found her so busy, and doing more than she was
fit, poor thing, so I made bold to give her a hand. That was yesterday;
and I shall come every day--if 'tis only for an hour--till the curtains
are all up."

"The curtains! what curtains?"

"Ask no questions, and you will hear no lies."

Henry remonstrated; Jael recommended patience; and at last they reached
a little villa half way up Heath Hill. "You are at home now," said Jael,
dryly. The new villa looked very gay that evening, for gas and fires
were burning in every room.

The dining-room and drawing room were both on the ground-floor; had each
one enormous window with plate glass, and were rooms of very fair size,
divided by large folding-doors. These were now open, and Henry found his
mother seated in the dining-room, with two workwomen, making curtains,
and in the drawing-room were two more, sewing a carpet.

The carpet was down in the dining-room. The tea-table was set, and gave
an air of comfort and housewifely foresight, in the midst of all the
surrounding confusion.

Young Little stared. Mrs. Little smiled.

"Sit down, and never mind us: give him his tea, my good Jael."

Henry sat down, and, while Jael was making the tea, ventured on a feeble
expostulation. "It's all very fine, mother, but I don't like to see you
make a slave of yourself."

"Slaving!" said Jael, with a lofty air of pity. "Why, she is working for
her own." Rural logic!

"Oh," said Mrs. Little to her, "these clever creatures we look up to so
are rather stupid in some things. Slave! Why, I am a general leading my
Amazons to victory." And she waved her needle gracefully in the air.

"Well, but why not let the shop do them, where you bought the curtains?'

"Because, my dear, the shop would do them very badly, very dearly, and
very slowly. Do you remember reading to me about Caesar, and what he
said--'that a general should not say to his troops "GO and attack
the enemy," "but COME and attack the enemy"?' Well, that applies to
needle-work. I say to these ladies, 'COME sew these curtains with me;'
and the consequence is, we have done in three days what no shop in
Hillsborough would have done for us in a fortnight; but, as for slaves,
the only one has been my good Jael there. She insisted on moving all the
heavy boxes herself. She dismissed the porter; she said he had no pith
in his arms--that was your expression, I think?"

"Ay, ma'am; that was my word: and I never spoke a truer; the useles