The morning call., 1893-09-10

II. 1t was she who spadPd up and turned
over the sod in the haIf-acre vegeta Ole
garden and set out the beds and attended
TO the wedding, gathering and even the
marketing OF the dainty lettuce, spinach
and early Young radiSheS and onions that
found a ready sale among a number of
families down iG the village, who. having
discovered what delicious fresh garden
stuff Ma Selle Nalerie's ManOn" raised,
were only TOO glad to take all they could
get of it. Besides Manon kept chickens
With her own hands she had built their
T0OstS and nesting-bnXeS and had fenced
on nearly the whole of the other half of
the acre that surrounded the cottage as a
reservation for her henS. She sold fresh
eggs in the village as we'll and broilers in
seasGs, and never did coyote or skunk find
ltl<gt thIevish way into ManOn'S we'll
ordered poultry-yaTd. Then, too. there
was MgnoD, The COW whom Msnon MIXED
and cared for, grooming her every day
till she ShOne like Senior Jesus pet
saddle horse when be rode down through
tie town from the beautiful house
among the VINEYARDS which was the sho W
place of the countryside. Oh Senior Jesu,
the Young mans father, out OF the abund-
ance of his herds had sent the little Jersey
to Ma'm'selle only few months before 80
use for her keep" as the phrase goes. and
Mann ele, who for several years had used
condensed milk with her morning cup Of
cafe au iait. now luXurialed in thick. rich
cream while Manon daily led Mlign0n forth
10 Craze by the bOppy-strewn road side, and
the doctors lady and the lady who wrote
down at the village took daily enough
fresh, rich milk TO pay for all the other
feed the sOft-eyed little creature required.
MignOn had another value, too, IN Ma
mons eyes. She had trained the gentle
little bessie into capital beast OF burden
aud daily might be seen leading her a
Ill floA bat a.
faWn- coIored side. down the steep hill road
to the town. There he doctors wife and
the lady who wrote got their fresh milk
direct from natures S URGE into their own
little tin buckets, with no intervention Of
pump or faucet To weaken Its nutritious
richness; not that they need have feared
any such roguery from honest old Man0n.
but seeing the milk produced before their
very eyes each morning was such COM
tort to both ladies tina: they were more
than willing to pay a little extra for the
trouble they thought ManOn was at purely
on their account. SO Mignon carried down
the lettuce, the radlShes, the onions and
the eggs incidentally delivering her own
proper wares as they went. and Of
late the small urchins taking their
mid-fOrenoon whoOp and halo in the
schoolyard of Valecltos district were
treated to the singular spectacle of Mignon
walking sedately up the stony hill road
back, with feet comfortably eDscOncPd in
one of The empty donkey-hampers They
hooted and cat-called, and cried "CO' boss
CO. boss" but Migunn paused not. ana
Manon never turned her head, but knitted
calmly as she Travelled along, her bent
old back with its little three-cornered
shoulder shawl and her gray-haired, white
capped old head bObDing comfortably with
the cows numbering motion.
They were very poor up at the little
adobe cottage. and had il not been for
ManOu and her vegetables, eggs and
Droiers, and Tor Mignon, whose delicious
mix and cree N furnished table luXuries fit
for kings. it would often have been scant
plckings for pOnr, dainty old Ma'm'selle,
who In all her siXiy-fnpr wears of life had
never done hands turn for herself
She was sitting now in her rock ng- chair
by the little low window that commanded
the road, waiting for Manon TO appear
and spread for her the little table that
stood against the wall ana must be duly
drawn out, to cover 1t with a fine white
cloth and place upon it the two or three
pieces Of sllverware Nam selle had brought
with her from France and used. religiousIy.
three times a day. The table dulv set
Manon would bring forth the long loaf of
French bread, dainty pat of butter, a
few punches of blackheart cherries. now
in season, little pat Of foany cream, a
lettuce leaf or two, with snred of garlic !:
would brew cup IF hot chocolate, and
then, calling Mann ele to the able, would
wait dutifully at her chair while she par
took of her evening meal.
lovely picture was Nam selle as she
sat there. her slim white hands folded in
her lap, her lace cap ornamenting rather
than concealing her beautiful siyery hair
that impaired a soft white glow to her
hne old face. made her faded violet eyes
LOOK almost black by contrast and toned
down to oenignant aspect her somewhat
sharp, arlstocratic old features.
Up the hill, as Ma'm'se sat watching
Tor FER. Manor came, toiling painfully.
bearing In her apron large bunch of euca-
iyptus bark, which she had gathered for
kindllng. LII answered the purpose of
both wood and paper, she had discovered,
and even Old newspapers were guarded
with care and used bat sparingly in that
frugal household. Manon passed around
to the back of the cottage and deposited
her load, washing her hands and changing
her apron before coming into the little
living-room where Mh'm'sele greeted her
with stately. if reserved courtesy. The
old lady would as soon have thought of
wearing her cap awry as Of being any,