stove, and with a splinter
of wood stirred the fire. She had the kitchen to herself, old Marthe
had gone to bed; she liked going to bed early, with a glass of
something hot, and she had soon found that the young cook could be
trusted to finish the work down-stairs. It was her opinion that it is
as well to be comfortable when you can, as blessings are fleeting and
fickle, especially when they are cooks; so she indulged often both in
bed and the glass, notably the glass. She had not been able to go to
bed quite as early as she liked that day, for her master had a
visitor, and there had been some trouble after the dinner. It was
intended to be an hour later than usual to accommodate the visitor,
but the chemist had not mentioned the fact--he seldom troubled about
such trifles, expecting his household to divine his wishes
instinctively, and resenting their failure to do so with indignation
and some abuse. He did so to-day, and Marthe was consequently kept up
later than she had intended, though it was Julia who came in for most
of the reproof, and the trouble too; it was she who took away the
dinner and kept it hot, and presented it afresh when the time came in
as good condition as she could manage. There had to be a second omelet
made; the first would not stand an hour, and so was wasted, to the
indignation of Marthe. The chicken was a trifle dried by waiting,
which called down the wrath of Herr Van de Greutz. Julia had listened
to both of them with a meekness which was beautiful to see, albeit
perhaps a little suspicious in one of her nature.

She glanced up at the clock now, then rose and fetched two thick white
coffee cups, and set them ready on a tray, and sat down again. She
wondered drowsily how long Herr Van de Greutz's visitor would stay. He
was a German, a very great scientist; the chemist looked upon him as a
friend and an equal, a brother in arms; they talked together freely in
the cryptic language of science, and in German, which is the tongue
best fitted to help out the other. Julia heard them when she went to
and from with the dishes at dinner time. She did not understand
chemistry, a fact she much regretted; had she known even half as much
as Rawson-Clew, the desired end would have been much sooner within
reach. It is a very great disadvantage to have only a very vague idea
what it is you want. But she did understand German very well,
consequently part of the chemists' conversation was quite intelligible
to