After He
Had Eaten All He Very Well Could, He Hid The Rest Back Of The Curtain
In Quite An At-Home Way.
There was nothing at all wonderful in all
this, except that the squirrel was just from the piney woods where
warm sugar cakes are unknown, so how did he know they were good to
eat?
I was at the saw-mill four days, and then we all came in together and
on bob sleds. There were four mules for each sleigh, so not much
attention was paid to the great depth of snow. Both horses knew when
we got to the bridge and gave Bryant trouble. Every bit of the trail
out had been obliterated by drifting snow, and I still wonder how
these animals recognized the precise spot when the snow was level in
every place.
We found the house in excellent order, and consider our new Chinaman a
treasure. A few days before Faye went to the mill I made some Boston
brown bread. I always make that myself, as I fancy I can make it very
good, but for some reason I was late in getting it on to steam that
day, so when I went to the kitchen to put it in the oven I found a
much-abused Chinaman. When he saw what I was about to do he became
very angry and his eyes looked green. He said, "You no put him in
l'oven." I said, "Yes, Charlie, I have to for one hour." He said, "You
no care workman, you sploil my dee-nee, you get some other boy."
Now Charlie was an excellent servant and I did not care to lose him,
but to take that bread out was not to be considered. I would no longer
have been mistress of my own house, so I told him quietly, "Very
well," and closed the oven door with great deliberation. The dinner
was a little better than usual, and I wondered all the time what the
outcome would be. I knew that he was simply piqued because I had not
let him make the bread. After his work was all done he came in and
said, with a smile that was almost a grin, "I go now - I send 'nother
boy," and go he did. But the "other boy" came in time to give us a
delicious breakfast, and everything went on just the same as when old
Charlie was here. He is in Bozeman and comes to see us often.
This Charlie takes good care of my chickens that are my pride and
delight. There are twenty, and every one is snow white; some have
heavy round topknots. I found them at different ranches. It is so cold
here that chicken roosts have to be covered with strips of blanket and
made flat and broad, so the feathers will cover the chickens' feet,
otherwise they will be frozen. It is a treat to have fresh eggs, and
without having to pay a dollar and a half per dozen for them.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 126 of 213
Words from 64970 to 65480
of 110651
