CAT Forklift GC25K HP Schematic,

Service, Operation & Maintenance

Manual
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CAT Forklift GC25K HP Schematic, Service, Operation & Maintenance

ManualSize: 27.0 MBFormat: PDFLanguage: EnglishBrand: CAT CaterpillarType
of Machine: ForkliftType of Manual: Schematic, Service Manual, Operation &
Maintenance ManualModel: CAT GC25K HP ForkliftDate: 2010Content:Main
Harness S15G Fuel System4G63 Tier II SCH Chassis and Mast: Tier II Wiring
Schematic99719-80150-00 Chassis and Mast: Foreword99719-80150-01 Chassis
and Mast: General Information99719-80150-02 Chassis and Mast: Cooling
System99719-80150-03 Chassis and Mast: Electrical System99719-80150-04
Chassis and Mast: Power Train99719-80150-05 Chassis and Mast: Powershift
Transmission99719-80150-06 Chassis and Mast: Front Axle and Reduction
Differential99719-80150-07 Chassis and Mast: Rear Axle99719-80150-08 Chassis
and Mast: Brake System99719-80150-09 Chassis and Mast: Steering
System99719-80150-10 Chassis and Mast: Fuel System99719-80150-11 Chassis
and Mast: Hydraulic System99719-80150-12 Chassis and Mast: Mast and
Forks99719-80150-13 Chassis and Mast: Service Data99739-92100-00 Options
Supplement: Foreword99739-92100-01 Options Supplement: Rear Combination
Lamp Kit99739-92100-02 Options Supplement: Working Lamp Kit99739-92100-03
Options Supplement: Warning Lamp Kit99739-92100-04 Options Supplement:
Back Buzzer Piezo Kit99739-92100-05 Options Supplement: Back Mirror
Kit99739-92100-06 Options Supplement: Oil Filter Kit (1-Ton
Model)99739-92100-07 Options Supplement: Oil Filter Kit (2-, 3-Ton
Models)99739-92100-08 Options Supplement: Enclosed Alternator
Kit99739-92100-09 Options Supplement: Spark Plug Kit99739-92100-10 Options
Supplement: Fastener Kit99739-92100-11 Options Supplement: Front Axle
Breather Kit99739-92100-12 Options Supplement: Wide Axle Kit (2-. 3-Ton
Models)99739-92100-13 Options Supplement: Semi Wide Axle Kit (1-Ton
Model)99739-92100-14 Options Supplement: Semi Wide Axle Kit (2-, 3-Ton
Models)99739-92100-15 Options Supplement: Dual Element Kit99739-92100-16
Options Supplement: Dust Indicator Kit99710-80140-00
00_FOREWARD99710-80140-01 01_SAFETY RULES FOR LIFT TRUCK
OPERATORS99710-80140-02 02_KNOW YOUR LIFT TRUCK99710-80140-03
03_HOW TO AVOID A TIPOVER; HOW TO SURVIVE ONE99710-80140-04
04_REFUELING99710-80140-05 05_OPERATION99710-80140-06
06_OPERATING TECHNIQUES99710-80140-07 07_STORING THE LIFT
TRUCK99710-80140-08 08_TRANSPORTATION HINTS99710-80140-09
09_SPECIAL SITUATIONS99710-80140-10 10_IF ANY TROUBLE SHOULD
OCCUR99710-80140-11 11_MAINTENANCE99710-80140-12 12_SERVICE
DATA99710-80140-13 13_TO THE CAT LIFT TRUCK OWNERCat Pub List
Publication List (Service, Operator, & Parts Manuals)Mast Tilting Angles Mast
Tilting AnglesREF-18-0001C How To Determine Correct Mast Rails Lift Cylinders
And Mast HosingREF-18-0001C How To Determine Correct Mast Rails Lift
Cylinders And Mast Hosing (Spanish)REF-18-0002C How To Locate Fluid
CapacitiesREF-18-0002C How To Locate Fluid Capacities
(Spanish)REF-18-0003C How To Use A Pick ListREF-18-0003C How To Use A
Pick List (Spanish)REF-18-0007C Abbreviations And Acronyms ListREF-18-0008C
Diagnostic Trouble (Error) CodesThis part manual inlcude all spare parts number
you need inside this model, for you easier in fixing your forklift replace new spare
part hight performance.This service manual is a guide for servicing Cat Lift Trucks.
For your convenience the instructions are grouped by systems as an easy
reference.This Original Instructions (Operator's) Manual describes operating
procedures, daily checks and simple maintenance for safe usage of your Cat lift
truck.SERVICE MANUALCHAPTER 1 GENERAL INFORMATION1.1 Model
View1.2 Models Covered1.2.1 Lift Truck Nomenclatures and Definitions1.3 Serial
Number Locations1.4 Dimensions1.5 Technical Data1.6 PerformanceCHAPTER 2
COOLING SYSTEM2.1 Specifications2.2 Structure2.3 Removal and
Installation2.3.1 Fan Belt Removal2.3.2 Suggestions for Removal2.3.3
Installation2.4 Inspection and Adjustment2.4.1 Fan Belt Inspection2.4.2 Fan Belt
Tension2.4.3 Connecting Hoses2.4.4 Coolant2.4.5 Radiator CapCHAPTER 3
ELECTRIC SYSTEM3.1 Chassis Electrical Devices Wiring Outline3.1.1 Harnesses
Layout3.1.2 Components Layout3.2 Structure3.2.1 Console Box3.2.2 Major
Electrical Components3.2.3 Table of Lamps3.3 Console Box3.3.1 Disassembly3.4
Battery Maintenance3.4.1 State of Charge and Electrolyte Specific Gravity (S.G.)
Adjustment3.4.2 Specific Gravity Reading and State of Charge3.4.3 Charging
Precautions3.5 Instrument Panel3.5.1 Instrument Panel Screen Element3.5.2
Basic Screen Display3.5.3 Basic Operation3.5.4 When An Error Occurs3.5.5
Warning Lamps3.5.6 Optional Functions3.5.7 Hour Meters3.5.8
Troubleshooting3.6 Wire Color3.6.2 List of Wire Colors3.7 Troubleshooting3.7.1
Starter System3.7.2 Gauges3.7.3 Lighting System3.8 Electrical
SchematicCHAPTER 4 CONTROLLERS4.1 Outline4.2 Main Functions4.2.2
Instrument Panel4.2.3 VCM (Vehicle Control Module)1-M4.2.4 ECM (Gasoline
Engine Control Module)4.2.5 Remote Input/Output Units4.2.6 GSE Connector4.3
Service Tool Functions4.3.1 Service Tool Menus4.3.2 Service Tool Box4.4 Mast
Interlock System4.4.1 Function4.4.2 VCM1-M Controller, Mast Interlock System
Checking Procedure4.4.3 Active Test Inspection Procedure4.5 Driving Interlock
System4.5.1 Function4.5.2 Driving Interlock System Checking Procedure for
Powershift T/M Lift Trucks4.5.3 Active Test Inspection Procedure4.6 Seat Belt
Warning Lamp4.6.1 Function4.6.2 Seat Belt Warning Lamp Checking
Procedure4.7 Parking Brake Warning Buzzer and Lamp4.7.1 Function4.7.2
Parking Brake Warning Buzzer/Lamp Checking Procedure4.7.3 Parking Brake
Warning Buzzer/Lamp Checking Procedure with Key in OFF Position4.8 Harness
Codes4.9 Controller Details4.9.1 VCM1-M Controller4.9.2 Seat Switch/Seat Belt
Switch4.9.3 Parking Brake Switch4.9.4 Direction Lever4.9.5 Speed Sensor4.9.6
T/M Solenoid4.9.7 Unload Solenoid4.9.8 Lift Lock Solenoid4.9.9 Warning
Buzzer4.9.10 Warning Buzzer Relay4.9.11 Warning Buzzer Circuit4.9.12
Instrument Panel4.10 Error Codes and Troubleshootings4.10.1 Error Code
Display4.10.2 Diagnosis Table (F Code)4.10.3 Error Codes and
Troubleshooting4.11 Locations of Sensors and SwitchesCHAPTER 5 POWER
TRAIN5.1 Removal and Installation (MC Models)5.1.1 Removal of Engine and
Transmission Assembly5.1.2 Removal of Engine and Transmission Assembly (for
Gasoline-Engine Lift Trucks)5.2 Removal and Installation (FC Models)5.2.1
Removal of Engine and Transmission AssemblyCHAPTER 6 POWERSHIFT
TRANSMISSION6.1 Structure and Functions6.1.1 Transmission6.1.2 Torque
Converter6.1.3 Control Valve6.1.4 Hydraulic System Schematic of Powershift
