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1 synopsis.
J Codman anS her sister. Ixmlle, are
left orphans. Their property haa been
iwept away with the death of their fa
4 ther and they are compelled to caat about
' lor kri meana to earn a living. Lou-
lie answers an advertisement of an Inva
. lid who wants a companion.
CHAPTER III.
Secretary of Frivolous Affair.
' I know there's an all-wise Provi
8ence who directs the universe so
much better than we could do it, al
though sometimes ft seems that Prov
idence gets twisted; because the
things we aim at we don't get, and
the things we don't aim at we do get
, I came back from my interview
with the wealthy woman who was re
covering from nervous prostration and
. fust sat down and cried. She lived
ba a gilded prison on Commonwealth
avenue with all the windows tight
ihut for fear of drafts in the uncer
tain spring weather. No wonder she
lad nervous prostration. Anybody s
fcerves would shriek for air in that
place. Ia exchange for what she de
manded and knowing I had named
three thousand a year, she offered me
eight hundred with the reservation of
letting me go on two weeks' notice.
I began practicing tact on the spot
and left the matter pending; then I
rent out into God's sunshine, took
lome deep-sea breaths of the uncer
tain spring weather, and when I got
Sack home, poured out . the whole
cean thing on Jo's motherly bosom,
then well I've said it I sat down
and cried. I always do cry when I'm
angry.
I had hardly dried my eyes and
uras trying to get rid of the horrid
tear-streaks down my face I'm a
fright when I cry when the bell
angled and the postman came In with
a "special." I looked at the letter and
tor one wild Instant I though per
Haps the mine had been pumped dry.
Then I noticed that it was directed to
the Initials we had signed to the ad
rertlsement. The "special" was writ
ten from the Somerset, and I stood
there gazing Idiotically at the envel
ape, turning It over and over trying
to guess who it might be from like
every woman does, except Jo when
To 'came In and I ripped it open. I
looked at the name first, of course,
and. my knees gave way. I passed
the letter on to Jo.
"Maria Crowninshield Hazard!" she
exclaimed. She, too, had read the
tame first Jo is feminine after all.
'Mrs. Frederick Hazard!"
"Do you think it's actually true she
rants a companion?" I asked.
"Why not?" demanded Jo, and she
read the letter, which of course was
the only way to find out.
"I didn't know she lived at the
Somerset," I remarked, my mind
frasplng only tangible things.
"She's doing over her house. Her
laughter came out this winter. Surely,
you've seen about the reception next
week, presumably to announce an en
gagement?" "I do hope she doesn't want me for
t sort of sublimated lady's maid," I
cried.
"You certainly would be an accom
plished lady's maid," Jo replied sar
castically, and she was seldom sar
castic. "True." I laughed but Jo didn't.
The note was short and to the point,
but it had a cordial undertone that I
knew Jo liked. Mrs. Hazard wanted
me to telephone to her as soon as
the note reached me and arrange an
interview as quickly as possible. She
couldn't explain in a letter just what
she wanted, as her proposition was to
be rather Intricate and unusual, but
she thought from the tone of the ad
vertisement that I'd do. I had bor
rowed that about speaking French,
bridge, foot-ball, et cetera. I pon
dered over the "intricate and unus
ual," but in all the wild flights of my
Imagination I couldn't land on any
thing that seemed to be just that, un
less she wanted me to do all these
things. Gracious; I'd have to draw
the line at foot-ball and base-ball; I
could root, but
Now I've always denied that I had
nerves. I take it back. I'm sure I
wore a groove in the floor up and
down the hallway that afternoon be
fore she came. I couldn't Fit down
long enough to eat my luncheon, but
caught it in relays at the dining
room door each time I passed. Final
ly we heard the hum of a big car
you can always tell from the sound
when a car Is big which stopped,
snorted and stood still in front of our
place. Then -came the jangle of the
bell In just the space of time that it
would take a dignified old lady to get
from the car to the button.
