The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1922-12-21
The Ambition of
Letitia
BY JANE OSBORN
90 by Mcclure Newspaper syndieateJ

twelve, and had served right appTen-
tlceship under Mrs. Dawson for six
years. Mrs. Dawson had died and, as
Grandmother Dawson was by this time
disposed TO remain In her easy chair,
the entire tasks of housekeeping had
then fallen to Letitia. This meant do
ing the cooking, cleaning, washing and
mendlng for the lndolent Grandmother
Dawson, Mr.. Dawson the widower, and
Tom Dawson.
Mrs. Dawson had called Letltla her
"hired girl" She had rescued the
little girl from the county poor house
after the death OF her widowed moth
er, though II may have been u ruscue
more In name than In fact. Since
Mrs. Dawson's death Mr.. Dawson paid
Letltia meager wage, but one con.
siderably greater than the pin money
allowed by Mrs. Dawson.
1t was as "Dawson's hired girl" that
Letitia was generally known In the
community. However, there was no
special social line drawn between her
and her employers. she sat beside
the same lamp with them, reading or
mending ON winter evenings. She ate
at the table with them, jumping up,
of course, every few minutes to get
fresh supplies from the kitchen.
1t was one chilly evening In Octo-
ber. Grandma Dawson had retired
and Letitia sat with her mendlng in
her lap, while Father Dawson read
I gb bn nhe ttsa. fnfl
| ly over the table where he was work
! ing out problems In his correspond
ence course In scientific farming. Sew
eral times Detitia had looked up
! opened her mouth TO speak and had
| then remained silent.
After three or four false starts she
managed to say: "There Is some
thing | was wondering thought per-
haps, If II was just the same to you,
maybe now, since I'm getting 10 be
older and nll--that maybe you'd Just
as soon call me n housekeeper instead
Of hired girl. If you'd just drop II
that l was the housekeeper then other
folks would get the habit"
Letitla looked up and for a painful
moment her eyes met those OF Tom
Dawson, eyes that were flashing with
indignation. Apparently embarrassed
at meeting Letltla's glance, his eyes
dropped and his tanned face red
dened.
II don't see why you should be so
vexed with me, Tom, for asking,
Letltia said. resuming her darnlng fu.
riously.
~ wasn't vexed with you, Lefty. l.
but II doesn't make any difference,
suppose"
Mr.. Dawson had been cogltutlng the
situation. He ended by laughing and
looking amused over his reading
glasses at Letltla.
$50 you want to be called a house
keeper, do your Well for myself
don't see any difference between a
hired girl and a housekeeper. No dis
grace in either. What you been read
ing, Lefty, to put such notions into
your headf
Nothing" snapped Letitia. "And
you don't have to do II II you don't
want to- Only / want you to know
that my folks were as good as any
In the county. My father was a par
son and my grandfather had as big Q
farm as thls-and 1t would have beer
mine, too, II he hadn't sold II to buy
bum oil stock, or something"
Letltia said she had not been read
ing anything to put new Ideas into hei
head, but this was not quite true
Letltia had invested In book. on eti
quette--an elaborate volume tina
opened up undreamed-of worlds o.
luxury and ceremonlous living to her
She read It eagerly, and now sh'
knew by rote the duties OF butler, foot
man, lady's maid, first gardener sec
ond gardener and the rest. She dwell
with especial interest on the para
graphs dealing with housekeepers.
They wore no aprons, were permit
ted to wear silk dress In the after
! noon. provided It was hlgh-necked
They were addressed as Mrs or Mis-
to distinguish them from regula
servants, and they ate their meals II
, their sitting room-brought up on /
. tray by one OF the maids. They car
ried the keys to the supply closets, ha'
the hiring OF less important servants
paid of household bills, kept guest
! and, where that work was not don
, by the butler. took instructions TO
meals from their employers.
, Letitia's ambition was TO be house
keeper. She thought with satisfaction
Of herself as a mlddle-aged person i
a stlff black silk frock. eating In soil
tary grandeur In her private slttln
room. But she could not become s
important n parsonage all In one day
She must work up to such heights
The rudlments of housekeeping sh
had learned from her service wit
, the Dawsons The fiOurlshes she mus
learn by experience In more preten
tious households.
|, She had definitely decided TO g
to the city and apply at an employ
! ment agency for position as a house