The Indianapolis journal., 1904-04-24

as a matter of course, acquisi-
EisGSSiJ tive; and she will beg for the
~ most unlikely things with tone
and manner that could charm shekels from
a miser. Liza is a very present help in time
of trouble which, being interpreted, means
that she is ..all there" when housecleaning
time comes From attic to cellar she moves
not too swiftly but so surely that she leaves
every corner swept free of dust. every shelf
trim and clean. But she pauses at frequent
intervals.
Miss Sally. now. you ain got mo- use
foh desc oil shirtwaisties. All might swell
take dem ovah TO NAH house an fix 'em up
foh me, as foh yo' TO have dem litterin' up
yo' nice clean attic
But Liza, you can't do anything with
them," protests Miss Sally feebly. They're
too little for you: I'd better give them to
some one who can make use of them"
MEX use of dem, Miss Sally. Nobody mex
bettah use of dem shirtwaisties dan All kin.
| Mebbe dey is mite too little foh me, but
! All don't mind bein' squoze, Miss Sally. An
looky dat little squeeky-legged chaih. Yo'
amt got no use foh dat chaih in yo' fine
| house, Miss Sally. All kin fix him up in nah
| little pahloh hit look fine, s'long as All
tell dem niggahs dey CANT set on hit. But
now yo' wouldn't want to tell comp'ny not
to set on a chaih, Miss Sally 'Twouldn't be
fttin' in quality
One is obliged to listen to her. for she
charms so sweetly; so Liza usually goes
home laden with a miscellaneous accumula-
tion of odds and ends One day last week
she cleaned out the medicine chest in the
house of one of her patrons.
Now. Miss Smif, yo' ain cairin' foh all
dis mess of old medicine. Lawsee. yo'
wouldn' know which was what; half de
bottles paht tooken up and mos oh dem wild
no labels on to tell yo' is dey good foh de
rheumatic or the haidache. Yo' ain got no
use for stale medicines noway, Mis- Sniff
yo' kin afford bran new medicines if so be
youall gets sick
Mrs Smith agreed with Liza that most
of the half-taken bottles of medicine were
useless litter and that there was no use
having them around, now that they had
served their purposes. So she agreed to give
her the collection of compounds and pana-
ceas for various ills.
Though what you will do with them I'm
sure : don't know" she added doubtfully
II suppose you can throw the medicine
away and sell the bottles for little some
thing
Liza kept her own counsel as TO the dis.
posal of the bottles and went off that night
laden with her spoils.
The next day Liza dumpy, and the
| second day she tailed to appear at ALL Late
in the morning Martha, her half-growr
daughter, appeared f are D.. in the kitchen s.,
| in that querulouS tone that the housewife
delayed in her projected plans, assumes.
"Please'm she sick an CANT come to-
whats the matterY'
For a time Martha was uncommEnica tive
but vigorous questioning brought il out
''Wellm, night TO las she had de misery
in her stummick and she took some o. da
med cine she brung home from youall'
house. She said hit was high-price med cine
an hit surely would ease her. Den las
night when she come home she was wuss' r
an she begun an she TUX some o one bot
tie an den some of anoder; an all de nigh
froo she had dreadful misery an ever littl,
while she got uD an tOoken a new kind
She said dey wasn't no niggah she knoweC
had dat stock oh med cine an she surel,
was gOin to mex good use oh IL while sh,
had de misery an de opportunity"
The Girl Who Observes sighed a regretfu
sigh she slipped her tea. Have you no
ticed how that good old custom of spendin,
! the day has fallen into disuse among us?'
she asked. II heard a girl say this after
noon that she was going to spend the da,
tomorrow with another girl-and tn
phrase made me reminiscent, for declar
it has been years since / last heard il used
} 1t made me homesck for the time when
was a little girl and used to start off, al
neatly brushed and combed. with my frill
right to the last inch, to spend the long
/ glorious day with Martha, and Sue Ellen
or some of the rest of the tots. The day wa
2 a million hours long in anticipation-and Il
, retrospect, scudding home just before sup
per time, il seemed almost long becaus
. it was so full of delights
And it wasn't only we children who wen
e spending the day either. My grown-up sis
/, ter used TO have her chums come TO spen
the day; and / can remember how used I
dog their footsteps from front porch to tn
: hammock in the garden, from the parlor u
2 | to sisters bedroom, where the two big Cirl
$ would sit on the bed and read each other
letters. and tell each other confidentis
/ | things about the boys" TO which used
!. listen with the breathless interest that yo
always have in things that are none of YOU
business. The big girls would get furiou:
. | of course, at the way | hung on their step
| and their words but threats or coaxin
$ were alike powerless TO call me of.
But it's all over now." and the Girl Wh
: Observes set down her teacup. 'sPerhap
e the tots still keep il uD-but il certainl
S has gone out OF style with the grown-u
| girls. we go now and then to spend tn
night with one another-but spending m
day is about as obsolete as making samI
= | lerS.
/ What's TO blame? I dunno. Maybe IN
hush of modern life that blame wit
everything. Maybe the telephone whic
f | makes il so easy for to do our visitin
r | at home. We drop in 10 lunch with ou
: nearests and dearests, 10 be sure but "
r must be of again Immediately 10 club q
; matinee; we go TO dinner with them whe
: we are especially invited; and we spend IN
V night on rare occasions. But the good oil
! days when we just dropped all other inter
d ests entire. and went and lived in some on
r. else's house for good long day-they an
= gone, or outgrown. or something I'd ius
: love to go spend the day with somebody
e but nobody asks me to-"
And If anybody did you'd probably be $
r busy that you'd refuse" suggested the eli
V into whose ears the complaint had bee
n poured
d 20 yes. / suppose So" returned the Gil
: Who Observes, as she gathered up ht
# gloves and pulled down her veil. I'D prol
S ably say that l had my sewing club in III
morning and my reading club in the sftel
p-~n- hut ia dearly love 20 Just run lra