338 



THE AMERJCAN IlKK KKEPEU. 



Koremher 



WHEN MUIHER GETS TEA. 



When on <'i Sunday afternoon 



The children are away 

 And wife sind I at hoir.e alone, 



She'll look at n^e and say : 

 "We'll let the servan.s ail go out. 



When only you and HiS 

 Are loft, just as I u.sed to do, 



I'll get your Sttnday tea." 



And so we watch them as they go, 



The maids in ribbons try, 

 Btitler and cook and all the rest 



Depart in brave array, 

 And when the last has disappeared 



I rttb my hands in glee 

 And say, "Now, Maiy, for old timcsl" 



And "mother" gets the tea. 



Stand back, each Jane and Bridget, 



And hicie youi' blushing face! 

 If you corad only cook like this, 



"i'ou'd ni.ver lose a place!" 

 Sucli oysters and such omelets, 



Cliicken and toast— ah, me, 

 How hai ].y 'twas when, long ago. 



She always got the teal 



Those good old days, when we w-ere pofir 



And boys- and giiis weie sn.all! 

 Since ther the Lord has prospered tis, 



While they've grown sliong and tall 

 And think they ought to have "more 

 style." 



Perhaps such things must be. 

 But still I'm longing for the days 



When "mother" [ ot the tea. 

 —Louise Edgar in Kew Yoi k Independent. 



VACATION IN FOG. 



Biggs came iuto the office with an air 

 of not caring '..ho Luew it, and RigijS 

 said to him: ' \vhat, lack from yoi r 

 vacation so soon? A little earlier than 

 you exi^ected, isn't it?" 



"Yes, I am lack earlier than I ex- 

 pected, " Biggs answered, "and I don't 

 want yon to ask me what 1 came back 

 for either. ' ' 



"Well, I won't ask yon," said Riggs 

 soothingly "What is it to me?" 



"I came tack to get warm," said 

 Biggs, ' ' if yon must know. ' ' 



"I don t want to know," said Riggs. 



"Isn't it enough," said Biggs, "to 

 have everyl ody, from the proprietor of 

 my hotel to the elevator man here in 

 the bitildinir. worrying me about what 

 I came bad for?' ' 



' ' It seems as if it ought to be enough, ' ' 

 said Riggs. 



But it appeared that Biggs really 

 ■wanted to tell, and as soon as the two 



starred fer i.nrhecut tcgcthtr he began 

 of his ov. n accrrd. "1 ahvavs said, " he 

 bef:an, "thnr Kew York was the best 

 place to Lc in the .sr.mn)er. It may 3 

 pretty hot sometimes, but New York is 

 better i:rei i.i-ed to stand hot weather 

 than any other city in tlie world. And 

 so with JV^anhattan Beach and Long 

 Branch and the highlands close at 

 hand. I always thought that the bother 

 of going far for a vacation was more 

 than it was worth, and 1 seldom went. 

 But this ypar my cousin Polly wrote to 

 me how n.nely it was doA\Ti on the 

 coast of New Tngland where she is 

 staying, with 20 girls in the hotel to OM 

 man, and how much she wanted me t( 

 come down, and finally I went down. 



"I don't 1 now what I wanted to g<. 

 for. It wasu't uncomfortable here. Th< 

 night I got there 1 nearly froze to deat-i 

 sitting on the piazza. Polly said thij 

 wind was a little fresh, even for thai 

 place, but 1 orght to have been thera 

 the week before, when the stonn was 

 and when they all went out with their 

 winter clothes and rubber boots on to 

 see the wa^i-'S, and the fishermen .said 

 there hadn't been anything like it be- 

 fore since 1873. But the wind was 

 blowing of) i::iles an hour right then, 

 and that was enough for me. 



' ' The next morning I put on a fresh, 

 clean outing suit, just as if I had ex- 

 pected sumnier weather. It was a beau- 

 tiful suit that I bought on pmpose to 

 ■v\'ear do\^Ti there, and Polly said she 

 was proud of me, though she was a lit- 

 tle airaid I might get pneumonia. Evi- 

 dently she was \ rov.d of me, or of the 

 suit, or something, for all that day she 

 just took me aroi nd and showed me to 

 the other girls. I didn't know another 

 soul in the place, »o ^he had me all to 

 herself, and it really was worth some- 

 thing to see how liappy she was when 

 she looked rt the other girls. 



"You'll i.ie of modesty some time," 

 said Rifx:s. "You orght to do some- 

 thing for it. " 



"Itwasnt altogether so easy show- 

 ing me to tiie other girls either, " Biggs 

 went on, "Icr the leg was thick (uovgh 

 all that day to boil jotatoes in, cnly 

 the air dicji't suggest Loiliug at all. 

 But Polly said that this weather was 

 unu.sual. the had been here two .sum- 

 mers before, and sometimes it was al- 

 most warm. Iihe thoutjht that so much 



