manner,
which men assume when speaking to women, as if they were not capable of
understanding and appreciating a plain, common-sense mode of address."

"Ah, yes!" said Mrs. Pimble, "man has so long reigned a tyrant of
absolute sway, that centuries will pass, I fear, before he is dethroned,
and woman elevated to her proper stand among the nations of the earth."

Here she tossed her bonnet on the table, smoothed her bushy hair, and,
drawing a red bandanna from her pocket, gave her long nose a vigorous
rub, and settled herself in her soft chair again. Col. Malcome sat bolt
upright among the furs which were piled up around him, and stared at his
visitors. Yes, refined and polite though he was, he forgot his
good-breeding in surprise at the coarse, singular manners of his
involuntary guests. The figure in the extreme corner of the apartment at
length attracted his notice, and placing a chair in proximity to the
fire, he said, "Will you not be seated, sir?"

The muffled shape moved, but the brawny lady in the rocking-chair spoke,
and it was still again.

"O, Pimble can stand, Mr. Malcome," she said, "that's his name, and mine
is Mrs. Judith Justitia Pimble, author of tracts for the amelioration of
enslaved and down-trodden woman; and this is Mrs. Rebecca Potentia
Lawson, my sister and co-operater in the work of reform."

Col. Malcome bowed; but, recollecting the rebuff one brief remark of his
had received, remained silent.

"The object of our visit," said Mrs. Lawson, "is to see and confer with
the ladies of your household."

"Begging your pardon," said the colonel, "my family contains but one
lady."

"Ah, the one we met at the door, then?" remarked Mrs. Pimble.

"No, madam; that was my housekeeper," returned the colonel.

"Well, what do you call _her_?" asked Mrs. Lawson.

"My housekeeper, madam, as I have just informed you."

"She has no other name, I suppose?" said Mrs. Pimble, in a loud, ironical
tone; "she is to you a housekeeper, as a horse is a horse, or a cow a
cow;--not a woman"----

"O, yes! a woman, certainly," interrupted the colonel.

"A woman, but not a lady?" continued Mrs. Pimble.

The gentleman bowed as if he felt himself understood. "Well, sir," said
Mrs. Lawson, peering on him through her green glasses, "will you please
to inform us of the difference between a woman and a lady?"

Col. Malcome, who loved the satirical, had a mind to apply it here, but
his politeness restrained him, and he