The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1885-12-26


feed hens, to skim milk, to work rotary
churn, to sprinkle and iron clothes, and to
do ten thousand other things in that
woman's work which is "never DONE
from which duties she did not shrink.
"Sheis is awfulspry," said Mrs. Shepard to her
husband when asked for verdict; but as
to the tricks of language, the candid hearer
had to acknowledge that her references to
the enemy of souls were too frequent. As
to veracity, there were occasions when it
seemed as if she had been trained in some
school of very low sophistry, if, indeed,
she had not been left without training in
that poorhouse from which she graduated.
Honesty in deed, however, was what Mrs.
Shepard clung to as the center Of life.
When one day at dinner she cut through
what was meant to be mince pie, when
the crust instantly fattened beneath the
edge of her knife, when it appeared that
there was no ''mince" there, then it was
revealed to Mrs Shepard what was meant
by Mrs. Metcalf and the lady from Ber
nardston, who had said that Mary Martin
stole.
Fortunately for Mary Martin, she did
not lie when charged with this "theft. "
She grinned, and hardly said, even under
pressure, that she would try not to do it
again.
AS for Mr.. Shepard, he only laughed.
When consulted as to whether good whip
ping would do Mary any good he advised
against the whipping. Mary was shut up
in her own little room for three hours
until, indeed, the hens made such a row
about her captivity that, to quiet them, her
release was found necessary. Mrs. Shep-
ard then gave her what, if she had kept
journal, she would have called "a serious
talk" If Mary had kept journal she
would have called it "a good jawing." In
fact, neither of them kept any journal.
Mary relieved her feelings by giving the
hens twice their allowance. After tea she
was sent to bed at Z o'clock, by way Of
further punishment.
Poor Mrs Shepard watched with tears
nay, with prayers-all the next day for
tokens of contrition but such tokens were
few, if any. The girl did bring in Lucy's
thimble, which Lucy had dropped in the
wagon She could, '.just as we'll as not,
have kept it, Mrs. Shepard said, and sold
it to the first peddler. "But she didn't;
she brought it in, just as pleased as any
thing" On the other hand, when Silas
Pike, the hired man, came in, and Mrs.
: Shepard questioned him as to the language
t which Mary used in familiar conversation
in the barn, he grinned from ear to ear.
He could not remember much-clearly he
l L 1ool-3i %bo ohil1, hnt
y he implied that there was frequent reference
e to place of torment, as we'll as to the en-
envy of souls-as Mrs. Shepard had heard
/ beforehand so reticent was Silas that she
ceased in her examination from very fear
of what it might elicit
| That evening she went to the Sacrament
e lecture with her husband tried to. But
when they were passing Deacon Little s
: house Miranda Little ran out to tell them
e that Parson Noyes had a sore throat and
t that the lecture would be postponed. So
they turned back and were at home again
l in an hour from the time of starting
!, She ran upstairs to find Mary Martin
; ''prinking before the glass" as Mrs. Shep-
e ard told her husband, with her mistress s
f best bonnet on, the lace scarf John Shepard
5 had sent her from Havana thrown lightly
4 round her neck, and, to be short, as Mrs.
5 Shepard's eyes descended from point to
7 point, every scrap of elegance most dear to
/ that lady was displayed on this huzzy' s
form.
5 ssMary Martin, what are you doing?"
So still had been Mrs. Shepard's step,
t and so eager Mary's pleasure that she was
wholly unconscious of the fatal return from
, meeting.
, She turned amazed, forgot all proprie-
; ties, and cried:
"Good Lord Is that you?" Theft and
r profanity conjoined.
l "Mary Martin, | am ashamed of you
/ Take those things off, and go straight to
! bed"
/ And Mrs. Shepard spent the night
| awake, thinking of a punishment. The
7 girl would have returned to the "Home
before light, but that neither Silas nor Mr..
Shepard could give the necessary three
= hours to take her to the station. So far
the stars in their courses worked for the
: Door child, if indeed it was desirable that
t She should stay where all that she did was
e wrong
As for her, she went to sleep without
/, anxiety, slept till morning, and came down
stairs las if, for all the world, nothing had
happened"
Poor. Mrs. Shepard had still devised no
punishment. Imprisonment would be a
4 part, if any she could devise, and when poor
e Mary appeared so unconscious and sunny
$ it was not in the good womans heart to be-
gin new controversy. Thus far, as In a
!. finite world often happens, the punishment
Y did not fall upon the sinner. And Mary
went to the chickens as before.
S But, when dinner time came the storm
5 cloud broke. Mrs Bangs and George
Bangs had arrived at noon, the advance
r party of the whole Bangs family, who were
to spend their Christmas here, Mrs. Shep-
: ard experimenting, Lucy had set the table
with her own hands The best tablecloth
t was on, and the best napkins, the best glass
Y and the best china. Lucy had even cut
q her best flowers for the middle of the table:
: and all was complete excepting the serving
i of the actual dinner. The picked wal
s nuts, the celery, the currant and cranberry
i jelly were all in place
To this table, fifteen minutes after her
r daughter had left it, Mrs. Shepard bore
:. with her own hands the goods hot from the
q oven. One instant was enough to show
o that some one had broken the beauty Of
t both moulds of jelly-had indeed consum-
S ed part of each, and in her haste-for of
the sex of the marauder there was no doubt
had dropped on the white table quiv-
: ering mass of the plumber.
"Mary Martin, what have you done Z"
And Mrs. Shepard turned, expecting to
J. see at least a fearful face, but there was no
s Mary Martin. That lady had left the hot
potatoes in the kitchen and taken refuge in
n the hay loft.
o Nothing is more inconvenient than the
e holding of court martial in the presence OF
visitors or administering even the simplest