Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1906-09-21
CHAPTER XI.

ing's boarding hOuse-fam0uS
4 for it's fare-was, In fact, not
Mrs. Deming at all. That good lazy
would pretty certainly have scored
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 it's doing. She had been bred
in luxury and had never known any
other way of living until a few months
before Guilford Duncan went to take
his meals ut what was known as her
"table."
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 a 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 $50 Qucer-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
to see that she was fruitfully and Gre
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 Il personality. Il history and
character of it's 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 prematurely old way, Nchided
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
aginative gift she was intensely prac-
teal in quick witted way that often
astonishcd 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 skill supe-
rior to that of her teachers.
20 hnrt
where her courtesy won even the can
tankerous cook for 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 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
I'm 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 su-
perior of the highly paid servitors
whose skill her aunt employed to per-
form such functions. For explanation
she said only:
az am to be woman. | must know
how to do all womanly things. III L
don't know all that better than the
servants do must always be depend
ent upon servants. l think that would
be humliating."
In the same spirit she took up such
school studies as she deemed proper 10
her womanhood and only such. But
she gave to each 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 |
aunt's mansion and kept order there IN
q way that won something like local
fame for herself 1t was not art or in
tuition or rule that inspired her. 1t
was temperament.
Absolute cleanliness was to her re-
ligion, and the servant who fell IN the
remotest way short Of that was quick
Nv made to think of herself as an I'M
rccenerate sinner. Absolute neatness
was another requirement which the
budding little woman insisted upon
with relentless persistence. Then
again it seemed to her that there was
no possible excuse for any cooking
short Of the best
A few years later the aunts husband
met with misfortune and went west.
Presently he died, and Barbara's aunt
was widowed and impoverished at one
and the same time.
Then 1t was that Barbara rose in the
strength of her practical wisdom ana
met the emergency with all of the char
acter that she had built up. Her aunt
was helpless, so Barbara took matters
into her own hands. She was nearly |
twenty years old then, and her capac-
tiles as q housekeeper had ripened |
through use until she felt mOdestly |
confident of herself Besides" she |
argued, "there is nobody else to do |
things if l don't"
She persuaded her aunt to take lit |
tie house with big sunny dining room,
and there she offered to the young /
bachelors of the town-in her aunt's !
name-better meals than they could |
get at the pretentious hotel, and she
charged them scarcely more than half |
the hotel rate.
One by one the best of the young men
i'm the town were drawn to Barbara's |