The Portland daily press., 1876-08-19

was what thought of in the dead waste and
middle of the nights. If have genius for
cooking, as you have been polite enough often
to declare, you have an equal genius for gar
dening. Our place has been the wonder and
admiration of the 'deestrict ewes since we
took it. 1t is only to multiply what we have
done already by ten. There's plenty of rich
land, and we are only five miles from market.
1 think you could send in flowers, fruits, and
vegetables enough this year. to pay all ex-
penses, and leave something over. The
money shall save will put up two more
glass houses; and, another year, can afford
to stay at home and help, while we could hire
a second man if necessary. Then, you see,
the family needn't be broken up, which is
the first thing to consider, for on my Sunday
afternoons out I can come home and enjoy
the model farming"
''You dear old Joer' cried Alice; "what
commander-in- chief you are! doff my cap
to you and Ruskin. withdraw my offensive
observations about family pride, Moreover,
inspired by your example. l would humby
offer pale but promising idea of my own"
pronounce, Pussy"
s'Why can't Hester and I make and sell
tons of marmalade, jellies and canned comes
tibles? Pm sure ours are another order OF
being than the geletinous and tasteless wares
of the grocery man. As you say, it's only to
multiply our own by ten, or fifty"
"'Lucent sirups tinct with cinnamon
Why not indeed? Upon my word, girls,
you'll have your carriage yet, and on the
panel a tin cylinder, PEASANT, soldering-iron
rampant, and the motto, 'Possum'-I cam"
GA milkmaid who poised full pail on
her head,'" quoted Hester, warningly. "Af
ter all, Mrs. Carter mayn't take you, Joe.
You're much too handsome for a cook, and
she'll never believe that those slender De-
Lancey hands have ever done anything use
ful.''
sob, I shall ever wear cotton gloves when
apply for the place; and as to my beauty,
you goosie, my strength, like Samson's, lies
in my hair. When it is combed straight
back, all the latent Dutch heaviness comes
out; and, besides, the print gowns and the
becoming. But Pm going to put my fate to
the touch, and win or lose it all, this morn
ing. So one of you must write me Char
acter.'"
"Just imagine the interview. Alice" said
Hester. 1've called to offer myself as cook,
madam, begins Joe, in her six-penny gown
and cotton gloves, which can't hide her lady
hood. what is your namep asks Mrs. Car
ter, in a point lace and diamonds, which on
ly emphasize her scrubbiness. All new PEG.
pie are scrubs, you know. Josephine The
resa Delaney, madam replies her grace the
duchess, with her eyes modestly glued to the
cabbage-roses of the boudoir carpet. MY
goodness mep says Mrs. Carter, reminded in
stantly of Mercy Nerrick or some other i'm
possible She out of .WIlkie Collins novels
Il don't think you're just the ticket, you
know And so the poor thing drops her
curtesy, and comes back weeping to her SYM
pathetic sisters.
"Oh, of course I'm no longer Delaney,
child. l am Josephine-m-m T. D.-Tee-
dee-that will do. And ! lived with you in
the days of your prosperity. And Pm indus
trious, economical, civil, obliging, and the
and sending up the most elaborate dinner.
No bad habits. Oh, girls, what larksv' And
Joe's laugh rang out again, as if poverty and
hard work were the drollesto of life's surprises.
s"Then it's masquerade, after all. Some
family pride at bottom, eh, Joe?"
"Not that form Of it, Pussy. I am ready
to tell my plan through the length and
breadth of Gath, and publish it in every by
lane of Askelon. But Hetty is quite right.
Mrs. Carter wouldn't take lady who had
seen better days, and small blame to her.
write up my certificate, and the other get
ready to drive me over to the Carter gate,
please, while am adorning myself for the
sacrifice"
In ten minutes the striking Miss Delaney
had disappeared for a season from the face of
the earth. In her place there stood before
her astonished sisters a rather prim young
woman in brown Merrimac, very neat and
wholesome looking, but certainly no beauty.
'Well," said Hester, 81 wouldn't have be-
lieved it. You would deceive the very elect.
It's wicked to put all that ripping, curling
black hair of yours into those stiff braids, and
equally wicked to abandon all the color that
lights you up so. But suppose it must be
done. Here's your character and Alice
will take you over. haven't the nerve, and
I've no doubt she feels exactly like what's
his-name, the father of Iphigenia. I say,
Joe. if Mrs. Carter looks doubtful, drop into
chemistry, as friend, like Mr.. Wegg. You
can, you know, daze her with expeditions of
the attitude conscientious woman should
maintain toward nitrogen and carbon and OIL
efian gas-no, mean oleic acid, don't 1, my
philosopher? as developed by the trying-pan
Alice and 1 always do. Good-bY, girls.
Treasure up your adventures for my admoni-
ton. you'll find me blowing on your re-
turn"
1t was late lunheon-time when Hester, still
porting over Quiun's Money in the Garden,
heard the light laughter of the returning Ar
gonauts, and rushed to meet them.
"Birnam Wood hath come to Dunsinane. !"
cried Alice, uncovered in greenery. "Look
here, Icy. Here's what DR.. johnson would
call the fotentiality of wealth beyond the
dreams Of avarice'-tomato plants, elephants,
cabbage plants, galore. Aren't they lovely ?"
"Let's hope it isn't so much beauty as
could die,'" said Hester, tenderly lifting out
the treasures. 'Girls, hear my idea before
you disturb my mind with talk. At first I
had nebulous notion which I mistook for
butter. But that's too much trouble for us.
And then the right idea rose on the surface
of my thought in the form of cream. The
summer hotel in the village pays 80 cents a
quart, Ann says, and can't get enough.
Ninety cents day, my masters-six dollars
and thirty cents week. Really, I don't
think ever had such sense of wealth in
my life. What have you done to Gyp, girls
His too, solid flesh seems to have melted one
half"
"Give us our tea, and we'll tell you, dear.
But Joe's adventure has the pas of mine.
And she sha'n't say word till she has dotted
these lendings, and let her curls loose again.
A short ten minutes, Josie, for I am
starved.
Miss Delaney in soft raiment, gracious,
smiling, and looking irreconcilably unlike her
useful double, told her tale. First, though
the Carriers might be new, Edgewood was
pldluly Olu duu UcduIIuls dig lrdukly dC-
knowledged that she had never seen a more
tasteful, harmonious, and delightful house.
Second, if Mrs. Carter were an innovation,
she was one of those exceptional expert
ments which laugh at practice, being a pref
ty, elegant and well-bred woman. Third, her
questions showed both her intelligence and
her breeding. Fourth, after a thorough ex-
animation of the aspirant's capacities, she
had proposed to her to come at once.
$50 agreed, and am already devoted to
Mrs. Carter" cried enthusiastic Joe. '"The
servants rooms are models, and the kitchen
is as good as chemical laboratory. So shed
not tear DER your friends new career, girls.
By-the-by, she asked if 1 was Spanish, and I
was Dutch, but born in this county,"
''Now, Hetty, hear the new chapter of sAl-
ices Adventures in Wonderland Thanks
to Gyp, Mr.. Carter and l have become
friends-I may say warm friends, consider
ing the manner of it, for am not cooled off
yet. You must know that thought that I
would explore the place little, while 1 was
waiting for Joe, who had gotten down at the
lodge. 1t is superb, girls. A forest of old
trees, great sweeps of velvet sward, marvels
of shrubbery, and a perfect LABYRINTH of
walks and drives. Presently spied willow
road, dark with meeting boughs, and hardly
wider than path, which looked as if it led
to the caves of silence. So I couldn't resist