quite satisfied; she never attempted to
ascertain whether I understood them or not.

Under such circumstances it is probable that I should have derived
little or no advantage from my studies had not my preceptress possessed
a valuable ally in my own inclinations. Writing I was fond of; reading
I had an especial desire to master, for reasons which will shortly
become apparent; but arithmetic I at first found difficult, and utterly
detested--until I had mastered its rules, after which I soon reached a
point where the whole became clear as the noonday light; and then I fell
under the magical influence of that fascination which figures for some
minds is found to possess. But geography was my favourite study. There
was an old terrestrial globe in the nursery, the use of which my father
had taught me in one of his rare genial moments; and over this globe I
used to stand for hours, with my geography in my hand and a gazetteer on
a chair by my side, finding out the positions of the various places as
they occurred in the books.

It sometimes happened that Mrs Wilson went out to spend the evening
with a married daughter who resided somewhere within visiting distance;
and, when this was the case, my studies were of course interrupted, and
other means of employing my time had to be found. Thanks, chiefly, to
the fact that these occasions afforded Mary, my particular attendant, an
opportunity of escape from the somewhat dismal lonesomeness of the
nursery, these evenings were very frequently spent in the servants'
hall, where I had an opportunity of enjoying the conversation of the
housemaid Jane, the cook, and Tim, the presiding genius of the knife-
board and boot-brushes. I always greatly enjoyed these visits to the
lower regions, for two reasons; the first of which was that they were
surreptitious, and much caution was needed, or supposed to be needed, in
order that my journey down-stairs might be accomplished without
"master's" knowledge; the remaining reason for my enjoyment being that I
generally heard something which interested me. Whether the interest
excited was or was not of a healthy character the reader shall judge.

The cook, of course, reigned supreme in the servants' hall, the other
occupants taking their cue from her, and regulating their tastes and
occupations in accordance with hers. Now this woman--an obese, red-
armed, and red-visaged person of about forty years of age--was possessed
by a morbid and consu