had no practical training whatever. She was amazed that I should make
Ethel dye her white kid slippers (when they were soiled) for morning use;
and when she saw me getting up some dainty bits of old point that I do not
trust to Parsons, she asked me why I bothered with the old stuff and
didn't buy new. She has absolutely no idea of the value of money or of
household management. On the other hand, that little Mrs. Grey, their
friend, told me that she did all the sewing for her twelve children; and
Mrs. Grey has not taken a holiday of even a few weeks for twenty years. I
can't think how it is they don't break down altogether."

But it was the children of the Brown household that awakened the liveliest
surprise in the minds of these ladies,--an astonishment wholly free from
admiration or approval, for they were children of a type with which
Americans are sadly familiar, but which had never come under their notice
before. The little Graysons were utterly undisciplined, and got their own
way in everything. Their grandfather, aunt, mother, and nurses combined
were powerless to control them, and would give them anything but what they
most needed. They pervaded the whole house, and were the hub of it; they
ate at all hours, and of whatever they fancied. They had no regular hour
for going to bed, but fell asleep everywhere, and were removed with the
utmost precaution. Mrs. Sykes, going there, would find them jumping up and
down with muddy feet on the drawing-room sofas or playing on the new grand
piano with the poker. Miss Noel one day found Mr. Brown in a great state
of perturbation, calling out, "Helen! Jane! Bijou! Come here, quick! The
baby is bumping his head on the floor!" (The baby being three years old.)
"Don't get angry, darling. If you won't bump your head, grandpa will bring
you a wax doll from Kalsing to-morrow." Another day, baby's sister in
banging on the window-pane struck through the glass and cut her fist.
"Poor little dear! Poor childie! Let me bind it up quickly. Harry, love,
bid nurse fetch the arnica at once," exclaimed Miss Noel; but the patient