Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-01-01
ALiHle BreadMaker

Dorothy had good reason for think
ing that her family was In sad strait.
Her mother was i'll, and the doctor had
said very decidedly that all she needed
| was perfect rest and that was absolute
| ly necessary. For Dorothy's mother
| to take perfect rest opened vista
of untold disasters for the remainder
| of the family They lived in primi-
tive little town where housewife was
a housewife, and Dorothy's mother was
a notable one. She made the best
bread in the world, and the serving
| maid never did it. 1t was town
where buying bread was held to be a
badge of shiftlessness, and the only
baker had very poor custom and de-
served no better.
Dorothy wondered blankly what her
father and her three older brothers
would do when they saw the article
Gretchen, the raw German girl, had
made and called bread - dark, fiat
slabs of material that could scarcely
be cut or bitten; and how could her
mother rest when she saw such bread
brought into her room? Dorothy was
ten and the most petted and spoiled Of
children, but the horror of the situa-
tion reused her to action. Her mother
could not be consulted. Two doors
from them lived Mrs. Dent. reputed to
be a cross-grained Individual, but an
excellent cook. -.
With fear and trembling Dorothy f.
nally presented herself at Mrs. Dents
back door.
Dorothy Douglas! Now what be
you wanting?" ....
81 want you = to tell me how to
make bread" gasped Dorothy.
Mrs. Dents difficult features relax
ed. do tell! Here, child, come right
in. If you've got good impulse, Ia
best foster it.! Likely it's first, ana
, maybe the last. Come = there's only
one way to learn, and that's by doing"
She took a big apron from some
where and draped it around Dorothy,
obliged her to wash her hands at the
sink. and had her 60 through all the
maneuvers of preparing her yeast ana
setting her sponge. Dorothy was more
than once on the verge OF tears, SO
sharp were Mrs Dents comments ana
criticisms, but she gritted her teeth
and spurred herself on with inward ad-
monitions until the ordeal was over.
"Now, tell me what you did"
Three times Mrs. Dent made her re-
peat what she had done, with no sign
of relaxing, then united the apron, In
structed her to appear the next morn
ing promptly, and dismissed her.
Dorothy prayed piteously that night
for courage to face Mrs. Dent again,
rather doubling that 1t would be
granted to her. But she found herself
inside Mrs. Dents kitchen again next
morning, valiantly struggling to follow
instructions relative to getting the
flour into the sponge, and endeavoring
to repeat satisfactorily what she had
already done. Later came the knead-
ing and the making into loaves, and
Mrs. Dent was relentless. Dorothy
knew one tear dropped right on top OF
a loaf and she could not see how the
fact escaped Mrs. Dent. She had to
repeat her lesson again and was De-
coming wonderfully glib at 1t.
At the next trip she had to regulate
the fire, put in her bread and Mrs.
Dent made her stay and watch it, oc-
cupying the time by having her repeat
forwards, backwards, and upside down
all she knew about bread making
"There are lots of ways Of making
bread, but this is good rule, and If
YOU stick to it your bread will never
fail you = never! Queer your ma
never showed you how to make bread.
"she said I. should learn after q
while, and she hates to have anybody
puttering around in the kitchen
Certain. Anybody does. But I've
made out to put up with you = turn
your bread around"