THE SUSPICIOUS JACKDAW.
searched, the more unhappy Madam Mortimer became. 'It is not the value of the necklace,' she often said to herself; 'but it is the being obliged to suspect this child, that I am so sorry for; for she was the only person in the wide world that I felt I could trust, excepting my own children.'
But if people trust only one person, and can make up their minds to be distrustful of every one else, their suspicions are almost sure at last to reach the one remaining; and so Madam Mortimer had now found.
She sent for the little maid's mother, and without finding fault with the child, said to her that she did not require her services any longer; and when the mother said, 'I hope it is for no fault that you part with her, ma'am?' she replied, evasively, 'Patience has her faults like other people;' and with that answer the mother was obliged to be satisfied.
When Patience was gone her mistress felt very unhappy. She had felt a pleasure in her company, because she was such a child, and so guileless. She had meant to keep her with her, and teach her so long as she lived, and trust her; but now all this was over, and she had nobody whom she chose to trust. The jackdaw, too, appeared to feel dull; there was nobody to play with him and carry him on her shoulder. He was dull, too, because he had lost that pretty necklace, for he often thought he should like to have it again to put among his treasures on the roof; therefore, he was fond of flying to the edge of the well, and gabbling there with great volubility; but I need not say that his chatter and his regret did not make the necklace float.
