hull basin o' dirty whater right on to the clane floor,
and thin laffed at me, and sassed me, and called me, all sorts o' bad
names--the little sass-box! It's not the like o' Bridget Mullikin that
'll put up with his dirty impidence another day. I 'd like to live
with ye, ma'am, and Mister Pristen, good, nice man that he is but I
can't stop to be trated like a dog by that sassy b'y."

"I 'll go and see what he has been about," said Mrs. Preston, laying
down her work.

When they reached the kitchen, Oscar was not to be found. There was
the puddle of dirty water upon the floor, however, and so far Bridget's
story was corroborated. As she proceeded to wipe it up, she continued
to speak in not very complimentary terms of the "ugly b'y," as she
delighted to call Oscar. It was in vain that Mrs. Preston attempted to
soothe her ruffled spirits. She refused to be comforted, and insisted
upon taking her departure from the house that night.

Oscar did not make his appearance again until late in the afternoon.
When his mother called him to account for his treatment of Bridget, he
denied the greater part of her story. He said that the basin of water
was standing upon the floor, and that he accidentally hit it with his
foot, and upset it. He denied that he called her bad names or was
impudent, but he admitted that he laughed, to see her so angry. He
also complained that she was as "cross as Bedlam" to him, and "jawed"
him whenever he entered the kitchen.

Mrs. Preston, puzzled by these contradictory stories, brought the two
contending parties face to face, in hope of either eliciting the truth
or effecting a treaty of peace between them. She failed in both
objects, however. Bridget not only adhered to her first statement, but
boldly accused Oscar of sundry other misdeeds that had come up in
recollection since the first outbreak; while Oscar, on the other hand,
stoutly denied most of her charges, and insisted that she was
ill-natured, and irritated him in every possible way. The contest
finally waxed so warm between them that Mrs. Preston was obliged to
interpose, and to withdraw with Oscar.

Mrs. Preston never ascertained the real facts in the case. Candor
compels me to say that Bridget's complaints were essentially true.
Knowing the poor Irish girl's weak side (her quick temper), Oscar had
for some time taxed his ingenuity to torment her, for the sake of
hearing her "sputter," as he termed it. He was not only impu