The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1861-01-31
MY 0USE
BY RALPH

ability, wishes a situation a. HouseAeeIer in a gentleman.
family. R..arenees required:
Address " l. SMITH, Box 1905"
am, / mean | was. a bachelor. | had plenty
Of money, but | was ~forty-fiye years old, and had
never arrived at Il satisfactory way Of pending il.
| concluded that my error was the want Of a home
Of my own conceiving = sudden disgust for hotels
and boarding houses, | took a handsome house in
q respectable part Of the town, and began looking
for a housekecper. The advertisement which
heads this narrative had just met my eve, as |
glanced over the d. Wants in the evening paper.
1t pleased me. In fact, / suppose Destiny had
decreed that | should be pleased with it.
was reading it Tor the twentieth time, when 4
servant Knocked at my parlor door, and announ-
ced my sister-in-law, Mrs. Eliza Bishop, and her
daughter Eliza. Mrs. Bishop was the widow of
my eldest brother, and her care for my comfort
was really touching.
She followed her name into the room, leading
her daughter-the eldest and best behaved of the
three. She was a handsome woman, of command
ing, imperial order, and she looked her best that
winter afternoon, in her rich furs and ~velvets,
Ter cheeks crimson with the effects of the keen,
frosty air, and the exercise she had been taking.
Il am very glad to see you, l said, rs | hand
ed her a chair. There are some things you
women know more about, than an old bachelor
like me, and | want to consult you. | have con-
cluded to 90 TO housekeeping"
ELIAS face frightened into an expression even
more beaming than the one she had previously
bestowed on me. 1t never occurred to Inc, that
she could be thinking of my future home rs L
convenient residence for herself and three. She
answered warmly
An excellent idea, brother Sandie, if you are
prepared for all the expense and trouble it in
wolves. The expense, to be sure, i not much of
a consideration 10 you. You have been so sue
c~essful, that YOU would not require SO close an
economy in your house as | used TO practice in
poor Roberts time. He always said | made one
dollar do the work of three. But there Will be Il
great deal of trouble. In the first place, you'll
have TO find a hOusekeeper.'
1.-The very thing | wanted to speak TO you
about
Her smile was positively brilliant.
How kind, Sandie."
Not kind at all, troubling you about my az
fairs"
"For shame as if you ever had reason to
think that anything | could do for You would be
a trouble"
\ very Just remark, considering that her vol
untary service amounted, besides frequent visits,
to Il pair of slippers, with a pink-eyed pussy-cat
on each toe, and a smOking-cap with the device
of a green-eyed poodle, couchant.
| fastened to place before her the paper in
which | had marked the advertisement which
heads this article.
There, Eliza. there is what have been think
ing about. Somehow l fancy | should like Mrs.
NJ. L. Smith Mary, | imagine her name is. |
am going To write TO box lO04.'
But aren't you acting on impulse, Sandie?'
perhaps sol always do-and, somehow,
my ventures have been tolcrably fortunate"
Yes, but this is such an important thing. OF
course you know"-and she laughed rather I'M
easily that you will be sure to marry the
lady
Marry | believe every woman has in her char
actcr the elements of an Eve. Here WAS an apple
| should never have seen, but for my s%istcr-in-
law. lt was my turn Ia laugh.
why, no, Eliza. That is an objection, of
course, which | never thought of. l don't i'm
agine it would prove to be one with me, though.
| am not "a marrying man. Besides, she is with
out doubt a widow with children, and
| stopped, for | remembered my sisters be-
rcavelncnt and membranes. Her face turned
crimson.
"All men DO not think it impossible to marry
a widow with children, and you may not, when
Mrs. Smith has kept house for YOU for six months;
though, to be sure, | don't think some women
would ever make up their minds to marry again
| supposed . some women, - referred To herself,
and | was glad Of this hit rs to her sentiments,
for poor Robert had left his family very comforta-
BILE. and | did not want to see his children subject
To- the untendcr mrrcics of a second papa. After
a lew more cautions from Mrs. Bishop, and "a few
strong expressions Of admiration for various arti-
clcs of feminine adurnmcnt from little Eliza,
which extracted from the pocket of her good ma
turcd uncle the customary amount of hush money.
my visitors departed, and | wrote my letter 10
box lOO4. Ia II | stated my residence, the salary
| was willing to pay, and the number of my
household. | gave her my name, and the names
VI Il NV vi AlN A'ilA wiz N'AalAA w 'HAAF 10 I
afford her whatever information she required rs
To my means and character. | added 4 postscript
To say that | particularly objected 10 children,
and would make it 4 point with my housekeepcr
to leave hers behind her. If she liked the terms
and the stipulatiOns, | requested her 10 call at
my counting-room the ensuing morning.
1t would be idle TO say that | attended very
closely to business the next forenoon. The house
keeping fever, the home longing, had taken full
possession of me-. | must confess. besides, to no
snail mount IF ,,r1,ls-, ,- p. -. ~.--,n, ~
pearance of VI. l.. Smith. WANTED an agreeable
hOusekeeper. Not too young-that wouldn't
look well-no tOorhleSs, wrinkled crone TO sit oT-
poSite me IT my board, but a pleasant. cheerful
woman. young enough - make my home lively.
Ii was about eleven . clock when my young
man waited upon the lady in. Ny previous
favorable impressions We're fully confirmed by her
appearance. | did not think her handsome. Ger
tainly in the style Of sister-in-law. She was a
small woman, light-foUtcd. and slender. with n
sunny. pleasant face, which might have testified
to thirty-fve summers, but no winters, surely
or, If she had met storm or chill, she had borne
them with such brave patience, that her face re
hected only the sunshine. Her brown hair was
put simply and smoothly away from her tranquil
face. Her eyes We're frank and cheerful. Her
mouth not small, but winning and smiling.
W hen she spoke, her low. pleasant tones endorsed
the expression of her countcnance.
Mr.. Bishop. l believe; the gentleman who
wrote this letter?
The same. madam"
. came. sir, to say that | would accept your
propositions, if you still wish it, now that We
have met"
| was about to say that l wished it more than
ever, since | had seen her. but fortunately recol-
lected. in time, that compliments 10 my house
keeper were no proper part of the programme.
and very decorpu>ly concluded my engagement
in a mltt.r-1f-iart and business manner.
The next week She entered upon her duties. |
had never known what it was To- be- - comfOrta-
BE. NV house was a model uf convenience and
simple elegance az least, my si>t.r-in-law. when
Went over it. previous u Mrs. Smiths com
Inencement. pronounced il perfect. | had 4 sort
OF home feeling that | had never known before