was my aunt's name--'is away. She's a troublesome old lady. Ye'll hev
to be sharp wi' her, or she'll be into the fire, or out o' t' winda.
She goes on wires, she does, old though she be.'

"'How old, ma'am?' says I.

"'Ninety-three her last birthday, and that's eight months gone,' says
she; and she laughed. 'And don't be askin' questions about her before
your aunt--mind, I tell ye; just take her as you find her, and that's
all.'

"'And what's to be my business about her, please, ma'am?' says I.

"'About the old lady? Well,' says she, 'your aunt, Mrs. Shutters, will
tell you that; but I suppose you'll hev to sit in the room with your
work, and see she's at no mischief, and let her amuse herself with her
things on the table, and get her her food or drink as she calls for
it, and keep her out o' mischief, and ring the bell hard if she's
troublesome.'

"'Is she deaf, ma'am?'

"'No, nor blind,' says she; 'as sharp as a needle, but she's gone
quite aupy, and can't remember nout rightly; and Jack the Giant
Killer, or Goody Twoshoes will please her as well as the king's court,
or the affairs of the nation.'

"'And what did the little girl go away for, ma'am, that went on Friday
last? My aunt wrote to my mother she was to go.'