whilst leaving the mill to its fate and the fury of the storm, his
indignant fellow-servant professed himself "blessed if he knew."

But few people are as grateful as they should be when informed of
misconduct in their own servants. It is a reflection on one's
judgment.

And unpardonable as George's conduct was, if the tale were true, the
words in which he couched his self-defence were so much more
grateful to the ears of the windmiller than the somewhat free and
independent style in which the other man expressed his opinion of
George's conduct and qualities, that the master took his servant's
part, and snubbed the informer for his pains.

In justice to George, too, it should be said that he stoutly and
repeatedly denied the whole story, with many oaths and imprecations
of horrible calamities upon himself if he were lying in the smallest
particular. And this with reiteration so steady, and a countenance
so guileless and unmoved, as to contrast favorably with the face of
the other man, whose voice trembled and whose forehead flushed,
either with overwhelming indignation or with a guilty consciousness
that he was bearing false witness.

Master Lake employed him no more, and George stayed on.

But, for that matter, Master Lake's disposition was not one which
permitted him to profit by the best qualities of those connected
with him. He was a bit of a tyrant, and more than one man, six
times as clever, and ten times as hard-working as George, had gone
when George would have stayed, from crossing words with the