"I guess I should," he said at last.
"Well, then, come with me."
Sewell judged it best not to tell him whose furnace he was to take
care of; he had an impression that Miss Vane was included in the
resentment which Lemuel seemed to cherish toward him. But when he
had him at her door, "It's the lady whom you saw at my house the
other day," he explained. It was then too late for Lemuel to rebel
if he had wished, and they went in.
If there was any such unkindness in Lemuel's breast toward her, it
yielded promptly to her tact. She treated him at once, not like a
servant, but like a young person, and yet she used a sort of respect
for his independence which was soothing to his rustic pride. She put
it on the money basis at once; she told him that she should give him
ten dollars a month for taking care of the furnace, keeping the
sidewalk clear of snow, shovelling the paths in the backyard for the
women to get at their clothes-lines, carrying up and down coal and
ashes for the grates, and doing errands. She said that this was what
she had always paid, and asked him if he understood and were
satisfied.
Lemuel answered with one yes to both her questions, and then Miss
Vane said that of course till the weather changed they should want
no fire in the furnace, but that it might change, any day, and they
should begin at once and count October as a full month.
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