ing went on noiselessly, perfectly, and by clock-work,
conducted by a number of highly-paid, well-chosen, and accomplished
servants, had not a conception of the nature of the rough material from
which her servants came. Besides, in her establishment, so that the
result was good, no one inquired if the small economies had been observed
in the production. Whereas every penny--every halfpenny, was of
consequence to Miss Galindo; and visions of squandered drops of milk and
wasted crusts of bread filled her mind with dismay. But she swallowed
all her apprehensions down, out of her regard for Lady Ludlow, and desire
to be of service to her. No one knows how great a trial it was to her
when she thought of Sally, unchecked and unscolded for three hours every
morning. But all she said was--

"'Sally, go to the Deuce.' I beg your pardon, my lady, if I was talking
to myself; it's a habit I have got into of keeping my tongue in practice,
and I am not quite aware when I do it. Three hours every morning! I
shall be only too proud to do what I can for your ladyship; and I hope
Mr. Horner will not be too impatient with me at first. You know,
perhaps, that I was nearly being an authoress once, and that seems as if
I was destined to 'employ my time in writing.'"

"No, indeed; we must return to the subject of the clerkship afterwards,
if you please. An authoress, Miss Galindo! You surprise me!"

"But, indeed, I was. All was quite ready. Doctor Burney used to teach
me music: not that I ever could learn, but it was a fancy of my poor
father's. And his daughter wrote a book, and they said she was but a
very young lady, and nothing but a music-master's daughter; so why should
not I try?"

"Well?"

"Well! I got paper and half-a-hundred good pens, a bottle of ink, all
ready--"

"And then--"

"O, it ended in my having nothing to say, when I sat down to write. But
sometimes, when I get hold of a book, I wonder why I let such a poor
reason stop me. It does not others."

"But I think it was very well it did, Miss Galindo," said her ladyship.
"I am extremely against women usurping men's employments, as they are
very apt to do. But perhaps, after all, the notion of writing a book
improved your hand. It is one of the most legible I ever saw."

"I despise z's without tails," said Miss Galindo, with a good deal of
gratified pride at my lady's praise. Presently, my lady took her to look
at a curious old cabinet, which Lord