the girl her notice at once, madam?" she
asked.

"I'm not going to give her notice at all," said Rose. "I'm going to find
her another place. I shan't have any trouble about it though. As you
say, she's a very good nurse-maid, and she's a pleasant sort of a human
being besides. But as soon as I can find her another place, I'm going to
take over her work."

To this last observation it became evident that Mrs. Ruston meant to
make no reply at all. She gave Rose some statistical information about
the twins instead, in which Rose showed herself politely interested and
presently withdrew.

It soon appeared, however, that though Mrs. Ruston might be slow and
sparing of speech, she was capable of acting with a positively
Napoleonic dash. Rodney wore a queer expression all through dinner, and
when he got Rose alone in the library afterward, he explained it. Mrs.
Ruston had made her two-hour constitutional that afternoon into an
opportunity for calling on him at his office. She had given him notice,
contingently. She made it an inviolable rule of conduct, it appeared,
never to undertake the care of two infants without the assistance of a
nurse-maid. She was a conscientious person and she felt she couldn't do
justice to her work on any other basis. Rose had informed her of her
intention to dispense with the services of the nurse-maid, without
engaging any one else to take her place. If Rose adhered to this
intention, Mrs. Ruston must leave.

It was some sort of absurd misunderstanding, of course, Rodney concluded
and wanted to know what it was all about.

"I did say I meant to let Doris go," Rose explained, "but I told her I
meant to take Doris' job myself. I said I thought I could be just as
good a nurse-maid as she was. I said I'd boil bottles and wash clothes
and take Mrs. Ruston's orders exactly as if I were being paid six
dollars a week and board for doing it. And I meant it just as literally
as I said it."

He was prowling about the room in a worried sort of way, before she got
as far as that.

"I don't see, child," he exclaimed, "why you couldn't leave well enough
alone! If it's that old economy bug of yours again, it's nonsense. You'd
save, including board, about ten dollars a week. And it would work out
one of two ways: If you didn't do all the maid's work. Mrs. Ruston would
have a real grievance. She's right about needing all the help she gets.
If you did do it, it would mean that you'd work yourself sick.--Oh,