The Washington critic., 1886-04-14
A LESSON In FRACTIONS

grim anu BnOStly, always smut up ana
empty. 1t was our spare room when
poor, dear husband was alive; but now
that was widow and poor, II was
needless luxury to keep guest cham
Der.
began to rest upon Mr.. Slnde, TO
confide in him, to ask his advice and
invariably take It upon all occasions,
to gratefully take advantage of his
knack in repairing things about the
house and putting in order domestic
utensils. / had dress to finish for
Mrs. Chapel, and was working away
when, all at once, the machine began
to squeak dreadfulIy. 1t was rasp.
ing noise, fit to raise the hat on ones
head, and mine had ached dreadfully
all the morning. l oiled and fused at
it, but all to no purpose; II squeaked
more and more. And, to crown all,
the nice pumpkin pic had made for
Mr.. Slade's luncheon was burned to
crisp. / smelled it and rushed to the
stove, but too late. 1t was q black
ruin, and I sat down and cried over 1t.
1t seemed to me so sad and terrible /
wanted to lie down and die, when in
walked Mr.. Slade to his luncheon.
IL uO uoC COuiluS III, Suili. L
don't know how you can board here,
anyway, ! am such o miserable house.
keeper. 1t would be so much better II
my boy Charley and were dead"
"What has happened?' asked Mr..
Slade.
felt ashamed when I saw the look
of alarm in his face.
ut is very sad to burn the crust of
nice pie all to a crisp" / said.
"Do you think so?' said Mr.. Sladc.
"Now for me 1t Is most excellent
mischance. OF all things in the world
revere the burned crust of pie. l
have hesitated to declare this predilec-
tion, because ! know it is a remarkable
one, and not at all likely to be shared
by the majority of people; but fortune
has favored me to-day. Mrs. Sweet,
let us have the pie by all means!"
And he actually lifted the horrible
black thing to the table and ate it
yes, he ate it-which was the most
graceful piece of martyrdom ever
saw in q man. And then I got courage
to tell him how burned It; that Mrs.
Chapel must have that dress and the
machine had begun to squeak. in the
most horrible way; that I'd oiled it
and fused with 1t, all to no purpose,
and how was to finish that dress of
Mrs. Chappeps with the dreadful noise
distracting my poor brain / didn't
know.
"We'll look at It," he said, in that
resting, comfortable soul-cheering way
| of his.
cts the ball. It's become smooth
from friction, and If you'll bring me q
little flour or meal, Mrs. Swcet-stay!
here is piece of chalk, which is bet.
ter than all.
And with that little white lump that
he took from his waistcoat pocket he
made the machine perfect in five-in
two minutes.
Now, how could I help watching
him from the door again, as he walked
away to school, and let his coat.tails
flap as they may or be knock kneed to
eternity, how could / help sending
after him my heartiest benediction and
blessing
And can 1t be wondered at that when
| only two or three months after he was
going away l was like one stunned
and bewildered? We were sitting in
the little front room and was finish.
ing off that diagonal overskirt for Mrs
Chapel. A breeze from the west
blew my hair into my eyes and put
1t back with a trembling hand. The
soft, warm day Of golden light sud.
denly seemed to cloud over and become
one Of moody sadness
II have an opportunity for advance.
ment In my profession" he said,
"which it would ill. behoove me to put
by. In my native town Is offered me
no less, may say to you, dear madam,
than professors chair"
| / hadn't the least idea what he
meant. knew that one chair differed
very much from another, and whereas
one was comfortable, easy, enjoyable
another might be for the time being q
seat of torture, but wherein profes
sor's chair eXcelled | could not at thai
time imagine. sat quite still, and the
ruflle fell from my hand; my foot
rested on the treadle of the machine,
and / sat and stared at Mr.. Slade like
one demented.
Sand IL has occurred to me-" hi
went on, that the position have held
here, which Is an exceedingly easy
and pleasant one, might probably and
suitably be filed by one of the othe
sex. / have spoken to the committc,
in your behalf, and with little atten
tion on your part to the simple me
chanical requirements necessary and {
little help upon mine you will be ready
to fill the position at once"
"Who? /, Mr.. Slade? Why, yor
must be crazy l never got beyond thu
four rules in arithmetic"
"And upon these depend every
thing" he replied. "Come, put by
your work and let us see what we cal
do for first attempt"
1t was of no use to refuse. He wa
one of those material natures tina
always conquer. Half an hour after
was sitting close by his side at tn,
table, with Charley's pencil in M,
trembling fingers. The rosy evening
light streamed in upon us, the sof
south wind bringing resinous odor
through the windows from the wooC
where Charley yet fingered
"Now, my dear Mrs. Sweet" sal,
Mr.. Slade, and the very gentleness o
his tone, the tender rendering of m
name, made me shiTer and shake, 70
! could not get the thought out Of IN,
head that VIXEN he was gone there wa
nobody left deal tenderly with me o
mine, "now "ay, try and give you
thoughts to lbject in hand. 1t |
the simplest in the world, ant
these rudimd once conquered tn
rest will folio Now, a man sold hi
farm for $S,7, d fourteen fifteenth
of this is sew pths of the cost o
his house, and the house cost seye
times as much as the store now wha