Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1893-08-25

dust would not settle down till
twenty minutes after that.
There was a Growing, choking noise,
that might have been a smothered
chuckle, from the s%itting-room,
whereof the fanlight above the door
was open.
"What a very superior voice she
hast" said Aunt Alice. ssQuite like
a lady's. Is she pretty?"
"Come and see," quoth I with that
Icy innocence that only cunning can
bestow. I half opened the sitting
room door. coughei vehemently and
drew back Us one chOked with the
dust.
"lmpossible," I said. "She's not
in q sweet temper to-day, because l
made her do the rooms twice. We'd
better not disturb her or she'll break
my ornaments" This, meseems,
could not have been excelled by the
most hardened proligate on the
stage.
My aunt left very slowly and de-
liberately, mourning for the loss of
her tea. / escorted her and Uncle
John down to the tirst floor. How
could I tell that her housewifely zeal
for her nephew would have led her
to bestow upon the housemaid, who
was Fan of the Teeth, q few hints on
the best management Of fires and the
proper care of the room, which the
fellow servant was even then sup
posed to be cleaning?
"You see it all means more work
for you in the end" said my aunt
/ dashed into the sitting room to
find, helpless with suppressed laugh
ter, the maiden with the black velvet
hat. I was coatless, as has been re-
counted (people never stay long with
a man who lacks a coat, J my hair was
on end and l was flushed. But there
was no resisting that Infection of
mirth. I laughed aloud. The air
was dense with dust and all the fur
niture was out of place. "That fool
of a housemaid" had lived up to her
reputation.
"Haven't I done the room beauti-
fully?:" she said, witha wicked giggle;
.'thank you-tnank you, oh, SO much
LOT nelplnG mel" .
"Not in the least" said 1; sI've
got a sister of my own. But hadn't
you better"
"I'm gone" she saie, and vanished
at the word, to hunt for her brothers
chambers.
Entered, her cap over one eye, Fan
of the Teeth, boiling with rage. She
was an austere woman of 35, not to
be trifled with.
"And Pm SUR me and Lucy, too,
we takes all the trouble that we can
with seventeen sets of chambers to be
gone through, and the bells ringing
on every landing all day long. 'Tisn't
as If i was afraid of my work, for I
ave KEEP myself ever since I was a
little girl of 13-nor Lucy, neither.
But when that lady on the staircase
spoke to me an tole me that ]. was
%inattentive an Lucy, too, an SHUTS
all about your room, sayin' that I was
to take extra care of you. sir; I was
put out. Do as you'd be done by, I
thinks, an show no favor to any
chambers more than another for
some one must lose by it.; and If it
isn't you, it will be some other gen.
tleman. AM there aren't no SHUTS
in your room not to be seen, an Lucy,
l know she as been on the fourth
floor since I come down with the
Stops; but Ididn't say nothing to that
lady when she said what she said
and, Lor', sir. what ave you bin do
in to the furnichewre-all pulled
across the room? Lucy 'asn't been
ERE no more than the cat. AM you
'avin' to see your friends in your bed
room-as If it was our fault!w
"Fanny," said I, ..if there has been
any fault, that fault is mine. Take,
oh, take those lips away, and-here's
a half sovereign"
1t was a damning confession of
guilt, received as such. Fan removed
herself with an unholy light in her
eye.
hated Fan, and this still further
shook my nerves. Worn with a thou.
sand conflicting emotions I fled to the
sideboard and pulled myself together
with the necessary liquids. Mennever
seem to do that on the stage after
any unusual crisis They do in the
prosaic world of real life.
Re-entered Fan, the half sovereign
in her hand, and placed it on my
table.
five took them in their teas" she
said o%racularly; tam she was tellin'
i'm all about it. She is a real nice
little lady, she is, an'-an' / don't
want no 'arf suffring for that"
No comedy that I could think Of
had any mention of the %soubrette-to
be sure, Fan was rather too angular
for the soubrette-refusing a tip.
"And you're a lady, too. Fam"
said I. "Keep it, Few people re-
turn money. Still fewer dismiss pre-
conceived suspicious"
She Withdrew slightly alarmed.
I stepped into the hallway to set
down the empty soda water siphon in
the plave appointed. The door lead
ing to the landing was half open. I