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THE MYSTERY SOLVED. 
“Why, bless me, Katie, wliat a solemn face! 
What is the matter, child? ” 
“Matter enough, I should say. Norali has gone 
home—her mother is sick and sent for her; and what 
am I to do about the dinner? I never cooked a meal 
in my life, and Harry will be sure to come home half- 
starved.” 
“ Is that all, dear? Well, well, Aunt Ellens are 
handy creatures to have around sometimes. Take my 
bonnet and shawl, and get me a large apron (because 
this is my new alpaca), and I will show you about the 
dinner. Thank you, dear. This apron will do nicely. 
While you were getting it, I went to the cellar, to see 
what was there. Here is the tough end of a beef¬ 
steak, some cold mashed potatoes, and a few apples.” 
“But, Aunt Ellen, that won’t make dinner for 
three; for, of course, you must stay. Oh, dear! Love 
in a cottage is very nice; but you can't eat it. ” 
“ How, Katie, we’ll make what I call a Brown Stew. 
Cut this meat in very thin slices. Put a frying-pan on 
the stove, and put in a small piece each of butter and 
lard. How it is very hot, put in your meat; sprinkle 
with pepper, salt, and flour; stir it around till it is 
quite brown; pour in a quart of hot water and let it 
simmer for about two hours, and you will—both you 
and Harry—like it, or I am mistaken. Bring me two 
eggs, please. While I am beating them, you beat this 
bowl of potatoes a little. Then add the eggs, a quart 
of milk, half a teaspoon of soda, and a pinch of salt. 
Add flour to make a still batter; pour in pattie-pans a 
quarter of an hour before dinner. Bake in a hot oven. 
These we will call potato-puffs or muffins. 
“What are you going to do with the apples. 
Auntie?” 
“Make a pudding, child. Get me a teacup of tapio¬ 
ca. As it is late, we will boil it a little while. It is 
best to soak it over night. Pour a quart of cold water 
on it and set it on the stove. Pare and quarter enough 
apples to fill your dish. Cover them with water till the 
tapioca is done; then add to it a teacup of sugar and a 
piece of butter the size of your thumb. Drain the ap¬ 
ples, sprinkle with sugar and spice, pour on the tapioca, 
and bake about an hour. With these and some bread 
and butter, pickled peaches, beets, and cucumbers, I 
guess Harry won’t starve. While dinner is cooking, I 
am going to look around and see what pretty things you 
have and tell you how to make a few more. What a 
cunning little table! But nothing on it. Herein this 
closet is some Florida moss. What are you going to 
do with it? ’Tisn’t good for anything? Indeed, it is. 
Either buy or make a wooden cross. Oh! you have 
one. So much the better. Take tins moss, begin at 
the base of the cross and wind it closely around, tying 
it on with gray thread. When it is all covered, touch 
here and there with glue and dredge with flour. Set 
away to dry, and your cross will look as if it had been 
caught in a snow-storm. Make a vine of Autumn Leaf 
wax and another of Ivy. Twist around the cross, then 
sprinkle with diamond-dust and set it on this little table, 
and you will be surprised to see how much it will be ad¬ 
mired. A pretty ornament to hang over the center-table 
is made by taking a large, coarse, round sponge, sus¬ 
pending it by four cords, then sticking it full of ferns 
(pressed, of course)—the longest ones put in the top and 
small ones around the sides and in the bottom. A few 
bright autumn leaves, tied on broom-splints, to length¬ 
en the stems, add to its appearance.. Pin clusters of 
ferns and leaves on your lace curtains and picture- 
cords, and they will brighten your pretty room amaz¬ 
ingly. Take a pair of those crimson damask curtains 
your mother has thrown in her attic, cut them into 
lambrequins, line them with cream-colored silesia, 
finish with a plaiting of damask or a heavy cord, and 
they will be something to be proud of. The scraps 
will be nice to make little lambrequins for brackets. 
Goodness ! how I have run on! I am like one of 
Dickens’s characters and have ‘ the gift of gab quite 
gallopin’.’ Dinner is done, and here is Harry.” 
“Howdy do. Aunt Ellen. I am real glad to see 
you.” 
“Yes, indeed, you had better be glad to see her; for 
if Auntie wasn’t here you would not see any dinner. 
For Horah’s mother is sick and she has gone to see 
her.” 
“That is what I call a good dinner. Auntie. You 
are a tip-top cook.” 
‘ 1 1 did not cook it. Katie did. I only told her how. 
Isn’t she an apt scholar?” 
“I guess she is. Well done, little wife! Keep on 
and prosper. Good-bye till tea-time. ” 
“Oh! Aunty, I am so glad Harry was pleased. You 
sit down while I wash the dishes. Is this pudding- 
good cold, Aunty?” 
