Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1883-08-03
A MORMON WAY.
By Belinda B.,,nhein, in the Continent

took Janet were a little peculiar but
there seemed to be no help for it. l
was i'll with neuralgia and the baby
cross, and cook had vanished like the
Arab silently stole away only the
articles she took were Of more value
than the "way" Janet presented her
self and looked the treasure that we
soon found her to be. She had just
landed. she said, from the Old Country,
and heard from an old friend, Mrs.
Baker, that ] was in need ola servant,
and lost no time IN applying for the
situation OF course she had mn refer
ences. and if there had been smooth
sailing ut our house j would not have
been so rash as to engage her at once.
But | did it. and within month had
decided that | had done wisely. Janet
on her part made one stipulation, and
that was that | keep no other servant.
She said she was willing and able to
do all the work of the house She had
resolved lOngago ncVertO serve III amy
family where she could not be entirely
alone in doing it. 1t was such an cX-
traOrdinary event for person to want
extra work that ] was surprised but
was only too willing to accede to her
terms in that respect. We lived III Il
small city about one hundred miles
from the Scaboard. and help was
never too plenty.
Janet brought up the rear of n long
series of incapablcs who had condo
seconded to accept our wages III con
sidcratiou of their IncapacIty, and we
did not ut first believe IN her virtues
we called her, between ourselves, the
new broom but as time went on
she became a treasure in every sense
of the word. We came iinall Y to look
upon her us the devoted friend of the
family. She appeared to have no 9th
or object in life than our comfort and
wcll-bcing. Not that she ever SAID So
or that she was at all administrative.
She was far from that fact, no one
could be less So-but all her actions
went to show it. She was woman
of, | should Judge, 10 years of age
when she first came to us. She had
been "a servant in first class families in
the "old country, and had that look
of concentration IN her face that we
so seldom see in the countenance OF
domeSticS in America She told me,
on first coming, that she could neither
read nor write, which | thought Il
great pity. but she did not seem to
care about it. She said she had mere
time to see about her proper business
than those who were i'll the habit of
reading when thoy should be working {;
but, if she could not read soon
found her memory to De excellent.
Having read cooking receipt To her
once. | never had To repeat IT, even II
il were months before | ordered the
article AGAIN If anything was mis-
placed in the house il was Janet who
always found it or could remember
having seen it. ! got in the way of
telling her Il great deal of our ''ins
and outs, and quite enjoyed COnvcrS
ing with her about any little affair |
was interested in; and her suggestions
and counsel, though never offered un-
less asked, and then i'll the most mod
est and humble way, were often of
great value to me She never iutrId-
ed ON us with amy familiarity i'll con
sequence of our partlality for her.
But she was not an angel by any
means, us one might suppose after
hearing this account of her. Her
temper was often ON a high for
days together, and she made it quite
uncomfortable for us, as every know
ing servant can do. Not by disrc-
spectful words of any iuattcntlon to
specified orders, but by neglecting the
little things that she was so famous
for remembering, and by frequently
tossing her head and mutterlng umln-
,,.ll L. l.. Ia
amy dishes in my house but the way
she ratified them about on her day W
made me trcmhle for my china.
When we were awakened in the
morning with the shutters banging
open, and the windows slammed, and
ALI the hosts of the ChaldeanS tramp
ing about in the kitchen, we knew
that one of ,Ianct'S tantrumS was on
hand, and YOU may be sure the chill
drcn avoided her domains for that
day. We were So heartily fond of
her that these outbreaks which III
another servant would have been fol
lowed by dismissal, we quietly ig
nored, and accepted the evil along
with SO much good that its baleful in
nucncc was scarcely minded. | early
found that to Soothc or coax her i'll
any way only made matters worse,
and the best remedy ever hit upon
was giving her little extra work to
do. AS she was the only servant We
kept, we could easily do that.
When my little boy was i'll, and
gradually faded away from us, Jancts
kind sympathy was untlring. shall
never cease To remember her devotion
during those Sorrowful times 1t was
into her faithful arms laid him when
fatigue and exhaustion compelled me
To- take rest. and when the last mo
mcnts of his dear life had passed
. away il WAS Janet who sustained my
fainting form and to whose prudence
ana caro- owe my own safety after Il
long illness.
BY these things and a thousand 9th
crS she cndeared herself to us, and we
felt that we could never be parted
from her while life lasted. My huS-
band provided for Janet, by WILL in
case of his death and mine, So that
her future was safe; aud when we told
her of il she did not than& us in
words. hut showed her gratitude in her
own peculiar manner and think she
did not have another tantrum for Il
month.
Such was the condition of things at
the beginning of her ninth year of
service i'll our family. She had been
with us i'll JOY and in sorrow, had fon-
died my newborn babes, and had laid
in his little collin our only son, Her
Interests and ours seemed identical,
and we would just as soon have
thought of sending one of our own
little ones away from us as to part
with Janet. Her health was appar-
entity good She seemed strong and
we'll; but had she become helpless
invalid her home would have been
still with us. She had no relatives in
America except third or fourth
cousin, whom She visited on her after
moons ont, and on Sunday evenings
Her mother III the Old Country died
when Janet had been with us about
three years. She seldom heard from
her father, and her sisters and broth
ers all had their own little families, ST
that it really seemed that her onl,
home was with us.
One memorable morning-memor
able for many day and year in the
calender of our family history-Sh,
cana into tho NOON, vhila 1yA xyaI,p a