The Portland daily press., 1869-09-04
Poetry.
MISS BETSEY PRICE,
And How she Came to Change Her State
BY LIZZIE A. S. CHESTER


Miss Betsey Price made excellent ginger
snaps There could be but one opinion about
that. This was her receipt; "a teacupful
of moIasses, a teacupful Of sugar, a teacun-
ful of butter, a spoonful iof ginger. half a
teaspoonful OF soda, and flour enonob 70
to knead as hard as can be rolledn
Now you and | might follow Miss prica,s
receipt with undertaking accuracy and vet
nave no snap at all to our qinqers. They
might oe thick cakes, like square ginger nuts,
n;na nsAa .. kin TO the donghnut family, or our
SInSers HlSht have TOO much snap-likewise
ooo inucn ginger But some people have
gus anu some haven't, and therein exists the
cause of divers differences in the vast broth
erhood OF mankind; which aphoIiSm, by an
accommodating synecdoche, may include the
sisterhOod of womanknd, and is especially
applicable in the line OF cookery and knot
ting up halfinch ribbon effectively.
Miss Prices gin2ersnapS were spontaneous
effusions, thrown off from her hands in very
much the same hasty way pos. .ical gems come
from gifted minds. She no more fhonoht of
stopping to measure her ingredients than a
poet THINKS OF stopping in the heat of his
fancy to count the metrical feet in his stonvaS .'
one mixed up her ginger snaps by intuition.
pounded vigorously, and rolled out energetic,
any, she cut the dough into small so,Iares
crossed them with the back of knife and
spread them on the tins; then slipped the
nus. nus into tne oven, and behold there icame
lorth these ginger snaps, golden brown crisn
and fragrant! in every Qualification evary,
thing to which ginger snaps NAV attain, con.
seq9ehtiy complete, as few things in this
world can be complete. e' III 'n''
one particular April morning Misc proo
gave the last gingersnap in her brown .tone
jar TO little Patrick McMahon. and ;mmed;.
aaey SET about replenshng the lar She
silteu hef hour, put an uncertain onantitv of
oF ~, oy Tue nre to melt, took off the cover
u, ;r,, Tue M sugar box, aud brought the molasses
'T5;s e.. .on us pace beside the flour barrel
small at the bottom, bulged out at The sides
anu anu tapefed again at the neck; conseouenty
.ne hnolasses, when low, had a long and VIM,
inS way, up grade and down, TO travel to tho
Ihouth OF the jug, and in cool weather If was
SLOW on the road. Miss Price was we'll az.
qua'nceu with these peculiarities of ,her inc.
% onu .1 VI noiasSes; SO that, after she had taken
out tbe cork and tipped the mouth of tbe inn
over tin pan, she waited patiently for 2
couple OF minutes; but no rich black stream
5oi!eu 1 OUT, with that soft gursling sound 50
ueliciousiy suggestive, yet always SO harrow.
my 10 infant souls, who prefer treacle in its
pristlne excellence to any loss of ident;tp in
Slngeroread or snaps. Miss Price took m
tne jug and peered into its depths. She shit
Th TTe eye auu put the jug upto the other.
ian,s nnen she held the jug inverted perpendicn.
,aliy over the pan; afew drops came driZzlino
lasses was out! P""' Ane iho-
MISS prlce set the jug down and put in tbe
corh. inen she put on her hood and shawl
anu tcoK the jug from the pantry with the DE-
9 9,Sn VI going 10 the grocery to have it filed
aer hand was on the door knob whom .1,a
DethouSht herself that the state of the wall.
ing lhat April morning required oyersboes
nne turned back to a little dark closet in Tho
sa.ltng-room to get her India-rubbers.--a de.
Prcn cI had whereoh hangs this story; for if Miss
frice mad gone out the moment sbe bad ,o. hoS
hand on the door-knob, Foretboncbt naT Tinher her
never would have called, Miss Price in oil
paooaDlnty would never have changed her
state; wherefore there would have heen ~
ihi,S 10 write. Forethought had walked booL
ana Iofth before Miss Prices gate five ti,nas
n "a state OF painful diffidence. Just as Misc
, Iilce put ner haDd on the knob, he caught
s.lahpse OF the Sanford girls who lived onno-
s,ee, peepIng and giggling from behind their
par,or @ curtains, and had Miss Price, herself
come forth then, bashfulness wonId bava 49,
nmphed, and his enterprise been abandonad
! NAT glimpse OF the Sanford girls gave him a
Ieenhg OF indignation which was f9Ilowod h.,
an impetus OF courage. He walked boldly m
10 the door, and while Miss Price was neer or
ing into the farther corner OF the closet S,r
!he mate to her India-rubber, rung fhe bell
IN an energetic business like manner. Miss
5flce looked surprised when she opened the
uooi, anu fofethought looked as if be wished
a passage TO China would open lust beneath
his feet. Miss Price waited for him 10 n dai;1o.
