1899 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
759 
A Two-Ouart Pail Mystery. 
“I’m that pestered that I can’t put my 
hand to a thing, an’ I dunno when I’ll 
get settled in my mind. Jason Hobbs’s 
dogs been at my chickens? No, sir, an’ 
I’d just like to see them do it. I ’tend 
strictly to my own affairs in this neigh¬ 
borhood, an’ I’ll thank other people to 
do the same an’ their dogs likewise. I 
didn’t sleep of much account on Sunday 
night because of a crick in my knee— 
runs in my family to have rheumatiz— 
an’ so long ’bout daylight Monday morn¬ 
ing, I got up an’ set at my front window 
a-looking up an’ down the street. Mon¬ 
day’s washtime day, you know, and on 
account of Aunt Kate’s being with us 
our’n was larger ’n usual, so I called our 
hired girl so’s she could get a good batch 
of it out of the way before the men folks 
turned up for breakfast. 
“Miss Jones, across the way from us, 
is awfully shiftless about her washin’. 
Don’t remember as I ever seen it out till 
late in the afternoon. Well, it ain’t 
none of my business, you know, an’ my 
motto’s always tend to your own busi¬ 
ness an’ don’t meddle with others. But 
then some people are always mixing up 
in other people’s business. Oh, yes, 
about Monday morning. Well, you’d 
never guess so. As I sot there at my 
front window about five o’clock I see 
Miss Hawkins, she that was Miss Smith, 
you know, a-coming out of her house 
four doors down the street. Now, says 
I to myself, ‘What is Miss Hawkins 
a-doin’ up at this hour? Perhaps she’s 
a-doin’ her own work.’ Then I remem¬ 
bered that I’d seen her Jane washing 
down the steps on Saturday, an’ I didn’t 
believe she’d leave her on Sunday. Miss 
Hawkins was all dressed deliberately 
like, an’ I know from that an’ from her 
way of walkin’ that she wasn’t on no 
doctor’s errand. Besides, she ain’t got 
no family except Mr. Hawkins, an’ he’s 
healthy as a horse an’ always was from 
a child. Being as I was in the front 
window I couldn’t help taking notice of 
Miss Hawkins. She jus’ walked over 
across the street, with something on her 
arm, to the Ferguson’s, an’ she knocked 
on the front door. Miss Ferguson stuck 
her head out of the second-story win¬ 
dow—an’ I want to say that she’s a sight 
without her false front on—an’ she said 
something to Miss Hawkins, which I 
couldn’t hear, though I opened the win¬ 
dow. Miss Hawkins, she just nodded an’ 
went around to the side door. ‘Prob¬ 
ably Miss Hawkins has run out of coffee 
or baking powder,’ thought I, ‘an’ she 
wants some for breakfast. But why 
should she wake her neighbors up at 
that hour? She must a knowed it last 
night, an’ she might have sent her 
Jane.’ 
“Miss Hawkins stayed at Miss Fergu¬ 
son’s more’n half an hour, gossiping 
about her neighbors like as not, an’ 
when she came out she still had some¬ 
thing hanging on her arm which I 
couldn’t make out. I never saw such 
things in this neighborhood, an’ I’ve 
lived here 10 years. Miss Hawkins, she 
just walked home. Well, ’long ’bout 10 
o’clock I thought I’d make some dough¬ 
nuts like Miss Hawkins makes, an’ I 
went over to her house to find how she 
made them. ’Most any woman would be 
tickled to death to have an old cook like 
me asking ’em how to make things. Miss 
Hawkins didn’t let on that she was 
pleased, if she was. She’s kinder stuck- 
upish, any way. After she told me about 
the doughnuts I thought I’d lead up to 
seeing her this morning, an’ I said: 
“ ‘Seen Miss F'erguson lately? I heard 
she wasn’t feeling well.’ 
“ ‘Seen her this mornin’.’ she said, ‘an’ 
she was all right. You must excuse me 
now.’ 
