e out of bed, I decided
that I was not acting wisely. Was not Prudence an old, faithful,
and trustworthy servant? Had she not been loyal to my interests,
and was not her whole life wrapped up in my comfort? Surely I
wronged her to withhold from her the confidence she had so fairly
earned, and the flush of shame came to my face as I reflected
that I was indulging my first deceit. I took a turn in the
garden, in the heavenly cool of the early morning, to compose my
nerves for a very probable ordeal, and then I walked boldly into
the kitchen where Prudence sat, with a wooden bowl in her lap,
paring apples.

It was one of the unwritten laws of the cuisine that Prudence was
never to be disturbed when engaged in this delicate operation.
She maintained that it destroyed the symmetry of the peel, and
I dare say she was right. Consequently she looked at me
reproachfully as I entered, and bent again more assiduously to
her work. I was much flustered by the ill omen, but I knew that
if I hesitated I was lost; so I advanced valorously, though with
accelerated pulse, and said with all the calmness I could
command:

"Prudence, I think it only right to tell you that I am going to
be married."

One apple rolled from the bowl down along the floor and under the
kitchen stove. I cannot conceive of any shock, however great,
that would cause Prudence to lose more than one apple. Partly to
conciliate, and partly to conceal my own trepidation, I made a
gallant effort to rescue the wanderer, and as I poked the
hiding-place with my stick, I heard her say: "Lord, I know'd it'd
come!"

"The fact that it has come, Prudence," I answered with a sickly
attempt at gayety, "does not seem to be a reason why you should
call with such vehemence on your Maker. There does not appear to
be any need of Providential interposition. Things are not so bad
as all that."

I always used my most elegant English when conversing with
Prudence. If she did not understand it, it flattered her to think
that I paid this tribute to her intelligence.

"Mr. John," she said, and there was a suspicious break in her
voice, "for twenty years I have tried to do my duty by you, and
now that I must go--"

"Go?" I interrupted; "who said you must go? Who spoke about
anybody's going? You certainly do not expect to turn that bowl
of apples over to me and leave me to get breakfast?"

"No, Mr. John, I shall go on and do my duty, as I see it, until
you have made all your plan