I had searched stray newspapers
and magazines for a possible picture
of her, as much to kill tftne as to
satisfy an Impatient curiosity, but the
only one I could find was a snap-shot
In a Sunday newspaper, taken at a
charity bazaar, showing her with one
foot in the air and her mouth open. I
crumpled the paper and flung It Into
a corner much to Jo's disgust, for she
jyrliies herself on the neat way I've
IS
afrs Wirier
Illustrations by
V.LEARNZS
been brought up, but I kept thinking
of It as I heard the elevator going
down and then coming up again. I
giggled hysterically, and my mouth
was still stretched in a broad grin
when Mrs. Maria Crowninshield Hat
ard entered. It's another instance of
an all-wise Providence taking care of
us when we can't take care of our
selves, for she liked the smile I
knew it. from the way she smiled back
and squeezed my hand and from the
minute 1 looked into her beaming, fat
face it is fat and .I'll have to say so
I knew If she wanted me for lady's
maid I'd try to qualify for the job.
She examined first myself, then Jo
through her lorgnette, but I wasn't
one whit frightened; she looked so
motherly. j
"But which one is Miss Codman?"
she asked.
"I am Miss Codman Josephine Cod
man," Jo answered her, "but my sis
ter, Loulie, is the one you came to
see."
She looked me over again and a
thought struck me.
"If you want Jo," I said hastily, "it's
just the same. It's all in the family."
But I could see Jo a lady's maid.
Goodness!
"I want the one who speaks French,
bridge, foot-ball, base-ball, automo
bile and golf," she smiled. "It's an
experiment."
She sat down and waved the lorg
nette at the open window.
"I see you like fresh air that's
good, splendid!" She raised the lorg
nette and took in the room, the walls,
the pictures, the furniture that fur
niture Is all right. "Good taste," she
murmured; then she looked at us.
"You don't mind my being personal?
I have a delicate proposition to make
and i must be sure of myself and you
before I make it."
She got up and made an excursion
around the room, but it wasn't offen
sive or Jo's eyebrows would have
gone up; she examined the books and
noticed the music that lay open on
the piano. There was a copy of Men
delssohn's Rondo Capricioso, a book
of MacDowell's Woodland Sketches,
the Slumber Boat and a copy of the
latest rag. I would have enjoyed
kicking that rag into the waste-basket,
for I did want her to approve of
us.
"Varied taste in music," she remark
ed. "That's good, excellent!" Then
she sat down and her next question
was rather startling. "Do you really
understand base-ball?"
"I do, really," I answered. "I know
the game as well as Ty Cobb or Hans
Wagner, although they might think
different on the subject."
"It's an accomplishment so few
girls in society seem to care about,"
she sighed.
"Well, you see I am not in society,"
I hastened to explain.
The lorgnette went up! It was the
only pose she had, which wasn't a
pose after all. I think she always
made up her mind about a person
from what she saw, not from what
that person said. She finally chuckled
an odd way as if she were trying to
keep her laughter in, and it just
would come out. I really hadn't in
tended to be witty.
"And that brings me to a most im-
She Got Up and Made an Excursion
Around the Room.
portant question before we proceed,"
she said. "Who are you? Of course
you know who I am."
"Of course,'' both Jo and I. an
swered. Then I went on rather
breathlessly: "You were Maria Crown
inshield; you have only one country
place besides your town house, but
you have the test private golf course
in America; you are Interested In nu
merous charities; you will grant an
interview to a reporter in the middle
of the night if necessary, for fear the
poor fellow will lose hisob; you are
arrested for speeding now and then;
you dislike newspaper notoriety" I
confess I had to get my wind before
I could go on "your husband is dead;
your son is an 09, and came out of
Harvard with all sorts of honors." She
made a wry face; I knew they were
athletic honors. "He is nicknamed
Hap old Hap Hazard! Your daugh
ter made her bow to society this win
ter and you are doing over your town
house in the event of her rumored
marriage; you"
"Awful to be so important that one
gets Into the papers like that." She
chuckled and held up her hand for
me to cease. ' "Now, yourself. The
name is good-M3odman."
"We really ain't anybody in particu
lar Jo and I" I told her, "for you
see we've come down to making our
living. But our ancestors are all right
or were. My mother was a Step
toe" "Josephine Steptoe!" she inter
rupted, making the connection be
tween Jo's name and Steptoe she al
ways noticed trifles. "And your,father
was Joshua Codman? Good gracious!
Why I went to school with' your
mother, but I haven't thought of those
names for years."
