Martha By-the-Day

lf in readiness to answer at he

g villyan," said Eliza. "An' then it'l

as usual, and when, in the course of her travels, she me

know that Sa

ans

ou begged your head off, I'd ne

id he co

just picked Sammy's father up on the street, an' follered h

nd of do

r-d

kind's

uldn't find him at an ordinary dog-show, like your mother goes to. Now

a pedigree-dog. Is

im, but I shou

ells all about where Fifi

fi

paper says Fifi is ou

it off to a lady that c

a, what's

o' k

ars. What kind of ears

noways remarkable, if it was his tongue, but is what I call extraordinary, seein' it's his ears. An' his tail's the same, exceptin' it has even more education still. It can wag

n anybody

manlike dog. He keeps his own counsel. If it so happened that he'd needed to be punished at any tim

ould see Sa

but the best class o' boys. I'm goin' to see he has a fine line of friends from this time on, an' i

e him th

n't help it! A little lady-friend of mine gave him that name, 'cause he flickers round so-so like a lit

o tell you she wants to see you right away up i

upon the hardwood floor, sat back upon her he

anted to see you right off, for somethi

am. Cer

ok as if you

d I remember, an' I put it into practice. That's where the use of books comes in-to be put in practice. Now, I'm a large body, an' if I tried to move fast I'd be goin' against what

seemed to draw him after her, and he followed on upstairs, swinging himself a

is my mother's goin' to say to

eplied. "I take things as they come, not to mention as they go. Either way suits me, an' annyhow I don't wonder about 'em.

room," observed Radcliffe casually, as they reache

he kind the male gender is mainly good for, these days. But, of course, if you ain't been invited, it wouldn't be genteel for you to pr

rare source of entertainment had been withdrawn from him, leaving life flat and tasteless. He felt like being, what his mother called, "fra

she was reading, and inquired with pointed irony, "You didn't find i

me. Something monumental in the effect of her presence made the question just flung at her seem petty, impudent,

a minute or two to get my things collected, an' then it took me a couple more to get me collected, but

er tone or manner. If she had any misgivings as to the possibil

n autocratically, making straight for the point. "I

d crossed her arms with unconscious dignity upon

deled this summer, and the bathrooms have all been tiled and fitted up afresh, from beginning to end. I know that, in the past, you have used acid, gritty soaps on the basins and tubs, Martha, and my plumber tells me y

y she interrupted cheerfully, "An' does your plumber mention

"Dear me, no. I'm afra

iffe

ngin' to you, comin' outer your bath, would you? Or if you did, you might set over against the oil-smell one o' them strong bath-powders that's like the p

ughen the surface of anything-enamel or marble or whatever it may be. I'm sure you'll be careful in the future

ed-like because he can't hand out the price o' the rent, 'Say, you ain't fished up much of anythin' certaintly, but count your

ought to be able to support his family without h

simple dignity. "He does his best, but things

nce teaches us that our condition in life reflects our character. We get the results of what we are in our envi

l. It's the ones that ain't earned 'em, havin' the square meal and the dessert, that puts a good man, like my Sammy, out o' a job. But that's neither here nor there. It's all bound to come right some day-only meanwhiles, I wish livin' wasn't so high. What with good steak twenty-eight cents a pound, an' it

and fresh vegetables this time of year? Oughtn't you to economize? Isn't it extravagant for you to use

s nourishin'. Not just somethin' to eat, but food. I don't believe their stummicks realize they belong to poor folks. I'm not envyin' the rich, mind you. Dear no! I wouldn't be hired to clutter up my insides with the messes I see goin' up to the tables of some I work for. Cocktails, an' entr

he book she had droppe

are a character

u, 'm," s

don't care to trust it to the girls, but you can have one of them to help you, if you like, provided you are

" said