Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1900-08-17
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|, THE ESCAPE.
How Martha Sessions Attained the OBJ
iect Of Her Ambition.
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For 90 years the town Of St. Johns
had taken the drudgery Of Miss Martha
Sessions for granted. Her place, it was
taci,y admitted was in the kitchen of
the Witherspoous. This did not mean
that she was the servant Of the Wither-
spoons-no, no. There were two respects
in which she differed from the ordinary
servant. One was that she received no
salary. The other was that she was Of
high birth. \ common person may re-
ceive pay for service and rejoice in it.
But Miss Sessions, daughter Of the Hon.
Peter Sessions. now many years with
his respectable and dull forbears could
not even had she been offered money,
have accepted il. What she did was to
live in the home Of her married sister,
| conscious morning noon and night of the
fact that she was the recipient Of bounty,
| and 10 do anything and everything that
other folks objected to doing.
Sarah Withcr>poon had not been one
10 let the distinguished name she bore
die with her generation. She had given
seven pawns 10 fortune In the shape Of
! her sons and daughters. and for each and
every one Of these little ones Martha
| Sessions, her sister, had cared. In short,
! Martha was the lubricator Of the do
nestle wheels and did everything for the
| family that she could do, from hemmng
| the napkins 10 sitting beside sick beds.
! She was the first NJ in the morning and
the last TO bed at night. She started the
! kitchen fire at dawn. and she locked tho
! front door and wound the clock after the
others had retired to their rooms.
YET il was generally understood in the
| Witherspoon household that Aunt Mar
tina was to sit silent at the table, espe-
cially if there was company. Ii a dinner
was given, she did the most difficult part
of the cooking, and if she did not stay
in the kitchen to direct the serving she
| perched uneasily on the edge Of her chair
ready to rush into the fray at the slight
est sign Of confusion.
There was one cause of Chagrin, how
ever which even this modern Grisclda
did not bear patiently. She was too much
occupied on the Sabbath TO attend church,
for the large family dinners and the sup
pers at which friends were informally
and generally invited kept the household
drudge at her post at the hours Of serv-
ice. Moreover, she had the pain of hear
ing her own particular church and rector
spoken of in terms Of deriSion, and the
questionable, cultivated and conserva-
tive congregation Of which she would fair
have been one was the source of much
mirth TO the Witherspoons, who went tC
the smartest of sacred ediices and whose
preacher was renowned as an after din
ner speaker and a social lion.
But one day an astonishing thing hap
pened. 1t is difficult 10 believe it. although
il is now ancient history. Frederick SeS
sions, granduncle to Martha Sessions anC
to Sarah Witherspoon, died at so great
an age that he seemed already TO have
been dead for a decade when his obituary
was published, and in dying he bequeath
ed to Martha Sessions, the most uncom
planning and self sacrificing woman Of
my acquaintance, all lands, funds an(
properties of which l stand possessed"
The news was brought to Martha SEES
sions one morning when she was sortinl
over the weeks washing, and she cam,
down to the parlor in her worn gra!
frock and white apron and met the intel
ligence with incredulity. But when sh,
was quite convinced of the truth Of tn,
thing she astonished the little lawyer b.
laughing in youthful way. He had ex
pected nervous and grateful tears.
And when can | have possession o
this property, sir?" she inquired.
: "The formalities are few, Miss SEES
sions, considering that you are the onl.