ms errand. Forethought edged into the room
MISS Price closed the door and invited hin,
to be seated. - '''0o lin
forethought thought at first he would sit
on the lounge, and then he concIndad ba
woullht; ne moved towards the rockino-
GUAR, ana then it occurred to him that ner-
laps IL misht not be etiquette to take the best
SIalr S9 rom ine lady, SO he veered for one of
Ja M,ss lIices hard bottomed chairs and sat
ueWn on the edge of one next to II with a face
about the shade of scarlet verbenas nnder .
'uiy sun. Miss Price offered to fake his hat
III no, thank you," said Forethought. g I
aont want to make you trouble:-T can hold
1t myself just as well as not.0 '-
fofethought plunged his big hands. lust now
.erLioy spotted, into the depths of the crown
oI ON DIS nat, nat, and felt profoundly grateful that
:n1 MiSs [lce could not see them there. He only
Wisheu ne eouid dispose of his feet and legs
VI the same way. Hiding one foot under t6e
round of his chair was a vain attemnt. he
couid only partially conceal it by the other.
lie never before realized what inconvenient
members the hands and feet NAV he
IGS very warm to-day" said he at last.
said Miss Price. '"o nnofnlhs'
cold Eo E1nougnt It was going to rain last night,n
IT ana look like it, but noticed that If
replied Miss Price. ''nuo"n'
i nave noticed that it is very ant to be
pleasant the next day when It clears off about
sun-down," said Forethought.
iney say that's sure sign, but there's no |
trusting IN signs" said Miss Price.
we had powerful rain day before restAr.
day" continued Forethought. 'o'''
very hard, responded Miss Price.
we are getting good deal of rain this
spring." said Forethought, putting the most
troublesome foot on his chair ron5d' A'o0'
Yes" said Miss Price 'the snow must bo
going off very fast" Wv" 'nu'' NC
Forethought. no"' said
es, suppose it isl, said Miss Price.
foretnought had thus far gazed fixedIv at
the profile portrait of Miss Prices deceased
latner, winch hung over the mantle shelf. he |
ventured now to look out of the window on
Posi.e nun. It's quite cool out this morn |
lns, saiu ne. MISS Price made no remark
on the change in temperature. and an awf,1
pause ensued. Forethought knew this 'ros
his time; the verbena scarlet became nrrnio mI
spotted; and had the passage in the celestial
empire opened beneath him then. he Uonid
nave gone IN, regardless of the earth's infer
nal nres. He had endeavored to prenare hin,
sell ior the occasion by speech in town
meeting the day before, on the abolition Of
sne schooi "deestrick" system; but the Udees-
tI,ek" .fea system was nothing Compared with
;a,sd tmas ne b;. crossed one knee over the other
nroSr;,at;n,, ,n now reeking with nervous
and while the big veins in his forehead a'aa na.'
rugated, and his head reeled, was conscious
that he articulated "Miss Pricen-tbe yvorJS
stuck. "oiuS
"What?" said Miss Price. ......
Forethought would have welcomed nitro.
glycerine explosion in the room he heard on
ly the ticking Of the clock. Miss Price was
waiting. Forethought plunged into the smh-
Ject boldly, and came out grandIy. as smcb
men usually do. "I've been thinking. Miss
Price," said he, "that you nor amt SO younp
as we were once, and as we grow older. life
gets more Lonesome like, and l have been
thinking That perhaps we might get along
preIy wen together, if we couldn't do any
.aL you think it would be Good
natn, l;oht Ian anu are willing, you knoww The de-
lleht forethought experienced on becominr
conscious that he had delivered himself Il ha
yond words. hinhSelf is be-
Hiss rice was greatly astonished siI nor
er IN my lie thought of such a thine as ,o
ayinS You. Forethought Tinkern said si,a
- anu icooldn' ttelr YOU whether will o ~ sne'
lhlS morning, no how" WI VI hot'
Lei me know in couple of days If Won
eau, saiu rorethought, this time directing
MS giance as near Miss Price as the arm Of
her rocking chair "and if L was you wonIdn,t
cav aDythinU about IL Oufcida w., |