Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-04-26
CHAPTER XI.

"HE person who had originated
 and who conducted Mrs. Dem ing's boarding house-famous
 \ 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 his meals at what was known as her table" ,..:.@ -#..g s.a
 She had lived in 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 single day the aunt had adopt ed her quite as 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 little child she was wondered at as ''so queer-so old fashioned, don't you know"
 She had a healthy child's love for her dolls, and, though the persons around her had not enough clearness of vision t< eaa fhot cha xx-ao Fr,,Ite,,ll,- and oro 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 a personality. history and 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 a 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 1t in them and all most mercilessIy reDuKed such short comings as common sense should have spared them.
 But notwithstanding the child's im- aginative gift she was intensely prac- tical 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. Tn the laundry the good natured Irish woman who presided over that depart ment of household economy gave her always 90 warm a welcome that the thild 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 vomanly. There was no art of Kitchen or laundry or sewing room h which. as she grew older. she did not make herself the su- perior of the highly paid servitors whose skill her aunt employed to per form such functions For explanation she said only:
 T an to be q woman I must know bow to do all vonanly things If don't know all that better than the servants do I must always be depend eat upon servants. I think that would be hunflistinz
 Tn the same spirit she took up such school sz1dies as she deemed p-upeI to her uonsnhood and only s9ch- But she gave to esch . degree Of con sc5e7c4 that always surprised her tezcbers- sbe hsd not the gfft of Iszra- ing easily. b8t her devotion -ss surh that sbs Bszr1ed ths-O1<hly h splte sf