Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1896-10-27


gone, and asked me If would Apme
TO his house this afternoon and take
her place."
Sand your" gasped Mrs. Tor
rance.
II said yes, of course"
Eleanor" cried Lucetta, II am
scandalized by your conduct! Yes,
perfectly scandalizedl You will do
nothing OF the sort"
Certainly not" said Mrs. Tor
rance, developing hystcrical synp-
toms. IF your Cousin Brown in
tends to insult US"
But he doesn't" pleaded Nelly.
"He intended the offer in good faith,
and 1 accepted it in the same
spirit"
"You surely do not mean TO de-
grade yourself" cried Lucetta, "by
turning-cook = for any man liv-
ing?"
II don't see" argued Nelly, 'that
it Is any more degrading to cook for
Cousin John than it would be to
embroider slippers for him, or to
read the newspapers aloud to him OF
an evening"
Eleanor never had any proper
pride, said Mrs. Torrance, wiring
ing her hands,
Never echoed Lucetta.
''And," added Nelly, my cousin
would have every right to believe
me an impostor if 1 told him 1
wanted work and then refused the
offer he made 1t will be useless for
you to demonstrate, Lucetta, and |
hope mamma will not place any OBJ
stacles in my way, for am quite
determined to go to Grandover
park this afternoon.
And she adhered to her resolu-
ton.
1t was six exactly when Mr.
Brown let himself into his house
with the latchkey which always de-
pended from his watch chain. The
gas jet burned softly behind the
rose-colored shade in the hall; the
fire clicked cheerily in the CRATE of
the parlor beyond.
"Humphi" he muttered; ''she
hasn't come. Thought sol There's
no such thing as practical wom-
an nowadays" ....
At the same moment a light.
white aproned little figure came out
of the Dining room beyond, and
Nelly Torrance's voice uttered the
words:
Dinner is ready, Cousin John"
The old man smiled. He had a
pleasant expression on his face when
he smiled, and Nelly wondered that
she had not noticed what a hand
some man he was. .a.
'Oh," said he, ''you did come,
thenT'
II always keep my engagements, "
said Nelly. "Punctuality is the soul
of business, isn't 1t, Cousin John2
At least that's what I used to write
In my copy-books.
Mr.. Brown patted her hand as she
helped him with his overcoat.
''You are good girl, " said he.
And in his secret mind he de-
termined to put up with any de-
ficiencies in the cooking of girl
who had such excellent business
principles.
But to his infinite amazement
there were no deficiencies to over
look. The soup was on the table,
clear as water, favored like dream
Of Soyer's own. The first course
was baked trout, the second q
pigeon on toast. A small and COM
pact roast of beef ribs was fanked
by a dainty giblet pie, and the des-
sert was fruit, peach tarts and Ba-
varian cream.
Mr.. Brown ate and relished and
wondered by turns.
my dear" said he, at last, when
the cloth was removed, "all is very
nice. I'll concede that you are a tip
top housekeeper. But of course you
ordered all this from Monerato's
restaurant"
But, of course, I didn't, Cousin
Brown" said Nelly, decidedly. II
cooked 1t myself. -
What that soupT'
"Yes, that soup"
ibid you prepare that trout
sauce and broil that pigeon?"
"Yes, Cousin Brown"
"And the giblet pie, was that
yours7"
Eyes, and the gibiet pie! Don't
aSook so astonished, Cousin Brown
Z be added, laughing II may as
/ Al confess that took course of
. Tking lessons last summer. And
. Ne it of all things, especially in a
enahold like this, where one can
wand the very best materials"
- - pxo.,,, o1nca1 hic aUpQ and