thoughtful."

And so it was decided that Dora should take Bridget's place, she
thinking how much she would do, and how hard she would try to
please her aunt, who quieted her own conscience by saying "it was
only a temporary arrangement until she could find another
servant."

But as the days went by, the temporary arrangement bid fair to
become permanent, for Mrs. Deane could not be insensible to the
vast difference which Bridget's absence made in her weekly
expenses. Then, too, Dora was so willing to work, and so
uncomplaining, never seeking a word of commendation, except once,
indeed, when she timidly ventured to ask Eugenia if "what she did
was enough to pay for her board?"

"Just about," was Eugenia's answer, which, indifferent as it was,
cheered the heart of Dora, as, day after day, she toiled on in the
comfortless kitchen, until her hands, which, when she came to
Locust Grove, were soft and white as those of an infant, became
rough and brown, and her face gradually assumed the same dark hue,
for she could not always stop to tie on her sunbonnet, when sent
for wood or water.

With the coming of summer, arrangements had been made for sending
her to school, though Mrs. Deane felt at first as if she could not
be deprived of her services. Still for appearance' sake, if for
nothing more, she must go; and with the earliest dawn the busy
creature was up, working like a bee, that her aunt and cousins
might not have so much to do in her absence. At first she went