Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1894-11-23

"Come right in, DOCTOR"
Mrs. Bissell's cottage windows stood
wide open, and the Nottingham lace cur
tains flew out of the south room, where
the scent of the damask roses and old
fashioned pinks arose in warm putfs from
the pretty garden. Mrs, Bissell, a
checked handkerchief pinned over her
head, was brisldy sweeping the ingram
carpet with a quick, short motion of the
broom; the narrow hall was incumbered
with chairs and tables. and horsehair
sofa blocked the front door. The honey
suckle vine above the porch was thickly
hung with blossoms, and piazza chairs
with scarlet cushions were set out in the
shade, with the inviting air of summer
repose. A door through into the back
regions was also open, and delicious
odor of baking bread came from the
kitchen. From the dining room arose u
slight clatter of dishes the sound of
clearing away after breakfast, the trip
Of girlish feet, and a pleasant young
voice humming II tune.
ANNE" shrilled Mrs Bissell from the
south room, "look out for the bread in
the oven and see that it don't get a
scorch."
1--WE must make haste" responded
Anne from the dining room, still invisi-
BILE, "or he will be here before the room
is ready"
"Ain't l making haste?" piped Mrs
Bissell also invisible, on her side and
with touch of asperity in her voice
A woman of Mrs. Bissell's active tenn
permanent never likes to be hurried, es-
pecially by her own daughter, an mex
perienced slip of girl, with no proper
idea of turning off work. 81 guess it
won't hurt him to wait II few minutes if
his room amt ready" she added, max
ing her broom fly at a more rapid rate
Il didn't say it would" retorted Anne
on her side, just interrupting a snatch
of song on her lips, as she put the blue
edged plates on the cupboard shelf.
Miss Carver's room door was also open
Just at the head of the stairs. She had
heard every word that passed between
Anne and her mother, for the little house
was like a sounding board, and Miss Car
yer could absorb its sounds without max
ing the slightest effort to listen. 1t oc-
curred to her now, as it often did, that
Anne was rather impertinent to her
mother. Miss Carver gave little i'm
patient sigh over the degeneracy of
modern youth, She was one Of the old
inhabitants Of Iittleield, born and
brought up there, knowing every family
history from time immemOrial, every
mote in a neighbours eye, all the town
affairs, to the probable amount of change
that people carried about in their purses.
People consulted her about the past as
they would go to a gazetteer or town
history, and the present poured itself
into her ears.
She had boarded many years with Mrs.
Bissell, so exactly calculating her ex-
penditures that they came out to within
fifty cents of her income every LIST of
January. She invariably allowed for a
month of visits to OH friends during the
twelve, and if she was invited for only
three weeks it involved q little extra
pinching, and if for five or six weeks
corresponding financial ease. Miss Car
yer had a little industry by which she
occasionally earned trife. She made
paper flowers and sold them for the
adornment of Christmas trees, children s
festivals and church fairs. 1t was easy
work of q clean kind, such as a gentle
woman could do whose father had been
high sheriff of the county without de-
tracing from her social position in Lit
tlefield. She called herself an artist in
flower work, and on this particular
morning she had arranged her little ta-
BILE with bright tissue paper, fine wire,
scissors and glue pot, but it was impos-
sible for Miss Carver to settle to any
thing. She sat by the window, and
through her spectacles spied the coming
| of the new boarder, gazing out under
the great elm trees that shaded the brown
road in front of the Bissell cottage.
1t was not q matter Of small impOr-
lance to Miss Carver that new doctor
was coming to Littlefield. The old doc
tor, whose place he was taking, had
been a great friend of Miss Carver and
of her family, when she had family
for now she was all alone in the world
with no kin nearer than second cousins.
| The Bissell cottage, a boarding house of
the cheapest and humblest Sort gained
a kind of Importance from the fact that
the new doctor was to establish himself
there for the first experimental months
of his stay in Littleheld. Miss Carver