The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1886-12-29
GI1e gnteIIigetltea.
THE HOUSEKEEPER.
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
ny MARION uARLAND,

BY MARION uARLAND.
PART5-NY FIRST CoSPASY DIaNER Is sEEyED.
lcopyHghged, lSs6, by tho Author
On the morning Of the first wsshin
day after We took possession Of our Cottsg
home sent Grace into the kitchen h
help Emily, and did the housswork my
sell, By hAlEpsst ten all was in suct
trim as never attends upon hirelinga
operations, Proud Of the effect, l called
John from hls study to enjoy it with me
There Is genuine satisfAction In clear
work ! moIaIized, as we paused be-
side the fire In my room. "Heie are three
hours TO spare before need get dinner
ready. It is 10 be Q IeRt wRsn-day meal, {
pick-pp affair, and Ishall not budge from
the dining room to cook it, Prepare for g
surprised
KNEW It would be an agreeable revela,
tloN. medlt&ied salau founded upon
the cold chicken left from Sundays din
ner, and ham omeelte, Cold bread,
cake and pickles would support these, and
cup Of coffee give tone and fragrance Ia
all, There was q flavor Of picnic and pas
toTAls IN the conception which would come
sweetly 10 Johns mental palate-a dash
OF Bohemianism that was piQuRntly pro-
Vocative Of appetite,
II was Monuay, and he did not feel like
studying. My room WAS CHEEKY with sum
shine aud tre-shine. AS wheeled my
Wolk-stRnd toward the hearth he offered
an enchanting suggestion, 10 wit: that
while ! worked he should read aloud from
MIS-, Gaskell's Life Of Charlotte Bronls, Just
published. We lRu had no happier hour
IN our welded life than that which follow.
I'd. Wintry gusts shOOk and waved the
uees IN the grove surrounding the house,
out the sunbeams fell, still and yellow,
between the parted curtains on the russell
and green mosses Of the carpet. The fire
Ahg u suDuled accompaniment 10 tue
pleasant molulations Of the readers voice.
This was our home and our life. Ifquiet,
It was very lair and passing dear,
A crunchlGg, grating sound on thaHrav.
eled drive drew our Gtartled eyeSto the
window. A carriage had stopped at the
pUiCn. The iJOIm4n aIlghted, opened the
loor and lot down the steps. We recog.
lizsd the stately figure that descended.
The wife Of q wealthy planterparishioner,
resident three miles from the village, had
!ome to pay US Q visit, appgehended
doIhing worse than q morning call. My
GiLy life supplied me with no data for
other expectations. II was bad enough 10
nave our delightful forenoon broken In
upon, but the privacy Of parsonage life
could never exist except In name and
dream. had rat with The guest for per.
1aps twenty miDuteG in the parlor, when
John, who mad withdrawn alter escotting
ner into the room, resppeared, unembar-
raised and smiling,
"Eycuse the interruption, Mrs. H., but"
this to me-''Somp Sns v .shes ~ speak
10 you for moment"
Emily was in the hall, md John fol.
lowed me out. Mira HIS carriage had
been driven around 10 tho stable. She,
the most noted housekseper In the coun.
ty, whose staff Of Couse servants had been
horn on her plantation and trained under
her eyes yOnsl old enough to be my
mother, and whom had met hut ONCE,
intended to "spend the day" With me.
John, moro familiar than with neigh.
borhood customs, had suspected az much
nom tho moment he saw the Carriags and
now tried TO lessen the shock to me.
TELL km'ly what to COOK, aud give
Yourself no further troub!e,"he said IL.
masculine fashion. "All will 10 ga well
as you were at the helm"
"Wlll itf' | could have been wlther.
ing had | been Ices wilted myeCIf. "Can't
you see what an awful complication this
81 Not = laoIsel Of unlocked meat except
pork and bacon on the premises-no pie,
Or Custard, or jslly-WRshing day and past
Il O'Clock It'll cruel, crueIl"
think 90 still, The nice old lady has
been In heaven for tSeRty years; she was
notherly kind to ms according to her
lights; the coming Of a dt3sn unexpected
vlsitorB would not have luiiled her spirit,
10 enirenChed was she behind house
Wiley experience and her garrison Of scr.
wants. She had no suspicion that the
entertainment Of o binge dinner guest
was Ike crucifxion 10 me, raw manager
Tith two insufficient domeetiCs.
Emily, moved by my AFFECT condition,
now spoke, and for wonder To the point:
"Ung' Sam mouRht kill o turksy.n
Twas too ignorant to smile, as was John,
10 smile at the THOUGHT OF eating a turkey
within three hours from the time It was
slaughtered. While my husband went to
SEQ the order executed, returned to my
guest with such plausible deceit OF smile
and tongue as ! could muster and invited
her to walk into my chamber and lay
side her muilltngs. She talked all the
time In the mellow Voice and undulatinp
CsGences common to the Virginia gentle.
woman. She had brought her CIp in q
Oox, which the footman was instructed TO
fetch from the carriage. 1t was fine
lace, trimmed with blUe ribbona. Her
hair was yellow gray and wearing thin on
lie top Of her head. l noticed these
things while wondered II l could have
oeen happy and free an hour ago, and II
| could live through the day. My heart
pounded my ribs With such violence, my
breath came 80 fast and irregularly that
the thought was not unnatural. II wac
40 far from being 8 fear that caught my
self speeulating, mot unhopeiully, whether
or not she would stay 10 dinner II were
to fall doad at her feet. l concluded tina,
she would, also thst the table cloth would
be crooked, and the few dishes Emily did
not forget to cook would be UNBEATABLE.
John brought his blithe presence into
the parlor when we returned TO 1t, and !
slippsd away TO ''glVs out" dinner, In.
vention stirred under the lash Of ext.
gency, kept down pang at thought Of
the Bohemian salad, and commanding my
subordinate 10 make q white soup Of the
cold chicken.
30 you Know how 10 make white soup,
Em'lyY l asked family.
II she did not must consult Miss Les.
lie secretly, and the time was short.
Ior, miss Marion what you take me
futl ! done been make B0np white Z
suow fur my ole mis- To- you born. Gin.
me dat ham bone fur 10 make II tedsoncr,
please mA'pmn
/ ordered, furthermore, sweet and Irish
potatoes, tnrnlpE, maCCaroni, dish oispAre
ribs TO balance the turkey, and a mlnce
pie. Ny mother had beSlo wed upon me q
precious jar Of minCe.meat Of which
| inaaFE IN hh nhafV Emile nFnnknnad ally