Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1899-12-03
WITHOUT A SERVANT

ingly: Ann will take good care OF
you all right We were fortunate to secure
girl like Ann on such short notice. Get
your lunches outside sometimes; that will
please her" Then she kissed us both, and
the train whistled and Maria was gone.
Tom is Maria's brother and / am Toms
brother-in.law We were doing what we re.
ferred to as "our book" at this time, and
were interested to the point OF absorption.
Ann, the Hibernian, therefore had the
household-at least the back Of the house
hold--pretty much to herself.
do not know just when the falling off
did beSir. We were both very much taken
up with Our work But when, one morning,
/ happened to notice. that it was quarter
of II when we sat down to breakfast of stale
bread and warmed-over coffee, it occurred
TO me that there was a hitch somewhere in
our system.
That evening, when It got too dark to
work, arose and drifted out to the kitchen,
perhaps with some idea of being hungry, and
a mild curiosity to know when dinner might
be expected. There was an air of deso!ation
about the place that seemed strange, and an
odor that seemed familiar. Like hound on
the trail / followed the latter straight on
through the kitchen to the servants room
at the back. The door was ajar, and the
mystery was solved. Our noble Ann had
fallen prey to the cup that yearly sweeps
thousands into unhonored graves.
We went out for dinner, and the next
morning we got our ewn eggs and coffee.
When our minion regained consciousness we
reviled her and cast her out.
We said we would get our own meals. We
had camped out together and taken turns at
the cooking. We could camp out now in the
fat We were quite elated with the idea,
and out Of the fullness of our freedom gave
Ann dollar and little bracer out of some
private stock" Ann declared we were
"pairfect gintlemen," and for the first time
seemed sorry to go.
Both being eager to get back to our work
after breakfast, neither of us referred to the
dirty dishes, and did not remember them
again until dinner time. Tom got into a tan.
gle with our heroine about one o'clock, and
said he would get the lunch by way of re-
taxation. presume he had relaxed sufi.
GENTLY without attending to the plates. At
least, / found them untouched when l went
out to look after the dinner.
discovered, also, that the lavish Tom had
exhausted the commissary to achieve the
lunch. / was obliged, therefore, to go at
once to the grocery and on the way made
up mental list of the things easiest to pre-
pare. would get canned things mostly, as
many OF these were ready for the table, and
some of them could be eaten out of the can.
This would save dishes. do not recall now
Just what ! had planned as my bill of fare
but suppose / must have forgotten soma
OF It when ] learned that our grocer was
closing out his stock of wet goods very cheap,
for Tom looked at the stuff when it came
and asked IL thought of running bar. I
said had bought with a view to saving
dishes. Then he hunted up the corkscrew
and we dined.
! In spite of my superior management, how
ever, the dish pile in the kitchen sink grew
steadily.
On the morning of the third day the china
closet was exhausted, and we took down
Maria's Crown Derby and blue India plates
from their hangers in the parlor.
On the evening of the fourth day Tom got
his work into an inextricable tanglc and
! took a reflective stroll out into the kitchen.
aged,
On Tile II III U1OTnluB we IOuOWeu AHu
example. The atmosphere suddenly cleared.
We reached conclusions by amazingly short
cuts, and orr troubles vanished like the dew
Of morning The next day would be Sun
day. Tge would 90 into she country for rec.
reation. Tonight we would put line in the
Earth and on Monday morning we would
have another servant. Maria was likely to
return S'.nost any time now, and it seemed
hardly worth our while to attempt to camp
out permanently.
I will pass over Sunday without further
comment. The recollection is weird and ex.
travagant. suppose we must have got a
line in the Earth on Saturday night, for on
Monday the bell began ringing violently be-
fore we were up. Tom either did not hear it
or was willfully unconscious. Finally got
up wretchedly and dragged on some gar.
ments. There was no ice, so pressed my
head for few minutes to a handicapped
center table.
suppose 1t was because did not feel very
bright that the voices of my guests were not
restful to me. / was almost irTitated by one
shrill-voiced Irish woman, who insisted on
going through every room, even to our
study. Her tone was dictatorial and severe.
Still | might have retained her had she not
commented disagreeably on the dishes in the
kitchen sink.
One after another they followed her ex.
ample. Every woman Of them began to
make excuses and back away when she
looked at that unwashed china. Most Of
them perjured themselves with the state
ment that they had come to see about a
place for another girl.
After the initial lot they had scattered
along through the forenoon. Tom had got
up, meantime, and was leaning on the front
window all, watching hungrily for the ice
man.
In the midst of this anguish the bell rang
once more, timtdly and with evident hesita.
ton, and a moment later feebly opened the
door to admit-Ann!
She was neatly dressed, as when she had
first come to us, and there were other graft
flying indications of reform.
"Sure an I saw your advertisement" she
began, humbly, "an' thought two sich gin.
tlemen as yerselves moight not be too hard
on daycent woman who only takes drop
or two now an then"
led her back to the kitchen and pointed
to the sink. As we passed through the
diningroom she noticed the empty bottles
on the table and crossed herself When she
looked at the kitchen sink she exclaimed;
Holy Maryl" But she did not desert us,
Her charity was greater than ours.
went in to tell Tom of the renovation and
general reform that was about to begin. He
had just succeeded in hailing the iceman
and was feeling better. When went back
into the kitchen there was wash.boiler Of
water heating on the range.
just then the postman whistled and
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