“That was all the satisfaction I got, 
an’ I made up my mind I’d never ask 
Miss Hawkins to help me keep a secret 
so long as I live, never! I took a fancy 
to git up early Tuesday morning, and 
just as I got to the window I see Miss 
Hawkins a-comin’ out of her house with 
something on her arm. She went down 
to Meeker’s this time an’ rapped on the 
side door. Miss Meeker must have been 
asleep, for the hired girl let her in, an’ 
a sloppy-looking creature that Swede 
girl is. I dunno how some people stand 
such girls around. ’Taint none of my 
business, anyway! Well, Miss Hawkins 
stayed out at the Meekers’ more’n half 
an hour. She ain’t never been friendly 
with Miss Meeker since they disagreed 
at mission meetin’, an’ I know she 
wouldn’t borrow a pinch of salt from 
her, let alone coffee. Moreover, Miss 
Hawkins never was much of a hand to 
exemplify the good Samaritan, an’ I 
was clean stumped to know what took 
her gallivanting around the neighbor¬ 
hood at that hour. Not that it made any 
difference to me, you know, but she 
might come to my house some morning 
at that hour, an’ I’d like to know what 
she might be coming after. Miss Haw¬ 
kins had something on her arm when 
she went home. She ain’t on the com¬ 
mittee to collect clothing for the African 
Mission, ’cause she wouldn’t serve, an’ I 
know she wasn’t doing anything of that 
sort at that hour. Didn’t seem likely 
that she would be borrowing coffee two 
mornings running, ’cause she is proud, 
and Hawkins is well fixed anyway. I 
just couldn’t figger it out, and when I 
made a sociable call on Miss Meeker 
that afternoon and asked if she had 
seen Miss Hawkins lately, saying that 
I heard she was ill, Miss Meeker said she 
saw her that morning, an’ she was as 
well as could be. Now, I couldn’t ask 
Miss Meeker why Miss Hawkins had 
called, ’cause I believe in ’tending to my 
own business. 
“This mornin’ bein’ Wednesday, I got 
up about five o’clock to do some sewin’, 
an’ as I looked out of my window along 
came Miss Hawkins again with some¬ 
thing on her arm, an’ she walked right 
past my house to the Johnsons’. She 
stayed there 20 minutes, and when I see 
her coming back I went out to meet her 
neighborly like. 
“ ‘Good mornin’, Miss Hawkins,’ said 
I, when she reached our house, ‘you are 
out early, aren’t you?’ 
“ ‘An’ so are you,’ said she, a-trying to 
hide what she had on her arm. 
“That got my spunk up, though of 
course I didn’t care what Miss Hawkins 
was a carryin’, but I thought I’d see for 
the fun of it. So I said: 
“ ‘Miss Hawkins, I’ve been that trou¬ 
bled with a tooth all night, I couldn’t 
sleep. Would you please see if there is 
a hole in it?’ ‘Certainly,’ said Miss 
Hawkins, an’ then I felt pleased. She 
had to come up close, an’ she couldn’t 
hide what was on her arm. I was so dis¬ 
appointed when I did see it that I could 
have cried. I never did like Miss Haw¬ 
kins, anyway. I don’t believe in inter¬ 
fering with other people’s affairs in the 
least. Not me! But I do like neighbor¬ 
ly people, an’ I ain’t been able to do a 
stroke of work to-day thinking of it. 
You’d never guess what Miss Hawkins 
was a-carrying, an’ you would still be 
guessin’ if you’d seen it. That’s what 
bothers me. I like to be sure of things. 
What’d she have? Well, of all things! 
She was carryin’ a two-quart-pail-with- 
a-cover-on-it! There, I knew I’d sur¬ 
prise you. I’m that weak to-day that I 
must go home an’ get a little tea. Peo¬ 
ple in this neighborhood say I drink too 
much tea, but then they are too curious. 
Yes, it was a two-quart-pail-with-the- 
cover-on!”—New York Sun. 
The Overtrained Daughter. 
