dded the satisfaction of seeing
Jane and Ellen acknowledge a superior. Make no mistake, you who
read. It was not to Thaddeus junior that these gems bowed down. It
was to the good woman who came in to care for the little one and his
mother that they humbled themselves.

"She's great," said Thaddeus to himself, as he watched Jane bustling
about to obey the command of the temporary mistress of the situation
as she had never bustled before.

"She's a second Elizabeth," chuckled Thaddeus, as he listened to an
order passed down the dumb-waiter shaft from the stout empress of
the moment to the trembling queen of the kitchen.

"She's a little dictatorial," whispered Thaddeus to his newspaper,
when the monarch of all she surveyed gave him HIS orders. "But
there are times, even in a Republic like this, when a dictator is an
advantage. I hate to see a woman cry, but the way Jane wept at the
routing Mrs. Brown gave her this morning was a finer sight than
Niagara."

But, alas! this happy state of affairs could not last forever.
Thaddeus was just beginning to get on easy terms with Mrs. Brown
when she was summoned elsewhere.

"Change of heir is necessary for one in her profession," sighed
Thaddeus; and then, when he thought of resuming the reins himself,
he sighed again, and wished that Mrs. Brown might have remained a
fixture in the household forever. "Still," he added, more to
comfort himself than because he had any decided convictions to
express--"still, a baby in the house will make a difference, and
Ellen and Jane will behave better now that Bessie's added
responsibilities put them more upon their honor."

For a time Thaddeus's prophecy was correct. Ellen and Jane did do
better for nearly two months, and then--but why repeat the old
story? Then they lapsed, that is all, and became more tyrannical
than ever. Bessie was so busy with little Ted that the household
affairs outside of the nursery came under their exclusive control.
Thaddeus stood it--I was going to say nobly, but I think it were
better put ignobly--but he had a good excuse for so doing.

"A baby is an awful care to its mother," he said; "a responsibility
that takes up her whole time and attention. I don't think I'd
better complicate matters by getting into a row with the servants."

And so it went. A year and another year passed. The pretty home
was beginning to look old. The bloom of its youth had most
improperly faded--for surely a home shoul