The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1895-06-29
THE JILTING OF JANE

hear our Jane humping her way down
stairs with a brush and dustpan.
She used in the ola days to sing hymns
tunes, or the British national SON. for
the time being, to these instruments,
but lattrly she has been silent and
even careful over her work. Time was
when l prayed with fervor for such
silence, and my wife with signs for
such care, but nov they have come
we are not SO glad as we might have
anticipated we should he. Indeed, l
would rejoice secretly, though it may
be unmanly weakness to admit it,
even to hear Jane sing DAISY" or by
the fracture of any plate, but one of
Marinaa's best green ones, to learn
that the period of brooding has come
to an end.
Yet how we longed to hear the last
of n young Il an before we heart
the last of him! Jane was always very
free with her conversation to my wife,
and discOursed admirably in the kitch-
en- on a variety of tOpics-so well,
indeed, that l sometimes left my study
door open-our house is a small one
L " ptItdhe u IL. DuI dIteT w lllldIl
came it was always William. nothing
but William; William this and William
that; and when we thought William
was worked out and exhausted alto
gether, then William all over again.
The engagement lasted altogether 3
years.; yet how she got introduced to
William, and so became thus saturated
with him, was always a secret. For
my part, l believe it was the street
corner where the Rev. BarDabas BauX
used to the open-air service after
evensong on Sundays. Young Cupids
were wont to fit like moths around
the paraffin flare of that center of
High church hym~n-Singing, l fancy
she stood singing hymns, there, out
of memory and her ina gination, in
stead of coming home to get supper,
and William came up beside her and
said, "Hello!' Hello, yourself" she
said. and etiquette being satisfied they
together.
AS Mariana has a r~eprehensible
way of letting her servants talk to her
proceeded to talk together she
soon heard of him. Hes such a
respectable young man, ma'am," said
Jane, you don't know" Ignoring the
Slur cast on her acquaintance, my wife
inquired further about this William.
He is second porter at Maynard's,
the draper'S," said Jane, land gets Is
shillings-nearly a pOund-a week,
MN, and when the head porter leaves
he will be head porter. His relatives
are quite superior people, MN. Not
laboring people at all. His father was
q green grOsher, MN, and had a
chumor, and he was bankrup' twice.
And one of his sisters is in a Home for
the Dying. 1t will be a very good
match for me, ma'am," said Jane,
m being an orphan girl"
"Then you are engaged to him.
asked my wife.
'Not engaged, ma'am, but he Is
saving money to buy a ring-hammy-
fist"
"Well, Jane, when you are properly
engaged to him you may ask him
round here on Sunday afternoons,
and have tea with him in the Kitchen"
For my Mariana has a motherly con-
ception of her duty towards her maid
servants. And presently the amethy-
slime ring was being worn about the
house, wen with ~ostentation, and
Jane developed a new way of bring
ing in the joint, 80 that this gage was
evident. The elder Miss Maitland was
aggrieved by it, and told my wife that
servants ought not to wear rings.
But my wife looked it up in Enquire
Within" and Mrs. Motherly's Book
of Household Management" and
found no prohibition. So Jane re-
NAMED with this happiness added to
her love.
The treasure of James heart ap-
peared to me to be what respectable
people call a very deserving young
man. civilian, ma'am," said Jane,
n day, suddenly, with ill-concealed
~complacency, as she counted out the
beer bottles. civilian, ma'am, Is a
teetotaller. Yes, MN; and he don't
smoke. Smoking, ma'am," said Jane,
who reads the heart, do make such
a dust about. Besides the waste of
money. And the smell. However, 1
suppose it's necessary to some
Possibly it dawned on Jane that she
was rejecting a little severely upon
Mariana's comparative ill-fortune, and
she added kindly: I'm sure the mas
ter is a hangel when his pipes alight.
Compared to other times"
William was at first a rather shah
by young man of the heary-made black
coat school Of costume. He had wat
cry gray eyes and a complexion ap-
prOpriate to the brother of one in a
home for the dying. Mariana did not
fancy him very much, even at the
beginning. His eminent respectable
ity was vouched for by an alpaca UNI
brella, from which he never allowed
himself to be parted.
"He goes to chapel" said Jane. His
papa, ma'am-"
Ills what, Jane?"
His papa, ma'am, was Church; but
Mr.. Maynard is a Plymouth Brother,
and William thinks it policy, ma'am,
to go there too. Mr.. Maynard comes
and talks to him quite friendly when
they amt busy, about using up all
the ends of string, and about his soul.
He takes a lot of notice, to Mr..
Maynard. of william, and the way
he saves string and his soul. ma'am.'
Presently we heard that the head
porter at Maynard's had left, and that
William was head porter at % shill-
ingS a week. He's really kind Of over
the man who drives the van" said
Jane, land him married with three
children" And she promised i'll the
her heart to make interest for us with
William tC favor us so that we might
get our parcels of drapery from May
Eard's with exceptional promptitude.
After this promotion increasing
prosperity came upon him. James
young One day he learned that
Mr.. Maynard had given William a