s question in her mind with a nice
balancing of reasons for and against for about three years, and the man
who was thus the object of her interest continued to live peacefully,
ignorant alike of hostile criticism and tender speculation.

It was a terrible day for the schoolmaster when the honest widow who
lived with him as housekeeper was called by the death of a
daughter-in-law to go and keep the house of her son in another town. She
could only tell of her intention two weeks before it was necessary to
leave; and very earnestly did the schoolmaster consult with her in the
interval as to what he could possibly do to supply her place, for
servants in Haven Settlement were rare luxuries.

'I don't know, I'm sure, sir, what you can do,' said Mrs. Sims
hopelessly. 'The girls in these parts are far too proud to be hired to
work in a house. Why, the best folks in town mostly does their own
work; there's Mrs. Reid, so rich, just has a woman to do the charing;
and Eelan--that's the beauty, you know--makes the pies and keeps the
house spick-and-span. But you couldn't keep your own house clean, could
you, sir?--let alone the meals; and you wouldn't live long if you hadn't
_them_.'

As the days wore on, the schoolmaster became more urgent in his appeals
for advice, but he did not get encouragement to expect to find a servant
of any sort, for the widow was too sincere to suggest hope when she felt
none, and the difficulty was not an easy one to solve. She made various
inquiries among her friends. It was suggested that the master should go
to 'the boarding-house,' which was a large barn-like structure, in which
business men who did not happen to have families slept in uncomfortable
rooms and dined at a noisy table. Mrs. Sims reported this suggestion
faithfully, and added: 'But it's my belief it would kill you outright.'

The schoolmaster looked at his books and the trim arrangements of his
neat house, and negatived the proposition with more decision than he had
ever shown before.

After a while, Mrs. Sims received another idea of quite a different
nature; but she did not report this so hastily--it required more
finesse. It was entrusted to her care with many injunctions to be
'tactful,' and it was suggested that if there was a mess made of it, it
would be her fault. The idea was nothing less than that it would be
necessary for the master to marry; and it was the gaunt Miss Ann Blakely
herself who confided to his present houseke