MISS ETHEL'S DRESS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 5832, 24 February 1906, Page 10

MISS ETHEL'S DRESS.

idly .lean AVebster.) It wan the Fourth of. July, and Anniwas huiTyiu;.; wiili her work in order to get out and ecb-br.(te, Sue had no part ieiilar form of celebration in view, but nbo bad 1 strong feeling that holidays. i.-dy Fouri bs of duly ou-dir to tie celebrated, and she was revolving in her mind several po-.-ibie projeet.s. in all of which I.'eter figured largely. Aside from its being tin; Fourth of .July, if was Thursday, and Thursday wan I’ujerV; afternoon off. She put away the last of the dishes with a gay little burst of King as (dm glanced through the window at the beckoning outside world. 1 1 was a bright-, sunshiny day with a iv.fri--1 1 ii)■; breeze blowing from the sea. Tim blue watein of the hay, sparkling, a: Hie foul of the lower meadow, were dolled over wall white sail-boa Cs. you want anything more of me. Nor i?" (-he asked. "No. he off wiili you. child," said Nora, gmvd-natuiu-dly. "FI! fini.-sli puttin’ lo rights ii;;«cl:V' and she gathered up (be dNli-towel.s and carried them into Ihe laundry.

Annie pained by the screen door leading on lo the hack verandah, and stood regarding, the stables speculatively. She was wondering wdi.il would be the most diplomatic way of approaching Feter. Her speculations were suddenly intcrruii;.''! by tin* appearance in the kitchen of Miss F.ibtd, with a very bent (fled muslin dress in her arms. "Mere, Annie." .die said. “I want- to

wear this te-iiighi. and f forgot to have Nats wash it yesterday, so you'll have to do it. Havo it ready hy five o’clock, and be careful about the lace.” Sho threw the dress screen the back of .v chair and ran on out of doors to join a laughing crowd of young pcotile abonl Hie tennis court. Annie mood in the middle of the tioor and watched her with a fast-clouding brow. “An’ never in much a.s said please!” die muttered to I.orso'f. She walked oyer at.d picked no the gown. It was very elaborate with ;ulfles and tucks and laco insertion! its ironing meant a good two hours’ work. Ironing muslin gowns on a Fourth of July was not Annie's huidnees. Sbo turned it about slowly and tier eyes filled with tears —not of sorrow for the lost afternoon, but of anger at the injustice of demanding such work from her on such a day.

Presently Nora canto in again. She paused in the doorway, her arms akimbo. and regarded Annie. ‘AVhat’s that you’ve got?’’ she inquired. Then tflie floodgates of Annie's wrath were opened, and she poured out her tal-‘. • Don't you mind it. Annie, darlin’,” saiil Nora, trying to comfort her. “Miss Kthel didn't mean nothin’. She was in a hurry likely, an’ didn't think.” ••Didn't think! ’Why can’t -she wear some other dross? She’s got a whole room just fall o’ dresses an’ idle has to have that special one ironed without a lainnto’h notice. An’ Kate coinin’ three days in the week! It isn’t mo place to wash—that isn’t what Mrs Carter engaged me for—l wouldn’t a minded so much if she’d asked it an a favour, hut e.hi> just ordered me as if washiu’ was me work. An' on Fourth o’ July, too, an’ Mrs Carter tollin’ mo I could have the day off—an’ all those ruffles—an’ have it done by lirn o'clock, she says, an' goes out to play.” Annie threw (ho dress in a fluffy pile in (ho middle of the floor. “I shan’t do it. I won't ho ordered about that way by Miss Kthel or anybody else.”

“I'd do it for you meself. Annie, but I couldn't iron that waist no morin a kangaroo. But you just get to work en it : it won't take you long an’ you iron beautiful when yo.i try.” ‘•W.ui’t. take mo long? It'll tato mo tho whole afternoon : it'll take me forcv;t. I shan’t touch it!” Annie's eyre wandered out of doors again. The sunshine seemed brighter, tin songs of the birds .lamler. the glimpse of tho bay more enticing. And as rhe looked Peter came sauntering out from the stables—Peter in his town clothes, freshly shaven with a new red necktie and a flower in his buttonhole. Ho was corning towards tho kitchen.

