Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1867-04-19

Matilda had been gone two weeks,
and still no successor, only conditional
promises from three or four quarters.
Presently they began to drop iii one by
one. First, Arabella Jones, who had
been waiting, believe, to finish q
head-dress. The most can say of her
Is, that she curled her hair, and the
multitudinous ringlets were daily
triumph of mind over matter. OF her
other characteristics i am not qualified
to speak, as she staid only one day.
She was followed by sad Mrs. Wrinkle,
who had survived two or three hus-
bands, wore a black breast-pin like a
small tombstone, had a memorial snuff
box, made low-spirited bread, and
punctuated her remarks with deep
sighs.
So funeral was her appearance, SO
her influence, that we seem
ed to be dwelling in a sarcophagus; and
l was not sorry to learn from the COM
municative neighbors that she couldn't
make up her mind to stay, didn't think
1t looked well, Mr., Pratt "being wild
over so, and such a very sociable man. =
tried to recall what / had ever said
to the bereaved Mrs. Wrinkle which
would stigmatize me as very sociable
man but could remember nothing /
might not have uttered with propriety
in q grave yard. So concluded her
needless apprehensions arose entirely
from my "being widower so.f saFl
I, The nextlwas lady who. loved ro-
nance, and wrote many splendid
things. But "wouldnt do for me" on
account of her propensity for giving
teaspoons to the pig, and dropping
pins and fish bones into the gravy, |
would have overlooked an occasional
dish-cloth in, the pudding, but when IL
came to choking my children all the
father arose within me, and, at the risk
of wounding the feelings Of the poetess,
/ advised her to seek some more con-
genial employment.
1 'sA1as ~ thought I, a foreigner would
not come amiss. Much as the villagers
pride themselves on good American
help, L would be thankful to set my
two eyes on a capable Irish girl who Is
not above her business.n nii4 gTii @i ,s1et"
One day the unhappy Caddy inform
ed me that Miss Peters from her observ-
atory had seen the chickens entering
the kitchen, the mop reposing on a
wheel barrow, and the two youngest
children rolling the sieve for a hoop.
Under such circumstances it. seemed to
Miss Peters that "a head was needed. ~
She wondered III In all my yexperiments
/ had ever tried to engage the daughter
Of Widow Wilcox? s,s ffs-f,t., .
"Widow Wilcox ?n The name sounds
ed familiar, though during our short
stay in the village i had not to my
met such person or any OF
her daughters.
/ called on M ISIS Peters for more def
mite information, which / found her
very ready to give. She was lady of
some fifth single summers, with o cold
eye like thick blue ice, and O face
which looked as If ii had been stepped
In the vinegar of crushed hopes.
The Widow Wilcox lived, she said,
on the Low Farm "that was.r "You
turned off by the Academy, and kept
on ahout half a mile till you come to a
leather-colored house with green blinds
and laylock bushes before the front
windows. Mehetabel was as .fdculized
a girl as there was in Piccadilly; her
folks were good iivcrs, and she could
cook as nice victuals as Queen Victory"
sBysanxious inquiry 1 learned that
She did not wear curls, neither took
snuff nor sighed between her sentences,
and was not so literary as to endanger
either teaspoons or juvenile wind
pipes. There was but one objection,
Miss Peters assured me; Mehetabel
hadn't been used to living out much,
and might feel above it. The family
were as poor as Jobs turkey IL have
since consulted Kitto's commentaries,
butSn1d no mention OF Jobs keeping
poultry, but In spite of their poverty
they were "big-feeling, stuck-up, and
proud.n III =
/ sighed, and remarked with pathos,
that i had already sufferd deeply from
The arrogance Of "American help,p
and Ii the character of the incompara-
Die Miss Wilcox was such asrrepresent-
I'd, should despair Of securing her SER
vices.
Miss Peters soothed me by the assur-
ince that she didn't believe but Mehet-
abel would come for ar while anyhow,
ust to accommodate and with this
nope left my Kind neighbor and be-
.ook myself to the 'leather-colored
house benin dlthe lnylock bushesn 1t
was quite unlike the habitations to
which L had usually been directed, and
had so to speak, q cultivated air. A
Nell-bred lady In widows cap met
ne at the door and invited ine to enter.
inquired for Miss Mehetabel, and my
hostess going to call her did not again
'etnrn. q
While left alone had time to look
lbout me and observe the appointments
If the room, which were In harmony
With the taste and refinement so 1evi-
lentin the grounds. The books scat
cred over the center-tabIe were such
rs one sees In any family of culture;
he engrnvings and paintings on the
walls, though somewhatcheaplyfra
lad been admirably selected there
vas exepga piano In the room, with
lbundancc Of the best sheet music. L
ound myself SO well entertained by
Iome microscopic views that I had
nearly forgotten my errand when Miss
Wilcox entered. / can hardly say /
vas surprised to see a graceful, we'll
dressed young lady, for her surround
ngs had prepared me to expect 1t but
certainly had not looked for such
lueenliness OF manner. i muttered
IN inward protest against Miss Peters
Who had directed me to this piece of
elegance, and another against my
Caddy, who had allowed
uC W lGhNO tiG AAOnOE WANh puSA -
habby coat. During the reign Of Eliz-
.beth, / had scarcely given a thought
o my, outside apparel, for that excel
ent woman had had general over
light of my gear, and it now occurred
O me as a new idea that / was allow
ng myself 10 fall to wreck and ruin
felt an inclination to seize my hat and
un, but, suminoning all my manhood,
resolved to brave it out and make N.Y.
elf as agreeable as possible.
I Miss Wilcox, with true politeness,
DON set me ut ease, and In the course
If half an hour was conversing with
Ter as unrestralnedly as IL we were old
and / had come for q So
;ial call. She had known my late
wife, she said, had seen her graduate
With fhonors at the Academy. Herself
mere child, she had been brought out
# several small troubles by Miss Ven
lebal's kindness, and remembered her
With gratitpde asa peacemaker. Yes.