rded great relief, and the administration of a cup
of tea produced a cheering reaction of spirits, under the influence of
which she partially forgot herself, and resolved to devote a few minutes
to the instruction of her interestingly ignorant maid.

"Yes," she said, arranging herself comfortably, and sipping her tea,
while Susan busied herself putting away her lady's "things," and
otherwise tidying the room, "it does not always rain here; there is a
little sunshine sometimes. By the way, where is Miss Gray?"

"In the bedroom, ma'am, unpacking the trunks."

"Ah, well, as I was saying, they have a little sunshine sometimes, for
you know, Susan, people _must_ live, and grass or grain cannot grow
without sunshine, so it has been arranged that there should be enough
here for these purposes, but no more than enough, because Switzerland
has to maintain its character as one of the great refrigerators of
Europe."

"One of the what, ma'am?"

"Refrigerators," explained Mrs Stoutley; "a refrigerator, Susan, is a
freezer; and it is the special mission of Switzerland to freeze nearly
all the water that falls on its mountains, and retain it there in the
form of ice and snow until it is wanted for the use of man. Isn't that
a grand idea?"

The lecturer's explanation had conveyed to Susan's mind the idea of the
Switzers going with long strings of carts to the top of Mont Blanc for
supplies of ice to meet the European demand, and she admitted that it
_was_ a grand idea, and asked if the ice and snow lasted long into the
summer.

"Long into it!" exclaimed her teacher. "Why, you foolish thing, its
lasts all through it."

"Oh indeed, ma'am!" said Susan, who entertained strong doubts in her
heart as to the correctness of Mrs Stoutley's information on this
point.

"Yes," continued that lady, with more animation than she had experienced
for many months past, so invigorating was the change of moral atmosphere
induced by this little breeze of instruction; "yes, the ice and snow
cover the hills and higher valleys for dozens and dozens of miles round
here in all directions, not a few inches deep, such as we sometimes see
in England, but with thousands and millions of tons of it, so that the
ice in the valleys is hundreds of feet thick, and never melts away
altogether, but remains there from year to year--has been there, I
suppose, since the world began, and will continue, I fancy, until the
world comes to an end."

Mrs Stoutley w