er have any
trouble, and yet their one maid of all work has a far from "easy" place,
and a vacancy at Brookmeadows is always sought after, even though the
Oldnames spend ten months of the year in the country. Neither is there any
friction at the Golden Hall or Great Estates, even though the latter house
is run by the butler--an almost inevitable cause of trouble. These houses
represent a difference in range of from one alone, to nearly forty on the
household payroll.

=THOSE WHO HAVE PERSISTENT "TROUBLE"=

It might be well for those who have trouble to remember a few rules which
are often overlooked: Justice must be the foundation upon which every
tranquil house is constructed. Work must be as evenly divided as possible;
one servant should not be allowed liberties not accorded to all.

It is not just to be too lenient, any more than it is just to be
unreasonably strict. To allow impertinence or sloppy work is inexcusable,
but it is equally inexcusable to show causeless irritability or to be
overbearing or rude. And there is no greater example of injustice than to
reprimand those about you because you happen to be in a bad humor, and at
another time overlook offenses that are greater because you are in an
amiable mood.

There is also no excuse for "correcting" either a servant or a child
before people.

[Illustration: "THE PERFECT MISTRESS SHOWS ALL THOSE IN HER EMPLOY THE
CONSIDERATION AND TRUST DUE THEM AS HONORABLE SELF-RESPECTING AND
CONSCIENTIOUS HUMAN BEINGS." [Page 157.]]

And when you do correct, do not forget to make allowances, if there be
any reason why allowance should be made.

If you live in a palace like Golden Hall, or any completely equipped house
of important size, you overlook _nothing!_ There is no more excuse for
delinquency than there is in the Army. If anything happens, such as
illness of one servant, there is another to take his (or her) place. A
huge household is a machine and it is the business of the engineers--in
other words, the secretary, housekeeper, chef or butler, to keep it going
perfectly.

But in a little house, it may not be fair to say "Selma, the silver is
dirty!" when there is a hot-air furnace and you have had company to every
meal, and you have perhaps sent her on errands between times, and she has
literally not had a moment. If you don't know whether she has had time or
not, you could give her the benefit of the doubt and say (trustfully, not
haughtily) "You have not