MY FIRST LANDLADY AND EMPLOYMENT. THOMAS AND ROBERT COOPER, HOLYOAKE, AND OTHERS.

I was more than fortunate in finding a dear, kind, motherly landlady at Notting Hill, for she soon set me at rest about my food for the week. I know I did not look rich, but I felt a great deal less so; and when she told me she would see about my board, and I could settle with her on Saturday, I felt at once in a good position for a fresh start in life. The only drawback in the house was that my landlady's mother was very mad on one point; she would not eat a morsel of food she thought her daughter had even looked at. She had a room to herself, purchased her own food, and actually carried it about with her in a large pocket in her apron, and the moment her daughter looked at her, or touched her when passing, she accused her of throwing poison on to it, at once flung it on to the floor or down the staircase, and demanded money to purchase a fresh supply. There were seven or eight of us in the house, and we all pretended to poison the old woman, but our pretences were no good. It was only the best friend the old creature had in the world she accused, and, indeed, at times almost drove her daughter mad also.