Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1878-12-25
angels T. said Aunt Prue halt to her

wa bN'"h"B w W" N~T'' '"
one Of Walters loyeletters,"
"Oh |" And Bessy's cheeks grew
radiant with girllsh. blush.
II mean, one of his. letters to
me, when no was In love, IN which no
made mention of a certain angel"
"lndoed 7" Aud Bessy's laughed
IN her oldcn fashion,
1--WE must take him Ia hand" said
Aunt pruc, seriously, This oil work
and no play viii never answer. I'm
sure my dear, II you always give him
hall such nice meals az You did this
morning, ho has no right to complain
"But you saw" said Bessy tim
idly.
"Yes, yes, | saw that he was trying
to make tho food seem more palat'
able by undertaking 1t. Now to-day
| will get up one Of my best dinners,
aud you shall do nothing but look on.
Just give me kitchen apron my dear,
aud wish me good speed
They had q merry time Of II that
morning, Baby was happy and jolly
under the superintendent Other moth
er the oven worked TO charm, and
everything was in readiness tor the
lord OF the household, who awaited
dinner with more than little trepid n.
ton, quite unconscious that the aunt
paler than usual from eyertion, and
the wife over flushed with anticipation
had changed places expressly on his
account
So they SAT down to dinner, each
one moro or less expectant. Walter
ran his eye. over the table
"Bessy, dear, l don't think its an
improvement to stack the knives aud
forks over the napkins, like a parcel
Of guns" he said. "rell Mary l like
the other way best. All, quite too
rare, I'm afraid !" as he plunged his
knife into the beet. "Aunt P:ue am
afraid cant suit you today. / re-
member how thoroughly your roasts
were always done, and yet were juicy.
"The gravy Is browner than usual"
he added, dipping into the dish. "I
don't know about these butter-beans
yours were always delicious And so
on to the end Of the chapter. For
every dish there was some hint or
glance OF disparagement, and it was
all Bessy could do, with her almost
painful sense of the ludlcrous, to keep
from laughing outright, as occasionally
Aunt Prue's speaking eyes met hers.
"l'm so sorry, Aunt Prue," said
Bessy at last, mastering all the gravi-
ty she could command, that after
your having taken the trouble to get
up this nice dinner expressly for Wal
ter, he should have found fault with
everything you have done"
"What!" cried Walter elplosively,
halt rising and looking from one to
the other.
"My dear after your cooking ex
pected he would" said Aunt Prue
quietly. "The sample You gave Of
your powers, this morning was quite
beyond my poor efforts
Then bright red flush covered the
mans face even to his brow. Were
these two women making sport Of
him? Had he heard Alright Il! In his
own opinion he was one Of the most
acute men alive. That nobody could
leceive him, had always been his fav-
2rite maxim.
81 wanted to make the experiment."
,aid Aunt Prue, in the most innocent
manner imaginable, land l find Wal
er, that you have been quite spoiled
BY your wife,
"Bessy Aunt Prue A! why don't you
ell me = On, hang it!" And be
;urned away, too deeply mortified to
express himself fttingly.
"Pray, don't mind it." said Aunt
Prue. "You know, my dear. am
getting little old.fashioned."
But Walter had received his lesson.
He was too keen not to see that it had
oeen purposely given and he was
nan enough to feel profoundly asham-
ID of himself. Indeed, in time, he
confessed as much and applauded the
ingenuity that had 50 completely TAX
m the ground from under his feet
Aunt Prue's visit proved SO delight
ul to all parties that she made arrange
nents to remain with them for an in
lefinite time; and henceforth Bessy's
ares were lightened, and she became,
IS in former days, the angel and bless.
,,,. % home D,t eho hos a1uavo