he halls.

IX.

_Ann._

And now came Ann, Ann, the Hibernian and the minstrel. During the first
week of her abode with us she entertained us at dinner by singing a
weird Irish love ballad and so won our hearts that the Little Woman
decided to take the Precious Ones for a brief visit to homes and
firesides in the Far West, leaving her Brother Tom and myself in Ann's
charge.

When she went away she beamed upon Tom and me and said, reassuringly,
"Ann will take good care of you all right. We were fortunate to secure a
girl like Ann on such short notice. Get your lunches outside sometimes;
that will please her." Then she and the Precious Ones kissed us both,
the bell rang and they were gone.

My brother-in-law and I were doing what we referred to as "our book" at
this time, and were interested to the point of absorption. Ann the
Hibernian therefore had the household--at least, the back of the
household--pretty much to herself.

I do not know just when the falling off did begin. We were both very
much taken up with our work. But when, one morning, I happened to notice
that it was a quarter of twelve when we sat down to a breakfast of stale
bread and warmed-over coffee, it occurred to me that there was a hitch
somewhere in our system.

That evening, when it got too dark to work, I arose and drifted out to
the kitchen, perhaps with some idea of being hungry, and a mild
curiosity to know when dinner might be expected. There was an air of
desolation about the place that seemed strange, and an odor that seemed
familiar. Like a hound on the trail I followed the latter straight on
through the kitchen, to the servants' room at the back. The door was
ajar, and the mystery was solved. Our noble Ann had fallen prey to the
cup that yearly sweeps thousands into unhonored graves.

We went out for dinner, and the next morning we got our own eggs and
coffee. When our minion regained consciousness we reviled her and cast
her out.

We said we would get our own meals. We had camped out together and taken
turns at the cooking. We would camp out now in the flat. We were quite
elated with the idea, and out of the fulness of our freedom gave Ann a
dollar and a little bracer out of some "private stock." Ann declared we
were "pairfect gintlemen," and for the first time seemed sorry to go.

Both being eager to get back to our work after breakfast, neither of us
referred to the dirty dishes, and I did not remember them again until