Susan thought that a wife ought to see that all was well regulated in her household; but poor Mrs. Otley was evidently ill and suffering, and she pitied her. As Susan went away, she saw the little girl crying because the maid had slapped her, and the little boy slapping the maid because she would not let him put his fingers into the pie she was preparing. She retraced her steps to her humble home, in the full persuasion that she was happier than any of the inmates of Holmy-bank farm. Poor Mrs. Otley became rapidly worse; and before many months had elapsed, her troubles and her finery were alike brought to a final close, and she was laid in the quiet grave. Mr. Otley remained a widower with two young children. He was a sincere mourner. The natural kindness of his heart had caused him to become truly attached to the woman whose preference for him had at first been her principal attraction; and her sufferings latterly had still farther endeared her. But when the freshness of his grief had subsided; when he found that a bustling old body, whom he took as housekeeper, kept all things around him far more neat and trim than they had formerly been; when he found his kitchen clean, his buttons sewed on, his shirts mended; and, above all, when everything he asked for was always forthcoming from that compendious receptacle, the old woman's pockets,--his spirits gradually revived. His children were less fretful, their faces were cleaner; and he only lamented that the old woman could not read, and that he had not much leisure himself to attend to their morals, or their education. By degrees he began to think that a younger woman might perhaps attend to the dairy and to the chickens as effectually as old Goody Thompson; that a younger woman might make the new servant-girl (for Mrs. Thompson had dismissed the slip-shod maiden) scour the pots and pans as perseveringly; and he also began to think it would be more agreeable to have a younger face and a brighter smile welcome him home, after his labours of the day. And whom could he find who would be more active and useful than Susan Foster? Who was calculated to train his children's minds to duty, submission, and religious resignation, more practically than Susan Foster? And where could he find a brighter smile, or more sparkling eyes, than Susan Foster's. CHAPTER XII. Bairns, and their bairns, make sure a firmer tie Than aught in love the like of us can spy. See yon twa elms that grow up side by side: Suppose them, some years syne, bridegroom and bride; Nearer and nearer ilka year they've pressed, Till wide their spreading branches have increased. This shields the other frae the eastlin blast, That in return defends it frae the west. Allan Ramsay.