Her lipi trembled again, and she kicked the dress spitefully. Peter aoneared in tbe doorway. lie, too, had been revolving projects for the fitting celebration of the day, and he wished tentatively to broach them to Annie. “What’s up?’’ ho inquired, looking from Annie's flushed checks to Nora's troubled face. Annie repeated the story, growing more and more aggrieved as she dwelt upon her wrongs. “An’ never so lunch as said please!” she finished. “That's nothin', yon mustn’t mind it. Annie. Alias Kthel ain’t used to sayin’ please.'' Peter was gropingly endeavouring to soothe her. “I remember times when she was a little girl she'd ho so sassy that I/or’ mo lingers was itchin’ to shake her! But X knowed she didn’t mean nothin', so I just touches me hat and swallows it. She's used to orderin’. Annie, an' yon mustn't mind her.” “Well, I ain’t used to takin’ orders like that an’ what’s more I won’t. Have it. dene by five o'clock, she says, an’ ’t is half-past two now. An’ all those ruffles! I bate rnfflos. an’ I won't touch it after the way sbo talked. Not if slio goes down on her knees to mo I won't.”

“Am-, Annie,” remonstrated Peter. “Wlint's the nsp o' kicking up n. fuss? Miss Kll'.el'si awful kind-hearted when she wants to be." •'Kind-hearted!’’ Annie sniffed. “I guess rite cun afford to be kind-hearted, havin’ people wait cm her from mornin’ to night and never doin’ a. tiling she doesn’t want to do. I wish she had to iron once an’ she could just see how she likes it.”

“She gave you a bran’ new dress last week,” reminded Norn. “Vos, an’ why? Cause when X was dustin’ her room she happened to bo trying it on an’ it didn’t- fit'an she threw it down on the floor an’ said: ‘I won’t wear that thing! You can have it, Annie.’ ” “The lime yon burned your hand with her chafing-dish she meat cried when she saw how blistered it "’as. an’ wrapped it up herself an’ brought you some stuff in a silver box to put on it.” For a moment Annies faro showed signs of- relenting, but as her eyes fell on the circss again it hardened. “I don't care, she tipped the alcohol over mo herself, mi’ she ought to be sorry. I'd be willin’ to do her a favour, but I won't, lie ordered around. She just pokes it. at me as if I was a ironing machine. An' this the Fourth o’ July, an’ Mrs Carter tollin’ me I could go out. Sho has enough drosses to last until she’s gray, an' I just won’t touch it.”

“You won’t touch what?" asked Mrs farter, appearing in the doorway. She glanced from tbo girl’s angry face to ibe rumpled dries upon the floor. Tney laid ’heir own story. "Mhats tbo meaning of this, Annie," sbo asked sharply. Annie looked sulky._ She stared at the floor a moment without answering, while IMers and Nora'e anxiously wanned -Mrs fai (er's face. 1‘ imtlly file replied:

“Von said I could go out this afternorm, ma'am, an’ just a« 1 was gettin’ ready. .Mini Kthel came in an’ said I iviu to wa'li that dixss before five

"I am sorry about your afternoon, raid .Mrs Carter. "Miss Kthel didn’t know about it, but you may go to-mor-row instead.”

"I was wantin’ to go to-day,” said Annie. "An’ I'm willin’ enough to do me own work, ma'am, hut it isn’t me place to wash,” Mrs Carter's mouth became a straight line. "Annie, I never allow my Bcrvant-s I to dictate as to what is their work and • wl l ■ t is not. When I engage you I expect you to do whatever you are asked. This is a very easy place; you ate allowed to go out a great deal and you have very little work to do. Hut when t'omcUiing extra comes tip outside your regular work. I expect you to do it willingly, and as a matter of course. ; Misti Kthel has been very kind to yon ; ; y ill can do her a favour in return." "I couldn't, mind doin' it as a lavour, ; b.it she just, walks in an' orders it as if it was me place to wash." j "And I order it, also,” said Mrs Carter. "Von may wash that dross and havo it done by five o'clock - , or else you may pack your trunk and go." She turned with a firm tread and walked out of the room.

