"Do with Bridget?" she asked. "What _do_ you mean, Tom? Has Bridget said anything about leaving? And I was only this afternoon congratulating myself on how good she was! I declare I don't know what this world is going to do for servants--we pay Bridget more than anyone in this town, I know we do, and treat her like one of the family, almost, and now she is going to leave! It's discouraging! When did she tell you she was going to leave?" "Leave?" exclaimed Mr. Fenelby. "I never thought of such a thing. I was only wondering what to do with her in--in the Commonwealth of Bobberts." "Oh!" cried Mrs. Fenelby, with a sigh of profound relief. She took up her sewing again, and bent her head over it. "Is that all! Of course Bridget expects to be treated like one of the family. I told her when she came that I always treated my maids as part of the family." "But we can't have Bridget come in and sit with us whenever we have a session of congress," said Mr. Fenelby. "Certainly not!" said Mrs. Fenelby, very decidedly. "I wouldn't think of such a thing!" "So she can't be a State," said Mr. Fenelby, "and if we made her a Territory it would be as bad. She could come in and talk. She would insist on talking." "And if we did not let her," said Mrs. Fenelby, "she would leave, and I know we could never get another girl as good as Bridget." "Now you get some idea of the hard work our forefathers had when they made the United States," said Mr. Fenelby, rising and walking up and down the room. "But of course they had no case like Bridget. Bridget is more like a--more like the Philippines. Well!" he exclaimed, "it is a wonder I didn't think of that in the first place!" "What, dear?" asked his wife. "That Bridget is a colony," said Mr. Fenelby. "That is just what she is! She is a foreign possession, controlled by the nation, but having no voice in its affairs. She can pay taxes, but she can't vote." He hurriedly wrote the final words of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Bobberts in his book and drew a line underneath it, for Bobberts was showing signs of awakening. Under the line Mr. Fenelby wrote "First Session of Congress." Bobberts awoke in a good humor, ready for his evening meal, and Mrs. Fenelby put aside her sewing and took him. "I am glad Bobberts is awake," said Mr. Fenelby, "because now we can go ahead and vote on the tariff. I wouldn't like to do it if he was not present, because he has a right to take part in the debate, and it would not be fair to hold the first session without a full representation. Now, suppose we make the duty on all goods and things brought into the house an even ten per cent.?" [Illustration: "She was busy with Bobberts"] "That would be nice," said Mrs. Fenelby, absently, for she was busy with Bobberts. "How much is ten per cent. of twenty-five hundred dollars, Tom?" "Two hundred and fifty," said Mr. Fenelby, "and that is what we ought to save for Bobberts every year. Ten per cent. will just do it."