CHAPTER II.
A QUIET EVENING AT THE MANSE.
“Thrift made them easy for the coming day,
Religion took the fear of death away;
A cheerful spirit still ensured content,
And love smiled round them wheresoe’er they went.”
Crabbe.
I NEED hardly tell that between Mrs. Barrie and Bell the relationship of mistress and servant was more than cordial, more than intimate,—I can find no better word to express it than perfect. To say that Bell knew her place is a term much too bald; she filled it, fulfilled it, full-filled it. She was devoted to the family’s interest; her heart and mind were in her work; she had a clear head, a strong arm, a blithe happy manner, and an uncommonly large stock of common sense.
BELL’S SLIDING SCALE.
She had a ready “knack” of dividing the articles under her care, by a sliding scale of her own, so as to put all to the best use: she laid aside some for the dining-room on “company” days, and even at a sudden call she was seldom found unprepared; some for the parlour, to suit old and young (for there was no formal nursery in the manse,—Bell’s room, “off” the kitchen, was best entitled to the name, although competing claims might have been put forward by the kitchen itself, the parlour, and even the study); some for the kitchen, but that had not a high place in her scale; a good deal for the poor,—plain, handy, and given in good time and with discernment. Of one thing she was very careful, and that was, that if any food seemed likely to spoil, it was given away before it went wrong; if any clothing, it was given clean, and although often well patched, it was fit for immediate use. There was a corner in the kitchen pantry with a stock of comforts, and even luxuries, for cases of sickness, old age, or special need. The dumb animals were studied with thoughtful care, and they repaid it well. Everything that could be used was used regularly and methodically.