New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1860-04-16
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ensued, which nearly cost him his life. Father was
led to suppose the hall lamp had been left unlght
ed that night through carelessness of some OF the
servants. repetition, he said, should cost the
domestic his place. 1t burned after that, but Aunt
Suyche now Stunned the lighted hall as we had
stunned the dark one. gave her pain, she said,
TO see things wasted SO before her very eyes, and
she was particularly cross to Charlie, and more
than ever regarded him as so much good blood and
bones wasted, since in his accident she saw only
the thwarting of one OF her fayorfte plans for
economy.
We used to beg now and then to 60 out but
were told to stay at home and save our shoe
leather; that children nowadays, particularly girls
had no business to be gadding about women were
born to stay in the house; sun and wind were in
tended for men, not women. That if she had the
management Of US, she would have us all earning
our bread. In her day, girls were put out to SER
vice atthe age Of seven years now they were good
for nothing even when seventeen! Go ont indeed
No-itwas well for our father that he had some one
to sayefor him. with FIVE such mouths as for him
to fling his money into. Positively it was enough
to discourage any man. Yet with all these scold-
ings suyche was q good woman-suyche was an
honest woman-Suyche was an uncommon woman.
she had failed to teach the economy of friendess-
| ness. She was lavish where she loved, and love
she did, though she boarded her affection like a
miser. To feel friendship was one Of her indul-
gences; one of the very few she allowed herself.
Sickness found her always at the bedside of the
suffering, and if her appearance led one to look
upon her as the forerunner Of DEATH it was not her
fault Her great sleepiess eyes had moistened
as we gaze down at other eyes whose glazed
glance will look back at us from the dark valley
more.
As we children grew older, we were deemed
| more worthy Of aunt Suyche's notice; and every
now and then, out Of her blue knitting bag, from
among sundry balls Of yarn, which seemed never
any smaller, although she was always knitting,
came many time and oft the unexpected gift
the long wishedfor book; the coveted toy; the
mellow apple! Not till years had time worn the
book broken the toy and moulded the apple did
we remember how, invariably after one Of these
surprises to us, Aunt Suyche went without sugar
/ in her tea for weeks and weeks, or wore a black
/ cap instead of a white one, or kept up a running
fire of darns in the calico gown, which months be-
fore unfit for service and ought to have retired
| upon the pension of patches II possessed. Thank
heaven! we learned at last to appreciate her rare
self-denial and to be touched to tears by its re-
| membrance sometimes, even while we laughed
| over that inyeterate habit of economy Of hers
4 which induced us to eat the heavy crust of pot
/ pie which, made Of SO much good flour and butter
and eggs, and only spoiled in the making, seemed
to Aunt Suyche sin to throw away. The fit OF
| indigestion which followed its consumption, our
long suffering and the Doctors long bill, Aunt
| Suyehs did not finch from facing. The heavy
4 dough she insisted had not been wasted. There
had been great many mistakes in her copy-booB
life, but blots there were none. She had writ
ten it almost through. and she knew some Other
hand would sign her name at the end, where The
last blank page-a marble slab-waited to BIZ
filled up.
The first signs we had of her approaching de
mise were symptoms of extravaganza. At first
she ceased to take the bowl of white sugar from
the table as soon as father had finished his meal
but allowed us all to help ourselves to it dd bttun,
She really seemed to forget that brown sugar wa
one of the items in the grocer's bills; and wa
marked = cents less pound than white. Mex
, she wore white caps every day, obliyious of tn
oftrepeated fact that white caps had to b
washed, and that washing included soap and starch
and that soap and starch cost money. One day
when the cook sent the chickens to the table wit
their crops in, and father sent1them away in ds
gust, and Aunt suyche's allowed them to go will
out even an effort to turn them into account wit
i us children, we knew her end was near. W
watched her all that afternoon with timid anxiety
and lust before sunset she leaned suddenly bac
in her chair and closed her eyes. We thought sh
was gone, butshe opened them one brief momer
more to gasp forth clay me out in my long whit
! nightgown, girls, it will save buying winding
sheet.n
Among her effects father found a good mar
hundred dollars slowed away in odd receptacle
a the fruits of Aunt Suyche's lifelong economy al
Z strenuous sefdenial. distant relative who w;
well off in the world, and had never deigned to NJ
E tce the old lady when alive, laid claim to the lit
: sum as next of kin, and got it. We laid her out
sight in the still churehya and the winds whist
! and the grass grows green over the grave of OF
p Housekeeper.