TAUGHT BY EXPERIENCE

BY

RUTH LAMB

AUTHOR OF

"The Luckiest Lad in Libberton," "Old Cantanker," etc.

THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY

56, PATERNOSTER ROW; 65, ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD AND 164, PICCADILLY.

CONTENTS.

CHAP.

I. LEADING-STRINGS

II. EVIL COMMUNICATIONS

III. MISUNDERSTANDINGS

IV. A RIFT IN THE CLOUD

V. THE FIRST NIGHT IN A NEW HOME

VI. KATE'S SUNDAY OUT

VII. A MISTAKE CONFESSED

VIII. HOPE DEFERRED—FAITH JUSTIFIED

TAUGHT BY EXPERIENCE.

CHAPTER I.

LEADING-STRINGS.

"IF we are servants, we are not slaves that I know of. I would not stay in the best place under the sun if I must be kept in leading-strings like a baby, and never be allowed out of the mistress's sight. Come along with me, Kate. I am going to leave, so I have no call to care what she says."

"But I am not, and I don't think I want to leave. Mrs. Bateson is very particular, but she means it for our good. It is not every mistress that would take the trouble she does, and it is no benefit to her."

"Isn't it? You may think so; but it is because you know no better, you little simpleton. Isn't it to the mistress's benefit to have us always within call? She gets more work out of us than the wages are worth. I shall be glad to turn my back on this place when Wednesday comes."

The speakers were the upper and under housemaids in a large country house. The elder of the two, who held the higher post, was a clever, capable young woman, but with a strong will, quick temper, and very decided views about her "rights" and the work belonging to her place. She had only been three months in it, and had given notice to leave, because she found the rules of the house too strict to suit her taste, especially as regarded the keeping of the Sabbath.

Mrs. Bateson was very particular in this respect. But if Fanny Ellis had only given the matter reasonable thought, she would have owned that the children of the household and the servants were bound by the same rules. Every member of the family who was in health, and not compelled to remain at home for the performance of domestic duties, was expected to occupy her seat in the house of God at least once on Sunday. There was but a single place of worship within walking distance, so that masters and servants met together under the same roof, and were near each other.

Fanny Ellis was one of the first to rebel against this rule, though she had agreed to it when she took the place of upper housemaid.

More than once her seat at church had been empty, and she had made various excuses for her absence. Next, she boldly declared that servants had little enough time for rest, or a walk in the fresh air, and that so long as her work was well done and up to hours, she meant to call her Sundays her own, and spend her "turn out" as she pleased.

Mrs. Bateson did not wish to part with the girl, but she could not allow her authority to be set at nought. At first she spoke gently to Fanny, reminded her that the Sabbath was God's day, but given for the refreshment of the soul as well as for the rest of the body, and that we should value the opportunity of going to His house as a blessed privilege, not an irksome task to be forced upon us by some one else.

"I give you the same opportunity as my own children have," she added. "You may be sure I wish to do well for them, and the fact that I am particular for you also should show that I wish you to do what is for your own good, not for any benefit to myself."

Fanny listened, but said nothing in reply, and soon after again broke the rule.

"If this should happen a third time, Fanny, I must give you notice to leave. I cannot keep any servant who sets our rules at defiance."

"I will give you a month's notice and save you the trouble," returned the girl, pertly. "The rules don't suit me. They may do in an infant school, but not for grown-up people in a free country. I'll do my work well while I stay, and I hope you will give me a character for that. I don't expect you will be asked to say how often I go to church." And Fanny, with a toss of the head, and without waiting for an answer, flounced out of her mistress's presence.

"Poor girl!" said Mrs. Bateson to herself. "I wish I could make her understand how truly I desire her good. I do hope she will be contented with throwing up her own place, without unsettling the others, especially Kate."

This was exactly what Fanny would not do. She aired her views on the subject of tyrannical mistresses and the slavery of service under such, on every possible occasion. But most of her fellow-servants knew too well the value of their places to be affected by what she said or to agree with it.

