"SHE COULDN'T BOIL A POTATO;" OR, THE IGNORANT HOUSEKEEPER, AND HOW SHE ACQUIRED KNOWLEDGE. By DORA HOPE.

he late Miss Ella!"

"When are you going to turn over that new leaf you spoke of, my daughter?"

"There's a little coffee left, but the bacon is quite cold."

These were the exclamations that greeted a tall bright girl, as she entered the breakfast room one morning.

"I am very sorry, papa. I really meant to be down in time, but I suppose I must have gone to sleep again after I was called." And being really vexed with herself for having so soon broken her good resolutions, formed for the hundredth time the day before, Ella Hastings accepted the cold bacon meekly, and even turned a deaf ear to the withering sarcasms of her two schoolboy brothers, who were leisurely strapping together their books, and delaying their departure till the last moment.

"There is the postman coming up the garden; run and get the letters, Hughie."

A solemn-looking boy of six years old climbed down from his chair, in obedience to his father's request, and soon came back with a handful of letters, and settled himself patiently by his father's side to wait for the empty envelopes, which formed his share of the morning's correspondence.

An exclamation of surprise from Mr. Hastings caused his wife to look up inquiringly from the letter she had just opened, and he handed her silently a telegram which had been forwarded, with other papers, from his office, where it had evidently been delivered late the previous evening. Kate, the eldest daughter, leaning over her mother's shoulder, read aloud the short notice:—

"Mrs. Wilson dangerously ill; letter follows."

Mrs. Wilson was Mr. Hastings' only remaining sister. His mother had died when he was almost an infant, and this "sister Mary" had slipped into her place as mother, teacher—everything, to her little brothers and sisters; never leaving them, till the father having died also, and her young charges being all old enough to settle in life for themselves, she had rewarded the faithful waiting of her old lover, and they had settled down together in a quiet village a few miles from the noisy town where his business lay. Her happy married life lasted but a short time, however, and for the many years since her husband's death she had preferred to live entirely alone with her two maids and a strange medley of pet animals—finding employment and interest for her declining years in her books and her garden.

From being so long alone she had grown eccentric in her ways, and very odd and decided in her views; but she kept a warm corner in her heart for her favourite brother and his children, who heartily returned their aunt's affection, though they stood a good deal in awe of her keen penetrating gaze and sarcastic criticisms.

She had always prided herself on her good constitution, and despised doctors and dentists as people who pandered to the fads and fancies of a degenerate generation—a generation who, according to her creed, weakened their backs and ruined their health by lounging on sofas and easy chairs, while, for her part, though seventy years of age, she was thankful to say a straight-backed chair was good enough for her. It may be imagined that for this self-reliant, vigorous Aunt Mary to be taken seriously ill, so ill as to have to summon help, was a great shock, and Mr. Hastings decided at once that he must go to see his sister, and that one of his daughters should accompany him; but the telegram was so short, and gave so little information, that nothing further could be arranged till the noonday post arrived, which always brought the letters from Hapsleigh.

The morning seemed endless, but noon came at last, and with it the promised letter, which was eagerly opened and read. It was from Mrs. Mobberly, a near neighbour of Mrs. Wilson's. She described the sudden illness, and all that had been done for the sufferer. "The doctor says that for a day or two he cannot tell what the result may be, though we may hope for the best. He has sent in a thoroughly trustworthy trained nurse, but he agrees with me that it would be a good thing if one of your daughters could come to take charge of the household, for even if all goes as well as possible it will be a long and tedious recovery, and the invalid must be kept perfectly quiet and free from all worry."

"Well, girls," said Mr. Hastings, as he finished reading the letter, "you must decide between yourselves which of you will go. As there seems no immediate danger, we need not leave till to-morrow morning, so you will have a little time for preparation; but however great a sacrifice it is for you to go, and for us to part with you, there is no question about it. Aunt Mary must not be left alone till she is quite herself again, so I will telegraph to Mrs. Mobberly that one of you will go with me by the first train to-morrow."

There was no room for disputing the point when Mr. Hastings spoke in that decided tone; moreover, the girls themselves would have said just the same—that someone must go; but the question was, "who?"

"Kate, it must be you," said Ella, eagerly. "I do not know anything about nursing or housekeeping, or anything of that sort, and you know I always say and do the wrong thing."

Mrs. Hastings looked anxious and perplexed. "I really do not know what to do for the best," she said. "I do not see how I can spare you, Kate; for if I have one of my bad attacks I must have you at hand; and you see, Ella, you would have everything to learn here just as much as at Hapsleigh, and I think you would find teaching the children very hard work."

