sses, and pillows are hung out and sunned,
mattresses and pillows both beaten, and the former carefully brushed,
going into each tuft and crevice. Shades which have become soiled at
the bottom can be reversed. House cleaning is not an unmixed joy, but
if done systematically, one room at a time, it is soon accomplished and
becomes a part of that biography which all housekeeping is at last--a
biography which should be written in characters of gold, its pages
richly illumined with crosses, and palms, and laurels, and at its end a
jeweled crown bearing the inscription:

"She hath done what she couldn't!"

CHAPTER XIV

HIRED HELP

The difficulty of dealing with the subject of hired help is about as
great as the dealing with the help herself, who is so often not a help
at all. The appellation is the one insisted upon by the great
unorganized union of the "household tramp," whose pride cannot endure
the stigma implied in the name "servant," and who has never learned
that we, in all walks of life, are more or less servants--servants of
Fame, or Ambition, or Duty, or Country, or Business. The maid who gave
notice on the spot because she was introduced by the daughter of the
house to her mother as "your new servant," seems to be the incarnation
of that spirit of independence which is loosening the very foundations
of our national structure. England has servants; Germany has servants,
but America has help. Let us then, like Agag of old, walk delicately,
remembering that help, by any other name, is even more surrounded by
thorns.

THE GENERAL HOUSEMAID

It is almost impossible to get a competent girl for general housework
these days, and viewed in the light of past experiences with the able
but unwilling, the willing but unable, the stupid, the dishonest, the
ignorant servant within our gates, with the very occasional good genius
of the kitchen to leaven the lump of incompetency, we are sorely
tempted to give up the struggle and do our own work, feeling that the
time and strength so consumed are more than compensated for by the
peace of mind which comes with the cessation of hostilities. But after
a breathing spell we are generally ready for another joust, and the
struggle goes on as of yore. Shops and factories have greatly reduced
the supply of servants, and of these so many specialize as cooks,
waitresses, and nurses that we really have a very small choice when
seeking an all-round maid--one who has s