The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1882-10-07


be done here ?"
eyes, Mrs. Flint, great deal. Then
Mr. Flint is so peculiar wants every
thing just So And that's why I'm sorry
to go just as you come; l know you are
easy to please"
"How do you know that ?"
"By your FACET looks so good-natured.
Major Flint says, ma'am," she continued
hesitatingly, "that I am to show you some
about the work. But if you try to do it
alone, unused to hard work as you are, it
will make you sick"
II think very likely it would, Mrs.
Burns But | have not the slightest idea
of doing the work. At all events, you
must not secure another situation until you
hear from me again. am very conf
dent" she added, smiling, "that if Mr..
Flint sends you away, Mrs. Burns, he will
be glad to take you back"
The week passed quickly.
"Mrs. Burns leaves tomorrow, said the
major, at the tea-table.
"Then you have decided upon it ?"
ayes; | believe I announced the fact to
you some days ago."
II thought it possible that my objections
might have weighed with you and induced
you to change your mind. u
II never change my mind" said her
husband, loftily.
"But [ warn you that have little ex-
perience as cook"
'You can learn
"Perhaps I may not cook to suit your
taste," she persisted.
"That is my affair" G.fl 2
Had he been aware of the plot forming
in the ladys fertile brain, he might not
have felt so confident in regard to the
quality of his bread and butter, and he re-
tired for the night all unconscious of the
discipline to be meted out to him.
So the following morning Mrs, Burns
received her wages and was sent off. At
ten o'clock the marketing was brought
home At the usual dinner hour Major
Flint made his appearance. The table was
laid with more than its usual neatness
Major Flint congratulated himself upon
this fact as personal triumph on his part
But he hardly felt SO complacent when the
dinner came up. The beef was terribly
overdone; the vegetables, on the contrary,
were not half-cooked. In short, there was
nothing fit to eat on the table. This Maj.
Flint rather angrily remarked
II dare say; am not very good cook" "
said his wife.
With his appetite only halfsatisfed, he
arose from the table.
The following morning, breakfast was
delayed more than half an hour; and when
it was ready, it was scarcel y eatable. Maj.
Flint was quite out of humor; but in reply
to his remonstrances his wife said =
II warned you that might not cook to
suit your taste"
And so matters deteriorated rather than
improved. The tea and coffee prepared by
his wife were nauseating to him, while the
bread was not only sour, but hard and
clammy, requiring considerable effort to
masticate it. And what rendered tall the
more exasperating was that, no matter how
inferior in quality or distasteful to himself,
his wife professed her inability to discover
any fault in what was prepared for the
table, protesting that it just suited her
taste.
The following day Major Flint seated
himself at the dinner-table, his mind filed
with various emotions. He was growing
thin, he felt sure; not decent meal had
he eaten for three days.
"This woman will be the death of me, as
sure as fate p he said to himself, gazing at
the food placed before him.
Here was the rich, juicy steak that he
himself selected and sent from the market,
after all his instructions as to how it should
be broiled, shockingly overdone- in fact,
almost burned to a crisp, his wife, mean
time, partaking of it with great relish.
''What taste this woman must have !"
he said to himself.
II have made you an extra cup of tea,
to-day" said the lady opposite, handing
him the cup with his dessert
Hitherto Mr.. Flint had been very par
ticular in regard to his cup Of tea at des-
sert, insisting that it should be brought to
the table both strong and hot. Had the
tea been prepared to his taste, it would
have soothed somewhat the riotous emotions
within; on the contrary, it was miserably
weak, quite lukewarm and brackish. He
took one sip at the tea, and then set the
cup down forcibly on the table, his face
expressing his disgust.
Madam glanced up at him from under
her long eyelashes, slipping from her cup
industriously, that her facial muscles might
not betray the amusement she felt.
II knew you would think the tea excel
lent" she said.
This was too much. His rage and dis
gust fairly boiled over.
'Tea, madam, tea p he roared. "You
call such abominable stuff tea, do you
Excellent, is it? Excellent |" III
at is excellent - said madam, sweetly,
taking him at his word and ignoring the
exclamation points entirely. Mamma
taught me to make tea when"
Major Flint had stood fire for three
whole days, but flesh and food could en-
dure it no longer. Not waiting to hear
more, he bounded to his feet and rushed
into the hall Here he seized his hat in
both hands, jammed it down over his eyes,
and started for the street Then, as if for
getful of something, he retraced his steps,
and, thrusting his head in at the open door,
he shouted, = .--
"Can you tell me where Mrs. Burns
went when she left here? ?"
sI think, said madam, deliberately, eff
my memory serves me rightly, heard her
speak of stopping with her little girl at
Mrs. Marsh's till she secured situation. !"
The major departed. uq8a ii
''I thought the tea would finish him, :
said Mrs. Flint, amusedly, watching from
the window her husband s retreating figure,
the click of his boot-heels ringing like a
bell as he brought his feet down vigorously
on the pavement, the small boys eyeing him
askance and Fastening out of his way, won
dering if he was racing for wager.
Tt Is. nerhaps needless to saw that be-