Transmission6.2 Removal and Installation6.2.1 Removal6.2.2 Installation6.3
Control Valve6.3.1 Disassembly6.3.2 Reassembly6.4 Input Shaft Assembly6.4.1
Disassembly6.5 Oil Pump Assembly6.5.1 Disassembly6.5.2 Reassembly6.6
Inspection and Adjustment6.6.1 Oil Pressure Measurement6.6.2 Clutch (Inching)
Pedal Adjustment6.6.3 Inching Cable, Adjustment6.7 Troubleshooting6.8
Tightening Torque6.9 Service DataCHAPTER 7 FRONT AXLE AND REDUCTION
DIFFERENTIAL7.1 Structure7.1.1 Front Axle7.1.2 Reduction Differential7.2
Removal and Installation7.2.1 Front Wheels7.3 Front Axle7.3.2 Reduction
Differential7.4 Disassembly and Reassembly7.4.1 Front Axle7.4.2 Reduction
Differential7.5 Troubleshooting7.6 Service DataCHAPTER 8 REAR AXLE8.1
Structure and Functions8.1.1 Rear Axle in General8.1.2 Structure of Each
Component8.1.3 Steering Cylinder8.2 Removal and Installation8.2.1 Rear Wheel
and Rear Axle Assembly8.3 Disassembly and Reassembly8.3.1 Wheel Hub,
Disassembly and Reassembly8.3.2 Knuckle (King Pin), Disassembly and
Reassembly8.3.3 Steering Cylinder, Disassembly and Reassembly8.3.4 Tie Rod,
Disassembly and ReassemblyCHAPTER 9 BRAKE SYSTEM9.1 Structure9.1.1
Brake System9.2 Disassembly and Reassembly9.2.1 Master Cylinder9.2.2 Wheel
Brakes9.2.3 Wheel Cylinder9.3 Inspection and Adjustment9.3.1 Automatic
Adjuster Test9.3.2 Manual Adjustment9.3.3 Parking Brake Cable Adjustment9.3.4
Brake Pedal Adjustment9.3.5 Brake Lines Bleeding9.3.6 Braking Performance
Test9.3.7 Parking Brake Lever9.4 Troubleshooting9.5 Service DataCHAPTER 10
STEERING SYSTEM10.1 Structure and Functions10.1.1 Steering System10.1.2
Steering Valve10.1.3 Steering Column10.2 Disassembly and Reassembly10.2.2
Steering Wheel and Steering Valve, Removal and Installation10.2.3 Steering
Wheel10.2.4 Steering Valve10.2.5 Tilt Lock Lever10.3 Steering Valve10.3.1
Disassembly10.3.2 Reassembly10.4 Troubleshooting10.5 Service DataCHAPTER
11 HYDRAULIC SYSTEM11.1 Structure and Functions11.1.1 Outline11.2
Hydraulic Circuit Diagram (For Models With MC Control Valve)11.3 Hydraulic
Circuit Diagram (For Models With FC Control Valve)11.4 Hydraulic Tank11.5
Hydraulic Pump (Gear Pump)11.6 Control Valve11.7 Flow Regulator Valve (for
Models with FC Control Valve Only)11.8 Down Safety Valve11.9 Lift Cylinder11.10
Tilt Cylinder11.11 Disassembly and Reassembly11.11.1 Hydraulic Pump11.11.2
Lift Cylinder11.11.3 Tilt Cylinder11.11.4 Flow Regulator Valve11.11.5
Piping11.11.6 Suction Strainer and Return Filter11.12 Inspection and
Adjustment11.12.1 Hydraulic Tank11.12.2 Control Valve11.12.3 Descent
Test11.12.4 Forward Tilt Test11.13 Troubleshooting11.13.2 Hydraulic System
Cleaning After a Component Failure11.14 Service Data11.15 MC Control
Valve11.15.1 Structure and Operation11.15.2 Control Valve, Removal and
Installation11.15.3 Disassembly and Assembly11.16 FC Control Valve11.16.1
Structure and Operation11.16.2 Disassembly and AssemblyCHAPTER 12 MAST
AND FORKS12.1 Simplex Mast12.1.1 Mast System12.2 Structure and
Functions12.2.1 Simplex Mast (5A15C to 5A33C)12.2.2 Mast Operation12.3
Removal and Installation12.3.1 Mast and Lift Bracket Assembly12.4 Disassembly
and Reassembly12.4.1 Simplex Mast Disassembly12.4.2 Simplex Mast
Reassembly12.5 Removal and Installation of Mast Rollers and Strips without
Removing12.5.1 Simplex Mast12.6 Inspection and Adjustment (Simplex
Mast)12.6.2 Forks12.6.3 Chain Tension Inspection and Adjustment12.6.4
Checking Chain Elongation12.6.5 Adjusting Clearance Between Lift Bracket Roller
and Inner Mast12.6.6 Mast Roller Clearance Adjustment12.6.7 Mast Strip
Clearance Inspection and Adjustment12.6.8 Tilt Angle Adjustment12.6.9 Right and
Left Lift Cylinder Stroke Inspection and Adjustment12.7 Troubleshooting (Simplex
Mast)12.8 Service Data (Simplex Mast)12.9 Duplex Mast12.9.1 Mast System12.10
Structure and Functions12.10.1 Duplex (Dual Full-Free Panoramic) Mast (5B15C
to 5B33C)12.10.2 Mast Operation12.11 Removal and Installation12.11.1 Mast and
Lift Bracket Assembly12.12 Disassembly and Reassembly12.12.1 Duplex Mast
Disassembly12.12.2 Duplex Mast Reassembly12.13 Removal and Installation of
Mast Rollers and Strips without Removing12.13.1 Duplex Mast12.14 Inspection
and Adjustment (Duplex Mast)12.14.1 Inspection and Adjustment (Duplex
Mast)12.14.2 Forks12.14.3 Chain Tension Inspection and Adjustment12.14.4
Checking Chain Elongation12.14.5 Adjusting Clearance Between Lift Bracket
Roller and Inner Mast12.14.6 Mast Roller Clearance Adjustment12.14.7 Mast Strip
Clearance Inspection and Adjustment12.14.8 Tilt Angle Adjustment12.14.9 Right
and Left Lift Cylinder Stroke Inspection and Adjustment12.15 Troubleshooting
(Duplex Mast)12.16 Service Data (Duplex Mast)12.17 Triplex Mast12.17.1 Mast
System12.18 Structure and Functions12.18.1 Triplex (Triple Full-Free Panoramic)
Mast (5C15C to 5C33C)12.18.2 Mast Operation12.19 Removal and
Installation12.19.1 Mast and Lift Bracket Assembly12.20 Disassembly and
Reassembly12.20.1 Triplex Mast Disassembly12.20.2 Triplex Mast
Reassembly12.21 Removal and Installation of Mast Rollers and Strips without
Removing12.21.1 Triplex Mast12.22 Inspection and Adjustment (Triplex
Mast)12.22.2 Forks12.22.3 Chain Tension Inspection and Adjustment12.22.4
Checking Chain Elongation12.22.5 Adjusting Clearance between Lift Bracket
Roller and Inner Mast12.22.6 Mast Roller Clearance Adjustment12.22.7 Mast Strip
Clearance Inspection and Adjustment12.22.8 Tilt Angle Adjustment12.22.9 Right
and Left Lift Cylinder Stroke Inspection and Adjustment12.23 Troubleshooting
(Triplex Mast)12.23.1 Troubleshooting (Triplex Mast)12.24 Service Data (Triplex
Mast)12.24.1 Triplex MastCHAPTER 13 SERVICE DATA13.1 Maintenance
Schedule13.2 Maintenance Note13.2.1 Brake System13.2.2 Cooling System13.2.3
Electric System13.2.4 Engine System13.2.5 Frame and Chassis13.2.6 Fuel
System13.2.7 Hydraulic System13.2.8 Ignition System13.2.9 Intake
System13.2.10 Front End Section13.2.11 Steering and Axle System13.2.12 T/M
and Drive System13.2.13 Wheels and Tires13.2.14 General13.3 Tightening
Torque for Standard Bolts and Nuts13.4 Periodic Replacement Parts13.4.2
Location of Periodic Replacement Parts13.5 Lubrication Instructions13.5.1
Lubrication Chart13.5.2 Fuel and Lubricant Specifications13.5.3 Adjustment Value
and Oil Quantities13.6 Special Service Tools13.6.1 Special Service Tools
(Standard Tools for Both MC and FC LiftTrucks)13.6.2 Special Service Tools (for
FC Lift Truck Only)13.6.3 Special Service Tools (for Powershift
Transmission)OPERRATION MANUALCHAPTER 1 SAFETY RULES AND
PRACTICES1.1 SAFETY SIGNS AND SAFETY MESSAGES1.2 WARNING
SYMBOLS AND LEVELS1.3 OPERATOR QUALIFICATIONS1.4 SAFETY
GUARDS1.5 PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT FOR OPERATING LIFT
