THE SUSPICIOUS JACKDAW.
Patience thought extremely handsome; in particular, there was a cornelian necklace, made of cut cornelians, which she considered to be particularly beautiful; so did the jackdaw, for when Madam Mortimer allowed Patience to wash this necklace in some warm water, he stood on the edge of the basin pecking at it playfully, as if he wanted to get it from her. Patience would not let him have it, and when she had carefully dried it she laid it on some clean cotton wool, and said to the jackdaw, 'You are not going to have it, Jack. It's the most beautiful thing that mistress has got, so I reckon she'll never let you touch it.'
When Madam Mortimer heard this, she smiled covertly at the ignorance of Patience, and presently said to her, 'Child, you may go down and ask for a piece of leather and some rouge powder, and I will show you how to clean this set of emeralds.'
So Patience ran clown to the footboy, and got what she required, and very happy she was under her mistress's directions in polishing and cleaning the jewels— quite as happy as she could have felt if they had been her own; yet, when Madam Mortimer said to her, 'Which do you think the handsomest now, Patience; the green stones or the red ones?' she replied, 'O, the red ones are the handsomest, ma'am, by a deal.'
Just at this moment visitors were announced, and Madam Mortimer retired to her own room previous to seeing them, taking Patience with her to attend on her, and see to the set of her lace shawl, and of a new cap that she donned for the occasion. She turned the key of the parlor where all her jewelry lay about,