"We've been rather out of sight for
years," I assured her, "although to be
exact we were never in sight. We
were never distinguished for anything
except being just good, sturdy stock.
Our financial downfall was not even
spectacular. We belong to the Coun
try club, but we've never been in the
Sunday newspapers."
"Thank heaven, you hare a sense of
humor!" She almost winked at me
through the lorgnette, or at least one
eye was curiously a-twlnkle. "You
really are exceeding my fondest hopes.
Now to business. I will tell you what
I want."
Which was what she came for, and
we had seemed to waste time in pre
limlnarles, although perhaps they
were necessary. In the light of all
that happened afterward I'm glad
she was at least sure of our ancestors.
She folded the lorgnette as if the In
spection were all over" and that part
satisfactory.
"As my proposition is somewhat un
usual," she went on, Vl'm at a loss
just where to begin or how to put it.
I've neer 'had a social secretary, al
though the newspapers have said I
have, because until now I've never
needed one." She held up a hand sud
denly. "It Isn't just that 1 want. I
remember distinctly you said compan
ion; and yet it is in a way, except en
tirely different."
I wanted to put out my hand and
say "snaKer l get mixea up mat
way myself but I sat still compress
ing my lips firmly or I'd have been
gazing at her with my mouth open.
"My daughter's coming out neces
sarily thrust me into a season; all the
usual things that make a girl know
she's out, or in, whichever way you
want to look at it; each particular
function, outshining another, and out
shining anything else anybody can
conceive. Now I've got to go through
a summer just as brilliant, but I'm
going to have help good intelligent
help, some one who can speak French,
bridge, and all those othet things;
some one to be my Secretary of
Frivolous Affairs.' She chuckled and
gave my hand a playful tap with the
lorgnette. "Society is like a coffee
pot it won't shine unless somebody
stands around with the polish always
ready to give it a rub."
"And you want me to stand around
with the polish?" I asked eagerly.
"Yes," she laughed. "Society, too,
gets in a rut. I want a sort of social
stick to stir it up."
"And you want me for the stick?"
"Yes, a sort of social guardian an
gel," she mused. .
"A sort of social doctor to adminis
ter the smelling salts," suggested Jo
from the window.
"Yes, a sort of social adjustable
peg, Airs, nazara nnisnea witn a
flourish.
It all sounded terribly exciting. I
sat up very straight, clasped my
hands In my lap most correctly and
felt awfully important with this social
vista stretching away before me. I
was to be the polish, the stick, the
guardian angel, the doctor, and the
adjustable peg! I couldn't help won
dering about that leading question I
think a lawyer would call It that
about base-ball, and how she was go
ing to dovetail that into the social
scheme of things unless she was go
ing to outdo monkey dinners and such
with a team of her own. I was sure
she'd make a dandy coach.
"A summer season in the country
is an awful thing to contemplate," she
went on. "It isn't like winter in town,
where customs are regulated. A house-4
party in the country is usually stupid.
People are fagged from the winter and
lack initiative. They must be amused
manipulated. Now I can hire sing
ers, or bridge players, or golf ex
perts; but if I had a singer I might
need a bridge player; and if I had
a bridge player I might need a golfer,
and so on. You can't talk bridge to
a golf fiend; anyhow, If I hired such
people they would be stiff and un
compromising and not at all what I
wanted. So when I saw your adver
tisement it really was the way you
put it, my dear I knew I wanted a
young, well-bred, well-educated, well
read, tactful girl, speaking French,
bridge, foot-ball, baseball, automobile
and golf, to settle down in the bosom
of my family and help me hold the
horses."
I sat there and held on to my chair,
wondering if I hadn't bitten off more
than I could chew, when up went her
hand suddenly, and I felt like the mo
ment In the play when you're afraid
it won't go on and you know it will.
"And now I have come to the part
that's Intricate and unusual."
Jo's eyebrows took on an astonished
slant, and my mouth Inelegantly
dropped open again. I snapped it shut
and propped my fist under it.
