“You shall certainly have no cause to complain of me on this score again,” she said, still a little warmly.  “When next we clean house, I will take care that it shall be done by extra help altogether.”

“Do, so by all means, Mrs. Sunderland.  Let there be, if possible, two paint-cleaners and scrubbers in every room, that the work may all be done in a day instead of a week.  Take my word for it, the cost will be less; or, if double, I will cheerfully pay it for the sake of seeing ‘order from chaos rise’ more quickly than is wont under the ordinary system of doing things.”

My wife did not just like this speech, I could see, but she bit her lips and kept silent.

In a week we were without a cook again; and months passed before we were in any thing like domestic comfort.  At last my wife was fortunate enough to get Ann and Hannah back again, and then the old pleasant order of things was restored.  I rather think that we shall have a different state of things at next house-cleaning time.  I certainly hope so.

CHAPTER XVII.

BROILING A LOBSTER.

MR. SMITH’S appetite sometimes takes an epicurean turn, and then we indulge in a lobster, calf’s-head soup, terrapins, or something of that sort.

Once upon a time, he sent home a lobster.  I did not feel very well that day, and concluded to leave the cooking of the animal to a new girl that I had taken a week or two before, on a strong recommendation.  She claimed to be a finished cook, and her testimonials were distinct on that head.

“Kitty,” said I, “Mr. Smith has sent home a lobster, I believe?”

I had summoned the girl to my room.

“Yes, ma’am,” she replied.  “Is it for dinner?”

“Of course it is; and you must see that it is well cooked.”

Kitty lingered a few moments, as if not entirely satisfied about something, and then retired to the kitchen.

“I wonder if she knows how to boil a lobster?” said I to myself.

But then, the remembrance that she had come to me as a finished cook, crossed my mind, and I answered, mentally, my own question, by saying: 

“Of course she does.”

Not long afterwards, I went to the dining-room, which was over the kitchen.  I had been there only a little while, when I heard an unusual noise below, followed by an exclamation from Kitty—­

“Oh! murderation!  I can’t cook the straddling thing.  I wonder what Mr. Smith brought it home alive for!”

I was, of course, all attention now, and going to the top of the stairs, stood listening to what was going on below.

“There now.  Lie still!” I heard Kitty say.  This was followed by a rattling of tongs, or some other iron implements, and a rapid shuffling of feet.

Curious to know what was going on, I stepped lightly down the stairs, and through the open door had a full view of both Kitty and the lobster.