want a place?"

"I do that."

"You said that six months ago. We got you a splendid one, and three days
afterward you chucked up the whole concern."

"And why shouldn't I? There was no need to work then; but now it is
another pair of shoes, for I have spent nearly all I had saved."

Beaumarchef laid down his pen, and eyed her curiously for a second or
two; then he said,--

"You've been making a fool of yourself somehow, I expect."

She half turned away her head, and began to complain of the hardness
of the terms and of the meanness of the mistresses, who, instead of
allowing their cooks to do the marketing, did it themselves, and so
cheated their servants out of their commissions.

Beaumarchef nodded, just as he had done half an hour before to a lady
who had complained bitterly of the misconduct of her servants. He was
compelled by his position to sympathize with both sides.

The woman had now finished her tirade, and drawing the amount of the fee
from a well-filled purse, placed it on the table, saying,--

"Please, M. Beaumarchef, register my name as Caroline Scheumal, and get
me a real good place. It must be a cook, you understand, and I want to
do the marketing without the missus dodging around."