TRUCK1.6 DAILY INSPECTION1.7 OPERATOR RESPONSIBILITY1.8
GENERAL1.9 NO RIDERS1.10 TRAVELING1.11 LOADING1.12 DOCKBOARDS
(BRIDGE PLATES), TRUCKS AND RAILROAD CARS1.13 SURFACE AND
CAPACITY1.14 FUEL HANDLING1.15 INSTALLATION OF ATTACHMENTS1.16
IN CASE OF TIP-OVER1.17 TRANSPORTING LIFT TRUCK1.17.2 APPROACH
ANGLE, DEPARTURE ANGLE AND GANGWAY1.17.3 HOISTING (LIFTING) UP
THE TRUCK1.18 FUNCTION TESTS1.19 TRACTION BAR1.20 POSITION OF
DATA AND CAPACITY PLATES AND DECALS1.21 DATA AND CAPACITY
PLATES AND DECALS1.21.2 DATA PLATE1.21.3 IDENTIFICATION
NUMBERS1.21.4 CAUTION DRIVE DECAL (IN CASE OF TIP-OVER
DECAL)1.21.5 WARNING DRIVE DECAL (TRAINED AND AUTHORIZED)1.21.6
PINCH POINT DECAL1.21.7 CAUTION FORK DECAL1.21.8 MAST WARNING
DECAL1.21.9 CAUTION DRIVE DECAL (OPERATION)1.21.10 RADIATOR
WARNING DECAL1.21.11 COOLING FAN WARNING DECAL1.21.12 ADJ LPG
WARNING DECAL1.21.13 LPG LATCH WARNING DECAL1.21.14 LPG FUEL
WARNING DECALCHAPTER 2 OPERATING CONTROLS AND FUNCTIONS2.1
APPLICATIONS2.2 APPLICATION FOR CAT LIFT TRUCKS2.3 PROHIBITED
APPLICATIONS FOR CAT LIFT TRUCKS2.4 MAIN COMPONENTS2.5 METERS,
INDICATORS AND WARNING LIGHTS2.5.2 LCD2.5.3 OPERATION
BUTTONS2.5.4 ! MULTIPURPOSE WARNING LIGHT2.5.5 MALFUNCTION
INDICATOR LIGHT-ENGINE CHECK WARNING2.5.6 OIL PRESSURE
WARNING LIGHT2.5.7 CHARGE WARNING LIGHT2.5.8 PARKING BRAKE
WARNING LIGHT2.5.9 SEAT BELT WARNING LIGHT2.5.10 METER
DISPLAY2.5.11 WATER TEMPERATURE GAUGE2.5.12 FUEL GAUGE2.5.13
TRANSMISSION POSITION2.6 MALFUNCTION AND WARNING
INDICATIONS2.6.2 MAST INTERLOCK WARNING2.6.3 LPG LEVEL
WARNING/LPG RACK LOCK WARNING2.6.4 TORQUE CONVERTER FLUID
TEMP WARNING2.6.5 RADIATOR LEVEL WARNING2.6.6 AIR CLEANER
WARNING2.6.7 SERVICE REMINDER DISPLAY2.6.8 DISPLAYS WHEN
MALFUNCTION OCCURS2.7 DRIVER RECOGNITION MODE2.8 LPG
REMAINING TIME MANAGEMENT2.9 SWITCHES2.9.2 HORN BUTTON2.9.3
REAR RIGHT GRIP WITH HORN BUTTON2.9.4 IGNITION SWITCH2.9.5
LIGHTING AND TURN SIGNAL SWITCHES2.9.6 MAXIMUM SPEED CHANGE
SWITCH (OPTION)2.9.7 THROTTLE SENSITIVITY ADJUST SWITCH
(OPTION)2.9.8 BACK-UP OPERATION LIGHT SWITCH (OPTION)2.10
OPERATING CONTROLS2.10.2 SELECTOR LEVER2.10.3 PARKING BRAKE
LEVER2.10.4 INCHING BRAKE PEDAL2.10.5 BRAKE PEDAL2.10.6
ACCELERATOR PEDAL2.10.7 CARGO-HANDLING CONTROL LEVERS2.10.8
ANSI/ITSDF STANDARDS FOR LIFT TRUCK CLAMP ATTACHMENTS2.10.9
STEERING CHARACTERISTICSCHAPTER 3 OPERATING THE LIFT TRUCK3.1
OPERATION3.2 INSPECTION BEFORE OPERATING3.3 LIFT TRUCK
OPERATING PRECAUTIONS3.4 PRECAUTIONS FOR COLD AND HOT
WEATHER3.5 OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES3.6 LPG LIFT TRUCK
STARTING3.7 PROCEDURE FOR JUMP STARTING EFI ENGINES3.8
AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION3.9 LOADING3.10 TRANSPORTING LOADS3.11
UNLOADING3.12 CLIMBING3.13 STOPPING AND PARKING THE LIFT
TRUCK3.14 FORKS3.15 SEAT ADJUSTMENT3.15.1 SUSPENSION SEAT
OPERATOR'S WEIGHT ADJUSTMENT3.15.2 FORWARD AND BACKWARD
CONTROL LEVER3.15.3 BACKREST INCLINATION ADJUSTMENT3.15.4
LUMBAR ADJUSTMENT3.15.5 SWIVEL SEAT3.16 SEAT BELT3.17 TOP
PANEL3.18 TILT STEERING WHEEL3.19 SERVICE RELEASE LATCH3.20
RADIATOR COVER3.21 REARVIEW MIRROR (OPTION)3.22 LPG CYLINDER
(TANK) HOLDERCHAPTER 4 GENERAL CARE AND MAINTENANCE4.1 WET
CELL BATTERY CARE AND MAINTENANCE4.2 BATTERY SPECIFIC
GRAVITY4.3 DAILY INSPECTION4.4 OPERATOR'S DAILY CHECKLIST
(SAMPLE)4.5 MAINTENANCE AND INSPECTION4.5.1 ENGINE OIL LEVEL4.5.2
REFILLING ENGINE OIL4.5.3 ENGINE COOLANT LEVEL4.5.4 REFILLING
ENGINE COOLANT4.5.5 COOLING SYSTEM BLEEDING INSTRUCTIONS4.5.6
BRAKE FLUID LEVEL4.5.7 REFILLING BRAKE FLUID4.5.8 AUTOMATIC
TRANSMISSION FLUID LEVEL4.5.9 REFILLING AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
FLUID4.5.10 HYDRAULIC OIL LEVEL4.5.11 REFILLING HYDRAULIC OIL4.5.12
STEERING WHEEL PLAY4.5.13 WHEEL AND TIRE4.5.14 TIRE
REPLACEMENT4.5.15 CHECKING MAST4.5.16 CHECKING LIFT CHAIN4.5.17
FORK INSPECTION4.5.18 FORK REPAIR4.5.19 CHECKING HORN4.5.20
CHECKING LIGHTS4.5.21 CHECKING CARGO-HANDLING CONTROL
LEVER(S)4.5.22 CHECKING BRAKE PEDAL4.5.23 PEDAL FREE PLAY4.5.24
CHECKING PARKING BRAKE LEVER4.5.25 CHECKING TOP PANEL
LOCK4.5.26 FUSES4.5.27 CHECKING AIR CLEANER4.5.28 CHECKING FAN
BELT4.5.29 DRAINING OF TAR FROM THE VAPORIZER4.5.30 PRECAUTIONS
FOR USING LPG4.5.31 RECOMMENDED LPG FUEL TYPE4.5.32 CYLINDER
(TANK) SIZE4.5.33 LPG CYLINDER (TANK) REPLACEMENT4.5.34 REFILLING
LPG CYLINDERS (TANKS)4.5.35 PERIODIC MAINTENANCE AND
LUBRICATION SCHEDULE4.5.36 PERIODIC MAINTENANCE AND
LUBRICATION SCHEDULE FOR EMISSION CONTROL SYSTEM4.5.37
LUBRICATION CHART4.5.38 RECOMMENDED LUBRICANTS4.5.39
RECOMMENDED SAE VISCOSITY CHART4.5.40 PUTTING LIFT TRUCK IN
STORAGE4.6 SIDE SHIFT4.6.1 OVERVIEW OF SIDE SHIFT4.6.2 MAIN TERMS
USED IN THIS SECTION4.6.3 SAFETY RULES AND PRACTICES4.6.4 SIDE
SHIFT CONTROL LEVER OPERATION4.6.5 SIDE SHIFT OPERATION4.6.6
DAILY CHECKS AND SIMPLE MAINTENANCECHAPTER 5
SPECIFICATIONS5.1 MODEL IDENTIFICATION5.1.1 MODEL VARIATION
(LONG MODEL CODE) BREAKDOWN5.2 MAIN TRUCK5.2.1 MAIN TRUCK -
2C7000 AND 2C8000/2C8000-SWB5.3 MAST5.3.1 2C7000 AND
2C8000/2C8000-SWB5.4 FUEL AND OIL CAPACITY5.5 ENGINE5.6 ENGINE OIL
CAPACITY5.7 NOISE LEVEL
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expostulations with the maternal officer on the discouraging state of
things; declaring most earnestly, morning, noon, and night, that all
was going to ruin, that everything was being spoiled, that nothing
was even decent, and that, if things went on so much longer, I
should be obliged to go out and board,—by which style of remark I
nearly drove that long-suffering woman frantic.
“Do be reasonable, Tom,” said she. “Can I make girls to order? Can I
do anything more than try such as apply, when they seem to give
promise of success? Delicacy of hand, neatness, nicety of eye, are
not things likely to be cultivated in the Irish boarding-houses from
which our candidates emerge. What chance have the most of them
had to learn anything except the most ordinary rough housework? A
trained girl is rare as a nugget of gold amid the sands of the
washings; but let us persevere in trying, and one will come at last.”
“Well, I hope, at any rate, you have sent off that Bridget,” I said, in
high disdain. “I verily believe, if that girl stays a week longer, I shall
have to leave the house.”
“Compose yourself,” said my mother; “Bridget’s bundle is made up,
and she is going. I’m sorry for her too, poor thing; for she seemed
anxious to keep the place.”
At this moment the doorbell rang. “I presume that’s the new girl
whom they have sent round for me to see,” said my mother.
I opened the door, and there in fact stood a girl dressed in a neat-
fitting dark calico, with a straw bonnet, simply tied with some dark
452

