A CHRISTMAS JAUNT 



luctant cream and tea ? It was pleasant 

 to stroll up the village street, meet- 

 ing and greeting old friends, paying 

 visits here and there, and always re- 

 ceiving the courtesy, the hospitality, 

 the kind enquiries and seasonable com- 

 pliments in well-turned phrase which 

 never fail among these amiable people. 

 Evening brought a long gossip with 

 our good hostess about the difficulties 

 of life under modern conditions. With 

 eggs and beef, wood and poultry at 

 city prices, and the wages of chits of 

 girls who had to be looked after 

 from morning to night at such a pre- 

 posterous figure, how could one's pen- 

 sionnaires be accommodated to the sat- 

 isfaction of both stomach and pocket? 

 Before the subject of house-keeping was 

 exhausted we were both committed to 

 the attitude of praisers of days gone by, 

 and filled with distrust of the future, its 

 disturbing tendencies and varied per- 

 plexities. However, Madame 's piety 



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