Waterbury evening Democrat., 1890-12-18

The door oen or No. ss had to be r"mo t'otcs befoye an elderlu, platn; ;Jeataued aron1an nlddt her appenrd1ace.
 The room into which she advanced was shabby and scantily furnished one; such furniture as it contained exhibited signs ot extreme antiquity; and so, Chris was amazed to see did the lady who rose slowly and stiffly to receive her. As 0 matter of fact Miss Ramsden had been by many years senior to her late sister; yet she was not nearly a9 old as she looked, being at this time scarcely sixty. She was however, crippled by chrome rheumatism, and moved with difficulty, lean Ing on a stick. Her rusty black gown seemed to have seen almost as much service as her sofa and chairs; her iron-gray hair was rough and untidy her shaggy eyebrows overhung pair of restless, suspicious black eyes; and her mouth had @ querulous expression which was quite in accordance with his piping voice.
 "I understand that you were to arrive yes- terday," she said, complainingly. ''rhat law yer man frightened me to death with his tel sgram."
 Chris apologized, and explained that both she and her escort had been so tired by their Journey from Cannes that they had thought It as well to taKo days rest in Paris.
 "You would have had plenty of time to rest here in a comfortable house; but your fa- ther's daughter was sure to be extravagant, and no doubt you will have your own way In everything, like your mother. said to that lawyer: I am willing to give her house. room and every comfort; but more than that vou must not ask of me- Get off that chair this instant, you nasty, dirty little beast!"
 This last apostrophe, which was uttered in much shriller and moro authoritative key, was addressed to Peter, who had stationed himself in an armchair and was surveying fho with cooked and his head on one side.
 "Come down, Peterw said Chris. She added, in concilatory accents: "He IS very good dog; don't think you viii find him in your way, Aunt Rebecca."
 q have consented to let you keep him" re- turned Miss Ramsden, with sigh. "1 have brought him upon myself, and must put up with him. But he shall not destroy the fur niture; that much do think have right to require"
 It did not take Chris many days to discover
 that her aunt was one of those persons who
 must needs have q grievance, and to whom 1t
 Is wisest to concede that privilege without
 argument Chris cared great deal more
 for liberty than she did for food; and she
 soon perceived as well that her aunt waF |, not likely to grudge the one so long as she ! was not pestered for sufficient supply oi the othcr. It is impossible to feel much af- , fectlon or any respect for the niggardly ! but it is possible to tolerate them, if they be not tyrants Into the bargain, and Chris did
 her best to conciliate the unamiable old
 woman.
 Tho result was a complete failure-the first , failure of tho kind that Chris had ever en- ! countered. Miss Ramsden cared for nothing and nobody in the whole world, except money , and although she had lost her power of love i she had not lost that of hate, and from the l outset she and Peter became bitter enemies l In justice to her, 1t must be acknowledged 5 that Peter was not altogether blameless in the
 matter of the feud. He knew, of course, tha
 she disliked him and obeyed his natural in
 stinct by doing all that he could to annoy her
 He jumped upon the chairs, would tear rounc l and round the drawing room, his legs flying fl T all directions, and his claws scratching thu I worn-out carpet, until she shrieked to he g niece to stop him.
 n "That beast" she gasped, "will end b! 0 going mad and biting us all know h. [; willp'
 ,s At dinner-time she took her revenge. Pete
 was accustomed to have little meat with hi b dinner, and against this practice Miss Rams . den would protest vehemently. It was bat
 for ''the beast ]" it was sinful waste of food .; which many poor Gn would bo thankful IT to have; it was not what she had bargaine e for when she agreed to allow dog into he o house; and so forth. For the first two o l. three days Chris calmly dlsregarded these at O tacks but then she began to find them insup a portable. Only very thick-skinned perso ,t can bear to listen to the same speeches at tn
 same hour on every day of the week ad infini s tum, and it was evident that Peter woul 8 have to be fed at somc time when Miss Rams e den's soul would not be vexed by seeing hiI '. eat.
 Thus it was that Chris arrived at an amics d ble understanding with Martha, to whol n Peter had already become suspiciously civi s Martha insisted upon surreptitiously suppl! l, ing nourishment to the girl as well as to th l. dog; and it must be confessed the forme q often felt the need of it as much as the latte n ''Dont you let on to Miss Rebecca, my dear ,r Martha would say, when she carried up y tray of refreshments to Chris's bedroom. g, know how to manage her, and if the bil s- come to four or five shillings week extr G~~Un1 EHNNse%