"Go and consult with him then," said her mistress; "you are much too angry at present to be able to judge for yourself." And the lady quitted the kitchen, thinking to herself as she did so, "What a valuable servant Miriam would be, if she could only control that terrible temper! When there is nothing to ruffle her, no one could perform her duties better, but an affair like this serves to show how much of the tiger-cat spirit is within her." CHAPTER II. The Twins. "ANYTHING the matter down in the lower regions, my dear? You look annoyed," said the mild, placid little husband of Mrs. Mellor, as his lady entered the drawing-room in which he was resting himself after his walk. "Oh! We've had a tempest in a teapot!" replied Mrs. Mellor. "Miriam is in one of her tempers." "I thought that I heard loud voices as I came into the house," said the quiet, easy-going master, as he laid down on the table a new magazine which he had been reading as he walked. The attention of Mrs. Mellor was attracted by the shine of the paper cutter which was placed between the leaves as a marker. "Why, there's the very silver knife which has caused all this storm!" cried the lady. "I never dreamed of your having taken it out of the room." "I wanted it to cut the leaves of my book. Is any harm done?" asked her husband. "I'm afraid that that paper knife has lost me one of the most honest, most industrious, most steady girls that I ever had in my service," replied Mrs. Mellor, who was really vexed at what had occurred. "However, it may not be too late to set matters right," she added; and after hastily ringing the bell, she quitted the room. The loud voices which her husband had heard from the kitchen were sounding louder than ever. Mrs. Mellor had rung the bell rather sharply, but it was not till she had more than once called out the name of Miriam, that Miriam appeared up the kitchen stairs. "Miriam, the paper knife is found; your master had it," said the lady in a mild voice, intended to soothe the feelings of the maid. "All is right now, all is cleared up; I've no wish that you and I should part because Caroline made a mistake." "All's not right," said Miriam with petulance; "hurt feelings can't be plaistered up with a word. I can't stop in this house with Caroline. I'm going to tell my brother, ma'am, that I've given you warning." And the ill-tempered girl, turning her back on her mistress, hurried upstairs to put on her bonnet and shawl. "What a sad pity it is that Miriam, a good girl in other respects, lets herself be so conquered by her temper," thought Mrs. Mellor, as, with just displeasure, she returned to the sitting-room in which she had left her husband.