The Somerset reporter., 1891-06-11

sFiHS ~ Nll1 rI'bA aA' pun u a. Hsi IItl'
uomenon with stick.
Tits breadi eroauei Naae3 "1f
at east it ought to he T. hadul RISEN
this morning, 30 | took IL out and nuDuI
it. "
jos red lips opened aud H.. hearts
lungs emf ted a genuine wheop II l4ueHz
ter,
"Ob Ssh! for mercy'- sakef imr4r
ed Nancy, laying hold Of ms sleeve and
looking toward the house aSheA hear
you Shes in tn sitting room now uut
shell come right round 10 tbs side Of
the house If YOU make So much u3i,c
10 cndeayored msnfuliy to restrain hi-
mirth, but it broke away snd ran IT,.
COURSE IN spite of him. "rhae the te.t
ever heard :" he ejacullted, Hipiug bis
eyes We'll, well have to bury it over
again.
This they attempted to do with hand
fuls of dirt and many pat aud pre-.
,urei but Enceladus wnuli rse. Nancy
was il despair. Esge. TO remove the
enemy to NAncy's peace, j. cast ABOUT
f1r an instrument His eyes fell ou II
huge oleander plAnted in wa-h-tu9
fhis he seized, and set it, tub and I'll
hrmlY over the ambitious dough
There he said triumphsntly; that
II hol it down. And she'-looklng In
The direction Of the house SHE cant
-tir it I'll get out before she asks me -
nut 1t back. lie vanished over the
fence.
The neglect Of the bread-making ran
kled in Aunt Fellcias breast. Promise or
no promise, sic would not again risk her
timer.
Mt until the chicken, the corned bee.
and the salt pork were safe in the iron
pot together AZ The vegetables prepared
TO join them 40 the padding was under
way, did s'He0tolaN her hold upon the
helm,
Nancy mcsnwhl;, was qnaking in her
shoes over another discovery u her own
improvidrrce. There was not particle
Of Indian meal for the pudding TIN
store was miles away. Mrs. Barker was
the only near neighbor, and to borrow Of
prospective company" was, to say the
least, Illuminating.
There was nothing else To be done
She dalicd about with spoon AMI bowl
pretending to put in this and that. Al
last Aunt Felicia went to lie down for at
-FOUR before DOMINIC the hest black gown
aud the cap with lavender ribbons -rc-
2al u suitanl. for high fea~ts Til Il
throwing her apron over her head, Nan
cy sped like a fa~u over the llzld- - the
Barker place. She came upon 10 in the
back ward splitting kindlings. He was in
his shirt i ewes, and would have FLUSHED
for them. ha not Nslcy'- bare arms and
living hair put him. 30 to speak, in COS
tune.
"OA, Jo.7 she ga>p1d, This is one Of
the days! What do YOU thintf I've
started my puddin', an there amt mite
Of meal in the h9use.
Come right along in replied Jo.
cheerily. "Wvll fix that. Mothers got
plenty. She's gan. over t. Mis- Briggs
IF an GRAND but | know where she
keep, j..
He led the way 10 the pantry, and
there the two searched high and low, i'll
bucket and box, for the missing article.
Not single COL zen grain rewarded them
10 scratched his head, and propose
going over to Briggs after the mistress
Il the house
M, don't" begged Nancy. I'D ju@
as soon there didnt any more folks n Is
necessary know about it. Why, what
tins in this bag: That, meal And she
held up handful. There isu't much
moren what l want here
lake it right sl9ug,' Insisted 10; mo
need q savin' authln' bout it
"I'A come over tomorrow and *
plain" compromised y lncY, AMI clisDing
the brown paper Sag back She iisW across
the fl = TO her pudG NJ.
Promptly at two O'Clock the four OLD
Indies sat down 10 their dinner. Every
hing was done to perfection. The
cream tartar biscuit futile the mi sion
# the batch under the oleauier tu1
aud were a miracle Of sweetness aud
lghtness. The 'b'Iled dish brought tears
Of retrospeCtion to The eyes II the aged
participants, who declared they "hadn't
tasted anything that tasted 50 good not
in years an years The pudding emery
ID from its bag plump and brown a. a
healthy farmer, and like him, it must be
confessed, somewhat tough and wiry
But. smothered in cream and powdered
With maple sugar, il went down 10 the
last crumb. The guest- found nothing IN
their VOCabularies, ancient or modern, 10
equal the occasion, and cone ud'd 1t
was no use talkin'n Mrs. Barker in par
ticul4r, with her mo,herlv famliarlt"s,
Drought a blush to the cheek of the giH
cook Nancy was not hardened decelN-
err The Cleander tub lay hesvy on her
conscience. The meal so unhand>umeiY
obtained turned to ashes in the cup OF
tiattery the old women poured for her.
1t WAS hours before they left, years he
fore she could do up the work next day
and hasten again to the Barker place TO
10 penance by frank and unqualified con
fession. This time she walked demurely
nv the road, aud wore her best bonnet
She found Mrs. Barker whipping up
svllabub for the MINISTER'S VII who was
silng "Have somel' she id, pr FIR
ing cupful faint nuthin but gasp
aud q swaler.'
Bat Nancy had no sppetite, even for SO
4mable a trite. Il told 10 not to say
al ything,' she began steadily; Ia tel
YOU myself came over yesterday when
Won were out TO horrer some meal for that
nuddIn'. Twas awful careless OF me.
didn't know we're out till just as was
miXin' it. was a shamed T. borrer OF
YOU. company so; but bad to do some
hn' quick Eli bring it over soon's We
get some Nancy spoke hurriedy IN her
nervousness
Mrs. Barker set down the bowl she
was washing. Il haint got any meal,
she said in Il puzzled voice. Sen tut
for week, an KEEP a-telhu' we'd have TO
20 To town soon or send.
'Oh, yes, you had, persisted the other.
1t was all | had for til" pudding. l found
1t in brown paper bag On the lower
shelf in the pantry.
For the land sakcs 20 Mrs. Barker
rave vent to shout to mate with that
her son sent up on discovering the bur
led dough. And here there was no Aunt
Felicia to terrorize her into silence. She
rocked to and fro, her face growing pur-
ole with emotions, for which her shreks
and her rocking furnished inadt qlste out
let Nancy BOXED bewildered in turn.
What was there in the borrowed meal 50
agonizfurlg funny? II was some time
before Mrs Barker could explain herself,
and then she exploded, between ii and
gusts of laughter; You ve-et-'he-lr=
sid.-of a-pin cushion -hsd-tweu.
ty-nye-. l-emptied-it-in-t the bag
-.o-pick out the needles and -
forgot -throw-it-awsy. She stop
ped with moan, and held her sides,
completely overcome by the storm which
had passed over her.
Nancy laughed, hystericsl little gig
gle. with more of distress than of mer-
rlmeut in it. With it struggled fe ling
of disgust: she too had psrtaken of the
pudding. nut NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. SUM yie'"
ed to gratitude toward the merry soul
who could laugh over such an experience
The hunderer had fallen into kind hands.
YOU'RE awfully good she said, as she
stood up to go.
"Dou't say word replied Mrs, Bark.
err. reassuringly. Il won't tell a SOU
less it's Joe. Ile'll be tickled almost to
death ."
"rm afraid he'll tell, demurred Nancy ;
ION no, he won't" said Jos mother
HE sets too much by you"
And he never did tell, not even when HI