The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1902-06-21
till dinners ready. l can't cook with

till dinners ready. l can't cook with
boys around"
| At last the dinner was on the table.
The roast garnished with parsley,
looked very much like one Of Hanna s
rdasts, for the parsley concealed GER
tain scarlet rivulets that trickled over
the platter. The potatoes looked we'll.
they were of adamantine hardness.
What was left Of the jelly, by the time
Linden had succeeded IN transferring
it from the saucepan to glass dish,
| looked positively tempting.
Max took a mouthful and made a
wry face. Mr. Braddock caught his
sons eye, and shook his head.
Dear met" thought Linden, swal-
lowing a tart mouthful. Il measured
that sugar and then forgot to put it
| in
| During the meal Linden made trip
| after trip to the Sideboard, the china
closet and the pantry for missing arti-
cles. Mr.. BrOddock sliced a few NOR
SciS IlOlll lut OutSlue VI tIic ullieluOIe
mutton, and ate as much as he dared
of the almost raw potatoes. The cOf-
fee was muddy and contained frag-
ments of some eXtraneOus matter.
When Linden raised the cover of the
coffee-pot to allow the steam to es-
cape, she was Mortified to discover a
poached egg floating serenely on a
dark brown sea. She had dropped an
unbeaten egg into the boiling coffee,
and there it was. cooked.
Mr.. Braddock ate bread and butter,
and chatted with his somewhat crest
fallen daughter.
There's chivalry for you!" thought
Max or can it be that father is
setting Linden shining example?"
But in spite of her fathers tact. Lin
den did not enjoy her dinner. Sh~
realized that it was, in all probability,
the worst meal that had ever been
served under the Braddock roof. And
the cook was to chagrined to eat even
bread and butter.
by the way" said Mr.. Braddock,
81 saw some particularly fine peaches
down street today. They're in the
front hall. Get them, Max, and We'll
see if they're as good as they look"
1--WE had so much else" explained
Linden, apolegetically, Il thought l
wouldn't make any dessert.
I'm glad you didn't" said Max, with
a solemn countenance.
Linden never forgot the week that
followed. She mastered one difficulty
only to fall into another Her pie
crust was like leather and her mullins
were like lead. Everything went to
the table either burned to a crisp or
else raw in the middle. There was no
limit to her ambition; but she grew
humble at last She learned to boil
potatoes, to make tea and to scramble
eggs, but her conscience would not
permit her to serve this trustworthy
combination oftener than once each
day.
Mr.. Braddock and Max fortified
themselves each noon with good
meal at the restaurant, otherwise 1t is
doubtful if they could have survived
the week. Linden ate bread and milk,
and the fruit her father was careful
to bring her. She could not touch her
own cooking. She felt that she never
wanted to see another scrambled egg.
But the longest week does not last
forever. Upon her return hannah was
amazed at the warmth of Linden's
greeting, at the condition or the
kitchen floor and at the size of the
girls appetite.
"How nice those lamb chops are!"
said the deposed cook at dinner that
night "And, oh, aren't these the
incest mashed potatoes? think Han
nah is the cleverest person know. l
have the profoundest respect for any
body that can cook hve or six things
at once, and get them all done at pre-
cisely the same moment, instead OF
having the soup come tagging along
about an hour behind time. | think /
shall drop everything else and take
cooking lessons this winter"
"I'll pay for them," said Mr. Brad
dock, promptly.
Il won't promise to eat the results"
said Max, "but I'll do the best l can."
Youths Companion.