The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-07-30

"
dinner readyl It is past the time.h
at will soon be on the table," was the reply.
But, alasl whenever it came, II II had u De
waited io-, Fred's appetite was gone, and to my
modification, he scarcely more than tasted OF
the iood Next TO my early rising, Wmcn j
found to be indispensable tor comfort, endea.
vored to become punctual, and TINS was my
hardest task. Again and again | tried and
iailed-I could not be exact. One day l was
reading the elite OF Nelson" and 1t was said
that he owed all his success TO being always
quarter OF an hour beforehand Tor any appoint
ment or object that he had IN view; not that he
actually kept the appointment at aqu9rer be-
fore time, but was always ready for 1t. The
words seemed to stard lumnously out from the
page, and forced themselves upon my sense, so
that they REQUIRED continually TO my memory,
and could not be forgotten.
had now become an adept in our homely
cooking, and knew that overlooked food, par
ticular1v yege etables, were equally injurious
with those which were undercooked. ] puzzled
my weary bead long time how to keep the
vegetables hot without injury TO them. Upon
my consulting Bridget, TO my infinite relief she
''That's easy done, anyhow, all but the peta-
ties"
"Well, then, dinner is to be ready quarter
before four exactly, and it has to be kept warm
till four; and must come into the kitchen and
see how you manage
When the time came had forgotten all this
till Bridget came to say she was going TO dlsh
up. saw her temper was not to be triIed with,
tonisbment, touRd she had dshed up; every
thing was ready to come on the table but her
darling treasures, the ''petaties;n they were
steamng away as ifover the tunnel OF minla-
tlre steam.engine The greens had been taken
up and drained III the colander, the greater por-
ton of the water remaining in the saucepan;
tea-saucer bad been turned upside down IN
vegetable dish, upon this the greens had been
placed, and the cover of the dish put on; the
dish placed over the nearly boiling water in the
saucepan, kept the former as hot as possible
without drying the contents. The meat had
been taken from the jack and placed in an old
dish on the top of the oven, and covered with
large dish cover, and over that was placed a
cloth, well tucked in to prevent it's catching
smoke or blaze. The dripping-pan was removed,
and on the dTGl1-OW OF the CRATE was placed
upside down the dish in which the meat was to
be served; the Gravy, from which every particle
OF lat had been removed, was waiting the usual
adjuncts before pouring it on the meat dish.
'The petates' will be done on the minute"
said Bridget, who looked at the clock. "ln five
minutes itll be all on the table" And punctually
to the moment 1t was.
My husband, to his surprise, was called, and
the pleasure which flushed over his face when
he saw the dinner stpaming hot was ample
reward Tor all my trouble. On lifting the cover
which concealed the greens, my chagrin was
great to see water quite over the rim OF the
inverted saucer, Bridget saw it too.
'Thats nothing" SAID she; 81 didn't think"
and instantly the dish was taken to the side
table, and the offending water poared into
plate.
That's all right now," said l; "but, Bridget, [
did not see the pudding"
Surely you have not forgotten my rice,
Bridget"
only got to warm It,"
But, surely, that cannot be good; the milk
will be sour"
''You always praise my puddings, and shure
you've always had il so;" and she made good
her retreat with a slam of the door. When
Bridget was In this humor it was best never to
notice it; it all came around in good time; and
sne was invaluable IN many respects. The pud-
ding was very good and finding it so, led me
afterwards to preparing the sweets a day be
fore, such as tarts, milk puddlngs, and custard
puddings. In after years found this plan OF
great advantage; as, when visitors came uneX-
pectedly, a passable dinner could always be
made up, with the addition OF fish, or hash, or
mnce, and this without delay or making it
appear that the table so served was anything
different from our usual meal. Cold vegetables,
all but abbage, would warm admirably. Cold
carrots, sliced thin, put into gravy or melted
butter in a basin, covered down and placed' i'll
the oven for q quarter of an hour, made an eX
cellent dish. Cold parsnips could be mashed
with milk, a little butter, pepper, and
salt. Cold broccoli be warmed by putting it INTO
basin, then standing the basin in saucepan
of boiling water, and putting on the lid. Cold
peas and beans III the same manner. Cold
tuInip-greens, or spinach, the same; these two
last, minced fine, and placed in the oven while
a few rashers of bacon and some eggs were
Cus
with the spinach or greens between, made a
| dish most appetizing, and one which we rarely
| saw our guests refuse. All well, got Dad
name by all these contriyances, Tor some OF my
lady visitors accused me, though not to my face,
| of being very eXIrayagant, and we're quite sure
| that downfall must come; but it never did.
went on my way rejoicing; though all these
! things came slowly to me, not in the second or
| third year of my welded life, but when with
| two little ones and one servant; then there was
scarcely a day that my experience or my neces-
| sity old not teach me something.
At the end of the third year began to be q
| little nervous about the Insurance; we had so
many expenses, and with no help but our in
come that did not see where the money was
| to come from. To my infinite relief, my hus-
band brought me, one day, new policy OF in
| suranee which this time, instead OF for a lhOu
| sand pounds, was only for five hundred.
'Thls is ali that we can do, Milly; it is useless
attempting too much however, | am glad that
even this pittance can be secured; all OF the
| twenty pounds which we appropriated Tor con-
| tingencles is, as you must be aware, spent; we
| have had many expenses not reckoned for, and
| which will not occur again, at least to the same
| extent; and for these, in the coming year, the
money which would have insured for another
five hundred must be set aside to meet them.
have no tear now, little wlle;, dearer, thou
sand times dearer than ever"
Tears were rolling down my cheeks as he
folded me in his arms, and continued, " My own
darling Nhlly when we hrst came here missed
in you 9ll the thousand little cbarms which
wound themselves round my yagrant heart
before | asked YOUR love then dearest-ay
even only short year ago, | pined for the
bright smile, the loving glance, the CHEEKY voice
which IN our courtIng days had ever welcomed
me. One sad year you buried them all out o.
sight, and l grleved to think that Tor me they
would never spring again. But now, now
dearest, forget sometimes that we are married
i forget that we are other than the lovers o