Kate, the eldest daughter, was her mother's unfailing assistant, and almost entirely relieved her of the care of the three little ones; indeed, during Mrs. Hastings's frequent attacks of asthma, Kate was both ready and able to take entire charge of the household, and she felt that to leave her mother with only Ella's help would be throwing more care upon her than her delicate health could bear. She spoke decidedly, therefore; and, after a little more discussion, it was agreed that Ella should accompany her father, prepared to stay as long as she might be required.

The rest of the day was fully occupied with packing and making arrangements. Ella was rather apt to let her clothing take care of itself, and, in a sudden emergency such as this, had to borrow right and left. Indeed, Mrs. Hastings and Kate were both kept busy all the afternoon looking over and supplying the deficiencies in her outfit.

"That dressing-gown will not do at all, Ella. It is most important to have a thoroughly warm one when you have to sit up at night. Yours is very pretty, but blue cashmere and lace are not suitable for a sick room in cold weather. You will have to borrow Kate's thick flannel gown. You should have my quilted silk one, but in such a great thickness of material one's arms do not feel quite free to help an invalid, or shake up a bed."

"Here it is, Ella," rejoined Kate; "and I have brought you my thick bedroom slippers, too. They are not so elegant as your Turkish ones, but they are much warmer. Be sure you keep them by the side of your bed, so that you can slip them on directly if you are called up suddenly. You know you take cold so easily, and it would be so awkward if you had one of your bad throats at Hapsleigh."

Mrs. Hastings felt very anxious about her daughter, called upon so suddenly to take up such important and unexpected duties, and gave her a great deal of loving counsel.

"You will have to manage to get up earlier, dear child," she said. "You know Aunt Mary's servants are always rather inclined to go their own way, and they may perhaps try to take advantage of her illness to keep irregular hours and slight their work; and you must remember that you will be responsible for good order in the house, and that is impossible unless all the household are regular and punctual in beginning their day's work at the proper time. I will let you have my little clock, and you can set the alarum at whatever time you wish to get up."

"Yes; I really am going to turn over a new leaf about that; but you know, mother, I shall feel more obliged to get up now when I am responsible for things going right. Oh, dear! what a dreadful thought! I am sure I shall never manage. Why, I can't cook, and I can't keep accounts, and I have no idea how many pounds of meat people want for dinner. I shall order a tin of Australian meat, and just have it at every meal till it is finished, and then get another."

"I am afraid the servants will soon give you notice if you do, Ella," said Mrs. Hastings, laughing at her daughter's ideas of housekeeping. "You will soon get accustomed to the size of joints and puddings, if you get into the habit of noticing them, remembering how long they last. But there are two other pieces of advice which I want you to remember and to act upon. If your father decides that it is necessary for you to stay and act as mistress, he will tell the servants so; but you must assert yourself as mistress at once, and take everything into your own hands. You will find it rather difficult at first, but it will save you a great deal of trouble in the end. I have seen endless discomfort caused by young and timid housekeepers not liking to take the reins into their own hands. But, at the same time, be very careful never to interfere or complain, unless you are quite sure that it is necessary, and that you are in the right. If you are in any doubt you can always consult Mrs. Mobberly; and you must make allowances for the fact that the servants have always been allowed to do pretty much what they liked, and will naturally expect to continue doing so; therefore do not complain unless you have unmistakable grounds for it, and never, under any circumstances, speak hastily or angrily. If you are put out, wait till your vexation has cooled down a little; and then, if you are quite sure you are in the right, speak quietly and kindly, but so decidedly that there may be no mistake about your intention of being obeyed."

"Oh, dear!" groaned Ella, who was almost reduced to tears at the prospect of such serious responsibility. "I am sure I shall come home ignominiously in a week. I know just how it will be. Just think of Aunt Mary's scorn when she finds I don't even know how to boil a potato!"

There was no time for lamentations, however, and her mother and Kate both comforted her with the assurance that at any rate no one would blame her if she did her best, and they would expect a few mistakes from a girl only just home from school.

The next morning, at any rate, Ella was punctual, and at eight o'clock they all sat down to breakfast.

"I made tea for you, Ella," said Mrs. Hastings. "I thought it would be better for you before such a long journey. Coffee sometimes disagrees with people who are not very good travellers. And I advise you not to take bacon; it so often makes one thirsty. Here is potted meat; that would be better for you."

