of the mountain girl had never come to the table, although the
girls kept looking for them to appear in the form of a cobbler or a
roly-poly pudding. What had become of them they never learned, but
Billie had an uncomfortable suspicion that they had been tossed into the
garbage pail.

"We can't do anything about it, my dear," Miss Campbell had informed
Billie. "The woman certainly holds us in the hollow of her hand unless
we want to do our own cooking."

Billie smiled. Miss Campbell was never known to boil a kettleful of
water, let alone cook a meal. If there was any culinary work to be done
the Motor Maids would do it, and Miss Campbell might possibly arrange
the salt cellars or offer to go over the silver with a polishing cloth.

Mrs. Lupo dumbly acquiesced to the lunch.

"We will be glad to make the sandwiches, Mrs. Lupo," said Billie
timidly. "Please let us have some cold meat. I suppose there is plenty
of bread? Will you hard-boil a dozen eggs?"

Mrs. Lupo rarely replied to any question addressed to her, but she went
about getting the things for the lunch and Billie breathed a sigh of
silent thanks.

"It's really terrible to be a slave to one's cook," she thought. "But I
know perfectly well that if I ever tried to subjugate Mrs. Lupo I'd get
mad, and she would just fold her tent like the Arab and silently steal
away, and one morning there would be no breakfast."

Billie had tried several methods with Mrs. Lupo. She had said good
morning with a polite smile, but received no response. Once she had
added:

"How do you feel this morning, Mrs. Lupo?"

A dead silence had followed this courteous inquiry.

"Wires crossed," Percy had cried. "Try again, Central."

They had all laughed at this witticism and Billie had hoped Mrs. Lupo
had not understood.

"If you had lived in the mountains all your life I guess you wouldn't be
very communicative, either," she had admonished Percy, after Mrs. Lupo
had glided noiselessly out of the room.

"I guess I wouldn't miss a call," answered Percy. "If there was any one
to call, I wouldn't hang up the receiver."

There were times, however, when Billie could scarcely conceal her
irritation, and this morning nothing went quite as she had planned.

There was only enough bread for a dozen sandwiches and there were only
six eggs.

"But I said a dozen eggs, Mrs. Lupo," she said, after she had sliced and
buttered the bread and glancing up saw six eggs cooling in a pan. "You