s the lowest kind--was
admitted, and let forth by Mr Benson, unknown to any one else in the
house. To make amends for his having the least cheerful room on the
ground-floor, he had the garden bedroom, while his sister slept over
his study. There were two more rooms again over these, with sloping
ceilings, though otherwise large and airy. The attic looking into
the garden was the spare bedroom; while the front belonged to
Sally. There was no room over the kitchen, which was, in fact, a
supplement to the house. The sitting-room was called by the pretty,
old-fashioned name of the parlour, while Mr Benson's room was styled
the study.

The curtains were drawn in the parlour; there was a bright fire and a
clean hearth; indeed, exquisite cleanliness seemed the very spirit of
the household, for the door which was open to the kitchen showed a
delicately-white and spotless floor, and bright glittering tins, on
which the ruddy firelight danced.

From the place in which Ruth sat she could see all Sally's movements;
and though she was not conscious of close or minute observation at
the time (her body being weary, and her mind full of other thoughts),
yet it was curious how faithfully that scene remained depicted on
her memory in after years. The warm light filled every corner of the
kitchen, in strong distinction to the faint illumination of the one
candle in the parlour, whose radiance was confined, and was lost in
the dead folds of window-curtains, carpet, and furniture. The square,
stout, bustling figure, neat and clean in every respect, but dressed
in the peculiar, old-fashioned costume of the county, namely, a
dark-striped linsey-woolsey petticoat, made very short, displaying
sturdy legs in woollen stockings beneath; a loose kind of jacket
called there a "bedgown," made of pink print; a snow-white apron
and cap, both of linen, and the latter made in the shape of a
"mutch;"--these articles completed Sally's costume, and were painted
on Ruth's memory. Whilst Sally was busied in preparing tea, Miss
Benson took off Ruth's things; and the latter instinctively felt that
Sally, in the midst of her movements, was watching their proceedings.
Occasionally she also put in a word in the conversation, and these
little sentences were uttered quite in the tone of an equal, if not
of a superior. She had dropped the more formal "you," with which
at first she had addressed Miss Benson, and thou'd her quietly and
habitually.

All these parti