Colby went
down stairs and told the servant, who was scrubbing the kitchen floor,
what had occurred, and added that she "had always had her suspicions of
that Miss Very."
* * * * *
While Quincy was talking with Alice the day before, his dinner that Mrs.
Hawkins had saved for him was being burned to a crisp in and on the
stove. Mrs. Hawkins's attention was finally attracted to it, and,
turning to Betsy, she said, "Law sakes, somethin' must be burnin'."
Running to the stove, she soon discovered the cause. "Mercy on me!" she
ejaculated. "I left that damper open, and his dinner's burnt to a
cinder. Wall, I don't care; he may be a good lodger, an' all that, but
he's a mighty poor boarder; and it's no satisfaction gittin' up things
for him to eat, and then lettin' them go to waste, even if he does pay
for it. Them's my sentiments, and I'll feel better now I've spit it
out."
The good woman went to work to clean up her stove, while Betsy kept on
with the seemingly endless dish washing. Mrs. Hawkins finished her work,
and, going to the sink, began to wipe the accumulated pile of dishes.
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