"Give him a sup of cold water, dear; see how parched his lips are."
"There is none up here," said Rose. "Mrs. Howe said I must not call upon the servants, and I could not leave Charley alone to get it; now that you are here, I will go down for some, if you will take Charley."
Mrs. Bond shook her head, and motioning Rose to sit still, took a mug in her hand, and slowly felt her way down the dark back stairway.
On the third landing she had a little more light on more than one subject, as Mrs. Howe's "boudoir" door was then open for the purpose of cleaning it. What soft, downy sofas and cushions!—what a mossy carpet!—what luxurious curtains and chairs! The old lady shook her head mournfully; and, supporting herself by the balustrade, descended another pair. There was light there, too, for the drawing-room door was open; no niggard hand had furnished its gilded mirrors and pictures, its lounges, tête-à-têtes, and candelabras; there was no parsimony in that ample China closet, with its groaning shelves of porcelain, silver, gold, and cut glass. Down still another pair to the kitchen, whose savory odors already greeted her nostrils; no parsimony there, with its turkeys and chickens roasting, its pies and puddings making, its custards and jellies quivering in costly cut glasses—no parsimony there.
"Will you have the goodness to show me to the pump in the yard?" asked the unsophisticated Mrs. Bond.
"Pump in the yard! won't this pump do as well?" asked the "professed cook," with a grin at one of her underlings.
"Yes, thank you," said the dignified old lady, discovering her mistake, and moving toward the pump.
"Civil," whispered the cook to her assistant, "I am sorry I laughed at her. Let me pump it for you," she said, taking the pitcher from the old lady's hand.
"I will be obliged to you if you will," she said, "I don't understand the handle of the pump. Thank you," said Mrs. Bond, with one of her disarming smiles, as she held out her hand for the pitcher.
"Let me carry it up for you," said the cook, "it is such a way up."