The Penn's Grove record., 1888-01-21

OF bangs for his patrician c~ountenance.
Papa has always spoiled Mary
Jane" echoed Mrs. Carteret. regarding
her son with colnplacent satisfaction.
"Tnere is q tnanishness about Mary
Jane which isl singularly unlike the
gentility Of theI women of our family"
remarked Marguerite.
Clementina, 7who had been married
for several yekrs, and who had less
federation thauI formerly for the Carte
ret deficiency In the exchequer. threw
cold water on lthe general disfavor by
saying, in a matter of fact way:
s'Ohl well, dlrls, and Mamma, you
know very well that nobody will ever
choose Mary Jane for her beauty, and
| lf she can help Papa, for goodness sake
| let her do it, Jerome says that papa
must have m managed dreadfully to let
affairs drift as they have, and 1 agree
| with him." s.sa1z.
The housekeeping had fallen a good
deal into the hAnds of Mary Jane. She
had a perfect genius for contriylng
ragouts and fIllcasees of ieft-overs and
fragments; shd would buy a ''soup
piecen for a few cents ard make a
delicious pot.ah-feu, and as for watch
ing the weekld bills and cutting off a
cent here and a six pence there her
talent wassmarIvelous. Plebeian if you
choose, but nevertheless a convenient
and comfortable talent for the child of
an lmpecuniou$ parent. T.
But tile day fame when not all Mary
James magic could evolve dinners out
of nothing. Invention she had, but
creation was beyond her powers, and
not all her willing service, diligent and
faithful as it Was, could bring business
enough to poolr Mr.. Carteret to more
than pay his office rent. Mrs. Carteret,
poor lady, cried till her eyes were red,
but what good did b a o Lillian
went to live with Clementina. Mar
guerite Thought she would try writing
for the press u nder the impression that
here was an easy road to fame and
fortune-so respectable, too, and need
ing 80 little 0,utlay-for couldn't she
throw off p0en}s and stories at a sitting
if she could oIhly find an editor to pay
for them2 Two Of the boys went off
on a ranch In 3the train of an English
noblsman and the others were at work,
though thew Were able to do little more
than support themselves.
Mary Jane determined to improve
the situation, but the question was how?
What could she do which would bring
in money? Day after day, night after
night she thotlght, but could fix upon
nothing definite. Meanwhile she
mended and aiarned, turned curtains
and furniture covering, kept the house
bright and sh5ning, and found herself
repaid by sesSng her father lose the
discouraged expression which had v
laid his natural cheerfulness.
"You have inherited the Jenkins
faculty." he sAid n day. We Carte
rets and your mothers people, the
Truemans, areI lacking in resource, but
my mothers mother was Mary Jane
Jenkins, and she a q woman among
a thousand"
Jenkins faculty, or Carteret ele-
gance, Mary Jane pondered, which
was to come TO the front and prove
helpful.
She was mounted on a step.ladder,
rehangng a lportiere, which she had
spent hours in repairing and ~freshening,
when a ~visitorl was announced. II was
a certain Mrs.. Despard, an old and
fashionable ftiend, and Maria, now
maid. of-all- work, hurried from her
tubs to open THE door, and usl,ered her,
without CEREMONY, into the room where
the young mlttress was busy with her
amateur upholstery. .
"For pity's sakel" calculated Mar
guerite, in the chamber above. "Mary
Jane Is in thes middle Of the work and
she'll v apologize. I will not 60
DOWN."
"Mary Jane mortifes me every day
Of my life," tfoamed Mrs. Carteret,
brushing her thin hair and taking her
best lace handkerchief from the bureau
drawer. ,
81 wish," she continued, SORROW
fully, "that dear Mrs. Despard had
called when the drawing-roOm was
somewhat In shadow. Mary Jane has
no doubt admitted foods of light and
every threadbare line in the carpet and
all the make-shifts will show. and ohl
it is hard to let the world know how
poor we arelf .. Yer 4
Thus trag3cally the mother and
daughter above stairs regarded each
other, while below Mary Jane having
tripped from the step-ladder, shaken
out the portiere and established the
caller in a great easy chair with a has
sock at her feet her back to the light,
a screen between her and the bit of fire
in the crate was finding herself all at
once face to ftce with her opportunity.
sis it possible. my dear, that you a
do such Things yourselfp" exclaimed
Mrs. Despar}i. "Do pardon me, but
neither for l4ve nor money do 1 know
where to find any II who can take
stitches when they are needed, arrange
my pretty things daintily, drape "a
lambrequin snd generally see to what
| my daughter would have done if she
had lived. Nou know l lost Mignon
when she was only two. You and she
were born in. the same month with the
April v~iolets. Mary Jane"
How 1t CAME about Mary Jane could
not have told but before Mrs. Carteret
entered the pArlor a compact was made
and the Despard portiere and furniture
were all to rass in review before the
girls bright eyes the next day after
noon.
"You will let me pay you, my dear
childp" said the lady, in a soft voice,
as she went away.
But PLAN Mary Jane was not seasi.
tive on this point. She said, in her
usual voice:
'Certainly, Mrs. Despard, il I am
able to serve you 1 will charge you a
fair price. but You must not count upon
me until you lind out whether or not 1
can really be of use."
Mrs. Carte ret exclaimed as the door
closed:
"That l should have lived to see
this day. Mary janet Mary janet
What Will people think of your"
"Oh, my fear little mother, what
matters it what they may think If only
they viii find my work good of its kind
and pay me d living price for it,"
1t was not many weeks before Mary
Jane had all she wanted to do. A
dozen families were in need OF precisely
| such helpful assistance as she could
render, and she had her regular days
and went frpp n to another, gradu-
ally becoming to be regarded as a
| household oracle. For, were there
-