Thaddeus, with his usual
smile.

"Yes, perfectly. In fact, I wonder we hadn't thought of it
ourselves. In the old home, you know, the dinner-hour was six
o'clock, while here it is half-past six."

"What has that got to do with it?" asked Thaddeus.

"How obtuse of you, Teddy!" exclaimed Bessie. "Don't you see, the
poor old thing has been so used to six-o'clock dinners that she has
everything ready for us at six? And if we are half an hour late, of
course things get cold; or if they are kept in the oven, as was the
case with the beef last night, they are apt to be overdone?"

"Why, of course. Ha! Ha! Wonder I didn't think of that," laughed
Thaddeus, though his mirth did seem a little forced. "But--she's--
she's going to change, I suppose?"

"She said she'd try," Bessie replied. "She was really so very nice
about it, I hadn't the heart to scold her."

"I'm glad," was all Thaddeus said, and during the rest of the meal
he was silent. Once or twice he seemed on the verge of saying
something, but apparently changed his mind.

"Are you tired to-night, dear?" said Bessie, as the dessert was
served.

"No. Why?" said Thaddeus, shortly.

"Oh, nothing. I thought you seemed a little so," Bessie answered.
"You mustn't work too hard down-town."

"No, my dear girl," he said. "I won't, and I don't. I was thinking
all through dinner about those girls down-stairs. Perhaps--perhaps
I had better talk to them, eh? You are so awfully kind-hearted, and
it does seem to me as though they imposed a little on you, that's
all. The salad to-night was atrocious. It should have been kept on
the ice, instead of which it comes to the table looking like a last
year's bouquet."

Bessie's eyes grew watery. "I'm afraid it was my fault," she said.
"I ought to have looked after the salad myself. I always did at
home. I suppose Jane got it out expecting me to prepare it."

"Oh, well, never mind," said Thaddeus, desirous of soothing the
troubled soul of his wife. "I wouldn't have mentioned it, only Jane
does too much thinking, in a thoughtless way, anyhow. Servants
aren't paid to think."

"I'll tell you what, Thaddeus," said Bessie, her spirits returning,
"we are just as much to blame as they are; we've taken too much for
granted, and so have they. Suppose we spend the evening putting
together a set of rules for the management of the house? It will be
lots of fun, and perhaps it will do the girls good. They ought to