The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-01-21


nasty.
The gentleman who built this
house, she explained, ''had already
grown rich in the manufacture Of the
famous ribless umbrella before he &C
quired second fortune from a nos
trum warranted to cure dyspepsia. He
was Unfortunately fond OF pies, and in
order that this form of pastry might
never be absent from his home, he had
a special pantry built to which he
might adjourn at his pleasure without
any fear Of finding the cupboard bare"
She led the way through the buffers
pantry and into a small cupboaPded
room adjoining the table linen closet
AT her command the butler threw open
the doors and disclosed lines of shelves
SO arranged as to accommodate In the
most compact and orderly form imag
Unable several dozens of pies. These
pastries. in the pans as they had come
from the oven peeped out invitingIy.
Miss Octavia explained their presence
In her usual impressive manner.
's1t was one OF the conditions of the
sale OF this house to me by the origi-
nal owners executors that the pie
vault should be kept filed at all times,
whether am in residence here or not
ne AS&L &k0AIIy 1uuODICu " que AOI lie
success OF the dyspepsia cure. It had
vvidened and steadily increased the
market for the cure. and pie was to
him a consecratnd and sacred food. It
was his habit to eat pie every night
before retiring. and on the nightmares
thus inspired he had planned the STRAIT
egg of all his campaigns against dys-
peps1a. The man had elements OF
greatness, and these shelves are
monument to his genius. In order to
keep peHfect my title to this property
1t is necessary for me to maintain
pastry cook, and as do not myself
care greatly for pie the total output
is distributed among the people of the
neighborhood every second day. The
station agent at Bedford ls heavy
consumer, and a retired physician at
Mount Kisco has standing order for
dozen a week. My niece Hezehah,
of whom you have heard me speak, is
partial to a particular type Of pie, and
one only. 1t is the gooseberry that de-
lights Hezek1R1's palate, and under G
in file 8, in the corner behind you,
there is even now a gooseberry pie
that shall send to Hezekiah. who, for
reasons I need not explain, does not
now visit here
"But the dyspepsia man-you speak
of him as though he were dead"
your assumption is correct, Mr..
Ames. The builder Of Hopedeld died
only n few weeks after he had estab-
nshed himself La this house. Having
entered upon the enjoyment Of his
well earned leisure and made it IN
necessary that he should ever go pie
less to bed. he gave himself up for
fortnight to a mad indulgence in me-
ringues and died after great suffering,
steadily refusing his own medicine to
the end"
We still fingered in the pie crypt
after this divert1ng recital, while Miss
Octavia entertained me with her views,
on pies.
:s.Fhe soul color Of pies varies great
~. Mr.. AInes- It has always seemed
to me that apple. pie stands for the
homeler virtues Of our civilization. 1t
b substantial, nutritious and filing. 4
The custard and lemon varieties are
feminine and do not, perhaps for that
reason, appeal to me. Cherry pie at
It's best is the last and final expression
OF the pie genus, and where cooks
have been careful in eliminating the
seeds and the Juice hasn't made sod
den dough of the crust a cherry pie
meets the SONS highest demands. In
the gooseberry 1 ind a certain raci-
ness or, If / may use the expression.
zip, that Is highly stimulating. Both
qualities you will observe in Hezekiah
if you come to know her well"
81 have already formed high opin-
ion of Miss Hezekiah. and l should
deal harshly with any one who VEN
tured to cr1ticise her in any particu-
Iar,'' replied.
"WilI you kindly inform me just
when you made the acquaintance of
my younger niece2 should greatly
dislike to believe you guilty of dis
stimulation, but when Hezekiah was
mentioned in the gun room last night
your silence led me to assumeH that
she was wholly unknown to you
"fShe was, I assure you, at the din
ner hour last night. But I met her
quite by chance this afternoon in an
orchard at no great distance from
this house,.
Miss Octavia paused in the hall and
bent her head in thought for a mo-
ment.
May I inquire whether she referred
in any way to Mr.. Virgins in this in
terview 90
''She did, Miss HOLSTER replied
And I could not help Smiling as I re-