to lend a hand at loading wagons or unloading them nearly every day since I have been here, and what you, a girl, will do is more than I can imagine.”
Nell laughed. She was thinking of the snow-shoe incident; but she was not cruel enough to remind him that on a previous occasion she had shown herself very much his superior in the matter of achievement, and only remarked, in an easy tone—
“Oh, I guess I shall manage comfortably enough. I was brought up to do most things that came along; and Mr. Trip looks a nice, amiable old man.”
“He is a silly, futile old creature, and seems to regard himself quite on a level with a gentleman,” Robertson replied, in a pettish tone. Nell laughed again, understanding that the young man’s grievance lay in his not having been treated with what he deemed to be proper respect.