ribbon, and a veil which concealed her face.

“Is Mrs. Seymour at home?”
“She is.”
“I was told that she wanted a girl.”
“She does; will you walk in?”
I pique myself somewhat on the power of judging character, and
there was something about this applicant which inspired hope; so
that, before I introduced her into the room, I felt it necessary to
enlighten my mother with a little of my wisdom. I therefore
whispered in her ear, with the decisive tone of an eldest son, “I
think, mother, this one will do; you had better engage her at once.”
“Have you lived out much?” said my mother, commencing the usual
inquiries.
“I have not, ma’am. I am but lately come to the city.”
“Are you Irish?”
“No, ma’am; I am American.”
“Have you been accustomed to the care of the table,—silver, glass,
and china?”
“I think, ma’am, I understand what is necessary for that.”
All this while the speaker remained standing with her veil down; her
answers seemed to be the briefest possible; and yet,
notwithstanding the homely plainness of her dress, there was
something about her that impressed both my mother and me with
an idea of cultivation and refinement above her apparent station,—
there was a composure and quiet decision in her manner of speaking
which produced the same impression on us both.
“What wages do you expect?” said my mother.
“Whatever you have been accustomed to give to a girl in that place
will satisfy me,” she said.
“There is only one thing I would like to ask,” she added, with a slight
453