“Yes, quite good; but, if you would prefer it 
warmed over, it is just as good as new. For 
supper let us make chocolate blanc mange, water¬ 
melon cake, and chocolate-drop cakes. For blanc 
mange take a quart of milk and a cup of sugar; 
put them in a tin in a pan of water and let it boil; 
then add two squares of grated chocolate and three 
tablespoonfuls of corn-starch, dissolved in a little of the 
milk. Let it boil, flavor with vanilla, and pour in 
molds and set away to cool. How wo will make the 
watermelon cake. White part .—-Take 2 cups white 
sugar, % cup butter, % cup milk, 3 cups flour, whites 
of 5 eggs, 1 teaspoon soda, 2 teaspoons cream tartar. 
Bed part .—1 cup red sugar, cup butter, % cup 
miiK, 2 cups flour, 1 cup raisins, whites 5 eggs, 1 tea¬ 
spoon soda, 2 teaspoons cream tartar. Roll the raisins 
in powdered sugar, stir into the cake, put it in the 
middle of the pan, and pour the white around. The 
drop cakes I know you will like. Everybody docs. 
Take one cup of sugar, % cup butter, 2 cups flour, % 
cup milk, yolks of 3 eggs, 1 teaspoon cream tartar, % 
teaspoon soda. Drop on buttered tins and bake in a 
hot oven. When done, spread with chocolate glazing. 
I will make it while you make the cakes. I take the 
white of three eggs, % pound of sugar, two tea¬ 
spoons corn-starch, and 2 tablespoons grated chocolate. 
Beat together till stiff. If your cakes are done, spread 
them and set in the oven a minute, and they will be¬ 
come glossy.” 
“ I am so glad you came to-day, as I did not know 
what to do about the meals, and you solved the mys¬ 
tery.” 
“ Katie, you should take The Floral Cabinet. It 
is just what every young housekeeper needs and is just 
the dearest little paper in America. But I won’t try to 
praise it, as I would not do it justice. I will bring 
you some of mine to look at. They will plead their 
own cause better than I can. Every one falls in love 
with them. I only wish they were larger and would 
willingly pay more for them. Well, I must go. If 
you get in trouble and want help, just call on 
Aunt Ellen. 
A RAY OF SUNSHINE FOR THE SICK¬ 
ROOM. 
Short as the winter days were to most of the house¬ 
hold, they were long enough to Lina, who was a pris¬ 
oner in her chamber, while others came and went at 
their pleasure. She had studied the pictures on the 
wall and the pattern on the paper-hangings, had noticed 
every flaw in the ceiling, and the very folds of the win¬ 
dow drapery, until seeing seemed almost a weariness. 
How little the well and strong appreciate this feeling 
in the helpless invalid. 
But Lina bore her troubles so patiently that they 
only drew her nearer to the hearts of all. those who 
ministered to her. 
“ What can we do to enliven her sick-room?” asked 
Lottie, as she and her sister and brother were gathered 
about the evening-lamp below stairs. “ Charley, can¬ 
not you contrive something pretty for that corner of 
her room between the two windows? It is just oppo¬ 
site her bed, and if we had something pretty there for 
her to look at, I am sure it would cheer her and do good 
like a medicine.” 
The result of this evening consultation was a very 
pretty device for the corner, which was prepared down 
in the family sitting-room and hung up one night, when 
Lina was fast asleep. 
Charley prepared a nice shelf, that would just fit in 
the corner, and the girls glued on it some beautiful 
dried moss and sedgy grasses. A few gray branches 
were set up over it, looking like trees in miniature; and 
from these hung long festoons of gray swamp moss, 
making the spot look like a forest dell. To complete 
the picture, a pretty snow-white heron stood in the 
deep recess, as if just startled by the observer and 
ready to take flight; and a pretty cedar bird, of a 
greenish-gray color, with a red berry in his mouth, 
seemed just to have alighted on a mossy spray. 
When Lina awoke next morning, the first object that 
met her eye seemed to be a glimpse of her native South¬ 
ern forest. She rubbed her eyes, and concluded that 
dreamland shadows had followed her into the realms of 
day. But as the outlines grew more distinct she saw 
that the picture was real. 
“It is something the dear girls have planned for 
my enjoyment,” she thought; and her loving, sensitive 
heart brought the quick tears of gratitude to her gentle 
eyes, as she drew the white covers for a moment over 
them. Two pair of arms were soon thrown about her 
and merry voices gave her a happy greeting. The 
little surprise was a perfect success, and when spring 
came Lina always would believe that the pleasure it 
brought with it had done more than anything else to 
restore her to health once more. 
If you have a loved one sick under your roof, you 
will find that there is no medicine like happiness to 
work a cure, and even the smallest things that bring 
enjoyment are worthy of your attention. 