"My soc, hag started out to settle
his matrimonial future, and, of course,
he has started out wrong. My daugh
ter, although she has been off the mar
ket officially only a very short time
has started out the same way. She
Is all eyes and ears for a bucolic gen
tleman who runs a farm and dabbles
in literature on the side, although it
may be the other way round, dabbles
in the farm on the Bide. She really
doesn't know what she wants, and
she's such a butterfly it's In the
blood I guess that life with the bu
colic gentleman would spell disaster
in six months. Now, I want you for
a sort of social pace-maker for her,
Pace-maker I mentally added to the
list. "And you may be sure she won't
be blind to the eligible when she
sees them, fluttering around a candle
set directly under her nose."
"Oh!" I exclaimed, as if some one
had jabbed me suddenly with a pin
I kept thinking about the baseball
too. We seemed never to be coming
to that. "nd the son?" I asked.
'He's in love, or thinks he is, with
a girl six years older . than himself
and 'totally unsulted to him. And the
trouble is she's about to be in love
with him, for he's a perslsteat lover.
Perhaps opposltes attract; but they
don't keep out of the divorce courts
She's languid, ethereal, I believe it
is considered; anyhow, she hasn't
enough energy to brush away a mo
squito. She doesn't get up until noon.
has her coffee and rolls in bed; and
that's not the kind of wife I want for
my son. I poured the coffee for my
husband every morning of his life,
and I want to see my daughter do it
for her husband and my son's wife do
it for him. Moreover, she doesn't
know a baseball from a football, or
a foot-ball from a tennis ball, or a
golf-ball from any of them and has no
desire to learn: - Now, you've heard of
Hap?"
I nodded. Yes, I had heard of Hap,
and all those athletic honors he
brought out of Harvard.
"Why, he'd be neglecting her before
the year was out," she almost
moaned.
"So you want me " I began.
"I want you to put Hap on the right
track."
I looked at Jo's back. It had grown
rigid, like Mrs. Fiske's does when the
horrible moment comes, and I was
wondering where Mrs. Maria Crown
inshield Hazard would be when the
cyclone struck. "
"So you want me deliberately " I
began again. ' '
"Yes, my dear," Mrs. Maria Crown
inshield Hazard smiled as I paused,
a bit shocked. "I'm afraid that's what
I do want."
"But what shall I do with him when
I get him?" I cried., "I. haven't the
slightest wish to get married?"
"Good gracious!" exclaimed Mrs.
Hazard. "You don't have to marry
him! Just get him on the right track.
Get him turned around so he can see
other girls. There are plenty of oth
er girls, too, suited to him if he will
only turn around and look."
"Oh!" I breathed, relieved, and Jo's
back settled into place. "But per
haps I'm not capable of all that. I've
never had the least experience in
love."
"All the better," she answered
heartily.
"And perhaps, being a pace-maker,
and there being so many eligibles, I'll
come a cropper myself?"
She looked a little startled at that,
then she chuckled.
"Then again, perhaps not," she ar
gued. "You might pick a plum from
the social pudding. I've no objection."
She shook a forefinger playfully. "Bat
no dark corners while my social
things need attention. And you must
not hold me responsible for any lacer
ated affections."
I suddenly leaned back my head
and laughed.
"Oh, it's all too absurd," I cried,
"delightfully, dellciously absurd, and
if you think I'll do, why I'm just
crazy to start right in. I'm quite sure
I can take care of myself."
Then I remembered I hadn't asked
Jo what she thought about it, but I
ought to have known she wouldn't
have waited to be asked. Just then
she turned, and I saw an amused
crinkle around her gorgeous eyes.
And I knew something she was sure,
too, that I could take care of myself.
Jo's teaching has been sound and
good.
"As I want so much, I'm willing to
pay for it. But I am rather at a
loss " Mrs. Hazard looked first at
Jo. then myself tentatively, expecting
help.
I looked at Jo and my eyebrows
asked: "Three thousand a year?"
But Jo didn't even blink, and I had
to wade in alone.
"i expect so much," Mrs. Hazard re
minded me. "Up early, to bed late,
and on duty all the time?"
I took my plunge.
"Three thousand," I said quickly,
for fear I wouldn't get It out, and
choking a bit at that. Of course, I
meant a year.
"Well," she said, "if you do me a
good summer's work it's worth it."
Heavens! She had understood sum
mer! "And the two-weeks clause?" I ask
ed, feeling sure I was going to get a
bump somewhere. It all sounded too
good to be true. .
