Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1898-07-08
THE RED BOOK.

''Poor dear manr' calculated Mrs.
Moneypenny, laying down the news
paper and looking at her small grand
daughter, Il must put him into the
Red Book" And she gave a gentle
sigh as she spoke, for the names in
the Red Book were already numerous.
tWhat has he done, granny"
Doreen Golding dropped the much
hated sampler she was working aud
pushed back the golden curIs that
would fall into her eyes. ''Has he
killed somebody, or drunk poison, On"
her blue eyes growing large with
sudden interest-''has he been ship
wrecked, and was he starving, and did
he eat up all the other peoples in the
boat one by one?"
"Doreen, said Mrs. Moneypenny,
Ueverely, "you are an extremely
naughty little girl. If you were older
| should almost think that you had
been reading my newspapers. Con-
tinue your work at once"
81 haven't read any old newspa-
pers," answered Doreen in an injured
tone of voice; you told re yourself,
granny"
81 told your' The old lady held
up her hands in horror at the very
idea.
"Yes, you did, granny" persisted
Doreen, standing up. defiant little
figure; when You read anything in
the paper that makes you feel sorry
you say Poor manr or Poor womanl'
aud then You go on reading and begin
thinking out loud, aud you say,
Fancy killing his poor little girl
Dear, dearl just a fit of temper; or
starving, dying of thirst; dear mel 1
might have done it myself; one never
knowsr You tell me bit about
everything, aud L make believe the
rest. When l cant make it all ont |
ask Sophie. Sophie always tells Ele
Just what l want to know"
''Doreeni You are very naughty
little girl indeedlY gasped the old
lady, cIutching hold of her newspaper
with both hands. '.Sophie is a very
good girl-she never reads the news
papers,"
''Yes, she does, granny" asserted
Doreen, gathering up colony of dolls
from the hearth rug as she spoke, "she
loves it as much as you do. / always
tell her when you've read anything
specially dreadful, and she says Law,
Miss Doreenl I'll be sure to read it
this very night. What has the man
done, granny?"
Nothing that is at all proper TO
tell little girls or servants" answered.
Mrs. Moneypenny, stifiy "You are
a very strange child, not at all like
what your dear mother used to be.
Go away and play in the garden,
Doreen."
Doreen hesitatcd and then oSeyed,
determined to find out what the man
in the newspaper had done for Sophie
as soon as possible.
Mrs. Moneypenny lived toward the
close of the nineteenth century, but she
belonged in spirit to the eighteenth.
She wore long silk mittens, puce-
colored silk dress that fell around her
in voluminous folds AMI a cap with
lace lappets that rested lightly upon
her gray, corkscrew curls. She
washed the china herself after break
fast and tea. She owned stillroom
and re;oiced in its mysteries. Her hall
and sitting room were sceated with
potpourri and her linen press with
lavender. Her bel was warmed every
night with a warming pan, and when
she had cold she sat with hsr fe t
in hot mustard aud water and drank
treacle-posset. Also, she wore go
loshes whenever it was wet and d 4
an immense amount of worsted needIe-
work. Her grandchild was the Off
spring of the nineteenth century; so
was Sophie, the maid of all work. Oc-
casionally the two centuries disagreed
aud met in combat, but, owing per-
haps to certain stateliness in its
representative, the eighteenth century
more often than not drove the nine
teenth off the field.
Mrs. Moneypenny was oldfashioned
enough to believe in prayer. She be-
lieved in its efficacy so firmly that her
household believed in it also, which is
saying a good deal. She was as method
ical over her religious duties as she
was in worldly matters. She prayed
whenever she saw sad sight, heard
sad story or read of sin, sorrow or
death. Then, if she considered the
case important, she entered it into a
certain red-covered book aud spent
the greater part Of every Sunday af-
ternoon in going through its contents,
mentioning each item in turn and
| waving about each with all the fervor
Of her war m'c,d heart. Age is some
times Grabbed and unlovely. PRAYER
kept the curreatof Mrs. Moneypenny' 5
Ii e fresh and sweet, and who can tell
how farreaching may have been the
influence Of that book? Several pages
at the end were left blank SO that
Mrs. Moneypenny could record when
ever her prayers brought forth visible
fruit. When such items could be hon
estly entered she was a proud old
lady indeed.
Some weeks previously the loss of
a small china hen caused Mrs. MoneT-
penny great perturbation.
1t was favorife plaything of her
granddaughter's and lived generally
in Doreen's pocket with string at
tackled to its neck. When its small
owner went for walk the china hen
went out as well and was bumped
along every bit of grass that could be
found; also, to give it fondness Tor
water, it was dipped in and out Of
every pond and puddle and was, in
fact, such a companion that when one
day the string was found to have lost
its appendage in the course Of a long
walk, Doreen was hea. s-broken and
agisated her old grandmother conaid-
erably.
'You really might put my own dear
Snovdaka into vour Rad Hootr