The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1906-06-29
CHAPTER XI.

THE person who had originated
and who conducted Mrs. Dem
ing's boarding house-famous
a for its fare-was, in fact, not
Mrs. Deming at all. That good lady
would pretty certainly have scored a
failure If she had tried actively to man
age such an establishment She had
never in her life known necessity for
work Of any kind or acquired the least
skill in its doing. She had been bred
in luxury and had never known any
other way of living until few months
before Guilford Duncan went to take
his meals at what was known as her
table"
She had lived in a spacious and
sumptuously furnished suburban house
near an eastern city until two years or
so before the time of this story.
When Barbara Verne, her only sis
ter's child, was born and orphaned
within a single day the aunt had adopt
ed her quite as a matter of course
No sooner had Barbara ceased to be
an infant in arms than she began to
manifest strong and peculiar traits of
character Even as a little child she
was wondered at as 80 queer-so old
fashioned, don't you know"
She had healthy child's love for her
dolls, and, though the persons around
her had not enough clearness of vision
to see that she was fruitfully and ere
atively imaginative In her peculiar
way, her dolls nursery was full of
wonderful stories, known only to her
self and the dolls. Every dol! there
had personality, a history and a
character OF its own. Barbara was the
intimate of them all-the confidential
friend and companion, who listened to
their imagined recitals of griefs and
joys with sympathetic soul, counseled
them in a prematurely old way, chided
them gently but firmly for their mis-
takes, commended good conduct when
ever she discovered it In them and al
most mercilessly rebuked such short.
comings as common sense should have
spared them.
But Notwithstanding the child's i'm
aglnatlve gift she was intensely prac-
teal in a quick witted way that often
astonished those about her She had
an eager desire to learn domestic arts,
and her peculiar conscientiousness in
the doing of whatever she undertook
to do usually resulted in a skill supe-
rior to that Of her teachers.
She loved to haunt the kitchen,
where her courtesy won even the can
tankerous cook for a friend, and from
her the girl learned so much of her art
that the cook could teach her no more
In the laundry the good natured Irish
woman who presided over that depart
ment of household economy gave her
always so warm a welcome that the
child came to think of the faithful wo-
man as one of her choicest friends.
Working with her over a little ironing
board, Barbara quickly became expert
In all the finer and more delicate opera
tons Of her art.
SO Barbara educated herself upon
lines which she deemed womanly.
There was no art of kitchen or laundry
or sewing room In which, as she grew
older, she did not make herself the SUI
perior of the highly paid servitors
whose skill her aunt employed to per
form such functions. For explanation
she said only:
81 am to be n woman. l must know
how to do all womanly things. If
don't know all that better than the
servants do / must always be depend
ent upon servants i think that would
be humilatlng."
In the same spirit she took up such
school studies as she deemed proper to
her womanhood and only such. But
she gave to each a degree of con-
science that always surprised her
teachers. She had not the gift OF learn
Ing easily, but her devotion was such
that she learned thoroughly In spite OF
all the difficulties.
When she was only dozen years old
or so the little woman took upon her
self the duties of housekeeper in her
cunts mansion ana rent order there On