Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1892-01-30

Agnes pushed open the front door,
bleached like bone in the sun, I'M
painted and harsh on its hinges from
disuse, while Burns drove the wagon
round to the back entrance, and she
heard him cackling with his wife over
the incubator" and the probable stir it
would make on Scrabble Hill. Agnes
realized perfectly that she was far be-
You'd the Littletield social standards and
the more distant perspective Of the city
where she had been distinguished light,
and would now be measuredby the Scrab-
BILE Hill foot rule, which was entirely
different from anything she had ever
known.
Fortunately there were no very near
neighbors The farm ran up the Buck
river valley into the lonely hills, where
wild looking cattle grazed and sheep
scampered over the rocks at their own
free will. The outer door from the low
step, made of a fat, worn field stone,
opened directly in on Dame Rollins
keeping room, three cornered, odd
shaped apartment, a little askew and
"off plumb" like the rest Of the house,
but with four small windows placed
curiously high up in the wall, and with
corner cupboards and wooden chimney
piece over an old fireplace that had long
been bricked up 1t did not take Agnes
more than two minutes to determine
that the bricks must come out of that
fireplace forthwith if she scratched them
out with her finger nails.
A high pine wainscoting painted gray
ran entirely round the room, and above
it was quaint old landscape paper rep
resenting Diana and her nymphs at the
chase. The floor was covered with a
homely rag carpet, spotted with braided
rugs, and beautiful caricatures Of George
and Martha Washington in black frames
hung against the chimney back The
furniture was delightfully."- spider legged
and quaint, and the bright sunlight came
dancing through the vines Mrs. Burns
had trained over the windows The
room was musty from long shutting up,
but Agnes. with the promptness that
distinguished her. threw open all the
windows, turned George and Martha
face to the wall, rearranged the furni-
ture and called for Burns to knock the
bricks out of the chimney.
Burns was in the barn, but his wife
answered the summons, making long,
lean shadow on the wall. She sat down
on the edge of chair like parallel line
trying to conform to custom and folded
her hands in her apron, though the big
bony wrists were still conspicuous.
Burns must knock the bricks out OF
the chimney. l mean to use the fire.
place on cool evenings. There are plenty
of fat pine stumps on the farm that will
make capital blaze"
Chow do you know the chimbly will
dror, miss, 'Taint been used for years,
not sence Granther Rollins time, and
its most choked up with chimbly swal-
lers."
sit must be made to draw" returned
Agnes, slightly contracting her beauti-
full, classic brows
Mrs. Burns looked at her with a SOL
emn, unwinking eye. II guess it will
be like the incumbater," said she mystic
riously. But Burns is bound to do all
he can to please you, miss; all in reason,
of course, and he'll tend to the chimbly
the first wet day."
at must be done today" returned
Agnes in her high, girlish imperiousness
that had begun to rise under Mrs. Burns
stony gaze.
Mrs. Burns opened her thin, fshy lips
and emitted the words, "Well, never
did; it beats me all holler," and then fell
into silence. Agnes precIpltancy nao
confused her IDEAS, accustomed as she
was to the good old country rule Of
never doing today what you can put of
until tomorrow.
''The world wasn't made in q minute,
miss" she put forth at last, "but Burns
will try and content you. He's good al
dealin with whims and fancies and fid.
dlefaddle ways. He had a great-auni
that was queer, who brought him up by
hand. She had spells of bein out of her
head, and guess it was pretty good
school of patience"
Agnes turned red and choked down q
laugh See IT'S done," said she; 81
v1nt . Dire on the hearth this evening.
The effort Of putting Burns and hii