The record-union., 1893-10-14
MARY ANN.

sisted of sister Ellen, her husband,
George, their four little boys. and myself,
maiden aunt. Also of the party were
Dinah and Constantla, late of Joy street,
Boston, an estimable colored woman and
| her daughter who were 20 act as cook and
nurse respectively. During the tedious
railway journey and the beautiful but
everlasting seven-mile carriage ride from
Springville Hollow, the railroad station,
to Wellsville, our lofty designation, they
made themselves so handy that we made
up our minds somewhat hastily that they
were unset Jewels. Alas! we soon found
that they were but unsettled jewels, for
so enamoured were they of the delights
| of Joy street and the contiguity OF Beacon
! Hill that life of rusticity palled on them
in a few minutes.
We arrived a day ahead of our original
intention, and found the house locked up
as if it had been all winter; the grass
growing rank about it it was the latter
part of June), and general air of deser-
ton and neglect about the premises calcu-
lated 10 strike dismay to the heart of so
neat woman as Dlnah.
! We had ordered such provisions as
smoked beef, canned goods, coffee aud
|
grocer in Boston. but they did not arrive
for several days, and we did not wait
for them. AS our nearest neighbor had
dlned at noon and we reached there at
+, he was not able to provide US with
more than milk, butter, rye bread and
eggs. To us Caucasians, the hunting up
of the man who had the house-key; the
unfastening of the windows, which had
been nailed as a precaution against bur
glars; the making eggs, milk and bread
take the place of our usual evening din
ner (for though we lived in Boston, SIS
| ter's husband was a New Yorker and
felt bound to dine at o., and the various
little inconveniences were looked upon
in the light of picnic. Not so with Dlnah
and Constantia. They devoured nine
| eggs between them, and then walked
around with reproachful looks, as if they
! felt that they were about to starve away
from home, friends and civilization, and
! that we were responsible for 1t. When
twilight came, unconscionably late to the
minds Of US city people, we found Oman
sitting on her trunk and weeping
silently. ''It's so lonesome an still, an
| Constantia misses her pa"
Dinah was an admirable worker and as
neat as wax, and in a few days the house
took on an inhabited look. The grass
was moved, and that made a great diff
ference. The delicious hay-scented air,
| the lovely walks, the fine views (for we
were perched upon hill that IN some
places could have easily stood for a
mountain), and the intense calm of the
place, enchanted us grown people, while
the children felt that they had come TO
fairyland. TO Dinah, always accustomed
to a single eight by ten room and the
rush and noise of Boston, the expansive
ness was oppressive, the stiffness appall-
lug. Her face lengthened day by day,
and though she did her duties faithfully
and acceptably, her heart was somewhere
else, and so we were not surprised when
she announced that at the end OF her
month she and Constantia would have to
return to the city.
If we had been enthusiastic on getting
them, we were rapturous on parting
with them, as they had ditfused an air of
settled melancholy over the entire house,
hold. The laughter of the children
seemed out of place, the singing OF the
birds mockery, and jests and raillery
were felt to be somewhat sacrilegious.
Our nearest neighbor, Silas Wells, he
who had furnished our first meal, kindly
put at their disposal his team" that is
to say, his buggy. He was going to the
village, and he managed to squeeze Dinah,
| CoNstantia, a small trunk, and himself
into the vehicle, and we saw them depart
with feelings in which regret played no
conspicuous part. We felt thankful to
! Mr.. Wells for having rid US OF an incu-
| bus. There was, OF course, no livery
stable in Wellsville.
We kept no horse, and this, by the way,
was something that the good people of
| Wellsville could not understand. Not to
keep a horse was an evidence of shiftless-
ness. On the other hand, TO keep ''hired
girl" was an evidence OF laziness on the
part of the housekeeper. To keep two
was an evidence of downright wicked
ness. That we were able to keep them
! but a month was, | believe, solace to
| them. 1t certainly was solace to us to
walk through the kitchen without hear
ing suppressed sighs and means.
| We had thought it would be an easy
matter to replace them with two young
| girls. How mistaken we were! Dinah
and Constantia had been reyeling in JOY
| street joys for three weeks, and we had
| toiled and scrubbed and cooked and
| washed and ironed and taken care of four
riotous children well into the dog-days
| before we got so much as q nibble at the
weekly bait which sister Ellen inserted
| in the Springville Hollow WorId.
Then, one evening at dusk, there came
knock at the door, and on my opening
it l discovered two girls, who said they
had walked up from Springville Hollow
in response to an advertisement. They
had been employed in the needle works,
but work was slack, and they with forty
others had beon discharged. They were
about Is years old and looked strong.
One, Della Houlhan, could cook, wash
and iron. The other was Mary Ann.
With Della we need concern ourselves
but little. We engaged her and found
that she could cook, wash and iron-after
fashion, and, to be just, the fashion
changed as time wore on. AT any rate,
three weeks of hot and hard manual
IL. l,l f.,51a 70 roY.f1,
ideas in regard to help" and we would
have welcomed anyone-except Dinah.
So we engaged Della. We also engaged
Mary Ann.
Mary Ann! wonder if her last name
was Ann. We never thought to ask her
whether what we called her was but
section of her name. She was the very
antithesis of Dinah. Such sunny tenn
perment it has never been my good for
tune to study before or since. She was
hearty and not Unlocking, and had nice
speaking voice and pleasant singing
voice, and when she was not laughing she
was singing little bits of Irish songs, not
the luguDrious walls that one so often
hears, but merry lilts and cheering lula
bies. The children went to her at once
and she seemed very fond of them. She
was obliging to the utter extinction of
self, and was deft in the use of her hands,
sewing like seamstress. She was some
soiled when she came, but we laid that to
her dusty journey to our house. We
found later that the journey of life caused
her to accumulate more or less dirt, day
in and day out, and after few days we
concluded that this must be her draw
back.
"Of course, said sister Ellen, "every
girl has some draw back. You rememb Der
that Maria, the splendid cook we had
when we lived at Jamaica Plain, drank,
and our next girl, Bridget, who didn't
drink and who cooked so well, turned all
nd 70