Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1872-02-28
Cur Lizzie

L zlia is our " maid Of all work, ~ the
English term the girl who does general
hDu-ework bat she D. at he same time our
Der and Ur0feqe. IN whom We take az gre It
pride and interest as it zlc were an unpaid
member Of our family. f. return she l. our
firm .rienI and protector In the matter Of
physical comforts she Is most careful that
bur coT-e sasll be made in the very best
manner that our bread shall be the lIyhtest
AMI sw. o-c7-, that our china snail be entirely
free from lilt. aqd that our silver shall be
unit rIishei in .tst, shs Is a7 devoted t.
our personal cbmfJrC AMI iAstiliOu- taste as
A mod vile u her husJand's.
Alas, that such "a blessing should ever quit
d hauscI5li, once Il paradise through its
presence
she ctma - as tv1 years since, stYin-s she
heard wc wtnteI q glrl. Something in ter
face pleased me | questioned her a. 70 her
k11wicdLe and abilities. and slc frankly
confessed she had never lived cut, and she
did not think she could d. anything as we
would wish it done, for folks said we were
very particular, but they said too, that We
were kind people and would teach her. She
mad not the tidy look one likes to see in the
applicant for a place III ones kitchen, in
fact, her appearance was rather unpromlsIng
Sac was eighteen she said her mother had
been dead a few months, her s5eptather was
going TO marry again, aud she wanted a
home where she could learn something. She
had not been long in the place, and had few
acduaintanccs and no relatives in it.
1er slightly sad, slightly anxious, ex-
preston won my sympathy, aud we soon
agreed as to wages, privileges, etc. She
would have assentet u much harder terms
than mine, for we are small family, my
sister and myself one of us a widow, the
other an old maid, and now and then a few
visitors.
When Lizzie came tine next morning,
found she had spoken the truth she did not
know how to do anything in a neat, thrifty
sort Of way. Her ways were all poor folks
wavs, (I mean ways that keep folks poor, y
but her Acknowledge OF her owndetcien
cies was a hopeful gn, and after few
months assiduOus training on my part, she
proved real treasure. Her willingness and
even anxiety to learn made the teaching
pleasure she soon became neat and tidy in
every respect, and when she dropped the
attempt at tinery IN her dress, exchanging it
for scrupulOus cleanliness and neatness, she
was really very attractive.
She could read, and was very fond of
perusng the trash that Is 50 pientIfully sup
piled to her class, bat she could not write at
all | proposed TO remedy this latter de-
fciency by daily lessons, and substituted
good novels and interesting, instructive read
ing for the trash. Her eagerness to learn to
write interested me, aud at the same time
puzzled me a little; she never received let
ters, ard never mentioned any one to whom
she wished to write, yet she practiced with
an almost ieverish anxiety. When | thought
she wrote tolerabIy we'll and quite legibly
said to her one day that she was quite able
to write a letter if she wished to do 50 /; she
exclaimed /" Ga, do you think so would
like to write to my husband "
ITO your husband . said L are you
married -
Her eagerness about the letter betrayed
her into an involuntary confession of a