The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-01-30

land went to dwell with Aunt Drusilla,
a he farm showed promise; the land had
long lain idle; but Holman Brockway
found il TO have a soil mixed OF sandand
ldecomposed peat, which would grow
big vegetables. Miss Drusilla had cul'
ltlyated a small patch. enough for hef
own use, which she reluctantly praised
as having ",lone as well as other folks
gardens. fur's / know" Holman's wife
thought the house rather in~convenient
but il was sunny and had a pleasant out
look. Corinna was happy II
vas not a long walk to the ferry which
connected the village with the city;
and il is certain that Herbert Jennison
spent bis substance on riotous commu'
tation tickets. Atthe landing he some
times found Corinna waiting for him,
and they enjoyed the stroll up the hill
10 the house, which stood on the crest,
bristling with rocks and bushes.
Corinna's parents liked the young man;
he was clean and honest, eager to learn
and 10 make his way in the world
1t was all smooth sailing until Aunt
Drusilla blew up a gale. She was q
formidable power as she lay ] n her bed
in the ground-floor room which she re.
served for herself. This was intended
nv the builder OF the house for an office;
Miss Drusilla's father had been a law
yer. 1t was a one-story room. project
ING from the southern side OF the
house. Nothing flourished there but
a few stalks of gaunt and hoary mullein.
even in June the heritage yell
lowed-somebody had said that
Squire Brockway's law was so dry that
II made hay of the grass. Near the side
window stood a birch tree; it had
grown up impeded by a sharp splinter
of granite so that its roots were quite
out. of the ground, clasping the rock
like skeleton arms. This tree, in its tat.
tered shroud Of white bark leaned
toward the window as If TO peer in,
From the other, the front window, Miss
Drusilla peered out; nothing that
passed along the road could escape hei
notice. Neither did anything that took
place in the house. 'Your aun has got
an extra sense, more than the rest OF
the people, Sarah Brockway told hes
husband. She heard every step, every
fall of crockery; she shifted every over
baked loaf, every scorchedkettlc holder.
She would have all things go on in her
own way, which was that of her parents
before her-curious sparings and par
lngs; unwieldly stores of vegetables
Kept in the cellar, to be constantly
sulled over, or else breed diseases. "A
certain yellow and white striped pitcher
was devoted to yeast. which she called
"emptins'' and would have homemade,
with much pains and with potatoes; q
blue platter, dedicated to none else than
0 "biled dish" would to her mind have
seen desecrated by a burden OF dough.
nuts or of cookies. Seems as though
Aunt Drusilla thought all the things in
the house were foreordained and predes.
tinated TO just so ard no other way"
Sarah mildly lamented. " Ican't get the
bang of her notions nor remember halt
of 'em; I'd be glad to suit aunt, for it'i
real hard to be bed-ridden, she that's
been SO active all her life. And / expect
that I have some set ways myself; we
nil have"
From morning TO night Aunt Drusilla
Issued her orders through the half-open
door of her chamber; Sarah found 1t
no sinecure to be the lieutenant of an
oid-fashioned h~ousekeeper. The longer
that Aunt Drusilla was confined from
contact with actual work, the harder
she was TO please; she expected the i'm.
possible and criticized with lavish vigor
and homely sarcasm. But as yet she
had not spoken of Herbert Jennison,
because his visits were always made in
the evening, and she bad taken the
habit of eating her supper early and be-
ginning her nights sleep at twilight.
To balance accounts, she awoko before
the cocks had begun to halloo from
tnrn to barn-and when Aunt Drusillu
was once awake, there was no mora
sleep in the house. When the neighbors
praised Sarah Brockway for being
ready to sit down, in n white apron. to
scw at ten o'clock in the morning, she
modestly replied: "You know l have tc
get up an hour and more before day.
light and / get ahead more than l care
TO, sometimes" But she said it with
"a patient smile OF her kind face. She
admitted, however, that ''now an then
i get all nerved up, an then Aunt Dru.
rilla's voice goes right through my
head"
After n time, Corinna, having come TO
understand the tremendous will and
the active veto power of Aunt Drusilla,
began to dread lest the old woman
should wish TO interfere with her i'm
tended marriage. II the aunt called
her, Corinna started and turned pale.
The dreadful old creature, from her
bed. ruled the household. She became
always %crosser, more dismal, more ex
acting; one could but pity her, yet she
was not good 10 live with.
1t CHANGED one afternoon that Co.
rinna, preparing her aunt's tea, was
absent-minded by cause of her fears
for her love and put in a double dose OF
the herb. Therefore. Aunt Drusilla's
eyes, at eight o'clock in the evening,
were set wide aStnre with ass;Stal