Vermont daily transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1868-1870, 1868-08-15
OUR GAL.

OOh NAI.
| must write it, if nobody ever reads
line 1T. L must, while 1t is all new
tory of tn e last two weeks, and the des-
cription of "our gall" as Harry calls her.
Our gal first made her appearance in
the house two weeks ago last Monday,
and L hailed her broad face and stout
figure with most hearty welo )me. Lit
tie did | realise-but to begin at the be-
ginning. l was, l am, very young
housekeepcr, yet theoretically l doknow
something of the arts and sciences
thereunto appertaining. was married
ABOUT two years ago, but we always
housekeeping In my pretty house, with
two girls and everything new, 1 fancied
that clockwork would be mere wan
dering vagrant compared to the regular
ity of my proceedings.
Twas on Sunday morning." as the
song says, that my troubles began. I
was dressing for church when my cham
bermaid came up with rueful counten-
anCe.
"If you please, Mrs. Harvey, I'm 60
ing"
"Going" 1 exclaimed "where?n
"To leave ma'am. Home. owe got
a spell of neuralgia coming on, and I'm
going home to lay by"
But you can lie down here if you are
sick"
"Well ma'am, aint to say sick exac-
tly, but I'm fixing for turn"
"a turn ?'
Eyes. have neuralgia in spells, and
l always feel 'em coming"
Words We're vain. Go she would, and
go she did. l went into the kitchen to
a v nInin tn tho nnnly thof oh do
double duty for time. She was per-
feet termagant, and to my utter aston
ishment she wheeled round with the
"Gone! Jane gone Will you get
another girl?"
Certainly"
To-day"
"How can get a girl on Sunday?"
"And tomorrow washday! Well L
am not goingto stay to do al! the work.
You'll either get another girl early to-
morrow or I'll leavev' -. -.
you'll leave now, in the shortest
space of time it takes to go from here to
the door," cried Harry from the, sitting
room, where he had overheard us.
With many msolent speeches. she depart
ed, and announcement as it was, / was
glad to see her go.
OF course there was no church, and L
began to get dinner. Harry, like a
masculine angel as he was, took off his
coat and came down to help me, with
an assurance that he actually could not
sit still and hear the cook use the tone
she did one instant longer. 1t was q
merry day. Harry ral1ed the fire till his
glossy brown GUYS were powdered with
gray which premature sign of age was
produced, he assured me, by "care and
not the weight of years" He peeled po-
tatoes so beautifully that they were
about as big as bullets after he had talk
EN- off the skin about an inch thick all
around. Pies were the only article with
l made a meat pie, two apple pies and
short cake for supper, which we ate with
the dinner at 6 O'clock. 1t was late
enough when we cleared up, but all was
done but one thing. Harry was In the
bath room refreshing himself when
discovered that the coal was all gone.
hated to call him down for he had
worked hard all day, SO took the scut-
| tie and went down in the cellar myself,
laughing to think how he would scold
when he knew it. am a wee woman
and not over strong, but filed the big
scuttle, and Juggling away with both
hands started up stairs. / was at the
top my labor nearly over, when some
how, / cannot tell how, L lost my bal
ance. | reeled over and the heavy thing
came with me down to the bottom of
the stairs. l felt it crushing my foot.
heard Harry's CALL and then tainted.
l know now, though | did not then, how
he lifted me in his strong arms and car
red me up stairs, and the touch of the
cold water which he poured over me is
the next thing l remember. AS soon as
| was conscious and able to speak, | let
him go for a doctor, lamenting that
mother and Lou were both out of town
for the summer Well, well, it was a
weary night; no time to scold, Harry
said, so he petted, nursed and tended
me, till my heart ached with it's fullness
of love and gratitude. Morning found
me, my fractured ankle in box, lying
helplessly in bed, and Harry promised
to send me girl Immediately. So af-
ter this long prelude | come to "Our
gal" Oh, L must tell you how Harry
made me a slice of buttered toast for
breakfast, by buttering the bread on
both sides and then toasting it.
1t was about nine O'Clock when my
new girl came. Harry had given her a
dead-latch key, so she entered and came
up to my door. Her knock was the first
peculiarly that startled me-, One rap,
loud as pistol shot and a. abrupt.
"Come in" I,Tn
With sweep the door flew back, and
in the space stood my new acquisition.
Stop moment l must describe her !!
She was very tall, very robust, and very
!, ugly. Her thick black hair grew low
on her forehead, and her complexion
I was uniformly red. Her features were
} very large and her mouth full OF (her