The Democratic advocate., 1907-02-01


ness and my tact is governing, things would
be different at the present day.
Mrs. Flint, left at home, summoned the
housekeeper
"Ilearn that my husband has given you
IA week S notice. she said.
eyes, ma am"
els it your wish to leave us p
"Oh, no, Mrs Flint; I don't know
where I can find another place, and l
have to pay my little girls board out of my
wages
'r believe there is considerable work to
be done here, is there not p
eyes, indeed, great deal. And then
Mr.. Flint is so peculiar. He wants every
thing done just so. And that's why I'm
sorry to go just as you come-I know you
are easy to please. -
How do you know that?
"By your FACET looks SO good natured.
Major Flint says, ma am, - she continued
hesitatingly, ''that I am to show you about
the work. But if you try to do it alone,
unused to hard work as you are, it will
make you sick
II think very likely it would, Mrs.
Burns. But have not the slightest idea
of doing the work. At all events, you
need not attempt to secure another situation
until you hear from me again. am very
confident she added, smiling, ''that if
Mr. Flint sends you away, Mrs. Burns, he
will be glad to take you back
The week passed quickly.
Mrs. Burns leaves tomorrow, said
the major, at the ea-table.
Then you have quite decided upon
it,"
Eyes, believe announced the fact to
you some days ago
II thought it possible that my object
ions might have weighed with you and in
duced you to change your mind
II never change my mind, said her
husband loftily.
But I warn you that | have very little
experience as a cook.
You can learn.
Perhaps may no cook to suit your
taste" she persisted.
THAT is my affair
Had he been aware of the plot forming
in the lady's fertile brain, he might not
have felt SO confident in regard to the
quality of his bread and butter; but he re
tired for the night all unconscious Of the
discipline to be meted out to him.
So the following morning Mrs. Burns
received her wages and was sent off. At
10 o clock the mark keting was brought
home. At the usual dinner hour Major
Flint made his appearance The table was
laid with more than its usual neatness.
Major Flint congratulated himself on this
fact as personal triumph on his part.
But he hardly felt so complacent when the
dinner came up. The beef was terribly
overdone; the vegetables, on the contrary
were not half cooked. In short, as Major
Flint disgustingly remarked, there was
nothing fit to eat on the table.
~ dare say, am not very good cook, -
said his wife.
With his appetite not half satisfied, he
rose from the table.
The following morning breakfast was
delayed more than half an hour, and when
it was ready it was scarcely eatable.
Major Flint was quite out of humor; but
in reply to his remonstrances his wife said:
81 warned you that | might not cook to
suit your taste.
And 80 matters deteriorated rather than
improved. The tea and coffee prepared
by his wife were nauseating to him, while
the bread was not only sour but hard and
clammy, requiring considerable effort to
masticate it. And what rendered it all the
more exasperating was that, no matter how
inferior in quality or distasteful to himself,
his wife professed her inability to discover
any fault in what was prepared for the
table, protesting that it just suited her
taste. The following day Major Flint
seated himself at the dinner table, his mind
filled with various emotions. He was grow
ing thin, he felt sure; not decent meal had
he eaten for three days.
''This woman will be the death Of me
as sure as fate!'' he said to himself, gazing
at the food placed before him.
Here was rich, juicy steak that he
| himself had selected and sent from the
market, and after all his instructions as to
how it should be broiled, it was shockingly
overdone-in fact, almost burned to crisp;
his wife, meantime, partaking of it with
great apparent relish.
"What taste that woman must have!"
he said to himself.
II have made you an extra cup of tea
today" said the lady opposite, handing him
the cup with his dessert.
Hitherto Mr.. Flint had been very par
ticular in regard to his cup of tea at des-
sert, insisting that it should be brought to
the table both strong and hot. Had the
tea been prepared to his taste it would
have soothed somewhat the riotous emo
tions within; but on the contrary, it was
miserably weak, quite lukewarm and brack-
ish. He took one sip at the tea and then
set the cup down forcibly on the table, his
face expressing his disgust.
Madam glanced up at him from under
her long eyelashes, slipping from her cup
industriously, that her facial muscles might
not betray the amusement she felt.
II knew you would think the tea ex-
cellent," she said.
This was too much. His rage and dis
gust fairly boiled over.
''Tea, madam, teal he roared. ''Do
YOU call that abominable stuff tea p
Excellent, is it? Excellent
cit is excellent, said madam, sweetly.
':Mamma taught me how to make tea
when
The Major had stood it for three whole
days, but flesh and blood could endure it
no longer. Not waiting to hear more he
Jumped to his feet and rushed into the hall.
uora bo So;,ad b;s hat in both hands