your life ! " "UP-STAII^S, DOWN-STAIRS, IN MY LADY'S CHAMBER." " Labor is rest — from the sorrows that greet us ; Rest from all petty vexations that meet us ; Rest from sin promptings that ever entreat us ; Rest from world sirens that lure us to ill. Work — and pure slumbers shall wait on thy pillow ; Work — thou shalt ride over Care's coming billow ; Lie not down wearied 'neath Woe's weeping willow, Work with a stout heart and resolute will ! HERE is a cry for " Help" all over the land. It is not because our houses are on fire or we are besieged by burglars, or have fallen into the river and don't know how to swim. It is not because the highwayman holds a pistol to our nose and says, " Your money or It is not because the roof has fallen in, and we are struggling in vain to get our limbs out of the ruins. It is not the cry of the beggar who has lost the use of his eyes and can only see clearly to count his money when nobody is looking. It is not from the unfortunate who has fallen into a ditch and is too fat to crawl out. It is not from, the starving and the homeless who appeal to our charity. It is not from the missionary society who want more money to send fresh ministers to the Cannibal Islands because the last batch have been eaten up. It is not from the hunter whom a grizzly has driven up a tree, and who is afraid to come down to be hugged by the brute who is quietly sitting on his hind legs to receive him. It is not from persons who want to borrow money, or build school- houses in the wilderness, or churches at the North Pole. It is none of these, although they arc heard often enough. It is a cry for help, "Up-stairs, down-stairs, and in my lady's chamber." It means, " Can you tell me of a good servant ? " (73) 74 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. In the great majority of American families this is the cry, and it is a cry for the most necessary article in a well-to-do family, and the one which is the most difficult to get. If you have money in your purse, you may go out and buy what you please at the market and in the stores. But some of the richest people in the land find it the hardest thing in the world to get a good servant. They can get help in plenty, but not the right sort. If walls have ears, as they say, they must get quite tired listening to some such conversations as this, which are to be constantly heard in the houses of the wealthy and those who are able to pay for help : " My dear Mrs. So-and-so, I am delighted to see you looking so well. How is Mr. So-and-so, and how are the children?" " Thank you, they are all pretty well ; but you must excuse my having the broom and dust-pan in my hand. The fact is, we are all upside-down and I am driven out of my wits." " Dear me, Mrs. S., you quite alarm me. I hope nothing serious has happened." " Serious enough, indeed ! I am without a servant. My house- maid left me last week, and my cook went off yesterday."

AI-modernized reading of the original text

your life ! " "UP-STAIRS, DOWN-STAIRS, IN MY LADY'S CHAMBER." " Labor is rest — from the sorrows that greet us ; Rest from all petty vexations that meet us ; Rest from sin promptings that ever entreat us ; Rest from world sirens that lure us to ill. Work — and pure slumbers shall wait on thy pillow ; Work — thou shalt ride over Care's coming billow ; Lie not down wearied 'neath Woe's weeping willow, Work with a stout heart and resolute will ! HERE is a cry for " Help" all over the land. It is not because our houses are on fire or we are besieged by burglars, or have fallen into the river and don't know how to swim. It is not because the highwayman holds a pistol to our nose and says, " Your money or It is not because the roof has fallen in, and we are struggling in vain to get our limbs out of the ruins. It is not the cry of the beggar who has lost the use of his eyes and can only see clearly to count his money when nobody is looking. It is not from the unfortunate who has fallen into a ditch and is too fat to crawl out. It is not from, the starving and the homeless who appeal to our charity. It is not from the missionary society who want more money to send fresh ministers to the Cannibal Islands because the last batch have been eaten up. It is not from the hunter whom a grizzly has driven up a tree, and who is afraid to come down to be hugged by the brute who is quietly sitting on his hind legs to receive him. It is not from persons who want to borrow money, or build schoolhouses in the wilderness, or churches at the North Pole. It is none of these, although they arc heard often enough. It is a cry for help, "Up-stairs, down-stairs, and in my lady's chamber." It means, " Can you tell me of a good servant ? " (73) 74 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. In the great majority of American families this is the cry, and it is a cry for the most necessary article in a well-to-do family, and the one which is the most difficult to get. If you have money in your purse, you may go out and buy what you please at the market and in the stores. But some of the richest people in the land find it the hardest thing in the world to get a good servant. They can get help in plenty, but not the right sort. If walls have ears, as they say, they must get quite tired listening to some such conversations as this, which are to be constantly heard in the houses of the wealthy and those who are able to pay for help : " My dear Mrs. So-and-so, I am delighted to see you looking so well. How is Mr. So-and-so, and how are the children?" " Thank you, they are all pretty well ; but you must excuse my having the broom and dust-pan in my hand. The fact is, we are all upside-down and I am driven out of my wits." " Dear me, Mrs. S., you quite alarm me. I hope nothing serious has happened." " Serious enough, indeed ! I am without a servant. My housemaid left me last week, and my cook went off yesterday."

The hearthstone; or, Life at home