The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1881-08-15

boston Courier.l ..-llSa :,
Two Sides of a Picture.
What the Boarders Thought of Their
Hosts, and What their Hosts Thought
of Them.
THE SIDE WHICH COMMONLY FACES OUT

THE SIDE WHICH COMMONLY FACES OUT.
Go into the country, Cicely? No, never,
while memory holds a seat in this distracted
globe, never! If l leave home at all this
summer, will go to the biggest and best
hotel L can find in America, but go into the
country. pure, simple and unadulterated, as
we did last summer, never, my dear, till 1
have become hopeless IDIOT
Why not? What! Did you never hear of
our last summers experience? Sure enough
l quite forget you did not get home from
Nice till April, and then of course Elean or s
wedding put everything else out of my head.
Well, be kind enough to take an easier
chair and fan, and please hand me the yell
low floss, and then prepare for chapter,
Cicely.
You know, of course, that advertisements
are delusive; and heaven knows 1 am old
enough to know it myself, but all the same
was taken in by one last summer.
We didn't want to go to any of the usual
places, for poor Eleanor had just refused
that horrid Harry Evans land quite the wis
est thing she ever did in her life, my dear,
and he would keep following the poor child
everywhere she went and eternaly be asking
her to reconsider; aud it is a marvel to me,
Cicely, when a man pretends to be fond of q
woman and only to desire her happiness,
that he will be SO inconsiderate as to persist
in asking her to reconsider. People are for
ever leaving money to found homes and asy-
lums aud hospitals. I'm sure if somebody
would only found an asylum to confine re-
jected lovers till they were cured of their lu-
macy and promised never to ask the poor girls
to reconsider again, it would be an untold
benefit to one portion of the human race!
But there! this isn't telling you about
last summer.
You see poor Nell said to me one day:
It's 10 use, Kate, for us to go to any we'll
known place this summer, he would torment
myshair gray. We must spend the season in
hiding quite as if we were thievesp
Then one Sunday she happened OH this
advertisement, and it struck us all at once
as perfectly charming. The name was love-
ly to begin with, 'Coldbrook Farm such a
refreshing name! And the promised airy
rooms, shady walks, plenty of cream and
berries, and everything else bucolic and de-
lightful. Bessemer set his face against it
from the first, and did not approve; but when
he found was really determined he gave in
like an angel, and wrote to engage our rooms
OF course we should need the whole house,
with Nell and myself and the boys, and little
Alice and the nurse, and Bessemer coming
down Sundays.
The answer was satisfactory and delicious
ly rural Evidently written by the daughter
on perfumed pink paper, with a crow-quill,
and each letter shaded heavily at the bot
tom. 1t began, Respected Sir and it posi-
lively ended, Yours aft, S. Jennie Hackel-
ton; for .airus Hacketon, Selectman.'
Well! we reached there, or rather we
reached dismal railway station ten miles
from there, about 4 o'clock on hot June
afternoon. Judy had blind headache, so
L had to hold Alice, who was tired and cross
with long days travel from Boston, and no
wonder either, poor baby. 1t appeared that
we must ride ten miles then, in back
breaking stage, over rutty, country road
and seriously, my dear, if live to be thou
sand, | shall never forget that ride, with ba-
by crying, the boys wriggling like electrified
eels, and Judy grunting at every lurch of
that Numbering stage.
Beside all this, the driver announced, af-
ter we were well away from the depot that
he could only take two trunks with us on
account of the nigh horse being lame.
But when can have themr said I, in
horror.
ON, wall said the driver, L carlate to git
horse and team, and Joel to help me, and
drive over arter 'em to-morror, or day ar
ter
Will you fancy that? and, of all things,
the two trunks he had selected TO bring were
Judy's and the small one in which Bessemer
had packed his fishing clothes and tackle /!
And must tell you that when we finally got
our trunks they would not bring them in,
but just left them on the lawn; and we had
to unpack out of doors and carry things in
by armfuls, before the farmer considered the
trunks light enough to lift.
Then, do you know the stage-driver haw-
hawet right out when Nell asked if he would
take us to Coldbrook Farm!
There hain't no such place. said he grim
ming. 1 caPlate that is name made up by
the man they got to write their advertise
Ment for 'em. Coldbrook Farm! Hahl
Hackleton Holler it allus has ben, and Hack
Teton Holler it allus will be till day o'iedge-
ment, or miss my guessp
That was the first blow, Cicely; for hol-
low has such depressing sound to me, and
suggests malaria, and mosquitoes, and hot
nights. 70 give the devil his due,' my dear,
l confess that the house looked pleasant
when at last we reached it. 1t stood back
hollow. OF course it was white with green
blinds, and, miserable dictu, as Bessemer
says, it was cottage.
We had one fair room down stairs, with a
sort of closet out of it-they called it dark
bed-room-for Judy. Then above, the most
awful sloping-roofed chamber for poor Nell.
and worse and smaller for the boys; and
they said we were to use their parlor as if it
were our own.
And, oh, that sitting-room, Cicely |!
The nauseating carpet, the green paper
curtains that would not roll up, the hair
cloth sofa that Nell said was made for bier
and probably never used for anything else.
declare, it so gave me the hivers that
never once sat down upon itswhile we were
there! And above all, my dear, positively
there was melodeon and No 2p
Then our own rooms Great, puffy feath-
er-beds, piled with comforters; absolutely
seven on my bed alone! ugly enough to give
one the nightmare. Towels the size Of
dinner napkin, and cotton at that. leaving
a lint all over one; no soap-luckily we
had our own Lubin: should have persisted
without it!
1 suppose. being the head of the family,
the feather-bed was given me as a special
honor; for Nell and the boys had horrible
straw beds that made the whole room smell
like barn, or haymow, or something hor-
rid.
We hadn't a sign of toothbrush mugs.
If you'll believe it. Nell used her drinking
cup, and used baby's silver mug till we
drove to the village and bought yellow ones
with blue stripes, which were truly aesthetic,
q plt VI COlOI Oll OuT lOlicG SGduQS!
The table?
No napkins, and brown tablecloth and
plates too heavy for any one but an athlete
to use! Steal forks and knives honestly
half yard in length! l confess that the but
ter and cream were delicious; but the bread
was made of saleratus, or 'emptins,' or iris.
ings,' or whatever may be the nasty name of
it.
She served the boiled eggs with plates to
break them on; and her coffee was viler
than tongue can tell. She stewed her delic-
ious fresh berries in molasses, or made them
into sticky, pale-crusted pies; and as for
oatmeal, she never had even heard of it.
had Bessemer bring some down, but she
cooked it so badly we could not touch it.
Mrs. Hackleton sat with us and poured
our coffee. She was a neat, thin woman,
with a snap to her eyes, and a screw to her
black hair, which bespoke faculty if not
temper. The selectman also sat with us ia
his shirt sleeves. He usually came in late,
and performed his toilet in full view of the
table, often standing in the dining-room
door talking, as he arranged his hair with
the family comb. He was very good to the
boys. FL give him credit for that; but he
ate like DR.. Samuel johnson, used his own
knife to serve the butter, and he helped at
table horribly.
He would pile our plates with the boiled
dish, which was our dinner twice week:
Il