In our struggle for brain-education, 
in which to some extent heart-education 
and character-building are being over¬ 
looked, it seems that all things are 
judged from the standpoint of book 
knowledge, says the Woman’s Home 
Companion. Hence the daughter, often 
college-bred, feels a certain unacknowl¬ 
edged contempt for the acquirements of 
the seminary or high-school educated 
mother, who plays her “pieces” in the 
old-fashioned unemphasized style, and 
MOTHERS.—Be sure to use “Mrs. Wins¬ 
low’s Soothing Syrup” for your children 
while Teething. It is the Best. — Adv. 
who painted portraits of the whole fam¬ 
ily after a year’s instruction. The 
daughter knows that music and art are 
to be approached only by those who 
will give life-long devotion to them. 
Holding these false ideals, therefore, the 
girl places herself a little above the 
mother, forgetting that in her experi¬ 
ence of people and things the mother 
possesses a knowledge which is not 
taught in schools, but which will be 
vastly more useful in the struggles with 
realities. 
It is not in one home, but in many, 
that we find the daughter calmly an¬ 
nouncing, “I don’t think you will care 
for that book, Mother.” The remark of 
a certain clever writer, “I can assure 
the most punctilious parent that there 
will be nothing in this article likely to 
shock the most carefully-brought-up 
grandmother in the world,” was writ¬ 
ten with an appreciation of the change 
which has taken place. A few years 
ago it was the “young person” who was 
shielded. 
While there is an amusing side to it 
all, the pathos is great, for there can be 
no sympathy between people whose 
tastes are so dissimilar. 
To keep in touch, therefore, with her 
daughter, the mother must be up to 
date. She must be interested in that 
which interests the younger mind. And 
she must not be dominated. Her self- 
assertion need not and should not be 
radical, but she must be queen of her 
own household, yielding her scepter to 
none, and especially not to her inexperi¬ 
enced daughter. 
IRON BEDS ALL SIZES $195 
q Iron Beds, white enam- 
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price $1.95. This is a 
specimen bargain of our 
Great Furniture Depai t- 
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e v e r y thing necessary 
for the furmshing of a 
home at 6J# less than 
retail prices. Our 3Ci 
Price $7.95 page Catalogue contains 
everything that you Use, Eat and Wear, and tells 
you the prices your dealer pays for his merchandise, 
and at these prices we will sell you. This booh is 
free. Address this way: 
JUJLIUS HINES A SOX, 
BALTIMORE, MD. Dept. 320 
emington 
Typewriters 
Render 
Reliable Service 
Wyckoff, Seamans & Benedict, 
The Value 
Of Reputation. 
A reputation based on half a century’s 
experience, dealing directly with the 
women of the family all over the world, 
is unique, and stimulates a worthy pride. 
The Singer Manufacturing Company 
aims to maintain its well-earned reputa¬ 
tion for fair dealing during all time. It 
is permanent, its offices are in every city 
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its machines can always be easily ob¬ 
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Sold on instalments. 
Old machines taken in exchange. 
The Singer Manufacturing Co., 
“ Sewing-Machine Makers for the World." 
SAVE HY? u . r FUEL 
'BY 
USING 
wasted up chimney. 
THE ROCHESTER RADIATOR. 
COST $3.00 AND UP. 
Money refunded if not satisfactory. 
Write for booklet on economy in heating 
homes. 
ROCHESTER RADIATOR CO., 
27 Furnace Street, Rochester, N. Y. 
THE EDISON 
GEM, $7.60. 
Edison Phonographs, 
iainer ever made. 
For our new catalogue 
,f machines and records, apply 
to any Phonograph dealer. 
Phonograph 
uses the same records as 
the higher-priced instru¬ 
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on the same sound princi¬ 
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The greatest home enter- 
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They are the most comfortable and will wear twice as long as others. “Bail-Band” 
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Sausage meat, Mince meat, Hamburg steak, Tripe, Hash, 
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THE ENTERPRISE MFG. CO. OF PA. f TH,R S,r TS - 
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