ess knows they are enough," Norah said fervently.

"Anything more settled?" Jim asked.

"I have an ecstatic letter from Allenby." Allenby was the
ex-sergeant. "He seems in a condition of trembling joy at the
prospect of being our butler; and, what is more to the point, he says
he has a niece whom he can recommend as a housemaid. So I have told
him to instal her before we get to Homewood on Thursday. Hawkins has
written a three-volume list of things he will require for the farm,
but I haven't had time to study it yet. And Norah has had letters
from nineteen registry-offices, all asking for a deposit!"

The boys roared.

"That makes seventy-one, doesn't it, Nor?" Wally asked.

"Something like it," Norah admitted ruefully. "And the beauty of it
is, not one of them will guarantee so much as a kitchenmaid. They say
sadly that 'in the present crisis' it's difficult to supply servants.
They don't seem to think there's any difficulty about paying them
deposit-fees."

"That phrase, 'in the present crisis,' is the backbone of business
to-day," Mr. Linton said. "If a shop can't sell you anything, or if
they mislay your property, or sell your purchase to some one else, or
keep your repairs six months and then lose them, or send in your
account with a lot of items you never ordered or received, they simply
wave 'the present crisis' at you, and all is well."

"Yes, but they don't regard it as any excuse if you pay too little, or
don't pay at all," Jim said.

"Of course not--that wouldn't be business, my son," said Wally,
laughing. "The one department the Crisis doesn't hit is the one that
sends out bills." He turned to Norah. "What about the cook-lady,
Nor?"

"She's safe," said Norah, sighing with relief. "There's an awfully
elegant letter from her, saying she'll come."

"Oh, that's good business!" Jim said. For a fortnight Norah had had
the unforgettable experience of sitting in registry-offices,
attempting to engage a staff for Homewood. She had always been
escorted by one or more of her male belongings, and their extreme
ignorance of how to conduct the business had been plain to the meanest
intelligence. The ex-sergeant, whose spirit of meekness in proposing
himself had been in extraordinary contrast to the condescending
truculence of other candidates, had been thankfully retained. There
had at times seemed a danger that instead of butler he might awake to
find himself maid-of-all-work, since not one o