The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1886-07-31

might have sat upon it without inconvenience
The builder went through tho same perform
ance of opening and shutting valves that Mr.
Jawker had done, but with tho same result
or rather absence Of result, and finally sug
gested that there must be something "bust in
side" and that "the man as made it, had
better come and look at it,
We reported the result to Mr. Jawker, and
again ridd and dined out IA cut Off the joint
at an eating house. Mr.. Jawker promised tC
send the maker Of the Treasure" and after
the lapse of a day or two he came. On ex-
animation, however, he said that the range
was seriously out of repair, and among other
things that we had with the best intentions,
am sure knocked n hole through between
the fire box and the main ilue, and thereby
destroyed the whole draught Of the apparatus
He estimated that the Treasure" could be
put in order for matter of GA or Gj;
but even then, he added with glance
at the scullcryl, that it would want some
body with a head on their shoulders TO
handle it, and that where there wasn't a
mlsSus in the family with glance at mel
the best Of ranges didn't have fair chance.
told him | would think it over (meaning
the repairs, and let him know. ] talked the
matter over with Tidd, and as tho result Of
our deliberations | sent Mr. Jawker letter
accompanied by way Of postscript by n fow
touching lines, entitled AN Ode to Treas
ire"
That fetched him. | thought it would.
He said rather than have any more of my
poetry he'd 60 halves with US in a new range.
| told him iii just as soon he paid for the
.l,..1 l,,t 10, oil 4 ...'
done by me in generosity. He'd stick to
"halves." Accordingly ON the advice
of Trotter, | arranged to have one
Of the good O!d-fashioned open ranges,
with "no nonsense about it." The
cautious Bigsby came with two or three at
tcndant spritcs, and after u week or there
abouts of general upset, and pervading
atmosphere Of grit throughout our mansion,
the range was fixed and Bigsby, with bust
ncss-llkc prOmpttude, sent us in his bill for
our half, amounting to E3 los. Again a
pleasing vista Of nice little dinners loomed
rosy before us and we paid his demand with
out "A murnur We had bivouaCkpd during
the week where we could, anywhere, any
where, out of the grit as pathetically OBJ
served to Tidd, but now we fondly hoped our
TO dinner full OF joyful anticipation. We
had ordered OK tail soup, leg Of lamb with
green peas and cauliAower, and dish Of
macarOm cheese. | cannot say that the din
ncr was n complete success The soup would
have been very nice if it hadn't been quite so
salt, and | havo no doubt that the lamb
would have been very nice also il it hadn't
been quite SO UNDERGONE, but | think three
slugs i'll one caulitlower more than a fair
average. We might have made shift with
the peas, but they were so hard that we were
obliged to swallow them whole like pills, and
after taking a dozen or two in this manner
we found the operation too tedious and
abandoned the attempt. Tidd ventured on u
joke about "peasc do resistance" 1t was a
gallant attempt and tried to smile, but
the effort was too great, and very nearly
burst into tears instead We ultimately dned
OFF the macaroni cheese. We both agreed,
when TrUtter was out of the room, that some
thing ought to be said to her, but we could
not agree as to who should say it, and there
was a something in her ego which indicated
that criticism would not be well received.
Ultimately we decided to say nothing at all
just as present, encouraging each other by
the reflection that the new stove might not
have got properly aired or that there might
be some other sufficient reason for her
failure, and that it mightnt occur again.
The next day things were a trille better; tho
next they were not quite so well, and thus
the fortunes Of our dinners tluctuated till
about a week after the Inauguration of the
new range, on our returning home as usual
at q o'clock, we found no cloth laid in the
dining room, nor was there any sound of any
one moving below. Pursuing our researches,
with caution down to the Kitchen we found
the fire out and no signs either of dinner or
of 1'rottcr. Finally hearing IA subdued sound
of lamentation, we traced it to the larder,
aud there found our inestimabe Trotter sit
ting on the floor, with one arm embracing the
bread pan and weeping freely. On endeavor-
ing TO ascertain the cause of her grief we
could only elicit that she was "a pore orphan,
and everybody was agin her" As she had
told me, on applying for the situation, that
she had lost her parents at the age of 3, her
orphaned condition seemed hardly an adc-
Quato explanation of her present grief |
found on subsequent examination that / had
left the s!deboard open, and that the gin bot
tie Oiled the previous morning. was empty;
but Trottcr assured me, with such flood Of
tears and so many pious g aculations, that She
hadn't tasted anything stronger than cough
mixture the whole blessed day, that we really
didn't like to contradict her. However this
last straw, won't say broke the camels'
backs" but decided the camels that they
wouldn't allow their backs TO be broken. We
paid Trotter months wages the next morn
ing and sent her packing, and did not discover
till some days after that she had taken Il Sc
lection Of our new silver spoons to remember
us by
We advertised at once for n new servant,
and meantime endured an interregnum of
taking it by turns to get up in
the morning and let her in, and picking up
our meals, like the sparrows, when and where
We could What we have undergone in con-
sequence of our advertisement nobody knows
We had advertised for respectable woman
between so and 40, but the maj GRITTY Of those
who applied were either pert damsels of II or
thereabouts, or elderly ladies ranging from 60
upwards. The lame, the halt and the blind
Tor nearly presented themselves. A last,
however, young woman has pre-
scnted herself who seems to answer
requirements. She wears her hair in
what is vulgarly termed "bang," and only
claims to be eight and twenty, "all told" but
she comes OF highly respectable family DE
ing second cousin TO our butterman's first
wife), and her character is all that could be
desired Indeed her late mistress gave s,lch