uproar.

'I thought something was wrong,' said Alma. 'The cook has seemed in a
bad temper for several days. I don't like either of them. I think I
shall give them both notice, and advertise at once. They say that
advertising is the best way.'

The housemaid (in her secondary function of parlour-maid) waited at
table with a scowl. The fish was ill fried, the eggs were hard, the
toast was soot-smeared. For the moment Alma made no remark; but half an
hour later, when Harvey and the child had rambled off to the sea-shore,
she summoned both domestics, and demanded an explanation of their
behaviour. Her tone was not conciliatory; she had neither the
experience nor the tact which are necessary in the mistress of a
household, and it needed only an occasion such as this to bring out the
contemptuousness with which she regarded her social inferiors. Too
well-bred to indulge in scolding or wrangling, the delight of a large
class of housewives, Alma had a quiet way of exhibiting displeasure and
scorn, which told smartly on the nerves of those she rebuked. No one
could better have illustrated the crucial difficulty of the
servant-question, which lies in the fact that women seldom can rule,
and all but invariably dislike to be ruled by, their own sex; a
difficulty which increases with the breaking-up of social distinctions.

She went out into the sunshine, and found Harvey and Hughie building a
great castle of sand. Her mood was lightsome for she felt that she had
acted with decision and in a way worthy of her dignity.

'They will both go about their business. I only hope we may get meals
for the rest of the time here.'

Harvey nodded, with closed lips.

'It's a pity Pauline went,' he remarked presently.

'I'm afraid it is. I hadn't quite realised what it would mean.'

'I rather think I ventured to say something of that kind, didn't I? She
_may_ not have taken another place. Suppose you write to her?'

Alma seemed to waver.

'What I am thinking,' she said in a lower tone, 'is that--before
long--we shall need--I suppose--someone of a rather different kind--an
ordinary nurse-girl. But you wouldn't like Hughie to be with anyone of
that sort?'

'It wouldn't matter now.'

'Here's the philosophy of the matter in a nut-shell,' said Harvey
afterwards. 'Living nowadays means keeping up appearances, and you must
do it just as carefully before your own servants as before your
friends. The alternatives are, one general servant, wi