Annie looked after her with flashing eve;. ' - Sl:u orders :t, too, dote she? A Veil, I won’t do it, an’ I won't an' I won’t!" She dropped down in a chair at one mid of the table and hid her head in her arms. l-eter cast an anxious look at Nora • he did not know how to deal with Annie’s case. Had she been a belligerent stable-boy, lie would have token her our. behind the barn and thrashed reason into her with a leather strap. Ho wk-wardiy laid ids hand on her siioul dor. •‘Aw. Annie, wash tho dross; there’s a good girl. It. won’t take you very long, an’ then we'll go clown t’ tho beach tonight to see the fireworks. Alias Kthel didn’t mean nothin’. AVlmt’s tho use o' makin’ trouble?”

"It's no more mo place to wash titan it. is Simpkins’s,’’ tdto sobbed. “Why didn’t sho ask him to do it? I won’t stay in a place like this where they order you around like a dog. I’ll pack me trunk. I will.”

N’ora and Peter regarded each other helplessly. They furtively sympathised j with Annie, hut they did notdaro to do I it openly, as sympathy only fanned the | flames, and they both knew that Mrs j Carter, having pronounced her nltimatI urn, would stand by it. Annio must ! wash that dress before five o’clock, or j Annin must go. At the thought of her I going. Peter fetched a deep nigh, ami (two frowning lines appeared on his I brow. She had only been there two months, hnt Willowbrook would never again be Willowbrook without her. Presently the silence was broken by the sound of generous footsteps flapping across (ho hark verandah, and Ellen, tho cook at Mr Jasper’s place, appeared in the doonvay. “Good afternoon to you. Nora, an’ I wants to borrow a drop o’ vanilla. I ordered it two days ago, an' that fool of a grooor’s li’y—what’s the matter i wit’ Annie?” she asked, her good-na-tured. laughing faco taking on a lock of concern as she gazed upon the tableau before her. Nora and Peter between them explained. Annie, meanwhile, paid no attention to the recital of her wrongs; only her heaving shoulders were eloquent. Ellon hearkened to tho story with ready sympathy. “Oh. an’ it’s a shame, it is, an’ on Fort o’ July! Wo all has our troubles in this world.” Sho sighed hoavily, and winked at Peter and Nora as oho pushed them towards tho door. “Get out wit’ you, tho two of yoz, an’ leave hor to mo.” sho whispered. Ellen reached down and picked up thn dross. “’T is somethin’ awful the tilings people will bo puttin’ on you if you giro ’em the chance. ’T is a shame to ask any human bein’ to wash a dress like that wit.’ all them raffles an' lace fixin’fi. I think it’s had enough to have to wash all o’ Mr Harry’s shirrs, but ho took to havin’ laoo set in ’em, I’d bo leavin’ pretty quick. An’ you not trained to laundry work either! I don’t seo how Miss Ethel had the nerve to ask it. She must bo awful ovcr-rcach-in’. She’ll ho sottin’ you to play tho piano next for her to danco by.” Annio raised a tear-stained face. "I could do it,” nhe said sulkily. “I can wash an good as Kate; Miss Ethel said I could. It’s not tho work I’m mindin’ if slic’d ask mo decent. Hut sho just throws it at mo with never so much as please.”

“I don’t blame you for loavin’. I would, too 1” Ellen suddenly had an inspiration, and sho plumped down in a chair .it the opposite end of the table. “I'm goiu’ to leave meself!" sho announced. "I won't ho put upon cither. An’ what do you think Mr Jasper is after telephonin’; out this afternoon? He’s bringin’ company to dinner—three strange men I nivor set eyes on before—an' he's sint a fish homo by Patrick—a blue-fish bo’s after oatdiin’. It’s in tho ice-box now an’ wc’ro to have it for dinner, ho nays, an’ I wit’ mo dinner all planned. I don’t mind havin’ soup, an' roast, an 1 salad, an’ dessert, but I won’t have soup, an’ fish, an' roast, an' salad, an’ dessert. If there was as many to do tho work at our house as over here I wouldn’t say nothin', but wit’ only mo an' George-pan’ him not so much as touchin' a thing but tho silver an’ the glasses—it’s too much, it is. George ’ml sec rao buried under a mountain o’ dishes before he'd lift a finger to beln.”