hesitation and embarrassment of manner; “would it be convenient

for me to have a room by myself?”
I nodded to my mother to answer in the affirmative.
The three girls who composed our establishment had usually roomed
in one large apartment, but there was a small closet of a room which
I had taken for books, fishing-rods, guns, and any miscellaneous
property of my own. I mentally turned these out, and devoted the
room to the newcomer, whose appearance interested me.
And, as my mother hesitated, I remarked, with the assured tone of
master of the house, that “certainly she could have a small room to
herself.”
“It is all I ask,” she briefly answered. “In that case, I will come for
the same wages you paid the last girl in my situation.”
“When will you come?” said my mother.
“I am ready to come immediately. I only want time to go and order
my things to be sent here.”
She rose and left us, saying that we might expect her that
afternoon.
“Well, sir,” said my mother, “you seem to have taken it upon you to
settle this matter on your own authority.”
“My dear little mother,” said I, in a patronizing tone, “I have an
instinctive certainty that she will do. I wanted to make sure of a
prize for you.”
“But the single room.”
“Never mind; I’ll move all my traps out of the little third-story room.
It’s my belief that this girl or woman has seen better days; and if she
has, a room to herself will be a necessity of her case,—poor thing!”
“I don’t know,” said my mother hesitatingly. “I never wish to employ
in my service those above their station,—they always make trouble;
and there is something in this woman’s air and manner and
pronunciation that makes me feel as if she had been born and bred454

in cultivated society.”
“Supposing she has,” said I; “it’s quite evident that she, for some
reason, means to conform to this position. You seldom have a girl
apply for work who comes dressed with such severe simplicity; her
manner is retiring, and she seemed perfectly willing and desirous to
undertake any of the things which you mentioned as among her
daily tasks.”
On the afternoon of that day our new assistant came, and my
mother was delighted with the way she set herself at work. The
china-closet, desecrated and disordered in the preceding reigns of
terror and confusion, immediately underwent a most quiet but
thorough transformation. Everything was cleaned, brightened, and
arranged with a system and thoroughness which showed, as my
mother remarked, a good head; and all this was done so silently and
quietly that it seemed like magic. By the time we came down to
breakfast the next morning, we perceived that the reforms of our
new prime minister had extended everywhere. The dining-room was
clean, cool, thoroughly dusted, and freshly aired; the tablecloth and
napkins were smooth and clean; the glass glittered like crystal, and
the silver wore a cheerful brightness. Added to this were some extra
touches of refinement, which I should call table coquetry. The cold
meat was laid out with green fringes of parsley; and a bunch of
heliotrope, lemon verbena, and mignonette, with a fresh rosebud, all
culled from our little back yard, stood in a wineglass on my mother’s
waiter.
“Well, Mary, you have done wonders,” said my mother, as she took
her place; “your arrangements restore appetite to all of us.”
Mary received our praises with a gracious smile, yet with a
composed gravity which somewhat puzzled me. She seemed
perfectly obliging and amiable, yet there was a serious reticence 455

about her that quite piqued my curiosity. I could not help recurring
to the idea of a lady in disguise; though I scarcely knew to what
circumstance about her I could attach the idea. So far from the least
effort to play the lady, her dress was, in homely plainness, a perfect
contrast to that of the girls who had preceded her. It consisted of
strong dark-blue stuff, made perfectly plain to her figure, with a
narrow band of white linen around her throat. Her dark brown hair
was brushed smoothly away from her face, and confined simply
behind in a net; there was not the slightest pretension to coquetry in
its arrangement; in fact, the object seemed to be to get it snugly out
of the way, rather than to make it a matter of ornament.
Nevertheless, I could not help remarking that there was a good deal
of it, and that it waved very prettily, notwithstanding the care that
had been taken to brush the curl out of it.
She was apparently about twenty years of age. Her face was not
handsome, but it was a refined and intelligent one. The skin had a
sallow hue, which told of ill health or of misfortune; there were lines
of trouble about the eye; but the mouth and chin had that
unmistakable look of firmness which speaks a person able and
resolved to do a quiet battle with adverse fate, and to go through to
the end with whatever is needed to be done, without fretfulness and
without complaint. She had large, cool, gray eyes, attentive and
thoughtful, and she met the look of any one who addressed her with
an honest firmness; she seemed to be, in fact, simply and only
interested to know and to do the work she had undertaken,—but
what there might be behind and beyond that I could not conjecture.
One thing about her dress most in contrast with that of the other
servants was that she evidently wore no crinoline. The exuberance
of this article in the toilet of our domestics had become threatening
of late, apparently requiring that the kitchens and pantries should be
torn down and rebuilt. As matters were, our three girls never could 456

be in our kitchen at one time without reefings and manœuvrings of

their apparel which much impeded any other labor, and caused some
loss of temper; and our china-closet was altogether too small for the
officials who had to wash the china there, and they were constantly
at odds with my mother for her firmness in resisting their tendency
to carry our china and silver to the general mélée of the kitchen sink.
Moreover, our dining-room not having been constructed with an eye
to modern expansions of the female toilet, it happened that, if our
table was to be enlarged for guests, there arose serious questions of
the waiter’s crinoline to complicate the calculations; and for all these
reasons, I was inclined to look with increasing wonder on a being in
female form who could so far defy the tyranny of custom as to dress
in a convenient and comfortable manner, adapted to the work which
she undertook to perform. A good-looking girl without crinoline had
a sort of unworldly freshness of air that really constituted a charm. If
it had been a piece of refined coquetry,—as certainly it was not,—it
could not have been better planned.
Nothing could be more perfectly proper than the demeanor of this
girl in relation to all the proprieties of her position. She seemed to
give her whole mind to it with an anxious exactness; but she
appeared to desire no relations with the family other than those of a
mere business character. It was impossible to draw her into
conversation. If a good-natured remark was addressed to her on any
subject such as in kindly disposed families is often extended as an
invitation to a servant to talk a little with an employer, Mary met it
with the briefest and gravest response that was compatible with
propriety, and with a definite and marked respectfulness of
demeanor which had precisely the effect of throwing us all at a
distance, like ceremonious politeness in the intercourse of good
society.
“I cannot make out our Mary,” said I to my mother; “she is a perfect
457

treasure, but who or what do you suppose she is?”

