"I'll save you that trouble," I said, a little warmly.
"Don't say any thing to him, if you please, Mr. Sunderland," returned my wife. "There couldn't be a better man about the house than he is, for all ordinary purposes. If we should lose him, we shall never get another half so good. I wish I'd hired a man to shake the carpets at once; they would have been much better done, and I should have had John's cheerful assistance about the house, which would have been a great deal."
That evening I overheard, accidentally, a conversation between John and the new girls, which threw some light upon the whole matter.
"John," said one of them, "what made Mrs. Sunderland's cook and chamber maid go aff and lave her right in the middle of house-clainin'?"
"Because Mrs. Sunderland, instead of hiring a woman, as every lady does, tried to put it all off upon them."
"Indade! and was that it?"
"Yes, it was. They never thought of leaving until they found they were to be imposed upon; and, to save fifty cents or a dollar, she made me shake the carpets. I never did such a thing in my life before. I think I managed to leave about as much dirt in as I shook out. But I'll leave the house before I do it again."
"So would I, John. It was downright mane imposition, so it was. Set a waiter to shaking carpets!"
"I don't think much has been saved," remarked the waiter, "for Nancy has had a dollar a day ever since she has been here."
"Indade!"