The Press. (Stafford Springs, Conn.) 1883-1935, 1898-09-22
STRONG HEREDITY.


Introductory bow with pleasant smile.
''You had better warm some milk and
water and get her bottle ready"
While the parlor man went$down to
give the necessary orders to the cook
Baby arranged her mother'se pillows
more comfortably.
5000, goor' murmured Mrs.hCorfield
inarticulately in appreciation of: the in
crease of comfort.
"Hushl 1t shall have itstbottle and
go to by BY" whispered Baby, +deftly
smoothing the coverlet.
A restless movement in the,ad joining
room, followed by faint cry, distract
ed her attention. She slipped on lit
tie dressing gown that lay on a.chair
ready for her use and hurried in TO see
what was the matter.
A man was tossing feverishly,Eo and
fro in large cot surmounted with high
rails. He had kicked off the bedoHothes,
and the cold air had awakened him.
81 suppose you're papa" she mutt
tered. Juggling at the blankets through
the bars "How tiresome you are,
naughty manp
She tapped him menacing1y on the
arm and shook threatening finger. He
commenced to whimper.
Snow, it's no use beginning to cry, :"
she exclaimed. 'I've got quite. enough
to see to without any nonsense of that
sort. Be quiet, sir, will your"
Baby stamped her foot. It had the de-
sired effect, and Mr. Corfield Quieted
down. Then she returned to the other
room. In few minutes the bottle was
brought up, and, having given it to her
mother and tucked her up comfortably,
Baby sat down ON the edge of the bed to
think.
There was SO much to be done. And
in spite of her ready made stock of in
buttons and her rich inheritance of ex-
perience it was SO difficult to set about
it. In the first place, the parents must
be fed and looked after. Baby could not
leave them entirely to the servants !;
she must exercise great deal of super
vision over them herself. They were so
helpless. But they had given her their
all, mental and physical, in accordance
with the universal law of'heredity, and
she must prove herself worthy of the
gift by trying to bring them up in the
right way. Then there were domestic
matters to be attended to. And finally
Baby must think about starting her own
career, in which, of course, she would
follow in her mothers footsteps.
Feeling herself to be child of ac-
tion, she did not sit musing for long.
Mrs. Corfeld was asleep. The only sign
Of life she gave was an occasional tug
at the bottle, followed by the gurgle of
deglutition. Baby crept softly out of
the room and went down stairs. Had
she been boy natural curiosity would
have prompted'her to explore the house,
but being of the sterner sex she walked
straight into the library and sat down
at the writing desk.
Before doing anything else she must
put her birth in the papers She wrote
out half dozen notices, choosing her
name from book which she took down
from the shelves The announcement
read as follows:
"Miss Philippe Reginaldina Corfeld
begs to announce her birth at 10 Will
loughby square on the 2Oth inst. Both
parents are doing WE'LL
It was nearly O'Clock. Having writ
ten personally to some of her relatives
and Il ched her letters to the post,
Baby for tea. But she was not al.
lowed u enjoy that meal altogether I'M
disturbed. First, papa cried. She had to
go up stairs and soothe him of to sleep
again. Then the noise woke mother,
who became fretful and gave great
deal of trouble. In fact, Baby was
kept SO we'll employed between them
that she had no time TO dress for dinner.
Two or three days passed in this man
ner. Then came letter, bearing the
stamp of government Office, addressed
to Miss Corfeld There had been other
correspondence - congratulatory notes
from relatives and SO forth. But this
was altogether different. On the face of
the envelope, in the left hand bottom
corner, were the letters ''T, M" writ
ten in q bold hand. They were the mi
tials of the prime minister.
With eager hands Baby tore open
the cover and drew out the contents.
The letter was couched in the following
terms'
DEAR MISS CoRFIELp-The magistracy of
the Fourth area is just vacant, Knowing
l
post, and having seen the notice of your birth
/ in the papers, have much pleasure in offer
ing you the appointment Come and see me
before taking up your official duties Yours,
ETC., THEODORE MUNsTERLEIGH.
It was the very thing Baby would
have chosen for herself. Her splendid
inheritance of legal knowledge eminent
| ~ qualified her for the post. OF course
the work would fully occupy her time
but she must get q competent nursery
tutor to look after Mrs. and Mr.. Corr
field. She wrote q warm letter of thanks
TO the premier accepting the magistra.
cy, and at the same time put an adver-
tisement in the paper for competent
man to take charge of her parents dur
ling their infancy.
Among other applicants for the latter
situation was respectable, unmarried,
middle aged man. AS his scientific
principles were orthodox and he had no
followers Baby engaged him. She was
now practically freed from domestic
worries and could devote herself to the
| public service. The visit to the prime
minister, whom she found to be a
charming girl few years older than
herself, was most satisfactory. Baby
took up her work with zeal, and soon
distinguished herself by her grasp Of
detail and sound Judgment.
The only anxieties that beset her were
at home Her parents rs time went on
turned out to be dreadful pickles. Papa
would not learn his alphabet, and moth
or was always leading him into mis-
chief. They, got into the kitchen and
stole the jam, They bad pillow fights
on the landing when they should have
been taking their midday sleep. They
set all manner of BOBBY traps for the
nursery tutor and nearly worried him
to death.
The climax was reached when they
one day altogether disappeared. Not q
trace of them could be found. The dis
tracted tutor declared he had put them
TO bed-at IL, as usual, for an hours rest
before their dinner. and when he went