Middletown transcript., 1903-01-31
ELIZABETH..-THE COOK !.
BY SARAH JOHNSON
@ LIZABETH was
81 meditating about an ad-
10 yertisement in the DenUer'
Ne,,e She was
BY SARAH JOHNSON


pleasant to look
upon and she was daintily dress
ed. Moreover, she was 25. |
tell her age because Elizabeth
doesn't care. She is sensible.
Finally she laid the paper
down, and, looking into the mir
ror across the room, remarked
to her vis-a-vis, as she shook
her little fist vaguely at some
imaginary opponent.
"Do it, Elizabeth! You have
always been unconventional
enough; now be unreasonable
and foolish, as I daresay brother
Dick would aver"
The advertisement was moth.
ing more or less than this:
Wanted: good plain cook for a
mining camp of 6 mel n the
mountains about so miles from
Denver. One over 30 preferred.
Apply at Room, Equitable
Bldg.
''Can you cook!" demanded
Elizabeth of the vis-a-viS.
"Why, I should like to know,
did Providence bestow five broth
ers and a father upon you, and
allow you to look after them for
a number of years, if not to fit
you for just such a place as this?
And now that you are removed
from the necessity of looking
after your own, why not look
after somebody else's father and
brothers, when it is so evidently
your duty? Besides, Elizabeth,
you've wanted to go to the noun
tains for a year, and you know
you are desperately tired of that
stuffy Office. Why not breathe
the pure air up there for awhile,
and make a kind of terrestrial
heaven for those lonely men,
that is, if they will let you. Do
you know, Elizabeth, you do not
look like you could cook, and
you do not look 80. But then,
you can comb your hair down
like this, and look more sober.
A good plain cook at first
thought, a cook who is good and
plain-but, manifestly, just good
plain cooking. I have an idea,
though, that there is general
supposition that a pretty woman
cannot cook, except, perhaps, to
do a little occasional fussing in
her own home. It is high time
that public sentiment was edu-
Gated up to attractive, refined
cooks, and if the responsibility
is to fall upon me, I shall begin
the schooling process at once.
Now, I trust you are sufficiently
complimented," she concluded,
elizabeth had a habit of COM
plimenting herself. She said
it was a means of keeping up
her spirits, although to the cas-
ual observer Elizabeth's spirits
did not need any bolstering up)
land perhaps you had better in
vestigate this future field for the |
exercise Of your many virtues.
The vis-a-vis smiled encourag |
ingly, and Elizabeth put on her
hat and coat and went tripping |
down the boarding house stairs, |
humming an old-fashioned tune.
With all her fashionable trim.
ness and up-to- -date-ness, she
was a little bit of an old1ash-
ioned girl, fashioned like her
name, and just as substantial.
Two other boarders were lin
gering in the hall. They smiled
at her, and one remarked to the
other, "There's that lovely girl
again. She is like a burst of
sunshine"
"She is good for the blues, he
replied.
"What did you say, miss?"
asked the old gentleman who sat
at the desk.
81 came to inquire about the
advertisement in the Me,os this
morning, and to apply for the
position.
..'To apply" he echoed in as
tonishment. "Oh! I see! Can
you answer for the qualifications
Of this person."
"Yes, sir, better than anyone
else. I am the person, SIR" said
Elizabeth.
Impossible! Did you ever
cook in mining camp?" he ex-
claimed, gazing in wonder at the
blooming young face and the
trim, dainty figure.
"No, sir! But I know I cam
with great self-assurance.
"But do you know anything
about mining camp?"
"No-not very much" &C.