led by careless
cooking. So I took my receipt book and after reading carefully, I
stuffed the pretty fish and laid him in a pan all ready for the oven,
and told Annie to put it in at eleven o'clock.

I was pretty tired, so I lay down for a little nap, and had just
dropped asleep when Annie came into the room, wringing her hands and
saying, "Oh, ma'am! Oh, ma'am! What'll I do in the world?"

It seems that she had taken the fish out of the safe and put it, pan
and all, on the table, and then, remembering I had told her to
sprinkle a little pepper on it, she went to the closet for her
pepper-box, and when she came back, the pan was empty!

"The cat stole it, Annie," I said.

"Indade and she didn't. The innocent cratur was lyin' on my bed and
the door shut."

I tried to quiet the girl; but I told her at last she could go home
that night, only she must dry her eyes and run to the butcher's for a
steak, for the master would be home with a strange gentleman in half
an hour. We managed to get the steak cooked, and papa tried to laugh
Annie out of the notion of a ghost stealing our beautiful fish, but
the girl would not smile and was afraid to be left alone in the
kitchen. So after tea she packed up her things and was to take the
stage to the depot; for Annie lived a long way off.

Just before the stage came as I was standing at the gate, my eyes full
of tears at losing my nice little servant all on account of a fish, I
saw the lady who lived across the way open her gate and come toward
our house. I saw the stage stop a few doors off as she came to our
gate and bowing to me said:

"Excuse me, we are strangers, but did you lose a fine trout to-day?"

She must have thought me mad, for I rushed into the house, and called:
"Annie, Annie, I've found the fish! Now put your things back in the
bureau, you silly girl."

Then I went back and invited my neighbor in, telling her about Annie's
fright.

"Why, it was our Nero--our great dog! I was away at my mother's or I
would have brought it back, for I was sure it belonged to you. Nero
must have slipped in, nabbed the fish, and brought it to our house. He
laid it on the kitchen floor, as if he had done a very good deed, my
girl tells me, and she, foolish thing, thought he had brought it from
my mother's, and cooked it."

We had a hearty laugh at our stupid servants, and were great friends
from that day, and I never see a picture of fish for sale, but I think
of my first trout