“I cannot tell you,” said my mother. “All I know is, she understands
her business perfectly, and does it exactly; but she no more belongs
to the class of common servants than I do.”
“Does she associate with the other girls?”
“Not at all—except at meal-times, and when about her work.”
“I should think that would provoke the pride of sweet Erin,” said I.
“One would think so,” said my mother; “but she certainly has
managed her relations with them with a curious kind of tact. She
always treats them with perfect consideration and politeness, talks
with them during the times that they necessarily are thrown
together in the most affable and cheerful manner, and never
assumes any airs of supremacy with them. Her wanting a room to
herself gave them at first an idea that she would hold herself aloof
from them, and in fact, for the first few days, there was a
subterranean fire in the kitchen ready to burst forth; but now all that
is past, and in some way or other, without being in the least like any
of them, she has contrived to make them her fast friends. I found
her last night in the kitchen writing a letter for the cook, and the
other day she was sitting in her room trimming a bonnet for Katy;
and her opinion seems to be law in the kitchen. She seldom sits
there, and spends most of her leisure in her own room, which is as
tidy as a bee’s cell.”
“What is she doing there?”
“Reading, sewing, and writing, as far as I can see. There are a few
books, and a portfolio, and a small inkstand there,—and a neat little
work-basket. She is very nice with her needle, and obliging in
putting her talents to the service of the other girls; but towards 458me
she is the most perfectly silent and reserved being that one can
conceive. I can’t make conversation with her; she keeps me off by a
most rigid respectfulness of demeanor which seems to say that she
wants nothing from me but my orders. I feel that I could no more
ask her a question about her private affairs, than I could ask one of
Mrs. McGregor in the next street. But then it is a comfort to have
some one so entirely trustworthy as she is in charge of all the nice
little articles which require attention and delicate handling. She is the
only girl I ever had whom I could trust to arrange a parlor and a
table without any looking after. Her eye and hand, and her ideas, are
certainly those of a lady, whatever her position may have been.”
In time our Mary became quite a family institution for us, seeming to
fill a thousand little places in the domestic arrangement where a
hand or an eye was needed. She was deft at mending glass and
china, and equally so at mending all sorts of household things. She
darned the napkins and tablecloths in a way that excited my
mother’s admiration, and was always so obliging and ready to offer
her services that, in time, a resort to Mary’s work-basket and ever
ready needle became the most natural thing in the world to all of us.
She seemed to have no acquaintance in the city, never went out
visiting, received no letters,—in short, seemed to live a completely
isolated life, and to dwell in her own thoughts in her own solitary
little room.
By that talent for systematic arrangement which she possessed, she
secured for herself a good many hours to spend there. My mother,
seeing her taste for reading, offered her the use of our books; and
one volume after another spent its quiet week or fortnight in her
room, and returned to our shelves in due time. They were mostly
works of solid information,—history, travels,—and a geography and
atlas which had formed part of the school outfit of one of 459 the
younger children she seemed interested to retain for some time. “It
is my opinion,” said my mother, “that she is studying,—perhaps with
a view to getting some better situation.”
“Pray keep her with us,” said I, “if you can. Why don’t you raise her
wages? You know that she does more than any other girl ever did
before in her place, and is so trustworthy that she is invaluable to
us. Persons of her class are worth higher wages than common
uneducated servants.”
My mother accordingly did make a handsome addition to Mary’s
wages, and by the time she had been with us a year the confidence
which her quiet manner had inspired was such that, if my mother
wished to be gone for a day or two, the house, with all that was in
it, was left trustingly in Mary’s hands, as with a sort of housekeeper.
She was charged with all the last directions, as well as the keys to
the jellies, cakes, and preserves, with discretionary power as to their
use; and yet, for some reason, such was the ascendency she
contrived to keep over her Hibernian friends in the kitchen, all this
confidence evidently seemed to them quite as proper as to us.
“She ain’t quite like us,” said Biddy one day, mysteriously, as she
looked after her. “She’s seen better days, or I’m mistaken; but she
don’t take airs on her. She knows how to take the bad luck quiet like,
and do the best she can.”
“Has she ever told you anything of herself, Biddy?” said my mother.
“Me? No. It’s a quiet tongue she keeps in her head. She is ready
enough to do good turns for us, and to smooth out our ways, and
hear our stories, but it’s close in her own affairs she is. Maybe she
don’t like to be talkin’, when talkin’ does no good,—poor soul!”
Matters thus went on, and I amused myself now and then with 460

speculating about Mary. I would sometimes go to her to ask some of

those little charities of the needle which our sex are always needing
from feminine hands; but never, in the course of any of these little
transactions, could I establish the slightest degree of confidential
communication. If she sewed on a shirt-button, she did it with as
abstracted an air as if my arm were a post which she was required
to handle, and not the arm of a good-looking youth of twenty-five,—
as I fondly hoped I was. And certain remarks which I once
addressed to her in regard to her studies and reading in her own
apartment were met with that cool, wide-open gaze of her calm gray
eyes, that seemed to say, “Pray, what is that to your purpose, sir?”
and she merely answered, “Is there anything else that you would
like me to do, sir?” with a marked deference that was really defiant.
But one day I fancied I had got hold of a clue. I was standing in our
lower front hall, when I saw young McPherson, whom I used to
know in New York, coming up the doorsteps.
At the moment that he rung the doorbell, our Mary, who had seen
him from the chamber window, suddenly grew pale, and said to my
mother, “Please, ma’am, will you be so good as to excuse my going
to the door? I feel faint.”
My mother spoke over the banisters, and I opened the door, and let
in McPherson.
He and I were jolly together, as old classmates are wont to be, and
orders were given to lay a plate for him at dinner.
Mary prepared the service with her usual skill and care, but pleaded
that her illness increased so that it would be impossible for her to
wait on table. Now, nobody in the house thought there was anything
peculiar about this but myself. My mother, indeed, had noticed that
Mary’s faintness had come on very suddenly, as she looked out 461 on
the street; but it was I who suggested to her that McPherson might
have some connection with it.
“Depend upon it, mother, he is somebody whom she has known in
her former life, and doesn’t wish to meet,” said I.
“Nonsense, Tom; you are always getting up mysteries, and fancying
romances.”
Nevertheless, I took a vicious pleasure in experimenting on the
subject; and therefore, a day or two after, when I had got Mary fairly
within eye-range, as she waited on table, I remarked to my mother
carelessly, “By the bye, the McPhersons are coming to Boston to
live.”
There was a momentary jerk of Mary’s hand, as she was filling a
tumbler, and then I could see the restraint of self-command passing
all over her. I had hit something, I knew; so I pursued my game.
“Yes,” I continued, “Jim is here to look at houses; he is thinking
strongly of one in the next block.”
There was a look of repressed fear and distress on Mary’s face as
she hastily turned away, and made an errand into the china-closet.
“I have found a clue,” I said to my mother triumphantly, going to her
room after dinner. “Did you notice Mary’s agitation when I spoke of
the McPhersons coming to Boston? By Jove! but the girl is plucky,
though; it was the least little start, and in a minute she had her visor
down and her armor buckled. This certainly becomes interesting.”
“Tom, I certainly must ask you what business it is of yours,” said my
mother, settling back into the hortatory attitude familiar to mothers.
“Supposing the thing is as you think,—suppose that Mary is a girl of
refinement and education, who, from some unfortunate reason, has
no resource but her present position,—why should you hunt her out
of it? If she is, as you think, a lady, there is the strongest reason
462

why a gentleman should respect her feelings. I fear the result of all
this restless prying and intermeddling of yours will be to drive her
away; and really, now I have had her, I don’t know how I ever could
do without her. People talk of female curiosity,” said my mother, with
a slightly belligerent air; “I never found but men had fully as much
curiosity as women. Now, what will become of us all if your
restlessness about this should be the means of Mary’s leaving us?
You know the perfectly dreadful times we had before she came, and
I don’t know anybody who has less patience to bear such things
than you.”
In short, my mother was in that positive state of mind which is
expressed by the colloquial phrase of being on her high horse. I—as
the male part of creation always must in such cases—became very
meek and retiring, and promised to close my eyes and ears, and not
dream, or think, or want to know, anything which it was not
agreeable to Mary and my mother that I should. I would not look
towards the doorbell, nor utter a word about the McPhersons, who,
by the bye, decided to take the house in our neighborhood.
But though I was as exemplary as one of the saints, it did no good.
Mary, for some reasons known to herself, became fidgety, nervous,
restless, and had frequent headaches and long crying spells in her
own private apartment, after the manner of women when something
is the matter with them.
My mother was, as she always is with every creature in her employ,
maternal and sympathetic, and tried her very best to get into her
confidence.
Mary only confessed to feeling a little unwell, and hinted obscurely
that perhaps she should be obliged to leave the place. But it was
quite evident that her leaving was connected with the near advent of
the McPhersons in the next block; for I observed that she always463

