Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1873-10-30
kettle from some o. the neigh.

|
bors?''
II borrow preserving kettle, Why,
! Auntie, your wits are wool gathering; I've
| splendid new one of my own. Why
| should borrow?'
"Ef YOU will lem your things chile
| right an lef' you may come TO borowin
yet. Miss Malvna she done took off de
prescrvin' kettle yesterday"
"Why, never said she could have i'll"
"She send up while you and Mas'r John
| out riding; say she mus hab 1t right of.
! I say cannot len it without your con
sent. on no 'suasion whatsoever"
"That settled it. of coursc."
"Niss Katherine she come herself and
say you hab tole her she could hab IL; so
| circumstances alterin' cases, sent Henry
| down with IT,"
"Diana, send Henry at once, and say
that | am waiting TO use il, and beg they
will return it directly
! sat down and famed myself. j fan
ned and famed and famed, and concealed
| nv feelings, which were not serene nor
satisfied. After an interval, Henry came
bringing with him--a kettle Shades Of
nv ancestors! was that my preserving
kettle? Dear to the housekeeping soul
| is its humblest pot and pan; especially
sacred is its porcelain-lined, Immaculate,
and thrice priced and guarded kettle, in
which summer fruits are crystallized into
molds Of beauty and things OF JOY for the
winter and the early spring, the days
when there shall be nothing to make pies
of. | was careless about many things; |
lost my best gloves and forgot my umbrel-
La in a store down town; / put away
things so carefully that | could not find
them, but ! did look well to the ways of
my kitchen furniture.
| This kettle was ruined.
It was burned brown three quarters up
the sides.
| stood in silent dispair. AT last /
spoke.
"If you, Diana, can do the plums in
that thing, you may shall never use II
again"
! shut myself up in that refuge of the
weary, my own chamber. / thought of
the misery it was to have borrowing
! neighbor. Our coffee, ] may mention,
was by this time made daily with an eye
to Mrs. Vernon's needs, and her cup and
saucer was now changed for a small
pitcher, which morning by morning was
replenished from my urn. / felt tempted
as that practical man, Cousin John, sug-
gestcd occasionally, to make IL half wa
ter, but when it came to the point it was
not possible for me TO commit such
meanness Nobtesse 0blige again.
A bath, a clean wrapper, cologne, and
new novel, with the leaves uncut have
another womanly weakness, and like to cut
| MY own leayes--restored my amiability.
1t was helped too by whiffs Of sweetness
that came from the kitchen where Aunt
| hi, important and quite equal to the occa
sion, was doing up my plums. A CHEEKY
voice and brisk step in the hall below,
and presently my name called, made me
aware that my neighbor was below. Had
she come to apologize / was prepared
to receive her apologies graciously, and
descended.
How little / knew my friend Lightly
upon her conscience, if she were aware of
| il ut all, sat my preserving kettle. Ten of
them would not have pressed a feathers
weight on that mercurial mind.
"My love-" she said, chow well you
look today. You positively don't look u
| day over sixteen. And how magnificent
you we're the other day in that lace shawl
Katharine would be queenly in it, but
! since the - Bank broke, my poor girls
can't dress as I'd like to have them. BY
the by, they are asked to Miss Cornelia
Pegram's wedding to-day. Our family is
equal to the Pegrams if we are poor, and
I'd like her to look rs well as anybody.
She said must not, in fact she nearly
cried about 1t, but told her you would
be candid and say mo- if you did not
want to say yes and it would be no
harm to ask you. Now do say no, il you'd
lace shawl, it would drape over her pearl
| 90, oil IL, In tlxt of off
esque."
am not, l grieve to say, strong
minded woman. | dislike TO appear dis
obliging. I'd rather suffer martyrdom than
say mo" when Pm expected to say eyes,"
when only my own convenience is con-
cerned. So, inly provoked and outwardly
calm, as is the Machiavellian manner of
my sex, | said yes, and brought the
shawl.
GLOW sweet you are!" said Mrs. Yer
non, giving me patronizing kiss, which
/ wiped off the moment her back was
turned.
Miss Katherine wore my shawl to the
reception, and she wore it to church, and
she wore 1t everywhcre--I am not romano
ing. reader mine-for three mortal weeks.
Then sent for it, and 1t came home: 1t
was not particularly the worse for wear,
though did find microscopic tear that
had been carefully darned, and though it
had acquired smell of pachouli and
musk that no amount of airing ever
quite took from it till the day that it
parted company with me forever. When
found 1t missing the thought of the
musk went little way toward consoling
me.
My borrowing neighbors borrowed
everything, and never returned an item
from the least to the greatest unless they
were asked to- They borrowed my
prayer.book and my hymn book, my last
new novel and my freshest mag azine, my
aprons for patterns and my bonnets for
models. They borrowed my cups and
saucers, my silver spoons-these they did
return, however--and my dinner plates
and knives and forks. They borrowed
not the raw material only--as sugar and
tea and butter and soap-they systemati-
cally made demands upon my dinner and
supper and breakfast table, upon my cake
box and my supply of bread, until
ceased to be wonder stricken, and yielded
an apathetic assent to all they desired
Last Of all, they borrowed my cousin
John