The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1885-01-07
INTERESTING STORY.
A PAIR OF ARMS.


and looked about the great Mason kitchen.
She was nearly twenty, but understood.
She had but one beauty-her pretty curly
head. She was Mrs. Titus Mason's bound
Outbound to work for that lady until she
was one-and-twenty. Such were the terms
of the contract wnen Janet had been taken
from the orphan asylum, a tiny creature of
ten, nine years before and it was the hard
work and scant fare which had prevented
her growing. z
There she stood, looking about her at the
array of cooking utensils, the rows of milk,
pans, the pile of wash-tubs, the shelf of fiat
irons, the capacious wood-boxes.
That morning Mrs. Titus, the authorize
tive, the energetic, had fallen down the eel.
lar-stairs and broken her leg The doctor
had been called, and set it; Mrs. Titus had
had a nap, and then lifted up her voice and
proved herself equal TO the situation:
I'm laid up for month, Janet-that's
plain to be seen. I've done everything for
you now you must take right hold and go
On without me. There'll be the cookin' to
do and the butter to make more than you
have done, extra. But you can do it, if you
try. You'll have to, anyway. Hayin's over,
and Mr.. Dent'll be goin' home soon, sc
that'll be one less to provide for"
Janet heard in silence. She gave Mrs.
Titus her valerian, and then went away,
and stood looking around the kitchen.
"I'll have to do everything alone!"
There was such large family, and 30
much work to be done, no wonder little
Janet shrank; but she never thought of
shirking. With breakfast at five o'clock,
she had always had enough to do; but tt
undertake all the active duties which Mrs.
Titus had been accustomed to perform, wai
almost appalling.
Janet stood thinking how it was to be
done. She was such little thing. 1t took
so many of her armfuls to fill the wood
boxes with hard and soft wood. She must
needs stand ON a box to work at the tubs on
the wash and her arms grew 80 tired
at the churning. She had been trained to
great capability but she was not strong
enough.
But there was no time for reflection
There was supper to get for the four farm.
hands, Mrs. Titus Cruel to make and carry
up, the milk to strain. the dishes to wash,
the wood-boxes to fill, and sponge to be Be,
for bread.
Janet rushed for pail of water. z
Mr.. Dent was at the we'll. tT
Mr.. Miles Dent was the summer boarder.
He had bought mill privilege Of MIRA
Titus, and was building mill.
He was a handsome, very pleasant man.
As perfectly healthy people are apt to be,
and he was very large and strong. In age
he might have been thirty, or thereabouts.
Very old, indeed" Janet had pronounc-
ed him and she had always been little
afraid of him, his manners were so nice,
and he had such nice books in his room.
Whether he was aware of her existence OF
aot, she was not quite sure.
But he seemed to see the hurrying, anx-
ious little creature now-for, saying My
arms are the strongest, he took the pail,
filed it and carried 1t into the kitchen.
Have your hands full, haven't you,
little ono?" he said, pleasantly, glancing
about him. "Your shoulders hardly look
strong enough for all this baking and brew
ing"
Janet smiled shyly-pleased, surprised /;
but she was too abashed to more than muir
muir some faint response, and Mr.. Dent
went away.
But she felt cheered by the friendly
words Of the big, brown-bearded man; and
though Mrs. Titus scolded her because the
cruel hadn't milk enough, and she was
obliged to go up and down stairs three timer
before the lady was served, she laid he,
head upon her pillow more lightly than
1sual-all for one kind word. Poor little
Janet
But evil days were too surely OF hand.
It made Mrs. Titus very cross to lie in
bed, inactive, and she could not give up the
oversight Of the kitchen below.
A score of times o day she would call
Janet from her work to know what she was
at, and what she intended doing next.
Countless orders issued from her chamber.
These idiosyncracies added greatly te
Janet's fatigue, as she toiled through the
day, and she actually sobbed with WEAKNESS
one night. when she commenced to bring in
the wood.
She had baked and ironed that day, be-
sides making twenty pounds of butter for
market Her limbs seemed failing under
her, and her poor little feet felt as II basti
nadoed. 600
Added to this, Mrs. Titus had scolded at
her every time she was obliged to enter heI
chamber, on one pretext and another and
the pain gathering in Janet's heart broke in
o storm of tears at last.
She was standing in the woodshed. Sud.
denly she heard step ON the gravel Of the