J. J. Bell

“ Next moment I was standin' tremlin' jist inside the last door on the left.
It was a big, braw kitchen, though no' as tidy as ma mither's; but there was a reason for that. A lady—oh, I could see that she was a lady right enough—-was at the table, wi' a white apron on her, as busy as could be. She wasna really near as large as she looked to me then. She would be forty or fifty, maybe; her hair was beginnin' to turn gray. ”

“ She wasna angry, but she says:—
"I think you are a little excited, Jemima, and tired, too. Go to your room and sit there quietly till I call you. Do nothing at all. Just get your wits together—if you really want to be a help."
Weel, I jist did as I was bid, and to tell ye the truth I wasna sorry to get sittin' doon. I wrote a card to ma mither, and was jist aboot to dae another to Jessie, when there was a knock at the door. I was oot in a jiffy, and seen the young man in the white shirt-sleeves disappearin' into the kitchen. ”

“ Luckily it's no' bad hair, bein' chestnut, wi' a natural wave, and as thick as thick.
"Come, Jemima," she says, as if she hadna noticed onything, "and I'll show you your room." And a nice wee room it was. "Get changed as quickly as you can," says she.
"Yes, mem," says I. "Wrapper or black dress?" Ye see, I was prepared for onything, for Mither and me had sat up near a' nicht, alterin Jessie's things to fit me. Fortunately Jessie's the stout one. ”