Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1882-09-07
The Sturg Teller.
COUSIN FALCONER.

'NNOCnln4 Out ndSIy puuuiiiS dLu hiiih .
said Tibby, with a grimace. "What VII
mamma say ?'' -
And Hannah Ann, the raw-boned, wooden
yisaged servitress, uttered the expressive mon
osyllable, Humph % which is equivalent, II
Yankeedom, to that famous French shrug Of
the shoulders.
ssIt's all very well to talk" said Hannah
Ann, ssbut dunno as I can make quails or
toast an currant jelly outer sticks an stones
I've done the best / can, and nobody can't DC
no more.'' .. a..
s'Is the leg of pork all gone, Hannah Amp
said Tibby plaintively.
ssEvery identickle partickle ont % Hannah
Ann answered, with the majesty of Druidl'
cal alpriestess.
and the chickens ?" meekly limited libby
81 killed the last one, Wednesday,"
ssDidn't old Hugh bring along any trout
yesterday ?" pursued Tibby. ..l,..-,s,..a ..i,,;
stYes,n "a said Hannah Ann; che brought
''em along. But owed him two dollars and
fifty cents already, and Hugh has family tc
support. So I didn't fairly like to run up any
longer account" o,:,,
with q sigh. ssBut, Hannah Ann, what are
we to do.''
s.That's what I'd like to know myself, " said
Hannah Ann, curtly.
Tibby was silent, drumming her rpretty pink
tipped fingers on the kitchen table, while hel
deep hazel eyes looked intently at the old-fash'
ioned, brass warming-pan on the opposite wall.
ssHannah Ann," said she, plteously, at
length, couldn't you suggest something
Because, when asked mamma what is to be
done, she only cries, and says, write TO
your rich Cousin Falconer.' And have writ
ten to him, and I only get back cheques for
L. Nth fba o,l6oct aolnoWloa ompnt
of nv letters. I'd rather starve than live on
such grudgingly doled-out charity as that
Don't you know of some way, Hannah Ann,
to make money ?"
Hannah AIMS hard face softened, as an ici-
Gle softens when the winter sun strikes it.
"Miss Elizabeth said she, s'it's secret.
Don't speak of it. But 1 was clear driv' to
the wall, so I've took boarder."
IA boarder, Hannah Ann ?"
"Out in the barn-chamber," said Hannah
Ann. sYou see, Miss Elizabeth" Hannah
Ann never condescended to the undignihed
pet-name with which her little mistress had
been invested since she was ten years oid)
'sthis house used to be sort o. tavern III the
old days, afore the bow window was added on,
and the renaissancy porch put out on the south
corner st:Jenks' Glen halfway House," it
used to be called when was gal. And there
come gentleman as used to hunt and fish on
these 'ere mountains, twelve good years ago.
'sIs this Jenks' Glen House 20 says ne.
ssWell, it's what they used to call it," says l..
.ssCan I get accommodation here 20 says he.
s.I'm afeard not,'' says I. And then you
should have seen his face fall. II always
boarded here,n says he, ''and can't make up
nv mind to 90 elsewhere ''I'll pay any price
you please, my good woman, and am not at
all particular where you put me-" 'Well,' y
says l, eff you don't mind the barn-chamber-
it's very clean and quiet there, with the apple
tree boughs in bloom, close to the window. 1"
And says he, ''Put me in the hen-coop, if you
like" So I've been boarding him ever since ;
and the week is up tomorrow, Miss Ellzaoeth,
and expect he'll pay me seven dollars.
Tibby's eyes sparkled. --
ssHannah Ann" she cried, ''you are fe-
male Napoleon. You did right"
II know of two other boarders Icould get, "
shrewdly added Hannah Ann-"sketching
young ladies, as don't like their rooms at
Coons' boarding house--if you could make up
your mind to spare the big front room and
after all, you never use it, except as guest
chamber for company as never comes"
ssI'll ask mammal cried libby, eagerly ;
''because you know, Hannah Ann, we must
live"
Mrs. Wayne, limp, sentimental, elderly la
dy, who spent her time in reading novels, and
bemoaning the splendors of her vanished girl
hood, began to cry feebly at the idea:
Frost Frozenham's daughter ? And has it in
deed come to that Oh, if had only died ten
years ago, and avoided the terrible humilia-
tion ~
"But, mamma, " pleaded libby, ''you need
have nothing to do with it. Hannah Ann will
attend to everything. And l can gather wild
berries for the table, and see to the linen, and
get flowers for the dining-room. Hannah Ann
says she had as lief cook for ten as for two.
And we might raise her wages then, and"
'sDon't torture me with such details, "sighed
Mrs. Wayne, behind her pocket handkerchief.
''But you don't positively forbid it, man.
ma ?" coaxed Tibby.
II don't forbid anything" said Mrs. Wayne.
'sMy wishes are of no consequence, one way or
the other.''
Which libby joyfully construed into per-
mission and she ran down stairs to count the
cups and saucers, look over the table drapery,
and consider as the chairs which were worthy
of use. For some one must attend to these
things, and libby was SO anxious to be useful.
And in month the Jenks' Glen Halfway
House was full of boarders. Some people
came there for the view, some for the air,
some for the delicious quiet which brOoded
over the crests of the hills. Mrs. Wayne con-
tentedly read novels in her own room, and
Tibby kept determinedly in the background,
while Hannah Ann was constituted managing
agent in general and proved herself fully
worthy of the occasion.
ssI'm payin' expenses, said Hannah Ann,
with pardOnable pride, "and laying up a little
interest on the mortgage. Nobody don't fore
close on my folks, not if know it. And
Miss Lizabeth shall have a new dress in Sep
tember, just as sure as my name is Stokes ~
Tibby was busy enough now-what with the
house-linen, cOncocting of rare and dainty
desserts, which were degree above the solid
puddings and thick pies in which the soul OF
HanHah-Ann delighted, and the score of daily
duties which seemed, no one could tell how,
to fall to her cheerful lot. And one day Han
nah Ann mounted to the attic-chamber to
which libby had transferred her household
goods.
''Miss Elizabeth said she, in a low voice,
Zone of the boarders would like to see YOU"
zone of the boaders, Hannah Ann? What
one ?" cried libby, dropping the bottle of OK
alic-acid with which she was taking ink-spots
out of the literary borders towels.
Its the old gentleman in the barn-cham'
ber," answered Hannah Ann. "He's sittin
on the rustic seat under the apple tree, with
his white umberi, awatin' for you.''
81 wonder what he wants, Hannah Ann p
Goodness knows ~ said Hannah Ann.
And with the most dignifed air which she
could assume upon such short notice, libby
descended to the apple-tree, where the gilli
flower apples (called ''sheep-noses" by the rus
tic inhabitants of the neighboring vales) were
just beginning to stripe their emerald spheres
into crimson.
The old gentleman was not very old, after
all. He might have been forty, but lie was