The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1901-07-26

Il want pie. Make me pie, Bar
bara, won't you?" he asked, climbing
up into a chair at the end of the table
and rubbing his hands into the flour
still on the kneading-board.
Barbara smiled at him, for they
were good friends, and she had
| grown very fond of the child.
"Yes, if your mother thinks best
and you will sit down there like a
good boy and wait a little" Carl at
once sat down, only begging that he
might have the dish that Barbara had
used to mix eggs and sugar in.
81 have told nearly all the reasons,
| I think" Barbara answered slowly,
and she turned toward Mrs. Ward.
"Of course, there is always the rea-
son of the social loss. l don't know
any of the young women in Craw-
ford; but, if 1 did, I do not think
| that any of those who have money
or move in social circles would speak
TO me or recognize me for myself if
| they ever knew 1 was a servant"
Mrs. Ward did not answer. Barbara
silently confronted her for moment,
and it was very still in the kitchen
except for the beating of Carts spoon
on the inside of the cake-dish.
| "And then, of course, / see no OPP
portunity ever to be anything but a
hired girl. How long would you want
me to work for you, Mrs. Ward, as |
have been doing for the last four
weeks 2"
"Indefinitely, I suppose" answered
Mrs. Ward, frankly.
"Yes, you see how it is. If should
be willing to stay with you, might
| stay till l was an old, broken-down
woman, always washing dirty dishes,
| always messing in a kitchen, always
| being looked down upon as an infe-
rior, always being only part of the
machine, my personality ignored and
| my development dwarfed, never receiv-
ing any more wages than when / be-
gan, or, at most, only a little more,
always in a dependent, servile posi-
ton. Once hired girl, always one
so long as you choose to have me and
| I consented to stay. Is that a cheer
full prospect for a girl to consider rs
| final?"
Mrs. Ward did not answer. Barbara
| had spoken out all that the four weeks
had been piling up in her mind. Once
| spoken, it relieved her; but she was
| troubled over the thought that, even
| If all she said were exactly true, there
was still somewhere in the economic
| world factor of service she had not
fully nor fairly measured. She could
not escape the self-accusation: "But
ministry is still ministry. If this fam
lily really needs such work as 1 have
been doing to help it work out its des-
| tiny in the world, why is not my service
| for it as truly divine as if ministered
in other ways that the world so often
| thinks are more noble?"
Mrs. Ward still sat with folded hands
and strange look, and Barbara turned
from her and began rolling out small
| piece of pie crust for Carl. When she
had finished it and had put it in plat
| ter, as she was turning with it toward
the stove, she was amazed to see Mrs.
Ward standing in front of her. She
had risen suddenly and had come over
near Barbara.
"What you have said is too true-a
great deal of it, most of it; and yet,
Barbara, if you only knew how much 1
need just such help as yours in my
home you would not leave me. Isn't
there some way we can work it out
together? have not been to you what
one woman ought to be to another. /
have been nervous and faultfinding
and-and-you have not said anything
about that, 1 know; but, if you will
stay, Barbara, we will try to study the
thing out better-we will help one an
other. That is not exactly what 1
mean, but we will understand each 9TH
err better after this talk, and perhaps
we can be more just, and study how
to better matters"
Barbara stood during this unexpect-
ed appeal trembling with a conflicting
set of emotions. In the midst of it all
she could feel a return of something
of the old feeling of heroism in service
that had prompted her to answer the
advertisement in the first place, and
her pulses leaped up again at the
thought of help from this woman to
solve the servant question and work
with her toward a common end. What
could she do alone? Only four weeks
of trial, and she had despaired of serv-
ice. Already in the swift reaction from
her despair Mrs. Wards words pro-
duced a great revulsion in her feelings.
Surely all things were possible if both
the woman of the house and the serv.
ant studied the question together.
And her grievances! They were there
still, and still real. But they were not
without compensation if what Mrs.
Ward said was going to mean new
start all around.
Still, as she faced Mrs. Ward with a
troubled heart, she hesitated, going
over again the trials of the four weeks,
the hot, insufficient little room, the
long and irregular hours, the separa-
ton from people, even from the very
people in the house where she was
serving; the daily drudgery, the hope
lessness of any future-it all came up
again to dash an enthusiasm that had
apparently been killed out of her at
the first attempt to turn practical
things into heroic things. And let us