The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1888-01-18
Miss Crutchett's Plan.

There had been little tinkling, sill
yer-bright April shower that washed
the dark ivy shoots and apple geraniums
in Mabel Verinder's window and then
turned every lingering drop to dia-
monds. There had been yet another
lingering shower at the same time-the
tears that welled suddenly up from
Mabel's heart and left sad brilliance
in her eyes.
"Its no use,' said she. His Aunt
Selma is right. l am no helpmate at
all for Charley. l am nothing more
than a drag upon him. And, oh, I've
tried so hard to help him."
"Oh!" said old Miss Crutchett-
"what? And why should Charley be
helped? He hasn't lost the use OF his
limbs or anything, has hep
"No," unwillingly admitted Mabel.
She was just in that mood in which q
woman would rather make a martyr OF
herself than not. " But his salary is so
small, and he has to work so hardF'
"Any harder than other people?"
questioned Miss Crutchett. "There's
a car-conductor lives on our third fiat.
He has to be up at four O'Clock every
morning, and his last trip ends at half
past ten at night! And Philip Jones is
foreman of daily paper and never
goes to bed till daylight"
"Oh, of course, l don't mean that"
said Mabel. " But 1 mean that he has
to work pretty steadily for ridiculous
salary"
La, my DEAR" said Miss Crutchett,
&C salaries of any sort are to be respected
nowadays. If Charley's place was
vacant you would find a score of men
striving to get it,"
eyes, sighed Mabel, but Horace
Fontaine's wife earns quite little sum
by doing crayon pictures, and Lucy
Weldon's novel sold for six hundred
dollars, and Nellie TraXon embroiders
tapestry for The Young Woman's
Bureau, and Mrs. Copley gets six or
seven dollars week by law copying
for her brothers. firm. Why couldn't l
do some such thing as that?'
"Does Charley want you to?' asked
Miss Crutchett, the lenses of her spec
tacles seeming to shine like inquiring
eyes upon Mrs. Verinder.
ono: but his Aunt Selma has been
saving such horrid meddlesome things
about my being a silly child, and Charley
having married too early, and"
Humph!" said Miss Crutchett.
" The troubles of one-half the world
come from what the other half says"
eyes, | know" said Mabel, queru-
lousy; "but it would be so nice if
| could earn something myself. l
wouldn't care how little it was. |
painted lovely landscape on old-gold
satin last week, and sent it to the Fine
Art Exchange, but there was no sale
for it; and | crocheted beautiful car
rage afghan, and it hung in Bates
window a month, and got all faded
with sunshine and soiled with dust, and
no one so much as asked the price of it"
" NV dear" good Miss Crutchett
had begun; but here she suddenly
checked herself, and added: "Don't
l smell something burning in the
kitchen?"
ooh, dare say" said Mabel, spirit
lessly. "Christine is always scorching
something or other. Our apple-compote
was ruined for dinner yesterday and
the chicken pot pie couldn't be eaten or
Sunday. She destroyed whole baking
of bread on Friday, and"
But Mrs. Verinder broke short off il
the middle of her speech and fled into
the kitchen, where saucepan OF lob
ster was bubbling over on the stove
and Christine, the jaunty Swedish
house-maiden, was out in the area
watching the antics of monkey wht
was chained to hand-organ.
cts too bad!" cried Mabel, eXcitedly
cts all burned to the bottom of tn,
pan, and Charley is so fond of lobste
bisque, too! Oh, | could cry! Tha
Christine isn't worth her salt"
"'Little foxes spoil the grapesn
abstractedly quoted Miss Crutchett.
What on earth are you talking
about?" said Mabel, staring at the oil
lady.
Nothing" said Miss Crutchett
"This bisque is spoiled; so is the pa
it is stewing in"
"Dear, dearl" cried Mabel; "and
is too late to make another, and
haven't thing for dinner in the house
We must send to Valigbetti's for roas
chicken and some apricot tarts-that'
ALL"
ITO the French restaurant on Vestr
Placer"
"Oh, yes!" said Mabel Indifferent,
"we often do that"
"Humph !" said Miss Crutchet
"Well, I'll go out and call that Swedis
damsel of yours. What wages do yo
pay her, by the way?"
Fourteen dollars a month";" sal
Mabel, with a troubled countenanc
Just three times what she is worth !
Humph!" again remarked Mi
Crutchett.
ashes so carelessl said Mabe
plaintively. "She has Clipped all Il
beautiful china that his Aunt Seln
gave me for wedding present, al
She broke that exquisite statuette
Diana that stood on the gilt tripC
between the windows, and she has !
the moths get into the parlor carp
out of sheer neglect. Oh, she is such
trial"
81 don't see why you keep such
girl,n observed Miss Crutchett.
"They're all alike" said Mab'
I" A miserable, shiftless sell If / Sc