showed some little irrepressible signs of nervousness whenever that

subject was incidentally alluded to. Finally, on the day that their
furniture began to arrive, and to provide abundant material for
gossip and comment to the other members of the kitchen cabinet,
Mary’s mind appeared suddenly made up. She came into my
mother’s room looking as a certain sort of women do when they
have made a resolution which they mean to stand by,—very pale,
very quiet, and very decided. She asked to see my mother alone,
and in that interview she simply expressed gratitude for all her
kindness to her, but said that circumstances would oblige her to go
to New York.
My mother now tried her best to draw from her her history,
whatever that might be. She spoke with tact and tenderness, and
with the respect due from one human being to another; for my
mother always held that every soul has its own inviolable private
door which it has a right to keep closed, and at which even queens
and duchesses, if they wish to enter, must knock humbly and
reverently.
Mary was almost overcome by her kindness. She thanked her over
and over; at times my mother said she looked at her wistfully, as if
on the very point of speaking, and then, quietly gathering herself
within herself, she remained silent. All that could be got from her
was, that it was necessary for her hereafter to live in New York.
The servants in the kitchen, with the warm-heartedness of their
race, broke out into a perfect Irish howl of sorrow; and at the last
moment, Biddy, our fat cook, fell on her neck and lifted up her voice
and wept, almost smothering her with her tumultuous embraces;
and the whole party of them would go with her to the New York
station, one carrying her shawl, another her hand-bag and parasol,
with emulous affection; and so our very pleasant and desirable
second girl disappeared, and we saw her no more.
Six months after this, when our Mary had become only a memory464of
the past, I went to spend a week or two in Newport, and took,
among other matters and things, a letter of introduction to Mrs.
McIntyre, a Scotch lady, who had just bought a pretty cottage there,
and, as my friend who gave it told me, would prove an interesting
acquaintance.
“She has a pretty niece,” said he, “who I’m told is heiress to her
property, and is called a very nice girl.”
So, at the proper time, I lounged in one morning, and found a very
charming, cosy, home-like parlor, arranged with all those little
refined touches and artistic effects by which people of certain tastes
and habits at once recognize each other in all parts of the world, as
by the tokens of freemasonry. I felt perfectly acquainted with Mrs.
McIntyre from the first glance at her parlor,—where the books, the
music, the birds, the flowers, and that everlasting variety of female
small-work prepared me for a bright, chatty, easy-going, home-
loving kind of body, such as I found Mrs. McIntyre to be. She was,
as English and Scotch ladies are apt to be, very oddly dressed in
very nice and choice articles. It takes the eye of the connoisseur to
appreciate these oddly dressed Englishwomen. They are like antique
china; but a discriminating eye soon sees the real quality that
underlies their quaint adornment. Mrs. McIntyre was scrupulously,
exquisitely neat. All her articles of dress were of the choicest quality.
The yellow and tumbled lace that was fussed about her neck and
wrists might have been the heirloom of a countess; her satin gown,
though very short and very scanty, was of a fabulous richness; and
the rings that glittered on her withered hands were of the fashion of
two centuries ago, but of wonderful brilliancy.
She was very gracious in her reception, as my letter was from an old
friend, and said many obliging things of me; so I was taken at once
to her friendship, with the frankness characteristic of people of 465
her
class when they make up their minds to know you at all.
“I must introduce you to my Mary,” she said; “she has just gone into
the garden to cut flowers for the vases.”
In a moment more “Mary” entered the room, with a little white
apron full of flowers, and a fresh bloom on her cheeks; and I was—
as the reader has already anticipated—to my undisguised
amazement, formally introduced to Miss Mary McIntyre, our second
girl.
Of all things for which I consider women admirable, there is no trait
which fills me with such positive awe as their social tact and self-
command. Evidently this meeting was quite as unexpected to Mary
as to me; but except for a sudden flash of amused astonishment in
the eyes, and a becoming flush of complexion, she met me as any
thoroughbred young lady meets a young man properly presented by
her maternal guardian.
For my part, I had one of those dreamy periods of existence in
which people doubt whether they are awake or asleep. The world
seemed all turning topsy-turvy. I was filled with curiosity, which I
could with difficulty keep within the limits of conventional propriety.
“I see, Mr. Seymour, that you are very much astonished,” said Mary
to me, when Mrs. McIntyre had left the room to give some directions
to the servants.
“Upon my word,” said I, “I never was more so; I feel as if I were in
the midst of a fairy tale.”
“Nothing so remarkable as that,” she said. “But since I saw you, a
happy change, as I need not tell you now, has come over my life
through the coming of my mother’s sister to America. When my
mother died, my aunt was in India. The letters that I addressed to
her in Scotland were a long time in reaching her, and then it took a
long time for her to wind up her affairs there, and find her way to
this country.”
“But,” said I, “what could”— 466

“What could induce me to do as I did? Well, I knew your mother’s

character,—no matter how. I needed a support and protection, and I
resolved for a time to put myself under her wing. I knew that in case
of any real trouble I should find in her a true friend and a safe
adviser, and I hoped to earn her esteem and confidence by steadily
doing my duty. Some other time, perhaps, I will tell you more,” she
added.
The return of Mrs. McIntyre put an end to our private
communication, but she insisted, with true old-world hospitality, on
my remaining to dinner.
Here I was precipitated into a romance at once. Mary had just
enough of that perverse feminine pleasure in teasing to keep my
interest alive. The fact was, she saw me becoming entangled from
day to day without any more misgivings of conscience than the
celebrated spider of the poem felt when she invited the fly to walk
into her parlor.
Mrs. McIntyre took me in a very marked way into her good graces,
and I had every opportunity to ride, walk, sketch, and otherwise to
attend upon Mary; and Mary was gracious also, but so quietly and
discreetly mistress of herself that I could not for the life of me tell
what to make of her. There were all sorts of wonders and surmises
boiling up within me. What was it about McPherson? Was there
anything there? Was Mary engaged? Or was there any old affair?
etc., etc. Not that it was any business of mine; but then a fellow
likes to know his ground before—Before what? I thought to myself,
and that unknown what every day assumed new importance in my
eyes. Mary had many admirers. Her quiet, easy, self-possessed
manners, her perfect tact and grace, always made her a favorite;
but I could not help hoping that between her and me there was that
confidential sense of a mutually kept secret which it is delightful to
share with the woman you wish to please.
Why won’t women sometimes enlighten a fellow a little in this dark467