"Oh, there's no such thing. I can't
afford to lose you." After all, a clause
works both ways. "If you don't realize
my expectations, why It's my bad
judgment and I lose, but I've never
yet made a mistake in estimating a
person. Now, your clothes "
Yes, there it was! A good, sound
bump, too! A girl's clothes for a
summer traveling in that set would
make an awful hole In three thousand.
I just wanted to weep.
"I suppose," she reflected, "your
clothes will have to be profit and loss,
or stock In trade, or whatever you call
it when one starts in business. As
It's my business, I guess I'll have to
stock it. Besides, if 1 pny for them
I can dictate what you shall have.
You must always shine just a little
brighter than any one else."
I know I should have pinched my
self, and rubbed my eyes and won
dered if I had heard aright and all
those other things. What I did do
was to put out my hand, which she
took with a squeeae, while I said:
"You talk like a fairy godmother,
and I haven't the slightest doubt you
can change a pumpkin into a coach
and four, but if you want me to scrub
the kitchen, all you have to do is to
say so." .
She patted my cheek. I suppose she
knew she was buying my love and af
fection, but it was none the less sin
cere. Finally she put out her fat
hand to Jo.
"I'll take care of her," she promised
simply, and started for the door.
"Just one question," I Implored.
"Will your son and daughter have to
know the reason of me!"
"Not the real reason," she replied.
"To them you are to be Just a mem
ber of my cabinet Secretary of
Frivolous Affairs. I would never do
to handicap you by letting them know
you are to er manipulate them. And
do you know I'm rather looking for
ward to enjoying our little secret?"
"And the baseball?" I wanted to
know, suddenly remembering it.
"Oh, that's Hap's hobby .Just now.
Beginning of the season or something
of that sort. Talk it to him. It's the
quickest way to attract his attention;
the way I expect you to get him
turned around."
She chuckled in that odd way she
had, and when the door closed on her
somewhat stately, albeit portly, back
I fell on Jo's motherly bosom and had
another cry this time a cry of pure,
unalloyed joy. Aren't women silly?
Later that afternoon, on my way
down to see Mr.. Partridge to tell him
about the Aladdin's lamp I had
'You Might Pick a Plum From the
Social Pudding."
rubbed I felt I Just had to talk it
over with some one besides Jo I
dropped a letter in the box. It was
addressed to the gilded prison on
Commonwealth avenue, and although
the tone was far from rude Jo won't
stand for rudeness, even to a cat it
was so terse and direct you would
have, thought I was writing a tele
gram. I told her I hoped she would
have no trouble getting some one. I
wonder if she ever did?
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
Earning College Expenses.
Miss Florence McArdle, a senior at
Boston university, is in charge of the
girls' department of the students'
employment bureau. This year about
one hundred women students have
been supplied with work. Boston uni
versity was one of the first colleges to
realize the value of an employment
bureau for Its students.
Miss McArdle says that one of the
best ways for girls to work their way
through college Is to get Into a fam
ily where in return for performing
certain household duties they get
room, board, laundry and car fares.
Never before have so many girls been
working their way by this method as
this year, and the supply was not
equal to the demand. Miss McArdle
is working her way through college
and in return for a specified number
of hours at the bureau gets her tui
tion free. Before taking up this work
she had tutored,: done office work and
many other things to support herself
while getting education.
Vermonter's Failure.
'The inefficient are necessarily the
disobliging," said A. Munsey, apropos
of a political leader who had failed.
'A middle-aged failure got a sum
mer job in a Vermont general store
last month. A boy came in one morn
ing and asked him for half a pound of
melted maple sugar, the famous Ver
mont dainty, at the same time laying a
pot on the counter. ...
"The inefficient failure, without
weighing the pot first, ladled a lot of
the sticky syrup Into it, then, of
course, when he set the pot on the
scales, it went down with a bans.
Finally he ladled out all he could--
but, again, bang went, the scales.
"Then the man returned the bo?
the pot and said:
"Go back home and tell your ma,
sonny, we can't make a half-pound of
maple sugar."
. Remarkable.
Willia He is a remarkable man
and the best hod-carrier in the world.
Glllis No great glory In that.
Willis Ah, but he has never writ
ten a magazine article on hod-carrying,
nor delivered a Chautauqua lec
ture on bod-carrying, nor even done
a hod-ourying act in vauUvillo.
