COMMUTER'S WIFE 351 



gain to me. Martha in the kitchen was just a trifle 

 oppressive. Martha in the cottage will prove a sub- 

 stantial guardian angel. 



I said almost a year ago that if I was a ser- 

 vant, I should not care to live with but one of my 

 friends, and perhaps not even in my own house- 

 hold. Now I have decided that I would do the 

 latter, because I think that a masculine logic domi- 

 nates here that might be worded, " Do not meas- 

 ure a servant's capacity for toil by your own 

 necessities, but by the reverse order of things." 

 And though we Americans may and do lack the 

 staple comfort of hereditary service, we can do 

 much for ourselves. As father says, the great 

 knack in domestic service is to begin with good 

 stock. Earn a reputation as a mistress, and the 

 outgoing one will usually supply a " cousin " to 

 succeed her. For this reputation I am striving in a 

 comfortable, leisurely way. But I feel sure already 

 that Effie will have a cook up her sleeve if Eliza 

 and Bertie ever combine, which they doubtless will 

 in time, as they have a melancholy streak in com- 

 mon which they seem greatly to enjoy. 



October 19. A northeast storm following black 

 frost. The garden is laid low almost a month 

 earlier than last year. Only the red-gold wall 



