"Oh! Martha, not the Ruth and Naomi one?"
"The very same, ma'am, more's the pity!"
Now it happened that this hot-water jug was one of Mrs. Seaton's most cherished household gods. It portrayed the first chapter of the Book of Ruth. Ruth and Naomi clave to each other under the shadow of the spout, while Orpah returned to her own people in the direction of the handle. The handle itself was one gigantic ear of barley; and on the opposite side of it to that where Orpah and her people evidently dwelt, Boaz reaped with his young men, neatly dressed as English farm-labourers.
"How ever did it happen?" asked Mrs. Seaton in a reproachful tone.
"I was just carrying it with the breakfast cups across the kitchen, and suddenly it smashed itself to bits on the floor."
"But, Martha, I have so often told you not to try to carry so many things at once. It was sure to end in an accident."
"So you have, ma'am; but it seemed as if it was to be."
"It would not have happened if you had done as I told you," said Mrs. Seaton quite sternly.
"That is true, ma'am; but it seemed as if it was to be."
Nothing that her mistress said could convince Martha that she was in any way to blame in the matter. She seemed to regard herself as merely the instrument in a foreordained scheme of destruction; and kept repeating in a tone of grim satisfaction, "it seemed as if it was to be!"