Kate Evans was younger, weaker and more easily led. Moreover, she was a little bit giddy, had a pretty face, and liked to show it elsewhere than in the servants' pew at church, "where," said Fanny, "if you look up, the mistress's eye is down on you in a minute."

Fanny was mistaken. Mrs. Bateson went to the house of God to worship, not to watch other people. She knew, too, how likely it was that the young would feel annoyed at the thought of her doing so, and she carefully avoided it.

After Fanny had given notice, she only went once to church. "I shall go for a walk instead," she said. "I will do my work so as nobody can find fault, but I have cut the leading-strings, and I will take care they are not tied again."

On the second Sunday, she urged Kate to accompany her. The weak girl yielded to persuasion and ridicule combined, but she was not happy. She dreaded the consequences of her disobedience, and was angry at herself for having been laughed into doing what conscience told her was wrong.

Kate could not forget that Mrs. Bateson had taken her from a poor home and a widowed mother who know not how to get bread for a number of younger children. She had been very ignorant when she came three years ago, and her mistress had taught her all she knew, and had been very patient with her carelessness, mistakes, and forgetfulness. She had given her better wages than she deserved at first in order to relieve the poor mother of all anxiety about her daughter's wardrobe. She had shown her how to spend her money to the best advantage, and allowed her maid to teach her how to cut out and make her clothes and economise the materials.

No one would have known the Kate Evans of to-day to be the same as the slatternly, ignorant girl who came from a poor home three years ago. She was worth her wages now, there was no doubt about it. But who had made her so? To whom did she owe it that she was well up with her duties, and that any mistress might be attracted by her smart, tidy appearance, if she were in want of a place?

Kate's conscience answered, "To Mrs. Bateson."

She could not forget that this lady had been alike her friend and her mistress, and that to treat her with disrespect and disobedience would be the grossest ingratitude. Yet she allowed herself to be laughed and taunted into both.

The first time this occurred, Mrs. Bateson spoke to Kate with more of sorrow than anger. She knew that the girl was young and weak, and would be as easily led in the wrong direction as she had hitherto been in the right. In Fanny's hands, she would be pliant as wax.

So the lady spoke kindly, told Kate all that she felt about her intercourse with the other servant, and advised her not to be induced to do wrong by a companion who could not have the same interest in her welfare as her own good mother had.

"You know, Kate," she said, "how anxious your mother is that you should be kept from wrong company, and that you should become a true child of God. I have hoped much for you, and rejoiced in your improvement, and I do not wish to be hard with you. I forgive this one act of direct disobedience, because you have been misled. But, remember, I must not allow you to repeat it without feeling the consequences, and if you again break the rules of the household, I must give you notice to leave."

Kate cried, promised that she would not offend again, and felt all the more determined to keep her word, because Mrs. Bateson had not reminded her of benefits conferred in the past. It was all for her own sake, and for her mother's, and Kate's conscience confirmed every word that her mistress had said.

CHAPTER II.

EVIL COMMUNICATIONS.

KATE fully intended to keep her promise, and would have done so if only Fanny had been out of the way. She really felt sorry that she had grieved Mrs. Bateson, whose great kindness could not be put out of her mind, and she tried, by extra diligence and attention to her duties, to make what amends she could for her disrespect and disobedience.

Mrs. Bateson did look specially for Kate in the servants' pew on the next Sunday, and saw the girl in her place and seemingly joining with heart and voice in worship. She was very glad of this. Though a lady of high position and large means, she was a true mother. The thought of the temptations that beset the young made her watch the daughters of poorer mothers with genuine interest, and she rejoiced in their well-doing as a parent and a Christian.

Coming out of church, she gave Kate a pleasant smile and a word of encouragement, which, for the moment, made the girl more sorry for her past fault and still more anxious to make amends. But her battle was not over nor her victory so easily won.

All through the following week she had to bear many a jeer and taunt from Fanny Ellis, who was determined, as she said within herself, to "pay Mrs. Bateson out," by unsettling her younger housemaid.

"Poor little girl! So you have eaten humble pie, and begged Missus's pardon, and promised never to be naughty any more. You like to be in leading-strings and to do just as you are bid, whether you are in the house or out of it."

