The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1876-12-07
AUNT BAMBER'S RECIPE.
BY A. JORKIN.

BY A. JoRKIN.
r 1 am afraid that rarebit has disagree
: with me. Absurd invention, rarebits-
:. no wonder they are Welsh. Or could
= have besn the whisky-that's Irish An
! they are always doing something to rui
i the Saxon in Ireland. But whateye
4 the cause may be, there can be no dout
{ that ! am seedy-culpably seedy; re-
about the eyes, you know, pale abou
thelips-fabby, faccid and disreputable
Now, on such occasions-extraordir
arily rare, Of course-I always consul
Littlebee. Littlebee is great (amateur
authority on health or hygienics, as b
calls it, in his scientific way. And Lit
tlebee's neighbJr- lives on the floor Jus
above me. So bring an umbrella int
contact with the ceiling-which is ott
mode of correspondiDg-and Littlebe,
comes down in his slippers.
Then / pour out the conectures amen
the rarebit and whisky mentioned above
Littlebee grinned in disrespectfully in
credulous fashion, and passing over the
question of causes came at once to that
of effect.
"Want a tonic, see."
Yes, a tonic" l said, something
active and nasty. I've a great faith in
nasty medicinesj one seems to de-
serve to get better after one has taket
them"
"Wait," said Littlebee, laying his
foreinger on his forehead, and trying to
look like steel engraving of DR.. Aber.
nethy he has up stairs over his mantel
piece.
"Do let it be something rapid"
went on, "for I've got to take Edgiva
and her mother to the matinee to-day,
you know"
"Ah," emitted Littlebee with leet.
"And they're to call for me here this
afternoon: and if / seem i'm this dilapi-
dated condition they will know all
about that rarebit, and Pm a rejected
man."
"Peacew said Littlebee, still like DIR.
Abernethy, q have it-Aunt Bamber's
recipe"
"Who's Aunt Bamber, and what's her
recipe?'
"Aunt Bamber, Jorkin, Is, OF rather
was, highly talented member of the
Littlebee family-on my mothers side.
And her recipe-well, her recipe is
simply a document for which the Massa-
chusetts Medical Society would give
their ears and heads and any other por-
tion of their anatomy to possess.
cay, it's Aunt Bamber's secret" said
Littlebee with terrible solemnity. ".And,
Jorkin, if were not true, a devoted,
yours, that secret would not be divulged
now."
Now this was very good and GENEROUS
Of Littlebee, and l felt it deeply, and
had composed quite little poem on true
friendship by the time he re-entered the
room. He had dingy piece of paper
in his hand, which he held as though it
were Papal bull or Commodore Van
derbilt's one hundred thousand dollar
check. l glanced at it while the servant
went around to the druggists. 1t looked
liked jumble of hundred weights of ipe-
cacuanha, ounces Of ginger, grains of
ammoniac, with confused directions as
to mixing and applying. Littlebee had
got the washhand basin. and was busily
pounding something with the butt of my
shaving brush. Then he poured horrid
liquids into the bowl, kneaded the mess
comfortably large ball.
"Hillo! Does Aunt Bamber say Pm
to swallow thisY'
"No! as you value your life. Just
insert that into your mouth and keep it
therep
ell can't" / gasped.
81 should say that Edgiva and her
mother would be here in an hour" said
Littlebee, with stern significance. That
was enough. resigned to boil and blis-
ter till the fire-engines came, if could
only look presentable' in the eyes of
dearest Edgiva.
Mind-keep it in your mouth for
twenty minutes, and on no account swal-
low ii"
This was Littlebee's parting injunction,
delivered in q dreadful tone az he left
the room. 1t was nauseous, but still one
got used to it gradually, and kept the
fiery ball in my mouth with religious
obedience. looked fool then, / knew,
but man hasn't got to my age without
growing used to looking fool in private.
If / looked decently presentable to Ed
giva, that was quite enough. i was be-
ginning to think had quite enough OF
it, however, when there was rustic out
side on the landing. The door opened
quickly, and Edgiva and her mother en-
tered-entered with Littlebee behind
them. sat still, and felt that an earth
quake would have been desirable phe-
nomenon. You don't know Mrs. Whit
tier, my Edgiva's mother? Well, she has
all the agreeable characteristics of the
widowed landlady, the monthly nurse,
and the typical mother-in-law added to-
gether, and / knew this visit was one of
Inspection, to see If my lodgings were
respectable, and the housemaid not too
young and pretty.
That scoundrel Littlebeel
| got up-my eyes were streaming.
"0h, don't let us disturb yon, Mr. Jor-
kin-pray."
This in an acid tone from Mrs. Whit
tier.
,,, "sup-sup-PriSe," mumbled.
"Sh-sure you."
Edgiva stared, and Mrs. Whittier grew
red-not as red as !, though defy
herl
"Oh," said Littlebee, lightly, "I was
lust at the hall door as these ladies ap-
peared-stofe up to surprise you-he, he
hep
I glared on him. I couldn't speak. ]
was on fire again, and Mrs. Whittier
ucould stare at me with such exaspera-
ting suspicion. IL was not very conver-
sational. I felt | must make an effort.
batderthiukoweather