ed. She contrived
to make her home at York a very pretty one; but it was of short
duration, for in March 1879 Major Ewing was despatched to Malta, and
Julie had to begin to pack her _Lares_ and _Penates_ once more.

It may, perhaps, be wondered that she was allowed to spend her time
and strength on the labour of packing, which a professional worker
would have done far better,--but it is easier to see the mistakes of
others than to rectify our own! There were many difficulties to be
encountered, not the least of these being Julie's own strong will, and
bad though it was, in one sense, for her to be physically over-tired,
it was better than letting her be mentally so; and to an active brain
like hers, "change of occupation" is the only possible form of "rest."
Professional packers and road and rail cars represent money, and
Julie's skill in packing both securely and economically was
undeniably great. This is not surprising if we hold, as an old friend
does, that ladies would make far better housemaids than uneducated
women do, because they would throw their brains as well as muscles
into their work. Julie did throw her brains into everything, big or
little, that she undertook; and one of her best and dearest
friends,--whose belief in my sister's powers and "mission" as a writer
were so strong that she almost grudged even the time "wasted" on
sketching, which might have been given to penning more stories for the
age which boasts Gordon as its hero,--and who, being with Julie at her
death, could not believe till the very End came that she would be
taken, whilst so much seemed to remain for her to do here,--confessed
to me afterwards she had learned to see that Julie's habit of
expending her strength on trifles arose from an effort of nature to
balance the vigour of her mind, which was so much greater than that of
her body.

During the six months that my sister resided in York she wrote a few
contributions for _Aunt Judy's Magazine_. To the number for January
1879 she gave "Flaps," a sequel to "The Hens of Hencastle."

The latter story was not written by her, but was a free adaptation
which Colonel Yeatman-Biggs made from the German of Victor Bluethgen.
Julie had been greatly amused by the tale, but, finding that it ended
in a vague and unsatisfactory way, she could not be contented, so took
up her pen and wrote a _finale_, her chief aim being to provide a
happy ending for the old farm-dog, Flaps himself, after whom she n