er request, was obeyed.

After they all rose from the table, and had retired to the parlor, a
pleasant conversation took place, in which no allusions whatever
were made to the dreadful annoyance of servants, an almost unvarying
subject of discourse at Mr. Armitage's, after the conclusion of
nearly every badly cooked, illy served meal.--A discourse too often
overheard by some one of the domestics and retailed in the kitchen,
to breed confirmed ill-will, and a spirit of opposition towards the
principal members of the family.

Nearly half an hour had passed from the time they had risen from the
table, when a younger sister of Fanny's, who was going out to a
little afternoon party, asked if Rachael might not be called up from
the kitchen to get something for her.

"No, my dear, not until she has finished her dinner," was the mild
reply of Mrs. Milnor.

"But it won't take her over a minute, mother, and I am in a hurry."

"I can't help it, my dear. You will have to wait. Rachael must not
be disturbed at her meals. You should have thought of this before,
dinner. You know I have always tried to impress upon your mind, that
there are certain hours in which domestics must not be called upon
to do any thing, unless of serious importance. They have their
rights, as well, as we have, and it is just as wrong for us to
encroach upon their rights, as it is for them to encroach upon
ours."

"Never mind, mother, I will wait," the little girl said, cheerfully.
"But I thought, it was such a trifle, and would have taken her only
a minute."

"It is true, my dear, that is but a trifle. Still, even trifles of
this kind we should form the habit of avoiding; for they may
seriously annoy at a time when we dream not that they are thought of
for a moment. Think how, just as you had seated yourself at the
table, tired and hungry, you would like to be called away, your food
scarcely tasted, to perform some task, the urgency of which to you,
at least, was very questionable?"

"I was wrong I know, mother," the child replied, "and you are
right."

All this was new and strange doctrine to Helen Armitage, but she was
enabled to see, from the manner in which Mrs. Milnor represented the
subject, that it was true doctrine. As this became clear to her
mind, she saw with painful distinctness the error that had thrown
disorder into every part of her mother's household; and more than
this, she inwardly resolved, that, so far as her action was
conce