valley that lies between intimate acquaintance and the awful final
proposal? To be sure, there are kind souls who will come more than
halfway to meet you, but they are always sure to be those you don’t
want to meet. The woman you want is always as reticent as a nut,
and leaves you the whole work of this last dread scene without a bit
of help on her part. To be sure, she smiles on you; but what of that?
You see she smiles also on Tom, Dick, and Harry.
“Bright as the sun her eyes the gazers strike;
And, like the sun, they shine on all alike.”
I fought out a battle of two or three weeks with my fair foe, trying to
get in advance some hint from her as to what she would do with me
if I put myself at her mercy. No use. Our sex may as well give up
first as last before one of these quiet, resolved, little pieces of
femininity, who are perfect mistresses of all the peculiar weapons,
defensive and offensive, of womanhood. There was nothing for it
but to surrender at discretion; but when I had done this, I was
granted all the honors of war. Mrs. McIntyre received me with an
old-fashioned maternal blessing, and all was as happy as possible.
“And now,” said Mary, “I suppose, sir, you will claim a right to know
all about me.”
“Something of the sort,” I said complacently.
“I know you have been dying of curiosity ever since I was waiting
behind your lordship’s chair at your mother’s. I knew you suspected
something then,—confess now.”
“But what could have led you there?”
“Just hear. My mother, who was Mrs. McIntyre’s sister, had by a first
marriage only myself. Shortly after my father’s death, she married a
widower with several children. As long as she lived, I never knew
what want or care or trouble was; but just as I was entering upon
my seventeenth year she died. A year after her death, my stepfather,
468

who was one of those men devoted to matrimony at all hazards,

married another woman, by whom he had children.
“In a few years more, he died; and his affairs, on examination,
proved to be in a very bad state; there was, in fact, scarcely
anything for us to live on. Our stepmother had a settlement from her
brother. The two other daughters of my father were married, and
went to houses of their own; and I was left, related really to nobody,
without property and without home.
“I suppose hundreds of young girls are from one reason or other left
just in this way, and have, without any previous preparation in their
education and habits, to face the question, How can I get a living?
“I assure you it is a serious question for a young girl who has grown
up in the easy manner in which I had. My stepfather had always
been a cheery, kindly, generous man, one of those who love to see
people enjoy themselves, and to have things done handsomely, and
had kept house in a free, abundant, hospitable manner; so that
when I came to look myself over in relation to the great uses of life,
I could make out very little besides expensive tastes and careless
habits.
“I had been to the very best schools, but then I had studied, as
most girls in easy circumstances do, without a thought of using my
knowledge for any practical purpose. I could speak very fair English;
but how I did it, or why, I didn’t know,—all the technical rules of
grammar had passed from my head like a dream. I could play a little
on the piano, and sing a few songs; but I did not know enough of
music to venture to propose myself as a teacher; and so with every
other study. All the situations of profit in the profession of teaching
are now crowded and blocked by girls who have been studying for
that express object,—and what could I hope among them?
“My mother-in-law was a smart, enterprising, driving woman of 469 the
world, who told all her acquaintance that, of course, she should give
me a home, although I was no kind of relation to her, and who gave
me to understand that I was under infinite obligations to her on this
account, and must pay for the privilege by making myself generally
useful. I soon found that this meant doing a servant’s work without
wages. During six months I filled, I may say, the place of a
seamstress and nursery governess to some very ungoverned
children, varying with occasional weeks of servant’s work, when
either the table girl or the cook left a place vacant. For all this I
received my board, and some cast-off dresses and underclothes to
make over for myself. I was tired of this, and begged my stepmother
to find me some place where I could earn my own living. She was
astonished and indignant at the demand. When Providence had
provided me a good home, under respectable protection, she said,
why should I ask to leave it? For her part, she thought the situation
of a young lady making herself generally useful in domestic life, in
the family of her near connections, was a delightful one. She had no
words to say how much more respectable and proper it was thus to
live in the circle of family usefulness and protection, than to go out
in the world looking for employment.
“I did not suggest to her that the chief difference in the cases would
be, that in a hired situation I should have regular wages and regular
work; whereas in my present position it was irregular work, and no
wages.
“Her views on the subject were perhaps somewhat beclouded by the
extreme convenience she found in being able to go into company,
and to range about the city at all hours, unembarrassed by those
family cares which generally fall to the mistress, but which her views
of what constituted general usefulness devolved upon me.
“I had no retirement, no leisure, no fixed place anywhere. My bed470

was in the nursery, where the children felt always free to come and
go; and even this I was occasionally requested to resign, to share
the couch of the housemaid, when sickness in the family or a surplus
of guests caused us to be crowded for room.
“I grew very unhappy, my health failed, and the demands upon me
were entirely beyond my strength, and without any consideration.
The doer of all the odds and ends in a family has altogether the
most work and least praise of any, as I discovered to my cost. I
found one thing after another falling into my long list of appointed
duties, by a regular progress. Thus first it would be, ‘Mary, won’t you
see to the dusting of the parlors? for Bridget is’—etc., etc.; this
would be the form for a week or two, and then, ‘Mary, have you
dusted the parlors?’ and at last, ‘Mary, why have you not dusted the
parlors?’
“As I said, I never studied anything to practical advantage; and
though I had been through arithmetic and algebra, I had never
made any particular use of my knowledge. But now, under the
influence of misfortune, my thoughts took an arithmetical turn. By
inquiring among the servants, I found that, in different families in
the neighborhood, girls were receiving three dollars a week for
rendering just such services as mine. Here was a sum of a hundred
and fifty-six dollars yearly, in ready money, put into their hands,
besides their board, the privilege of knowing their work exactly, and
having a control of their own time when certain definite duties were
performed. Compared with what I was doing and receiving, this was
riches and ease and rest.
“After all, I thought to myself, why should not I find some
respectable, superior, motherly woman, and put myself under her as
a servant, make her my friend by good conduct, and have some
regular hours and some definite income, instead of wearing out my
life in service without pay? Nothing stood in my way but 471 the
traditionary shadow of gentility, and I resolved it should not stop me.
“Years before, when I was only eight or ten years old, I had met
your mother with your family at the seaside, where my mother took
me. I had seen a great deal of her, and knew all about her. I
remembered well her habitual consideration for the nurses and
servants in her employ. I knew her address in Boston, and I resolved
to try to find a refuge in her family. And so there is my story. I left a
note with my stepmother, saying that I was going to seek
independent employment, and then went to Boston to your house.
There I hoped to find a quiet asylum,—at least, till I could hear from
my aunt in Scotland. The delay of hearing from her during those two
years at your house often made me low-spirited.”
“But what made you so afraid of McPherson?” said I nervously. “I
remember your faintness, and all that, the day he called.”
“Oh, that? Why, it was merely this,—they were on intimate visiting
terms with my mother-in-law, and I knew that it would be all up with
my plans if they were to be often at the house.”
“Why didn’t you tell my mother?” said I.
“I did think of it, but then”—She gave me a curious glance.
“But what, Mary?”
“Well, I could see plainly enough that there were no secrets between
you and her, and I did not wish to take so fine a young gentleman
into my confidence,” said Mary. “You will observe I was not out
seeking flirtations, but an honest independence.”

My mother was apprised of our engagement in due form, and came

to Newport, all innocence, to call on Miss McIntyre, her intended
472

daughter-in-law. Her astonishment at the moment of introduction

was quite satisfactory to me.
For the rest, Mary’s talents in making a home agreeable have had
since then many years of proof; and where any of the little domestic
chasms appear which are formed by the shifting nature of the
American working-class, she always slides into the place with a quiet
grace, and reminds me, with a humorous twinkle of the eye, that
she is used to being second girl.

473