"A woman," went on Mr. Wheeder, as
if ho were expatiating on some of the ladies
in Scripture, "who should be willing; a
woman of an age to have experience of
London; a woman who could give you
advice, and yet not be familiar nor
presuming; a woman elderly yet strong; I
should say that was exactly what was
wanting to complete the little household of
a young pair just starting in life."

Olivia looked at him wistfully, as if he
were an enchanter; could he but raise such
a creature with the wand or walking-stick,
now on his knees; but for her, poor little
soul, to go forth and encounter the tribes
of wild London Caribbees, seeking such a
paragon, the idea made her heart-sick. I
added, with a manly despondency, "Where
could one find such a person?"

Mr. Wheeder was looking curiously into
the empty new wine-glass, as though it
were an enchanted glass in which he saw
this paragon. I hastily filled it with the
new sherry, as a more suitable reflecting
medium. He was not displeased.

"What would you say now, if I should
happen to know of such a person?"

I am ashamed to think of the raptures
we both broke into. For this servant
business, put off to the last, had hung before
us, and on us, as some terrible nightmare;
something that appalled and crushed. Well-
meaning friends had added to our terrors:
"You can't take too much care; there is a
dreadful race going!"

"When I say I, I mean Mrs. Wheeder.
I will speak to her on the matter. I
believe we found her quite a treasure of a
woman. No more, thank you! You shall
have her up in the morning."

When our deliverer was gone, my Olivia
and I looked at each other with beaming
eyes:

"You see," I said, "how obstacles melt
away; and how, to become oratorical, the
ice of difficulty thaws before the rays of
opportunity."

My Olivia smiled at this moral.

As I was passing through the hall next
morning, a very large and corpulent
specimen of the servant race stood up to
introduce herself. Her face was round and
much heated. Being draped in an old-
fashioned cloak, various portions of her
figure seemed to move upward, in
sympathy with every word she uttered, with a
sort of peristaltic motion. These symptoms
rather scared me.

"Mr. Wheeder, I believe?" I
hoping faintly, and yet convinced.

"As good and charitable a gent as ever
drew breath. He has the good word of the
poor man, sir, which is thought little of
down here, maybe. Yes, sir, he could do
no more than speak well of me, Anne
Brennan, and it's what I'd only expect
from a gentleman so well knowd and
steamed."

"Mr. Wheeder certainly recommended
you strongly; but really, I fear, you may
be" (it was a delicate matter to convey
any objection to her physique) "you may
be hardly active enough?"

She shook her head with a mournful
pity.

"I know, sir; don't be afraid. They all
begin with that, because I look fat. But
what I say, sir, is, we'll all have our reward
one day, whether the poor man or the
rich!"

Look fat! This seemed a disclaimer of
an accusation with which the rich seemed
to be oppressing their poorer brethren; yet
she could not have any object in counter-
feiting stoutness.

Here appears my Olivia, who shrinks
away from this columnar object.

"Your lady, sir—Anne Brennan, as the
Rev. Mr. Wheeder sent. There's a real
good man that thinks of the poor! Ask
him about me, and before back or hind
back; he can't have a word to say again
me. Or Mr. Hocker, of Lupus-street, a
gentleman of the first standing; seven in
family, and often fourteen at dinner, once
in the week. No, no, sir; and ma'am;
I am not afraid of being looked into."

This was what my Olivia was doing
precisely at that moment; and, with some
alarm and awe, said, " I am sure what you
say is right; but there is so much work
you know——"

"Oh, I know, ma'am," she cried, with a
smile; "that's not the first time that's
been said to me by many. Why, when Mr.
Hocker, o' Lupus-street, a gentleman
beyond dispute, driving his own brougham,
was taking me in his front parlour, he
said, 'Mrs. Brennan, ma'am, I fear you're
too large for the place.' Ah no, sir! Give me
leave, if you please, and I mean no offence.
But you and your lady are new to this,
and few knows London beside me, hon and
hoff. And let me tell you, a young lady
and gent, starting as you are, will find
plenty that seems nice and genteel; and
there's some of us as seems as ladylike as
any born lady; but wait, ah wait!"

I own to thinking there was a rude
bluntness about this creature which I