Middletown transcript., 1902-09-27
!, VERY year father gave
the school treati big bayfield,,
} only separated from the garden
,,b fonna The

tent that came from Garchester, pu'
mother gave tea to all the mothers IN the
dining room. Nurse presided, and 1t was
exactly the same sort of tea that people
had at tennis party, only it was indoors,
But the mothers liked that; they ilKeo
the pretty china and the silver, ana. pes,
Of all, they liked the savory sandwiches
and the thin rolled bread and butter.
They crooked their little fingers elegantly
as they drank, and nudged one another
to remark upon the quantity OF butter
that must 60 to SO many thin sllces OF
bread; and as to the many colored sugar.
covered cakes, one good lady was heard
to wish she might "kip 'un under glass
cease, a. be that beeoutivul." The gar
densr's wife was regarded with much
commiseration when, holding up one OF
.he Apostle spoons, she explained that
"'er mother 'ad one of they, but some'oW
it got put through the mangie, an the
little man ON top came out as fiat as fiat. :"
The Voiceful Canon came, Canon Sir
John came, and Sergeant came. lie and
the Voiceful Canon organized sports for
the BOYS, while mothers and Miss Good
lake and the vicarage people managed
the girls, Fiametta assisting this year at
the first school treat she had ever seen.
Paul was in great form on these occa-
sions; he stuck his hands deep into his
pockets, stood with his legs far apart, and
conversed solemnly with two or three old
gaffers, who, past work, sat in the shade
and admired the sports Of the rest. On
these occasions Paul spoke in the broadcast
vernacular, but so did father when he
talked to his men; don't think he knew
it, but he did; and in order to talk Gar
setshire with absolutely perfect intonation
you must screw up your face to one side,
punctuate your sentences with sapient
mods, and express approval OF your COM
panion's remarks with many such phrases
as "Ah, So a. be, "Ah, so a. do surely"
Chow well Paul speaks the patois,'
Fiametta had said upon one occasion, and
Paul, delighted by an appreciation of
gift which was neither admired nor en-
couraged by the authorities, offered to
teach her there and then.
But Fiametta was not an apt pupil, and
when she could not succeed in achieving
the Garsetshire vowels, or in screwing
her face sufficiently to one side to please
Paul, she declared it to be an ugly patois,
and let it alone.
There were not only the village children
at our school treat. Every summer there
came e'from far London" for fortnight
some half dozen pale-faced mites whom
We called the ''Littls Queries" because
they always looked so surprised and ques- |
tioning all the time. They were boarded
in different families in the village, and
were generally well behaved and docile
all the time. They were selected and
sent for the holidays by settlement of
ladies in the East End.
Only on one occasion was there any |
trouble, when a girl set fire to one of
fathers ricks. Some people said it was
hysteria; but we had different name for
it in our part of the world, and afterwards
it ''transpired'' that the fortunes of the
damsel in question bad already, like those
of Sir Robert Walpole, in the "encyclo-
pedia," Suffered temporary eclipse"
in reformatory.
On the whole, however, the Queries
were great success, and at the school
treat took their pleasure with zest and
abandon never achieved by the stolid
village children.
Fiametta had been prepared to take
them under her wing, and generally pio-
neer and shepherd them throughout the
afternoon. The moment, however, that
the races began, and the Voiceful Canon
and Sergeant rushed about the field ring
ing bells and roaring at the children to
get into their places, the Queries melted
away from her side; for competition of
any kind was thing they thoroughly
understood, and in short races they had
it all their own way.
But to the village children the family 8
at the Court was always Of absorbing in g
terest, and Fiametta's general "curious- a
ness" had been bruited abroad by Dor e
cas-, whose people lived in the village, SO |
that Fiametta was not long without an b
admiring court about her, two small sis e
ers of Dorcas-Mary Jane and Rose Mus
zoe, Tommy Copner, the village scape b
grace, and Ebenezer and Samuel Heaven n
such lot Of people in our village are \
;alled Heaven). Everyone else had gene "
20 watch or run in the races.
"What shall we do?' asked Fiametta, v
ather embarrassed by the little crowd Il
hat squeesed round her. ''They very fl
lice, these peasants" she said afterward,
but they're always SO hot" 4 cl
The group stared at her open-mouthed' W
'ut volunteered no suggestion. je
Now, just at this moment, Fiametta ="
urned her head and happened to catch W
ight of thin column of smoke rising al
rom corner of the distant kitchen gar
en-. C
Come" she said, "with me. The fir
ardener has made bonfire, and we'll pl
0 and see it," sh
Off they all trotted unnoticed in the OF
eneral hubbub, but joined on the way le
y Paul, who had tired of the gaffers, and
'as seeking fresh opportunities of con- dl
ersing in broadest Garsetshire. Va
Gus didn't ought to go into Squoire's WI
arden, l don't think" Iazarded Mary FL
ane, who was "wul brought up"
"Oh, yes you can, with us" said Fla su
letta, magnifcently; "you're our visi- ne
ors, and we must amuse you
The children nudged one another and ab
1t very important.
BY the time they reached the garden
ght breeze had sprung up, and the heap
rubbish in the far corner of bed Of SOC
Irrots was burning gayly. Ahp' said
iametta, "it's just as hoped-not quite col