"I should suppose that you were in my house to make yourself useful
to me," Mrs. Salisbury said coldly. She used a tone of quiet
dignity; but she knew that she had had the worst of the encounter.
She was really a little dazed by the firmness of the rebuff.

"They make a point of our keeping to the letter of the law," Justine
explained.

"Not knowing what my particular needs are, nor how I like my house
to be run, is that it?" the other woman asked shrewdly.

"Well--" Justine hung upon an embarrassed assent. "But perhaps they
won't be so firm about it as soon as the school is really
established," she added eagerly.

"No; I think they will not!" Mrs. Salisbury agreed with a short
laugh, "inasmuch as they CANNOT, if they ever hope to get any
foothold at all!"

And she left the kitchen, feeling that in the last remark at least
she had scored, yet very angry at Justine, who made this sort of
warfare necessary.

"If this sort of thing keeps up, I shall simply have to let her GO!"
she said.

But she was trembling, and she came to a full stop in the front
hall. It was maddening; it was unbelievable; but that neglected half
hour of work threatened to wreck her entire day. With every fiber of