Puck,
ON'T go tryln' to put your arms
round a year: and don't kg
troubiln about next week.
When May Is gone of all the year the
pleasant time Is past.
BAKINQ DAY.
MoBt housekeepers who have allol
their own work to do, like to plan
their work in such a way that no time
will be lost waiting for things, and
each piece of work may, fit in and fol
low .without waste of time.
If the bread is set or sponged at
night it will be ready to mold into
a large loaf the first thing in the
morning. Then In an hour or two
it can be made into loaves and baked
before noon. When making steamed
brown bread, get it made and steam
ing immediately after breakfast,' then
it may. be ready for the noon meal,
after it has dried off in the oven for
a half hour.
Pfeffer Neusse. Mix and sift to
gether one cup of sugar, two cups of
flour, half a tablespoonful of cinna
mon, a fourth of a tablespoonful ol
cloves, mace, nutmeg and a teaspoon
of baking powder; add the grated rind
of a lemon, a fourth of a cup of
chopped citron and three beaten eggs.
Make in balls the size of a hickory
nut and bake on a buttered paper un
til a golden brown. .
Raisin Brown Bread. Take one cup
ful each of rye meal, granulated corn-
meal, graham flour; add three-fourths
of a teaspoonful of soda, one and a
half teaspoonfuls of salt, three-fourths
of a cup of molasses, one and three
fourths cups of milk or water and a
cup of chopped raisins. Steam in ba
king powder cans well buttered for
three hours.
If materials and utensils are close
at hand in cooking, much time may
thus be saved. Have plenty of the .
small and useful utensils that are
used every minute in cooking within
reach.
Clean up as you go along, putting
back the box of baking powder well
covered, as soon as it is used. Place
the spoons and small utensils, egg
beater and such things, In a bowl or
pitcher, pouring over cold water to
soak them. When they are to be
washed they will be done in half the
time.
Clean wash dresses and aprons are
best for all kinds of housework, and
especially for cooking.
F PANSIES with their dark,
impassioned faces,
Had but been given the power of human
speech,
What Is the lesson that, from lowly
places,
Each tender, fragrant voice to us would
teach?
Perchance, In tones like tinkling dewdropa
sighing.
What their lives tell, their velvet lips
would say: t
"Forget life's trials that are round thee
lying,
And be the brightest in the darkest
day."
CHEAPER MEAT.
It is interesting to note the methods
of serving meats and the variety of
prices charged for the same cut. One
feels that twenty-five cents a pound
for calf's liver is almost prohibitive,
yet we notice in other places it may
be bought for ten to fifteen cents a
pound.
One must study the home market,
and by pricing the different cuts learn
what the prices are for flank, chuck,
shoulder piece, neck and round steak.
Brisket and hock are used for stews
and soup. Shank for stewing and
soup, and four ribs which may be used
for roasting. By usin a small
amount of meat, which gives flavor
to the dish, one may cut the cost of
meat. Hamburg steak or chicken
mixed , with macaroni and baked
makes a good substantial dish with
very little meat.
Beef Loaf. Take two pounds of
hamburg steak, mix with half a cup
of crumbs, season with salt, pepper,
onion juice; add two well beaten eggs,
three tablespoonfuls of sweet cream,
form Into a loaf, place in a deep pan,
fill the pan two-thirds full of beeping
water, lay slices of bacon over tho
top, then put peeled potatoes into the
pan and bake until the potatoes are
done. Serve with the gravy in the
pan slightly thickened.
If liver is reasonable in price, cook
it, after parboiling in bacon fat or
with a slice or two of bacon or salt
pork. After frying, remove the bacon
and liver, add a little flour and milk
and water to make a nice smooth
gravy.
Bullock Ran Amuck.
Some excitement was caused in
Wexford (Ireland) the other day, by
the vagaries of a bullock, which ran
amuck. The animal took refuge in the
house of a man named Murphy and
climbed the stairs and entered a bed
room. It demolished a large bed and
other articles, and then took a "head
er" into the street twelve or fourteen
feet below, bringing with it the win
dow frame and sashes. It escaped in
to the harbor, and swam about for a
considerable time before it was cap
tured by means of boats.
i