"It wasn't right of me to go with you instead of to church," said Kate, stoutly. "I don't see that there is any disgrace in owning one has done wrong, if one's conscience tells that we have."

"Oh dear no! But I suppose it is quite right of Mrs. Bateson to expect that we, grown-up women, should be ordered about like little children. I'm twenty-five."

"I am not, though," replied Kate.

"You are twenty and a grown-up woman, and you are worth three pounds a year more wages than she gives you."

"I don't know that. I never tried for another place, and I have no desire to change. Mrs. Bateson has been very kind to me," replied Kate.

"And to herself, too. She gets three-ha'p'orth of work for every penny she pays you, I know."

"No, indeed you are wrong. My wages may not be high, but Mrs. Bateson gave me far more than I earned when I first came," said the girl, earnestly.

"Then you need thank her for nothing, since she is taking it back again out of what you ought to have now," retorted Fanny.

The girl was so ready with her answers, so quick-witted and bold in her attacks, that she often silenced Kate's tongue, though she could not convince her that what she said was right. Kate often heartily wished herself out of Fanny's way, but that could not be, though she counted the days that must pass before she would leave, and rejoiced that the month was nearly at an end.

Mrs. Bateson had no idea of what was going on. Fanny did her work better than ever, with a double motive. She was determined her mistress should have no excuse for complaint on that score, and that she should give her a first-class character for efficiency—all that most inquirers would care about.

"And I mean to let her see that I am better worth keeping than some of her demure sort, though I won't be driven to spend my Sundays as my mistress chooses for the best place going."

Kate could not and would not tell what she had to put up with, so as the two were much thrown together during working hours, she had to listen in spite of herself.

By degrees Fanny's words made an impression. Kate insisted that, if you undertook a place on certain conditions, these should be observed.

"You knew the rules when you came, and ought to abide by them."

"Well, I am going because they are too hard and strict for me. You will say the same before long."

Fanny was right. The month was not out, yet Kate had begun to think that it was a shame to bind grown-up people by such rules, and in her heart to rebel against them and to wish them changed.

It was on the last Sunday, and Fanny was to leave on the following Wednesday morning. She was in high spirits, having secured a promising situation, and fully determined to show off her independence to the end.

Some little thing had happened between Kate and the cook, an old and valued servant, who had been a true friend to the young one. She guessed that Fanny meant mischief, and warned the younger girl against being carried away by bad advice.

"You have had a good home and a kind mistress, don't throw them away, Kate," she said. "Remember what you were when you came here first, with hardly a shoe to your foot, or a gown to your back, and don't be ungrateful."

"I had good shoes and gowns too," retorted Kate, angrily.

"Well, yes, you had, but the mistress bought for you every decent bit of clothing you had, I know that," replied cook.

"I paid her back, out of my wages, the money laid down to buy the clothes with, so you need not fling that in my face," said Kate, angrily. She did not like those old days to be talked about, now that she was so much better off.

Cook had tried to speak a word in season, and she was full of good will for Kate. But, unfortunately, she said the wrong words, and did harm where she meant to do good. She had not her mistress's wisdom or forbearance in dealing with the young, and as Kate said, "She flung my poverty in my face, and I didn't like it."

"I should wonder if you did," replied Fanny; "if I were you, I would not stop in a place where either mistress or servant could do it by me."

Cook had roused Kate's temper instead of awakening afresh her gratitude by reminding her of past favours. Fanny resolved that the fire thus kindled should not go out for want of stirring, and said further irritating things with such success that Kate went to bed that night in a thoroughly rebellious and discontented spirit.

She shed many a bitter tear at the thought of having been taunted with being too poor to buy her own clothes when she came to the place, and felt humiliated and disgraced.

"I should like to get right away from them all, and I do not care about staying in a place where I may be talked to again as cook spoke last night," she said to herself.

Morning—Fanny's last Sunday morning,—found her in no better spirit, and she was more than ready to yield when tempted to disobey once again, though she made a show of refusing at first, and said, "Mrs. Bateson is particular, but it is for our good. It is no benefit to her."

