Litchfield enquirer., 1875-07-08

 them about. But they might be screwed and made stationary if that was an i'm portant object; But, before making this answer, I thought of the great conVenien- ees for washing presented by our resi- dence. surrounded as it was, at high tide. by water. ~
 ssWhy, we live in stationary wash tub, ]" said, smiling.
 The woman looked at me steadfastly for a minute, and then she rose to her feet. Then she called out, as if she were crying fish or strawberries
 Mrs. Blaine i'
 The female Keeper of the intelligence office, and the male keeper, and a thin clerk, and all the women in the back room, and all the patrons in the front room. jumped up and gathered around us.
 Astonished, and somewhat disconcerted, I rose to my feet and confronted the tall Irishwoman, and stood smiling in an Hn- certain sort of a way, as if it were all very funny but I couldn't see the point. | think must have impressed the people 1 with the idea that I wished hadn't come.
 'He says" exclaimed the woman. as if some other huckster were crying fish on the other side of the street-s'he says he lives in a wash toob."
 | with an air that indicated policeman" as plainly as if she had put her thought into words.
 A low murmur ran through the crowd of women, while the thin clerk edged to- ward the door.
 I saw there was no time to lose. step ped back a little from the tall e,Who was breathing like hot-air engine in front of me, and made my explanations to the company. I told the tale of "Rudder Grange" and showed them how 1t was like to a stationery wash tub-at certain stages of the tide.
 I was listened to with great attention When I had finished, the tall woman turn ed around and faced the assemblage.
 ''An' he wants cook to make soup 1 In a canal boat p said she, and off she marched into the back room. followed closely by all the other women.
 ''I don't think we have any one here who would suit you,' said Mrs. Blaine.
 I didn't think so either. What on earth would Euphemia have done with that vol canic Irishwoman in her little kitchen I took up my hat and bade Mrs. Blaine good morning.
 ''Good morning." said she. with dls- dressing smile.
 She had one of those mouths that look exactly like a gash in the face.
 I went home without girl. In a day or two Euphenia came to town and got one. Apparently she got her without any trouble, but l am not sure.
 She went to a ''Home"-Salnt Some body's Home-a place where they keep orphans to let, so to speak. Here Euphe- mia selected a light haired, medium sized | orphan and hrOu0ht her home | The girls name was Pomona. Whether or not her parents gave her this name is | doubtful. At any rate, she did not seem | quite decided in her mind about it her self, for she had not been with us more than two weeks before she expressed a desire to be called Clare This longing | of her heart. however, was denied her. | So Euphemia, who was always correct, called her Pomona. dld the same when l ever could think not to say Bologna I which seemed to come very ypat sfor some. reason or other. z l As for the boarder, he always called her Altoona. connecting her in some way with the process of stopping for refreshments, in which she was an adept.
 She was an earnest, hearty girl She was always in a good humour, and when I asked her to do anything, she assented | " u tone full of good fellowship, as though she would say:
 Certainly, my high old cock To be sure will. Don't worry about it-give your mind no more uneasiness on that subject. I'll bring the hot water" l She did not know very much, but she was delighted to learn, and she was very strong. Whatever Euphemia told her to do, she did instantly, with bang. What pleased her better than anything else was to run up and down the gang plank, car rying buckets of water to water the gar den. She delighted in outdoor work, and sometimes dug SO vigorously in our gar den that she brought up pieces of the deck planking with every shovelful. Our boarder took the greatest interest | in her, and sometimes watched her move ments so intently, that he let his pipe go out.
 "What whacking girl that would be to tread out grapes in the vineyards of Italy She'd make wine cheap" he once remarked.
 ''Then I'm glad she isn't there," said Euphemia, "for wine oughtn't to be cheap"
 Euphemia was thorough little temper ance woman.
 | troubled me more than anything else was her taste for literature. It was not litera- ture to which objected, but her very peculiar taste. She would read in the kitchen every night after she had washed the dishes, but If she had not read aloud. it would not have made so much differ ence to me. But am naturally very sen- sitive to external impressions. and I do not like the company of people who, like our girl, cannot read without pronouncing in a measured and distinct voice every word of what they are reading. And when the matter thus read appeals to one's every sentiment of aversion, and there is no way of escaping it, the case is hard in- deed
 From the first, felt inclined to order Pomona. if she could not attain the power of silent perusal, to cease from reading altogether but Euphemia would not hear to this.
 "Poor thing p said she e; sit would be cruel to take from her her only recreation. And she says she can't read any other vay. You needn't listen if you don't want to.
 That was all very we'll in an abstract point of view {; but the fact was, that in practice, the more didn't want to listen, the more heard.
 As the evenings were often cool, we sat in our dining room. and the partition be- tween this room and the kitchen seemed to have no influence whatever in arresting sound. So that when was trying to read or to reflect. it was by no means ex- hilarating to my mind to hear from the next room that
 "The Ia dy co seI a now si zed the weep on and all though the boor ly vii ly an re tain ed his " gor ous hold she drew the blade through his fin gers and hoorl ed 1t far be hind her dryp ping with jore. 5
 This sort of thing. kept up for an hour } or so at time, used to drive me nearly wild. But Euphenlia didn't mind it. ! believe that she had so delicate sense of what was proper, that she did not hear Pomona's private readings. On one occasion, even Euphemia's in- fuence could scarcely restrain me from : violent interference.
 If was our boarder's night ont (when he was detained in town on businessl. and