Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-04-06
A STORY OF THE BLIZZARD

love my home. and the care of it is my
chief delight. Not that would rather sweep
than attend a matinee, or that busting and put
ting to rights please me more than driving or
dancing, but do find the results of the sweep
ing and busting very remunerative, and SO it
is. perhaps, that although much of every va
riety of Homework falls to my lot. I would not
exchange it for that of any one know.
Perhaps by some it might not be considered
an altogether blissful occupation to keep house
for five boys of various tastes. and these bows
not sons who must respect ones idiosypcrasies
and obey ones behests. No. indeed Twenty
four years are great many for an unmarried
young woman to acknowledge, but they would
still be too few to allow me the honor of own
ing those five trooping figures over whose board
and lodging 1t is still my pleasure and my duty
to preside. These boys are nv brothers. and
If anybody thinks that they look up to me with
mute reverence and restrained fear, he or she
is entirely mistaken.
Three of them. Frank and Tom and Willis,
are older than 1, and Jerry and Phil are
younger. Phil is the only one of us who has
yet to attain his majority. What there may be
TO do of a sufficiently celebrative nature when
that event shall transpire in the spring have
not been able to imagine as vet. Phil is a
darling; he shall have the best there is
We live in a suburb where there is said to be
plenty of malaria about. Anybody who cares
to pity us on that account is welcome. We
could not begin to afford such pleasant house
II 1t were not for that report of malaria, which
depresses the rents As it is we occupy de-
tached residence of rather imposing appear
ance. with sufficient ground about it for a be-
shrubbed lawn before our door, and vegetable
gardens, with an ornamental hen house in the
rear.
This hem opso ia, b;aF IL a
the library curtains with the egg money, my
friend. the grocer, CHANGING to be in need while
eggs were scarce The garden does not -four
lsh as richly; in fact, do not think that more
perverse spot OF ground exists. Despite my
constant struggle to keep the weeds under and
encourage the vegetables. it rarely yields
enough OF anything to serve us once around at
meal. The boys never cease to be jocular
over my Crops" and as they occasionally say
some very good things. we are indebted to the
garden so far, at any rate. Perhaps. too, save
something on it in the end. as / nearly always
nave little left from the weeks allowance to
lay aside fer improvements about the house.
ms time shall keep my savings for Phiis
birthday. How earnestly hope for nspira-
ton against that great day! We chatter like
magpies over it when Phil is not about, but We
come to no decision. We reflect by way of
stimulating our invention with enthusiasm.
We say: Phil is the last of u.s. we shall never
nave coming of age again in the family"
Then We bethink us how jolly he is. Whatever
may arise. he has always spirits and cheer for
us all. What should we do without him?
But this only enhances Pills value in our
eyes, and renders the expression of our appre-
citation more difficult than ever
| The boys go into the city every day to busi-
ness l shu. the door upon them at 8 o'clock
each morning, and the train which bears them
homeward does not whistle at the depot until
six fifteen" as we timetable dependents learn
to call it. like these long days with the bows
away. There is enough to do, for nothing is
ever put III place while they are at home. News
papers, books, music. cards, and am sorry to
say clga~ ashes, are strewn all over the library
and sitting-room; slippers, house coats, and
more cigar ashes abound upstairs; but, after
all. am able and willing to put things to rights
once day. and l notice that if they are faith
fully attended to once, they cannot become so
confused III a single evening as to render it an
endless task to set them in order again
As for the use of tobacco. i do not approve of
it any more than any other woman; / am sure
that there would not be more than half as much
to do in the house without it, and the odor of
the deserted cigar end is perhaps the pooest in
the world; but the boys must have a home
that Is the main point-and if thew were not al
lowed to do as they choose in their home. they
might not care about it as much as they do.
We are not as family given to outside social
duties. Among ourselves we are lively enough,
but since we left the city we have found it i'm
possible to keep pace with the demands of
society. and have comfortably learned to give up
the effort. We still receive few visits, few
cards of invitation, and these we return and ac-
! knowledge, but then We pause
VI our immediate neighbors we see little
Upon one side OF ns hive gentleman and his
wife with their two half-grown children. The
lady is usually in town. As she has solicited
subscriptions from me more than once. know
that she Is the treasurer of a charitable guild
and has has not great deal of time at her own
disposal or that of her family. Upon our other
hand lives an elderly widow with her son. a
IN Ilk 60
supposed by the boys to cast admiring glances
at me. His name is Mannerton. and he is
known among us as Mr.. Manitoba. Of the
people farther along we do not even know the
names and opposite US is only thickly hedged
park, with vacant mansion somewhere in its
invisible midst. This park and it's facilities for
concealng "tramps" suggest such terrible
things to Abby that 1 rejoice that the kitchen
window does not command view of it, lest she
should lind the prospect too alarming
Abby Is our respectable widow who does
general homework. She is an excellent faith
full creature, who does not think once week
too often to polish the windows. and cooks ex-
| actly to the boys TASTE Her drawbacks are n
highly nervous temperament and a preference
which appears to take its rise in economy
for forcing us to use daily the cracked or
broken dishes, when left to herself, or over
worn table-cloths and napkins. 1t grieves her
| that we should insist upon eating from our
best every day. and she atones for the neces-
sity Of using whole service by an ingenious
employment of the articles for purposes for
which they were not intended. Thus it seems
to her far more frugal to serve Franks toast in
coffee saucer than in its silver rack, and any
use whatever of covered dishes she considers in
the light of prodigal waste. But her chief
characteristic. after all, is her faculty for being
frightened. If had been born with nerves.
never could have endured her terrors, which
would have been unfortunate, in view of her
many and superior advantages.
When we arose on that particular morning in
March, so filled with recollections for the in
habitants of the northeastern states, il was
showing, and showing with an accompanying
combination of wind and extreme cold most
unusual to our climate.
Indeed there seemed to be something ont Of
the common in everything that morning At
breakfast We were extremely laxative over the
different experiences through which we had al
ready passed. Frank and Tom had found their
toilet pitchers frozen stiff and solid; Willis had
arisen a whole hour earlier than usual and at
tended to the furnace, although it had always
before been necessary to arouse him when it
was his turn to perform that duty Abby had
committed the praiseworthy but, for her,
amazing extravaganza of having the log fire
in the dining room blazing high for us as we
came down. There was something about IL
different from other days at the very begin
ning-at least it seems so to me now as look
back upon it in the fuller light of subsequent
occurrences.
The boys were very frisky at breakfast, al
though there was nothing especially new in
that IA kissed them Zach whap IN ~, 90, 80 -