She ended by falling in with Fanny's proposal, and spent the Sunday morning without going near church.

Mrs. Bateson said nothing to the girl until Monday, but Kate saw a sorrowful expression on her mistress's kind face which spoke to her heart more loudly than words would have done.

She had felt very defiant and independent when she came in from her walk with Fanny, but as the quiet hours passed, she realised the position in which she had placed herself. She would have a night to sleep on it before anything could be said, but there was little rest for Kate. She heard the clock strike hour after hour, as she lay awake thinking of her mistress's kindness, of the home she had enjoyed, the regular habits, the plentiful food, the quiet Sabbaths.

She seemed compelled to think of them again and again, and she knew that her present health and strength were largely owing to all these advantages.

She remembered too how, during a rather severe illness she had in her second year of service, she had been nursed and cared for, attended by the family doctor at her master's cost, and nourished with all the little dainties that could tempt her appetite when she was able to take food again. She knew that in most cases a servant who breaks down at her post is sent away, perhaps to a poor home or lodgings, to recover as best she may.

Kate had cried out of vexation and wounded pride the night before. She wept yet more bitterly at the thought of her own ingratitude, and of the pain which the knowledge of it would cause her mother.

"What a poor-spirited thing you are!" said Fanny, as she saw Kate's red eyelids and pale face. "You have been fretting half the night, and what for?"

"I shall lose my place, and I know I deserve to be sent away. I promised, and I have broken my word. It is not pleasant to think of that, to say nothing of my mistress. She has been good to me and my mother."

"Well, you are a goose!" replied Fanny, contemptuously. "And you are like a weathercock, going round from one side to the other. I never know where to have you. If you do lose your place, there are plenty of better ones to be had for looking after, and to have stayed here three years is character enough for anybody. Give notice yourself as I did, and then Mrs. Bateson will see how much you care for her place. You need not tell your mother directly. Let her know when you have another situation to go to."

But Kate felt that she had already followed Fanny's advice once too often. No fear of her going the length proposed. She was not kept long in suspense; directly after breakfast she was summoned to her mistress's room.

"You will know why I have sent for you, Kate. I have never broken my word when I have promised you anything, and I cannot break it now. I have no need to explain why I am parting with you. You know, without any word from me, that you will have to leave on this day month. And you must feel that no mistress could possibly keep a girl who repeatedly set her orders at defiance, and broke the rules of the household," said Mrs. Bateson.

Kate had indeed known what was coming, and she bitterly regretted the conduct which had brought it upon her. She dared not lift an appealing look to the face of her kind mistress, and felt unable to utter a word in her defence, so stood there with downcast eyes, in which tears were already rising.

What could she say? Only confess her ingratitude and folly, and plead that she had listened to evil counsel, and acted contrary to her better judgment.

She would gladly have said this if she had felt the least hope that she would be forgiven. But she did not.

And, after waiting for a few moments in silence, Mrs. Bateson said, "You can leave the room, Kate; I have nothing further to say to you at present."

The girl turned away to hide the tears which were now streaming down her cheeks, and left her mistress's presence without a word. If she had but looked up, and noted the expression of pity and sorrow in Mrs. Bateson's kind face, she would surely have tried to tell what was in her heart. But she did not; and as she walked slowly away, she left the lady with the impression that the girl, for whom she had done so much, was ungrateful as well as wilfully disobedient.

Fanny was not far off. Through that day and the next she strove, after her fashion, to cheer Kate, by repeating all her old arguments against being kept in leading-strings and treated like babies. But her words produced no sense of comfort, for whilst she could not help hearing them, Kate was looking back on the past three years of comfort, plenty, and peace in that fair home, and of the kindness shown her under its roof, and saying to herself, "But for listening to you, I might be looking forward to more such happy years. As it is, I must soon turn my back on all here, and they will feel that I have behaved so badly."

Fanny departed in high spirits on the Wednesday morning, and despite the evil effects of her companionship, Kate felt more unhappy still when she was gone. She had offended her old friend the cook, by resenting her well-meant advice, so very few words now passed between them.