family--and nine-tenths of those that are left
have no sense of even giving good work in return for their wages--let
alone civility! The tradition of good service has gone."

"Have you been having much bother, then?" asked St. John concernedly.
"You never used to have trouble with maids."

"No. But everyone has now. You wouldn't believe what they're like! I
don't think it's in the least surprising so many women have nervous
break-downs through nothing more nor less than domestic worry. Why, the
home-life of women these days is more like a daily battlefield than
anything else!"

Penelope spoke strongly. She had suffered considerably at the hands of
various inefficient maids and this, added to the strain of her own
professional work, had brought her at one time to the verge of a
break-down in health.

"I'd no idea you were so strong on domestic matters, Penelope," chaffed
St. John, smiling across at her.

"I'm not. But I've got common sense, and I can see that if the small
wheels of the machine refuse to turn, the big wheels are bound to stick."

"If only servants knew how much one liked and respected a really good
maid!" murmured Nan with a recrudescence of idealism.

"Do wages make any difference?" ventured St. John somewhat timidly.
Penelope was rather forcible when the spirit moved her, and he was
becoming conscious of the fact that he was a mere ignorant man.

"Of course they do--to a certain extent," she replied.

"Money makes a difference to most things, doesn't it?"

"There are one or two things it can't taint," he answered quietly, but
now you've really brought me to the very object of my visit."

"I thought it was a desire to enquire after the health of your favourite
niece," hazarded Nan impertinently.

"So it was. And as finance plays a most important part in that affair,
the matter dovetails exactly!"

He smoked in silence for a moment. Then he resumed:

"I should like, Nan, with your permission, to double your allowance and
make it six hundred a year."

Nan gasped.

"You see," he pursued, "though I'm only a mere man, I know the cost of
living has soared sky-high, including"--with a sly glance at
Penelope--"the cost of menservants and maidservants."

"Well, but really, Uncle, I could manage with less than that," protested
Nan. "Four or five hundred, with what we earn, would be quite
sufficient--quite."

St. John regarded her reflectively.

"It might be--for some people. But n