and it will be my fault if I do not become capable. Who shall I ask to show me where to find the breakfast things, ma'am?"
"It is Susan's turn this week to see to such matters. You will have everything ready at half past seven precisely. Susan will show you how to arrange the breakfast-room."
"Miss Susan, ma'am!—is not that the young lady who was taking the French lesson?"
"Yes."
"She show me, Mrs. Hyde! she does not seem older than Miss Ophelia Hartell."
"Susan is past nine."
"And Miss Ophelia is ten. What a difference!" Lucy did not explain further, nor did Mrs. Hyde inquire. Poor Ophelia's operative faculties were as undeveloped as a child's born without hands.
"When you go up to bed, Lucy," resumed Mrs. Hyde, " take a pail of water with you. You will find all conveniences for washing. Wash yourself from head to foot. This I require of all persons under my control at least once in twenty-four hours; it will contribute to your health, and in a little while you will find it essential to your comfort." She then commended Lucy's very neat arrangement of her hair, and enjoined particular attention to her teeth; and Lucy, all astonishment at this maternal interest, was reminded of Mrs. Broadson having on a certain occasion said to her, "A fine pass things have come to when even servants must brush their teeth—why, I had never heard of a toothbrush at your age!!"
"She seems just as kind as mother, or Mrs. Lovett," thought Lucy, as Mrs. Hyde bade her
