, 1876-10-06


sent Essie and the baby to visit old Mrs.
Worthington, and took control of Her
bert. the two older children and the
household, determined to show her
brother how far he carried his habit of
absurd fault-fnding. With all her Sc
verify, she did believe he was himself
unaware of the frequency of his queru-
lous complaints, and the exaggeratiOn
of his fretful statements.
The first dinner saw the beginning of
the lesson Lima meant to teach. Her
bert entered the dining-roOm, his hand
some face disfgured by its habitual
frown. Harry and Louie were seated.
Soup" said Herbert, lifting the
tureen cover; perfect dish-water"
Susan" said Lima, sharply, to the
servant, before Herbert could lift the
ladle; take that tureen to the kitchen,
and tell Jane the soup is not fit to eat"
Susan promptly obeyed. Herbert
looked rather ruefully at the vanishing
dish. He was especially fond of soup,
and the savory fumes of the really deli
cious dish were tantalizing. All din
ner-time Lima kept up a ding-dong at
Susan about that abominable soup, till
Herbert heartily wished he had said
nothing about it. But his imagination
detecting burnt flavor in the pudding,
he could not refrain from mentioning
it, and before he could demonstrate,
that dish had followed the soup.
"PH get this house in some sort of
order before leave it," said Lima, en-
phatically.
Before you leave it, )" said Herbert,
sharply. do you suppose you are a
better housekeeper than Essie2 Why,
have not friend who does not envy
me the exquisite order of my house and
my dainty table"
" Herbert, you surprise me. Only
yesterday heard you say you did wish
there was ever anything fit to eat on the
table"
Zone doesn't expect every word to
be taken literally" said Herbert, rather
sulkily. But not an hour later, finding
streak of dust in the sitting-room, he
declared emphatically it was not fit for
pig to live in. What was the conse-
quence? Coming into it the next morn
ing, he found the curtains torn down,
the carpets taken up, the floor Uttered
with pals, soap and brushes, and Lima
in dismal dress, her hair tied up in a
towel, directing two women, who were
Scrubbing vigorously.
Good gracious, Lina" he cried,
"what are you doing?"
Cleaning this room"
"Why, Essie had the whole house
cleaned only the other day." he added,
contemptuously.
We'll, said Lima, slowly, "I thought
this room q marvel of neatness myself,
but when you said it was not fit for the
pigs, / supposed you wanted it cleaned"
1.-The room was well enough" was
the curt reply. For mercys sake,
don't turn any more of the house upside
down."
At breakfast tiny tear in Louie's
apron caught her fathers eye, and, by
his own angry statement, she never
had decent stitch of clothes, and he
did wish somebody would see to her."
Two days after, formidable linen
diapers bill was sent to him, and Lima
explained it in this wise:
/" You said, Herbert, that Louie hadn't
a decent stitch, and you wished some
body would see to her, so bought her
a complete outfit. could not see any
fault myself, but of course 1 got more
expensive articles, as you did not like
those already provided. am glad you
called my attention to the poor, neg
lected child"
"Poor, neglected childp echoed as
tonished Herbert. ''Why, Lima, Essie
fairly slaves her life out over those chill
dren. 1 am sure I never see any better
dressed or neater."
Lima merely shrugged her shoulders.
A month passed. Essie gained strength
in the genial atmosphere surrounding
Louie and her mother, while Lima ruled
Herbert's house with a rod of iron.
Herbert began to experience sick long
ing for Essie's gentle presence. Lima
took him so very literally in all he said,
and yet he could not rebuke her for
doing exactly what he openly wished.
An armchair, with tiny spot of
dirt, being declared absolutely filthy,
was upholstered and vanished at a cost
of ten dollars. A dozen new shirts,
Essie's last labor of love, being said to
"set like meal-bags," were bestowed
upon the gardener, and new set OBJ
tanned. Every window was opened after
pettish declaration that the Groom
was as hot as an oven;" and an hour
later the CRATE was fred up to smother
ing heat because he declared it " "cold
enough to freeze polar bear.
In short, with apparently an energetic
attempt to correct all shortcomings, and
put the housekeeping upon q perfect
basis, Lima in one month nearly doubled
her brothers expenses, and drove him
to the verge of distraction.
But Essie, well and strong again, was
coming home. On the day of her ex-
pected arrival, Lima, with solemn face,
invited her brother into the sitting