somewhat damped by the details she received about the situation. The
duties were even greater than she had supposed, consisting in the
active and complete superintendence of a great many female servants,
and a slighter control over a still larger number of female
keepers, who also acted as housemaids and chambermaids; the control of
the workroom, so as to see that there was no waste, extravagance, or
pilfering there; the arrangements necessary in the cooking and
distribution of such large quantities of food, so that each should have
enough, and yet that there should be no opportunity of theft; and the
watchfulness required to prevent any of the girls employed in the
establishment from flirting with any of the convalescent gentlemen. The
wages given by the directors had been too low to keep servants long in
the place, or to secure a good class of girls who would be above
dishonesty or other weaknesses; and this made the duties of their
superintendent particularly irksome; while there was a good deal to be
done for the patients themselves, though not so much by the second as
by the upper matron.

All this seemed a formidable amount of work for one head and one pair
of eyes to do; and when Jane was told that the salary was 30 pounds
a-year, and that so many applications had been and were likely to be
sent in, that great interest was necessary for success, she was by no
means so decided on sending in hers. Even the privileges annexed to the
situation, of a small bedroom for herself, and a parlour shared by two
others, with a fortnight's holidays in the year, though very necessary
to prevent the second matron being removed speedily into one of the
wards, did not seem so tempting as to revive Jane's last night's
enthusiasm.

"Surely," said she, "the payment is very small for the work and the