and I don't want you to oppose me."

"Good gracious, ma!" said Tilly; "as if I ever opposed you!"

"You know how bad I have been feeling about the poor Russians ------"

"Well?"

"And how I've wished and wished I could do something--
something to COUNT? I never could, Tilly, because I ain't got
the money or the intellect; but s'posing I could do it for
somebody else, like this Captain Ferguson who could do so much
if he just could get a hired girl to take care of his wife.
Well, I do know how to cook and to keep a house neat and to do
for the sick ----"

Tilly could restrain herself no longer; her voice rose to a shout
of dismay--"Mother Louder, you AIN'T thinking of going to be
the Ferguson's _hired girl!_"

"Not their hired girl, Tilly; just their help, so as he can
work for those poor starving creatures." Jane strangled a sob
in her throat. Tilly, in a kind of stupor of bewilderment,
frowned at her plate. Then her clouded face cleared.
If Mrs. Louder had surprised her daughter, her daughter repaid
the surprise. "Well, if you feel that way, mother," said she,
"I won't say a word; and I'll ask Mr. Lossing to explain
to the Fergusons and fix everything. He will."

"You're real good, Tilly."