Kllcli paused with a pathetic snivel, while she wiped her eyes on the corner of her apron. Annio raised her head and regarded her sympathetically. “Soup, an’ fish, an’ roast, an’ salad, an’ dessert, an’ three strange men into the birgain. an’ all the dishes to wash, an' the fish not even cleaned. Tmo it. is that troubles never come single; tliey’ro married an’ has children. Ivory separate scale o’ that blnefish did 1 take off wit' me own hands, an’ not a word o’ thanks do I get. I tlaves for those two men till rne hands is worn to the bone an’ not a sign do they give; but just let the meat bo too done, or the bottles not cold an’ then I boars ouiek enough. ’T is the way wit’ men; tliey’ro an ungrateful lot. You can work an’ work an' they swallows it all an’ never blinks. It ’ud bo different if there w.ib a woman around. I’ve e.-fien wished ns Air Harry had a wife like A!i :s l-.thcl, so smilin’ an’ pretty ’t : ; n ’..1-seire to watch her. Oil. ay' I wouldn’t mind worlsin’ a little extra now an' then for her—but five courses an’ no one but mo to do tho dishes! It's goin’ I am. I'll give notice tonight.” Ellon broke down and wept into her

apron, and Annie attempted some feeble coiuolation. "An’ I've worked there thirteen year.,.'" Kllmi sobbed. ‘ Since before Mrs Jasper died win u Mr Harry was only a b'y. Tis the only home Fve got, an’ I. don't want to leave." "Then what makes voa?” Annie asked.

' Hecu; - .: 1 1 won't put upon—.■■oup. an' fidi, an' roast. «•’ aalad. an’ dessert is too much to ask or any human bein’. The dbhes won’t be done till ten o’clock, an’ it’s Fort’ o’ Ju-!-y-y.” Ellen's voice trailed elf into a wail. Her imagination was vivid. Hy Hum time she fully believed in her wrongs. They cried in uni-on a few minutes. Ellen murmuring brokenly: “Soup, .in’ fish, an’ roast, an’ salad, an’ dessert, an’ it’s all the homo I've got." "Vou don't have company very often.” said Annie consolingly.

"That wo don’t cried Ellen. "An’ the house is so lonesome an’ shut up 't is like a tomb to live in. If there was dancin' an’ siugin’ an’ laughin' tho way there is over hero I'd be glad enough. Wit' Mr Jasper an’ Mr Harry so quiet an' frownin' an’ niver savin' a word—Oh. if I had some one like Miss Kthel to do for. ’t is willin’ enough I’d he to iron her dresses. That night she hud her party an’ I come over to help, an’ you an' Pcto was dancin’ in the kitchen to Hie music, an’ after Hie guests was served wo had .v table set out on the hack verandah—’t is .then I was wishin’ I lived in a place like this. An’ Miss Kthel come out when wo was oatin’ an’ asked was wo tired, an’ said thank you for siltin' up so late, .in' sho was glael if wo was havin’ a good time, too.”

Annie sighed, and her eyes wandered somewliat guiltily to the dress on the floor. “Mrs Carter orders me about just as if I wa.s a machine,” sho reiterated in a tone of r.elf-defenec.

