Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1872-08-22
Tell me IHATE the bowl ?


81 never'did see such a sight III my
life" quOth Mrs. Marley, eleyating her
two rheumatism-twisted old hands in-the
air. 'Dust on them beautiful velvet
carpets; glass in the conservatory Win
dows all broken; scratching up all the
geraniums in the front lawn, and the
lazy servant dawdling away their preci-
Gus time, while poor dear Mr.. Avenel
and Harry don't know any more what's
going on than if they were bOarders.
SavsI, Dear heart alive, Mr.. Avenel, this
is enough to make your poor dear wife
turn in her grave. Says he-yOu know
his pleasant way-'Well, l know it isn't
just right, Mrs. Marley, but what can
do?' And I answers, says /, Get a
housekeeper' Says he, Where ? Says
I. Advertise. Says he, Mrs. Marley
yoa've hit the nail on the head I'll adj
yertise tomorrow And that's how
that paragraph happened to be in the
papers"
Here Mrs. Marley stopped to catch
breath. and nodded emphatically at her
auditor a pale woman dressed in deep
mourning, with the unbecOming frame
work of widows cap around her face.
"And do you think l would suit the
gentleman ~ the latter asked timidly.
"You can but try" was Mrs. Narley's
encouraging response. ''Mr. AveneIs
as easy as lamb, and not one o them
as is everlastingly checking off bills and
counting nickel pennies, and Harry
dreadful pleasant tempered. Any way,
if was you, Mrs Hawkhurst, I'd go up
and see.
And Mrs. Hawkhurst, holding her
pretty little daughter by the hand, went
ND accordingly to the handsome stone
house on the hill.
There she found Mr. Avencl in a state
of temporary siege, for others besides
herself had seen the tempting advertise
ment and made haste to answer it.
There were fat women and lean, tall
women and short. Scotch women and
Germans, smiling, slOvenly women and
trim, sharp-visaged women; women
who had seen better days and women
who evidently hadn't.
Mrs. Hawkhurst looked around some
what discouraged by the formidable
array of rivals.
ssThere's no hope for me, she thought
dcspairinglv, and was just about to turn
away with the timid Juliet clinging to
her hand, when Harry Ayenel adVanc-
ed
'sDo you wish to see my uncle,
ma'am ?" he asked cOurteOusly.
IL called about the housekeeper's
situation" meekly murmured the wild
oW.
And Harry showed her in at once.
The fat and the tall, the German and
the Scotch, the sour and the sweet went.
Avenel decided to engage Mrs. Hawk
hurst as his housekeeper, with permits
sion to keep Juliet with her.
''She is all have sir" said the house
keeper alphabetically, ''and she will try
to be useful about the house"
Glow old is she ?" asked Mr.. Ayenel.
Fifteen, sir. J."
'Well, let her stay" said the widower
good humoredly. ''Shell eat no more
than a chicken, and l dare say she can
do great many odd things about the
place"
Mrs. Hawkhurst proved herself an eX-
ecutive ot1iceress of the greatest ability.
Gradually the ''chaos and old night" of
Avenel place was reduced to system and
| order. The wheels of housekeeping re-
volved so softly that no one knew they
moved, yet these were the results. You
scarce ever saw the housekeeper glide
about the halls, yet the servants declar-
ed her omnipresent Mr.. Avenel found
himself actually the inhabitant of a
home once more as the years slowly
passed away.
He was sitting on a piazza one day,
smoking his cigar, and watching the
graceful movements of Juliet Hawk
hurst, as she was planting training vines
in a marble vase that occupied the cen
tire of the lawn, when Mrs. Marley came
out.
"a nice evening, sir" said Mrs. Mar
ley. ''Oh, there she is !"
"Who ?" Mr.. Avernel asked.
"Why, that foolish child Juliet an
swered the old lady sharply. Il liant
no patience with her that / ha'nt."
''What has she been doing now 2"
asked the widower with an amused
face.
"Why, she's refused Ben Nichols ED
est son, as likely and beforehanded a
young Teller as there is in the country. "