Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1880-12-22
NO. G

crisp cookies and fat nut cakes. and
pie was reiterated three times a day
on Sam Pratt's table.
1t was part of her pride of her
that she was good housekeeper, and
Mindwell had given her the widest
liberty; but now the tide had changed
She soon found that Deacon Flint's
parsimony extended into every detail
Her pies were first assailed
'Sarpty, don't make them pies
o'vour'n so ALFRED rich They amt
good for the stomach; besides, they
use up all the drippin's, and you had
ought to make soap next month. Pie
is good, and think it's savin' of meat;
hnt it pompers up the flesh, too good
livn' does. and we have got to give an
account, We know. | don't mean to
have no wicked waste laid to my ac-
count
So she left out half the shortening
from her crust and felt ashamed to
see the tough substance this economy
produced. Next came the sugar ques-
ton.
We buy too much sweetenin',
Sarepty. There's a keg of tree mo-
lasses down cellar | expect it's sour,
but you jest take an bile it up, an
stir considerable saleratus into It, an
it III do. | want to get along jest as
reasonably as we can Willful waste
makes woeful want We know
Yet in his own way the deacon was
greedy enough He had the insatia-
BILE appetite that belongs to the people
of his figure far more often than to the
stout.
He's real racer, said Uncle Israel,
reverting to his own experience in
pigs 'slab-sided an lank / bet you
could count his ribs this minnit; and
that's the kind you can feed till the
day after never, and they won't do We
no credit. l never see man could
punish vittals the way be can; but
there amt no more fat to him than
there is to hens forehead
Mrs Flint was not hungry or ham
kering, as she expressed it, but rea-
sonable eater of plain food but the
deacon's mode of procedure was pecu-
liar.
Say, Sarepty, don't bile but small
piece % pork with that cabbage to-day.
I've got pain to my head, an | don't
feel no appetite, an cold pork gets eat
up for supper when there amt no
need ont
Obeying instructions, the small
piece of fat pork would be cooked, and
once at the table, transferred bodily to
the deacon's plate Seems as though
my appetite had reely come back. L
guess twas hungry headache And
the tired woman had to make her din
ner from cabbage and potatoes, season
ed with the salt and greasy water in
which they had been cooked.
There were no amusements for her
out of the house. The younger peo-
pie had their berrying frolics, sleigh
rides, kitchen dances, nuttings, and
the like. and their elders their husk
ings, apple bees, and sewing societies,
but against all these the deacon set his
hard face
It's just as good to do your own
extry chores yourself as to ask folks to
come an help. That costs more'n it
comes to. You've got to feed em and
ike enough keep big fire up in the
spare room. I'd ruther be dilligent in
business, as Scripter says, than de-
pend on neighbors.'
The sewing society too was denied
to poor Ms. Flint, because they had
to have tea got for them. Prayer
meetings he could not deny her, tor
they cost nothing, and officially he at
tended them Meeting on Sunday
was another outlet; when she could
see friendly faces, receive kind greet
ings, and read in many eyes sym
pathy and pity that an once pleased
and exasperated her.
Another woman in her place might
have had spirit or guile enough to
have resisted the pleasure under which
she only quailed and submitted. She
was one of those feeble souls to whom
a hard word is like blow, and who
will bear anything and everything
rather than be found fault with, and
who necessarily become drudges and
slaves to those with whom they live,
and are despised and ill-treated simply
because they are incapable of resent
ment. They are some persons who
stand in this position not so much
from want of strength as from abound
ing and eager affection for those whom
they serve, and atheir suffering, when
they discover how vain has been their
labor and self-sacrifce, is known only
Him who was
AT once denied, betrayed and fed
BY those who shared His daily bread
But Mrs. Flint had no affection for
her husand; she married him because
it seemed good thing to do, and
obeved him because he was her hus-
band, as was the custom in those days.
So she toiled on dumbly from day to
day, half fed, overworked, desperately
lonely, but still accomplishing, for her
constitution was naturally strong, and
nerves were unrecsgnized then.
Her only comfort was the rare visits
of her children Mindwell found it
hard to leave home, but suspicious OF
her mothers comfort, she made every
effort to see her as often as possible,
and always to carry her some little
present-a dozen of eggs, which the
poor woman boiled privately, and ate
between her scanty meals, a few
peaches, or little loaf of cake-small
gifts, merely to demonstrate her feel
ing. She did not know what good
purpose they served, for Ms. Flint did
not tell her daughter what she endur-
ed She remembered too well how
Mindwell had begged her to delay and
consider her marriage, and she would
not own to her now that she had made