Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1891-02-27
WHICH Is IT.?

! was down on my knees srrubbng
don't like to scrub. It's dirty
grinding, disagrecablc work. Dorothci
Casaubon never scrubbed in "Middlc
march," and I'm quite sure neither
Rebecca nor Rowcna, in "Ivanhoe,
ever took turn at it,
But somebody has got to scrub, an(
Aunt Pamela has got rheumati-n il
both knees, and OF course there's nc
one to do it but Darling, and me. S,
we alternate it between us, for moth
ing would induce Aunt Pamela to hire
the work donc-'With two able bodice
women in the house" says she, con
temptnously.
As said before, ] was scrubbina
the east room floor, when all Of sud
den Darling fluttered into the room
aud danced around my PROSTATE form
like the wild sprite she is.
"Don'i, Darling" sal 1; "you'l
upset the pail"
II don't care il DO" said Darling
Rise up, Lady Aliel; the spell i,
brokcn!'
"What on earth do you mcan?'
said !, struggling into sitting posi-.
ton, with the scrubbing brush upliftcd
in one hand like a sort of homely
sceptrc, while Daring piroucttcd
around me.
"She has gone!" cried she.
"Who has gomez" questioned |.
''Aunt PAmclam
"Gonc whereof"
ITO be guardian angel at some
old womau's bedside up at Bethel foul
Corners, and you and | are to fini,l
the housc-clcaning."
ooh, are wc?7
flung the scrubbing brush through
the open window, where it lodged il
the leafy gold of monster maple tree
close by.
"Thcrc's the Kite. en- to whitewash.
the best room TO clean, the rag carpe;
to shake, and the buttery shelves to
scour. and the corner bedroom to be
scrubbed AMI papered anew; and
there's the pigs and the turkeys and
the Muscovy ducks and the Young
calves and the cows and"
Darling" l cried, scizing hel
around the waist and joining in hel
mad dance, you're jewel" Let,
have some fun. Lc:'s invite the Bev-
crly girls and sam Tookcr and Harry
Wadsworth, and have an autumn-leai
dance We never 60 anywhere, and
we're never allowed TO see any com
pany, and it's work, work, grub, grub,
the whole time"
"Pm with you, Ariclw said my
lovely little sister, executing a fna
pigeon wing, and narrowly escaping
the pail of soapsuds as she came down
on the tips Of her toes. "Run, quick,
and give the invitations, and III stil
up the jolliest molasses gingerbread
you ever saw for refreshments. Tel
them all to come without fail"
Darling and | were the twin daugf-
ters of a New York artist, whose sud
den death had left us to the care of his
widowed half-sister, Aunt Pamela
Wilkins. No two poles could be
wider apart than our upbringing and
Aunt Pamela's home atmosphere.
"Such rair" groahed the good
old housekeepcr "Ariel and Darling
Just the sort of names one might have
expected from Felix Brainard and his
wife. And brought up to do nothing
absolutely nothing! Darling can't
make fapjacks, and Ariel throws away
her stockings because no one has ever
taught her to mend them. And as fol
soft soap and sweet pickles and raised
bread, why, good gracious, they've
never even heard of 'ein!"
We were terrible trial TO Aun'
FvIaelo. OF, that thera,. was .ni
manner Of doubt. But then, or the
other hand, what a terrible trial Aunt
Pamela was to us
So that when the historic occasion
arrived on which "the old cat was
away" it was small wonder that "thc
little mice" straightway proceeded t.
play.
They all camc-Nell and Fanny
Beverly and their brother Duke, Mr..
Wadsworth, Sam Tooker and Joe Sat
terly, each with some sort of impro-
vised refreshment.
Sam had his violin, so that we cou 1
dance in the big room that ! had left
half-scrubbed, and for once the wall,
OF the old farmhouse rang with lighl
laughter and merry voices.
"Oh," cried I, at last, finging my
self down in a splint-bottomed
chair, and resting my disheveled head