Middletown transcript., 1908-03-14
THE MIRACLE OF THE L0AyEs
By ANNIE HAMILTON D0NNELL

was a kind chance that brought
it ell about just at the right time.
Mercy, my bread It must be
burned to a cind-
It was baked to a delicate
golden brown ! The dainty loaves
were puffed up, dimpled, beauti-
full. A warm, delicious odor.
gently buffeted Barbara's face.
Oh! Oh breathed she, in de-
light. Oh, its perfect! It's mag
nifcentl
1t was exactly the right time to-
take it out. Barbara took it out
and sat on the floor with it in
her lap. It burned through to
her knees, but she wanted to be
burned. She was in her first
rapture of success: It was such
beautiful, beautiful bread She
kept leaning down to sniff the
delicious odor, to admire the puff
ness and delicate BROWNIES, to
be proud of it.
Barbara had never been proud
before of anything that came out
ofthat oven. Burned things, raw
things, heavy, fat, unsightly
things had come forth in a steady
procession a dreary, dismal pro
cession. But here-here were
two golden-brown, puffy won
derful things She saw them,
felt them, smelled them!
You beauties! You darlings !!
exulted Barbara. l could kiss
you And to think you are mine!
What will father and the boys
say? Oh, ! can hardly wait for
supper-time
But the thoughtof supper.time
raised thoughts Of the cake baked
that morning and the scorched
apple sauce. Suddenly it ap-
peared to Barbara as sacrilege
that this beautiful bread should
be served with anything less per-
feet than itself. With soggy
cake and scorched apple sauce
bah! Never! Barbara scrambled
to her feet and deposited her
loaves tenderly on thetable. She
went into the pantry and brought
out her drearY cake, and set it
beside them. The contrast APP
palled her.
Never! she cried, setting her
lips together hard. They've got
to match better than that. III
try another rule of cake, and
wen see Anybody that can
make bread like that She
\ laughed softly to herself.
She was stranger to this new
enthusiasm that possessed her,
and the pleasant tingle of it sent
1.-THE color to her cheeks. When
/ had she ever wanted to cook any
thing before! Sam would laugh
at her and Rich and JEFF say teasy
things, and her patient father
| why, how it would please him
And save his life, too, perhaps,
and all their lives. They were
all of them starving by inches.
Well, let them wait-let them
see tonight.
Barbara's mother had beer
away at the hospital more than a
month, mending slowly from 8
broken hip. The accident had
happened while she was on 8
shopping trip, and she could moi
be brought home. Barbara had
come home from boarding school
to "take care" of father and the
boys.
Good luck cake would be q
tgood rule to make; it sounded
propitious Barbara got together
her materials and went earnestly
to work. She remembered as
she followed directions with much
painstaking that she had never
made cake just this way before
1t had not seemed worth while tt
bother much with rules she hae
scrambled sugar and eggs and
butter together hurriedly, to gei
, it over with. Perhaps Barbars
was honest perhaps that was
what had been the matter with
her cake.
The first trial of good luck CAKE
belied its name 1t was a distinc
Improvement on the morning
loaf, but it did not match tht
, beautiful bread. With all heI
care Barbara had left out th,
cream of tartar, and the soda
! left twinless, refused to do ths