“Why not?” asked Bessie. “What strange transformation is there to be?”
“The discipline will be so strict,” answered Thaddeus. “I presume you will put those rules of ours into operation right away?”
“I have been thinking about that,” said Bessie, after a moment. “You see, Thad, there are a great many things about running a house that neither you nor I are familiar with yet, and it seems to me that maybe we’d better wait a little while before we impose these rules on the girls; it would be awkward to have to make changes afterwards, you know.”
“There is something in that,” said Thaddeus; “but, after all, not so much as you seem to think. All rules have exceptions. I’ve no doubt that the cook will take exception to most of them.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of, and as she’s so old I kind of feel as if I ought to respect her feelings a little more than we would Norah’s, for instance. I can just tell you I shall make Norah stand around.”
“I think it would be a good plan if you did,” said Thaddeus. “I’m afraid Norah will die if you don’t. She works too hard to be a real servant—real servants stand around so much, you know.”
“Don’t be flippant, Thaddeus. This is a very serious matter. Norah is a good girl, as you say. She works so much and so quickly that she really makes me tired, and I’m constantly oppressed with the thought that she may get through with whatever she is doing before I can think of something else to occupy her time. But with her we need have none of the feeling that we have with Jane and Ellen. She is young, and susceptible to new impressions. She can fall in with new rules, while the other two might chafe under them. Now, I say we wait until we find out if we cannot let well enough alone, and not raise discord in our home.”
“There never was an Eden without its serpent,” sighed Thaddeus. “I don’t exactly like the idea of fitting our rules to their idiosyncrasies.”
“It isn’t that, dear. I don’t want that, either; but neither do we wish to unnecessarily hamper them in their work by demanding that they shall do it our way.”
“Oh, well, you are the President of the Republic,” said Thaddeus. “You run matters to suit yourself, and I believe we’ll have the most prosperous institution in the world before we know it. If it were a business matter, I’d have those rules or die; but I suppose you can’t run a house as you would a business concern. I guess you are right. Keep the rules a week. Why not submit ’em to your mother first?”