Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1890-05-30

clergymen'S wives or widows take one floor
in your house it really doesn't matter who
has the other apartments. A bishops wife in
the drawing room would neutralize even q
young foreign lady with golden hair, who
smoked cigarettes in the dining room.
There was Mr.. Perkins at Prospect man
sion, but he didn't matter much. Nobody
ever paid the slightest attention to him, ex-
cept when he was in the way down stairs,
which he generally was. Mr.. Perkins was a
melancholy, thin man of about %. He was
supposed to be in delicate health, which pre-
vented him following any business.
His one occupation in life was obliterating
himself in his own house, and keeping the
child quiet The child was a little girl Of G.
who was always with Mrs. Perkins when she
was good, and always with Mr.. Perkins when
she was naughty or when Mrs. Perkins had
one of her bad headaches-a state of affairs
by no means uncommon.
Very humble, very subdued, Mr.. Perkins
endeavored as far as possible to be invisible.
He was afraid of everybody in the house.
Except Mary.
Even Mr. Perkins, who allowed himself to
be crushed by the cook and would step aside
to allow the boy who came in for an hour of
morning to do the boots to pass, plucked up
spirit enough to agree that Mary was ga
wicked gal"
In addition to Mary and Mrs. Perkins and
Mr. Perkins and the little girl, the family
contained an Irish cook of fiery temper and
voluble utterance can excellent cook, said
Mrs Perkins; ''an interchangeable worker-but
really, at times, too violent in her language
to the tradespeople."
1t was in this delightful household that
Mary Jones endeavored conscientiousy to do
her duty. She was mild, aniable girl, who,
after living life of lodging house slavery
dom, had come to the conclusion that what
everybody said was right, and that she must
be awfully stupid and awfully wicked
On Sept II, 1882, day never to be for
gotten in the life annals of Mary JONES' 1.-THE
wicked gal' had been exceptionally wicked
all day long the lower regions had echoed
with cries of MARY, you wicked gal, you've
been and upset the gravy on the stair carpet. :"
'Mary, you wicked gal, do you know that
you've left your dust pan on the drawing
room sofal" MARY, shure, it's a saint from
heaven that ye'd be aggravatin', and it's the
mistress that ye're murtherin' with yere
wicked way, and she as she is, too"
This is a delicate alluson on the part of the
Irish cook before missus to missus' health
and the approaching advent of another little
Perkins.
Poor Mary had gone hot and cold, and
trembled as her various delinquencies were
pointed out to her. She had wept and shifted,
and declared more than once that she would
go and ''drownd" herself in the conveniently
situated sea; but for all that she had gone on
with her work until she was dead beat, and,
as she expressed it, ''felt regularly sinking
and all over alike
Cook slept in the basement, and Mary &C.
cupied little attic all by herself, SO there
was no one to call her wicked girl for this
disorderly proceeding.
How long Mary had been asleep she didn't
know, but she awoke with a sudden start
and, sitting up on the bed, began to rub her
eyes and wonder where she was. Somebody
was knocking at the door.
Eyes," exclaimed Mary, jumping up, "what
is it?' ''Open the door," exclaimed the cooks
voice; ''sure it's missus as is took bad, and
ye're to go for the doctor at once. Master
won't lave the misthress; she won't let him. ,
Mary was Immediately dressed, and was
down stairs, and had her bonnet and shaw
on in minute. She thought master might
have gone at such an hour of the night, but
she thought it would be wicked to say SO, sc
off she sped to the doctors.
The doctors house was in darkness. She
felt very nervous about ringing him up, but
she supposed doctors didn't mind; SO she gave
gentle pull at the bell, which, to her horror
changed through the house. A window opened
above and head appeared, and the voice
belonging to the head asked what was the
matter.
s'Please, sir, will you come to missuS: she'
took bad"
"And who is your MISUSE
"Mrs. Perkins, sir
"All right; I'll be there directly"
| Bang went the window down, and Mary
delighted to think she hadn't made any mis-
take, or been abused for knocking gentle
man up in the middle of the night, cam
| down off the doorsteps and made the best O
her way towards home
| When she got there she put her hand in he
pocket for the key which she had brough
with her, and to her horror failed to find it.
She turned everything out of her poke
again and again. She grew hot and cold.
The key was gone!
| She must have dropped it somewhere in tn
road. What should she do? Knock at tn
door and explain that she had lost the key
No; she daren't do that. 1t would upset tn
missus if she heard of it. Missus was awful
nervous of burglars, and at such a time a
the present she mustn't be upset.
So poor Mary, feeling more wicked thai
she had ever felt in her life, went back tn
way she had come, peering along the pave
nent, looking into the road, searching every
where for the lost latchkey.
On the way she met the doctor. He wa
walking rapidly. Mary slipped aside, so tina
he should not notice her. He would get t
the house first. They would wonder wher
she was They would be sure to want he
for something.
She walked on rapidly, stopping to look a
everything that cleaned or gistened in tn
moonlight. She picked up a hairpin, an oil
nail, and pair of rusty scissors, but tn
latchlley was nowhere to be seen.
She reached the doctors house and the
her heart gave sudden bound for joy.
There, lying on the side of the step, was til
latchkey.
She remembered pulling her handkerchie
out while she was waiting for the bell to
answered. She must have dropped the Ike
then.
; She seized it eagerly, she felt inclined
kiss it and cry over it, but she mastered he
was preparing to take to her heels and run 8
hard as she could, when the doctors fror
docr opened and ghost came out.
Yes, a ghost!
Mary was too Mortified to faint-tco pars
lyzed to Shrek
A long, tall figure, dressed in white, can
gliding out of the door and passed quite clos
to her.
Mary shrank back against the wall an
held her breath. But as the figure passe
her she saw that the ghost had a human fac
"a beautiful faee-the face Of ayoung W.
man.
1t glided across the road, and went slowl
towards the parade.
Then Mary suddenly recognized the fat
that it was not ghost.
1t was young woman dressed in white.
But what on earth could young lady
going on to the parade for at O'Clock in Il