Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-10-18
THE HIRED GIRL.

light! 1t is like a dream of Italy!n
Yes, " said Mrs. Leeds, 'she is verI
pretty, but that don't signify so much
"She's a good smart girl, and don't los,
any time looking at herself in the glass
like some I've had"
Where did you pick her upg' asked
the young clergyman, carelessly drawing
the newspaper from his pocket as he sal
down on the carpet of pine needles
under the big evergreen tree.
Didn't pick her up anywhere" " said
Mrs. Leeds, tartly dor this was a part OF
the transaction that had never been quite
satisfactory to her business-like soul
"She came along"
"Came along'" with & slight accent
of surprise.
"Yss-looking for work"
Mr. Villars lifted his eyebrows.
''Then how do you know who she is3''
he asked.
Il don't know retorted Mrs. Leeds,
unconsciOusly betraying her weak point
I by this irritability of manner; but |
know what she is, ard that's more TO the
purpose. She's the best washer that ever
crossed my threshold; as dOcile as kit
ten, and as smart as a cricket; does twice
the work of anyone else that l ever had,
and if she's ever tired she don't say so. ~
Mrs. Leeds hustled Off to interview
Farmer Parks for more Alderney cream
for the summer boarders, now that the
house was beginning to fill up.
Mr.. Villars improvised a pillow out Of
his coat, folding it cylinder-wise and
placed under his head, and closed his
eyes in a sort of a summer dream among
the pine bows and butterflies.
And Eliza, spreading out blcakberries
to dry on the board platform that had
been erected along the garden fence, be
gan to sing softly TO herself She was
very silent ordinarily, but somehow it
seemed as If the sunshine had thawed
out her very heart to-day.
Mr. Villars had been right. There was
something of the atmosphere Of Italy
about Eliza-her eyes were so deep and
dark, her hair so glossily black, her
cheek stained with such a rich olive.
Moreover, she did not move like the
girls of rock-bOund New England. There
was a subtle gliding motion-a langor Of
gracefulness in her gait-which was for
eign to all her surroundings.
The girls of the yicinage did not frater-
nize with Eliza when at rare intervals
she accompanied Mrs. Leeds TO church,
sewing circles or village gatherings; for
in Stapleville the employer and employe
occupied one ali-comprehensiye social
platform.
They said she was "odd;" they looked
at her askance; and Eliza. always very
quiet in her ways, made no effort to in
sinuate herself into their good graces.
Why should she' What did it signify,
one way or the other, whether Deborah
Smart and Keziah Hayes and Abby Jane
Clark liked her or not as long as Mrs.
Leeds was pleased with her,
But the village girls made one error in
their calculations. They had not in
tended as time crept on to emphasize
their antipathy to Mrs. Leeds Eliza 30
strongly as to awaken partisan feeling in
Mr.. Nillars' breast; but they did so, un
consciously to themselves.
"Wby do they neglect that girl so'"
the young clergyman asked himself
"Can they not see how infnitly superior
she is to themS It's shamer'
And so Abby Jane Clark and Deborah
Smart and Keziah Hayes sealed their
own doom, so far as Mr.. Villars was con-
cerned.
There was not one Of them but would
have been delighted to win a smile, q
u pitdSduI "OEu lut NOuuk
man who was summering at the Leeds
farmhouse.
But alasI like the priest and the Le-
vite, he passed by on the other side; and
when the village girls in their afternoon
muslins and ribbons, sat at their windows
and wondered why "he came not, I" he
was in nine cases out Of ten helping Eliza
to gather peaches for :, standing be-
A. ha eh
towels and pocket handkerchiefs to
difference between the notes of thrush
and the woodlark, the speckled eggs Of
the robin, and the pearl-gray treasure Of
the whip-poOr-wil.
"He seems TO be taking a notion to
her." said Mrs. Leeds to herself, as she
eyed the pair from her milk room win
dow. "Well, why shouldn't he' It's
true he's minister and my own nephew;
but in my mind Eliza is good enough for
any man. My sakes! won't Abby Jane
be persons wife, Abby Jane does"
Thus things were progressing when
one day a smart young tradesman from
an adjoining town came to board out his
fortnight's vacation at Deacon Clark's.
4hS Sidl Ms a AoAA1AN
but the deacon was little close in his
financial administration, and Mrs. Clark
and Abby Jane were not sverse to earn
ing new dress now and then out Of the
rent of their big spare room; and Mr..
Trudkins brought a letter Of recommen
dation from a friend in Paekerton, and he
big black mustache that overshadowed
dc lin lilo
"Oh, ma, how very genteel he Isl"
said Abby Jane, all in a flutter Of ad
miratiOn.
"A very nice young man indeed, re-
sponded the deacon's wife.
And the very next week, Abby Jane
came down to the Leeds farmhouse.
''Have you heard this news of your
Elizas" she asked of the farmers wife In
a mysterious whisper.
"EhT' said Mrs. Leeds.
"She's nothing but a play actress"
said Abby Jane, nodding her head until
the stuffed bluebird on her hat quivered
as if it were alive. "Mr Alphonso Trud-
kins saw her himself in the great New
York Combination troupe. She was act
ing a woman who was married to a Cuban,
and lost her pocket handkerchief, and was
choked to death with the pill
lows off the best bed. Desdemonia her
name was, l think"
"Well, and suppose she was'" said
Mrs. Leeds, who was too good general
to let the enemy see what havoc had been
carried into her camp. what them"
What them" echoed Abby Jane. "Well,
l do declare, Mrs. Leeds, / am surprised"
don't believe a word Of it," said
Mrs Leeds, defiantly.
"But Mr.. Trudkins saw her with his
own eyesr' cried Abby Jane, flushing
scarlet with indignation. "He knew her
the minute he looked at her yesterday in
church. Eliza Elismere her name was,
he says, in the advertisements, and she
danced a dance, with q yellow scarf and
a lot Of roses, between the pieces, making
herself out TO be . Spanish mandolin
player. It's enough TO make ones hair
stand on end to hear Mr.. Trudkins tell
about it." SIT don't do to believe all one
hears" said Mrs. Leeds, losing all count
of the eggs she was breaking into a china