Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1871-12-08
TIE ROOSTER
6 SChOOLzTsIaGGer.
BIZ EDWARD EGGLESTON.
CHAPTER XXI.
PANCAKES.

PANCAKES.
Half an hour later, Ralph, having
seen Miss Nancy Sawyer's machinery
of warm baths and simple remedies
once safely in operation, and having
seen the roam colt comfortably stabbed,
and rewarded for his faithfulness by a
b0untiful supply of the best hay and
the promise of oats when he was cool
half an hour later Ralph was doing
the most ample, satisfactory, and
amazing justice to his Aunt Matilda's IS
hot tbuckWhcat-cakes and warm coffee.
And after his life in Flat Creek Aunt
Matilda's house did look like paradise.
How white the table-clOth, how bright
the cofiee-pOt, how clean the wood
work, how glistening the brass door
knobs, how spOtless everything that
came under the sovereign sway of Mrs.
Matilda WhiteI For in every Indiana
village as large as Lewisburg, there
are generally ahalf-dOZen women who
are admitted to be the best hOuse-keep-
ers. And the strife is between these
for the pre-eminence. 1t is at least
safe to say that none in Lewisburg
stood so high an enemy to dirt, and as
A." rat, roach, and mouse eXtelmina-
tori as did Mrs. Matilda White, the
wife of Baiph's maternal uncle, Rob
eft White, Esq, a lawyer in success
full practice. Ofcourse 10 member Of
Mrs. Whites family ever staid at
home longer than was necessary. Her
husband found his office-which he
kept in as bad state as possible in or
der to maintain an equilibrium in his
life-much more comfortable than the
stifily clean house at home. From the
time that Ralph had come to live as a
choTe-bOy at his uncle's, he had ever
crossed the threshold of Aunt Matil-
da's temple of cleanliness with hor-
rible sense of awe. And Walter John
son, her son by q former marriage,
had-pOor, weak-willed fellow been
driven into bad company bad hab-
its by the wretchednesS of extreme
civilization, And vet he showed the
hereditary trait, for all the genius
which Mrs. White cOnseCrated TO the
glorious work of making her house
too neat to be habitable, her son Wal
ter gave to tying exquisite knots in
his cOlCred cIavats and cOmbing his
oiled locks so as to look like a
dandy barber. And she had no
other children. The kind Providence
that watches over the destiny of chill
dren takes care that very few OF them
are lodged in these terrible clean
houses.
But Walter was not at the table, and
Ralph had so much anxiety lest his
absence should be significant of evil,
that he did not venture to inquire af-
ter him as he sat there between Mr..
and Mrs. White disposing OF Aunt
Matilda's cakes with an appetite only
justified by his long ride and the eE-
cellency OF the brown cakes, the gold
Ell honey. and the coffee, enriched, as
Aunt Matilda'S always was, with the
most generous cream. aunt Matilda
was So absorbed in telling Of the do
ings of the Dorcas Society that she
had entirely forgotten to be surprised
IL the early hour of Ralph's arrival
When she had described the number
OF the garments finished to be sent to
the Five Points Mission. or the Home
for the FriendlesS, or the South Sea
Islands, l forgot which, Ralph thought
he saw his chance, while Aunt Matil-
Ga was inf benevolent mood, to br0ach
Il plan he had been revolving for some
time. But when he loofed at Aunt
Matida's simmaculatc-hOusekeeping,
his heart failed him, and he would
have said nothing had she not inadver-
tently opened the door herself.
How did you get here so early,
Ralph ?" and Aunt Matilda's face was
shadOwed with a coming Tebuke.
"By early rising" said Ralph. But,
seeing the gathering frown on his
20 f,l lp
story of ShOclly as well as he could.
Mrs. White did not give way to any
impulse toward sympathy until she
learned that ShOcky was safely housed
with Miss Nancy Sawyer.
4" Yes, Sister Sawyer has no family
cares" she said by way of smoothing
her slightly rufiied cOmplacency, 'she
has no family cares, and she can do
those things. Sometimes / think she
lets people impose on her and keep her
away from the means of grace, and
Spoke to our new preacher about it The
last time he was here and asked him
to speak to Sister Sawyer about stay
ing away from the ordinances to wait
on everybody, bat he is a queer man,
and he only said that he supposed Sis
ter Sawyer neglected the inferior ordi-
nances that she might attend to high
er ones. But [ don't see any sense in
minister of the gospel calling prayer
meeting a lower ordinance than feed
ing catnip-tea to Mrs. Browns last
baby. But hasn't this little boy
Shocking, or what do you call him ,
| got any mother ,"
q" Yes" said Ralph, "and that was
! just what | was going to say" And
he proceeded TO tell how anxious
Shocky was to see his half-blind moth
er, and actually venturcd to wind uT
| his remarks by suggesting that
| Shocky's mother be invited to stay
| over Sunday in Aunt Matilda's house.
| Bless my starsln said that astound-
ed saint, fetch pauper here? What
crazy notions you have got! Fetch
her here out of the poor-house? Why
she wouldn't be fit to sleep III my
-u here Aunt Matilda choked. The
| bare thought of having a pauper In
| her billowy beds, whose snowy white
ness was frichtful to any ordinary
mortal, the bare thought OF the cOnta-
| gion of the poor-hoUse taking posses
sion of one Of her beds, smothtred her.
" And then you know sores are very
catching.n
Ralph boiled q little. "Aunt Matil-
da, DO you think Dorcas was afraid OF
| sore eyes"
1t was a centre shot, and the lawyer
uncle, lawye like, enjoyed a good hit
And he enjoyed a good hit at his wife
| best of all, for he never ventured on
one himself. But Aunt Matilda felt
that a direct reply was impossible. She
was not a lawyer but woman, and
50 lodged the question by making q
| counter-chaTge.
at seems to me, Ralph, that you
have picked up some very low associ-
ates. And you go around at night, /
am told. You get over here by day
light, and hear that you have made