“An’ it’s orderin' around jou’vo got to learn to take in this world,” said Kllen. "If you occasionally get a ‘thank you’ thrown in, you can think vo.tr.solf Inckv—it’s raor’n I got. I’ve (birred Mr Harry’s socks for seven years an' never a word o’ notice does ho take —l'm doubtin’ he even knows they’re darned. ’T is a thankless world, Annie dear. Thirteen years I’ve worked for the Jaspers, an’ on top o’ that to ask mo for soup, an’ fish, an’ roast, an' salad, an’ dessert on a Fort o’ July night!” Ellen showed signs of breaking down again. Annie hastily interposed. “Don’t cry about it Kllen. it’s ton had, it is, hut Mr Jasper likely didn’t think what a lot o’ trouble he was maltin’. I’ll come over im’ help yon do tho dishes.” “But you won’t lo hero; you’re goin’ yourself,” Ellen blubbered. Annie was silent. "Thirteen years, an’ ’t it; the only home I’ve got.”

“Don’t go, Ellen,” Annie begged. "Soup, an’ fish, an’ roast, an’-- ” “I'll stay if you will!”

Ellen heaved a final shuddering sigh and wiped her eyes. “You’ll liavo to hurry. Annie, if you’re goin’ to got that, drees done by five o'clock. Como on.” (die cried, jumping to her feet. “I'll help you. You take the waist an’ FI! take the skirt, an’ we'll see which one gets done first. It just needs a little rnhbin’ out an’ we’ll iron it damp.” Five m in utee later Peter and Nora, who had been sitting on tho hack steps

[waiting patiently for Ellen's diplomacy | to bear fruit, returned to the laundry. 1 They found Ellon at one tub and Annie I rit another—up to their elbows in the ] snap suds, Annie's cheeks still rather | flushed, but a smile beginning to break through. "Ellen’s helpin’ me,” site said in somewhat sheepish explanation. "An’ she's cornin' over to wash the dishes for mo to-night,” Ellen chimed in. ‘AVo’ro havin’ soup, an’ fish, an' roast, an’ ”

Peter clapped his hand over his mouth and Nora cast, him a warning look, "Vou'ro goin’ to the beach with Pete to set? tile ii reworks, that’s tv here you’re goin’ to-night. I’ll help Kllen with her dishtti.”

"Thank you, Nora,” said Ktlcn. ,- Tis a kind heart you’ve got, an’ that’s mor’n I can say for Mr jasper for all I’ve worked there thirteen years. ’T is soup, an’ fisli. an* roast, an’ salad, an’ dessert the man’s after wantin’ for dinner, an’ no hut mo to wash a kettle. If it wasn’t for Annie I’d he leavin’ I would.” Ellen wrung tho skirt out and splashed it up and down in the mining water. "An’ now, wliilo this dress is dryin’ ready to iron. I’ll just run homo an’ stir up a bit pudding for des-ert, if you’ll bo loadin' mo lomo vanilla, Nora dear. That fool of a grocery b’y " “Oh. take your vanilla an’ get along wit’ you! Wc'vo had ail we wants o’ your soup, an’ your fish, an’ the rest o’ your tain's.”

Nora dived into the pantry after the bottle, and tho attention of the others was distracted by a gay laugh outside the window. Annie’s face clouded slightly at tho sound and they all looked out.

Miss Ethel was coming across the lawn on her way to the bay. -Mr Jano, wbo was vmitiug at Willowbrook strolled at her side, dressed in boating flannels with some on ns over his shoulders. A little "ay iH'hind walked Air Harry, a second pair of oars over his shoulders ami hin eyes somewhat surlily bent, on iho ground. Miss Ethel, pretty and smiling, in her light summer gown, was talking vivaciously to Air Lane, apparently having forgotten that Air Harry existed.

“I'd show her pretty quick if I was Air Harry!” Kllcn muttered vindictively.

Aliss Kthcl paused and shaded her eyes with her hand. “It’s awfully sunny!” sho complained. “Pm afraid I want a hat.” She glanced back over her shoulder. “Harry,” sho called, “i nn hack and get my hat. X think I left it on the front verandah, or maybe at the tennis court. AVe’ll wait for you at the landing.” For a moment Air Harry looked rather black at this peremptory dismissal, but lie bowed politely, and whirling about strode back to the house, while Aliss Kthcl and Air Lane went on laughing down the hill. “And she ncror so much as said please 1” whispered Annie. “I’ll be darned if I’d do it,” said Peter.—“AlcCluro’s Alagazino.”