West Virginia freeman. (Parkersburg, W. Va.) 1881-1886, 1881-03-16

praises bestowed upon herdaugbter
Mrs. Smith graciously announc-
ed 'O
"Now we will have tea. Sit down
carefully, and don't grab
1t was beautiful to see the air Of
pride with which the good lady did
the honors other table, and the
calmness with which she bore the
little mishaps that occurred. The
PIE flew wildly on to the floor when
she tried to cut it with a very dull
knife; the bread and butter van
lshed with a rapidity calculated to
dlsmay a housekeeper's soul; and,
worst of all, the custards were so
soft that they had to be drunk up,
instead Of being eaten elegantly
with the new tin spoons.
| grieve to state that Miss Smith
squabbled with the maid for the
best tumble, which caused Bess to
toss the whole dish into the air, and
burst out crying amid rain of fall
ing cakes. She was conforted bv a
seat at the table, and the sugar
bowl to empty but during this fur
ry large plate of patties was mys-
terlously lost, and could not be
found. They were the chief orna-
ment of the feast, and Mrs. Smith
was indignant at the loss, for she
had made them herself, and they
were beautiful to behold. Iput it
to any lady if it was not hard to
have one dozen delicious patties
(made of flour, salt, and water, with
a large raisin in the middle of each,
and as much sugar over the whole)
swept away at one fell swoop?
"You hid them, Tommy; l know
you did cried the outraged hostess,
threatening her suspected guest
with the milk-pot.
81 didn't"
"You didp
ut isn't proper to contradict"
said Nan, who was hastily eating
up the jelly during the fray.
"Give them back, Demi," said
Tommy.
"That's a fib, you've got them in
your own pocket" bawled Demi,
reused by the false accusation.
Lets take 'em away from him.
It's to bad to make Daisy cry" sug-
gested Nat, who found his first ball
more exciting than he expected.
Daisy was already weeping. Bess
like a devoted servant mingled her
tears with those of her mistress,
and now denounced the entire race
of boys as "plaguey things" Mean
while the battle ragged among the
gentlemen, for, when the two de-
tenders of innocence fell upon the
foe, that hardened youth intrench-
ed himself behind the table and
pelted them with the stolen tarts,
which were very effective missiles,
being nearly as hard as bullets.
While his ammunition held out
the beseiged prospered, but the mo-
ment the last patty flew over the
parapet, the villain was seized,
dragged bowling from the room,
and cast upon the hall floor in an
ignominious heap. The conquerors
then returned flushed with victory,
and while Demi consoled poor Mrs.
Smith, Nat and Nan collected the
scattered tarts, replaced each raisin
in its proper bed, and re-arranged
the dish SO that it really looked al
most as well as ever. But their
glory had departed, for the sugar
was gone and no one cared to eat
them after the insult offered to
them.
81 guess we had better CO." said
Demi, suddenly, as Aunt JOS voice
was heard on the stairs.
"P'raps we had," and Nat hastily
dropped a stray tumble that he had
just picked up.
But Mrs. 10 was among them be-
fore the retreat was accomplished,
and into her sympathetic ear the
young ladies poured the story of
their woes.