Page:The Cottagers of Glenburnie - Hamilton (1808).djvu/56

 but she complied with it; and I was immediately consigned to Molly the housemaid, who was one of the most active and clever servants I have ever known.

I had been so cramped by constant sitting, that I found it very difficult to go about my new occupation with the activity which Molly required, and of which she set me the example. But I soon acquired it; and Molly confessed she never had to tell me the same thing twice. This made her take pains with me; and I have often since found the advantage of having learned from her the best way of doing all sorts of household work. She was of a hasty temper, but very good-natured upon the whole; and if she scolded me heartily for any little error in the way of doing my work, she praised me as cordially for taking pains to rectify it. As there were many polished grates to scour, and a vast number of rooms to keep clean, we had a great deal to do; but it was made easy by regularity and method; so that in