Ella felt in very low spirits, and her mother's and Kate's affectionate kindness only brought the despised tears into her eyes. She could hardly touch her breakfast, and was relieved when Kate left the table, and began to look after the small articles of luggage.

"Robin, did you strap up the rugs? Oh, what an untidy bundle!" and the methodical Kate unfastened the straps and rearranged the contents. First the large rug was folded lengthwise till it was just as wide as the length of the bundle should be when finished. Then came Ella's shawl, an awkward one for a neat roll, as it had long fringe; but Kate turned in the fringe all round first, and then folded the shawl itself till it was just a little narrower than the rug; the ulster was carefully folded also to the same size, and both were laid on one end of the rug. Finally, Ella's umbrella and sunshade were laid across the pile of wraps, and all were rolled round carefully, so that none of the articles inside protruded, and the rug, being longer than the others, hid all the ends, and, when strapped round just tightly enough to hold all together comfortably without unnecessary squeezing, it made such a neat-looking roll as compelled even Robin's admiration. Ella's travelling-cap had been inside the bundle before, but Kate took it out and advised her to carry it in her hand-bag, as being easily accessible if she did not wish to undo the strap.

All was ready at last, the rugs, the hand-bag, and the tin trunk, to which at the last moment Kate came running to tie a piece of red braid, by which to distinguish it, making Ella and the boys laugh at what they called her "incurable old-maidishness."

"Never mind," she replied, nodding sagely, "you will thank me when you have to hunt for your box amongst twenty others exactly like it."

Kate had suggested going to the station to see them off, but her father objected.

"We shall get on better alone," he argued. "We settle ourselves comfortably in our corners at once, unroll our rugs, and make everything ready before we start, instead of having to make spasmodic efforts to think of last remarks and messages. Of course, if Ella were going alone I should go to see her off, but as it is I would rather not have anyone with us."

Mrs. Hastings thought this a rather hard-hearted way of looking at the matter; but as Ella quite agreed with her father, feeling convinced she could not be able to keep from crying if the farewells were too long protracted, there was nothing for it but to yield, and as soon as the cab came to the door the parting was hurried through, and, almost before she had time to realise that she was really going, Ella found herself halfway to the station.

The railway journey was a long and troublesome one, involving several changes. Before midday Ella had recovered her spirits and her appetite, and acted on Kate's advice. "Do not wait for father to suggest lunch," she had said; "you may be sure he will not begin to feel hungry till you are quite ravenous." Remembering this, Ella laughed to herself at Mr. Hastings's surprise when she suggested that she was ready for her lunch, and proceeded to unpack her stores.

"This is the first course, I suppose," she said, as she produced two neat white-paper packages, each with the name of the contents written on it. "This one contains potted meat sandwiches, and these are chicken. They look very nice, too. These sprigs of watercress between the sandwiches are a great improvement."

"Yes, I must confess they are very good ones," assented Mr. Hastings, after trying one of each kind. "I think someone must have been giving the cook a lecture on the art of cutting them. Home-made sandwiches have generally too much butter, so that they are too rich to eat, and the paper they are wrapped in is greasy and disagreeable; but these have just the right quantity, and they are made with suitable bread—not, as I have often had them, of spongy bread, full of holes, through which the butter and meat oozes on to one's fingers."

In addition to these there were, for Ella's benefit, a few sandwiches made with damson jam, from which the stones had been extracted. The next course consisted of some small cakes and a few ripe pears. By way of beverage, Mrs. Hastings had supplied Ella with a flask of cold tea, made weak, and with a squeeze of lemon in it, which she had always found the best possible drink for quenching thirst; when travelling herself she always took either this or lime-juice and water. Finally, knowing that Ella had a good appetite, and would probably get very hungry before reaching her journey's end, her mother had told the cook to fill a small jam pot with lemon jelly, and to provide a teaspoon to eat it with. Ella found this most refreshing, and her lunch altogether was very satisfactory; certainly the supply was rather too bountiful, but that fact did not trouble her much, for she soon noticed a poor, hungry-looking boy on one of the stations, who thankfully accepted all that was left.

In spite of the length of the journey, Ella quite enjoyed the day; her father was so kind and took such good care of her. He insisted on her getting out of the carriage and walking up and down the platform whenever the train stopped long enough, that she might not be tired of sitting still; and when it began to get dark he made her put her feet up on the seat and tucked her up with the rug, and made her so comfortable that, to her own great surprise, she went fast asleep, and only awoke as her father was collecting their books and wraps on nearing their destination.

(To be continued.)

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