k apron; for Mrs. Salsify
declared her resolve to dress her tip-top. She was not the woman to half
do a thing, when she undertook; she always came up to the mark, or went a
little beyond. Better overshoot than fall short, was her motto. And when
Mary Madeline came home, on the evening of her debut at the seminary,
walking between the two young lady boarders, Amy Seaton and Jenny
Andrews, Mrs. Mumbles could not avoid drawing a comparison between the
three; and her daughter appeared to her like a blazing star between two
sombre clouds, for Miss Seaton and Miss Andrews, who were both orphans,
wore plain, dark gingham frocks and linen aprons. The third boarder was a
little brother of Miss Seaton's, about a dozen years of age. Charlie was
his name; a bright, intelligent boy, brimful of mischief and fun.

Mrs. Salsify kept no girl;--she could not find a good one, she said,--a
bad one she would not have, as long as she could manage to perform her
work herself, which she thought she could do with Mary Madeline's
assistance nights and mornings. It would not be for long, she trusted,
this slavery to boarders, for Mr. Salsify continued to inform her, at
stated intervals, that he was certainly "rising in his profession."

The husband and wife sat alone one evening, indulging in confidential
discourse, as 'tis said conjugal mates are wont to do on certain
occasions.

"Really," exclaimed Mrs. Mumbles, "it is astonishing, the quantity of
victuals these boarders consume. It is so unfeminine and indelicate for
young ladies to have appetites. I declare it quite shocks me to see the
large slices of bread and butter disappearing down Jenny Andrews' little
throat, and, as for that Charles Seaton, I believe he would eat a whole
plum pudding if he could get it. I left off making them long ago."

"I have not noticed one on the table for several days," returned Mr.
Salsify, "and, as I saw the last one was sent away untouched, I feared
they had detected the musty raisins."

"O, la, no! the greedy mugs don't know the difference, I assure you,"
answered the wife, "'twas only because they had stuffed themselves so
full of veal pie, that the pudding was not devoured." Just then Amy
Seaton came in and asked if she might get a lunch for Charlie, as he was
not in season for supper.

"O, yes!" answered Mrs. Salsify, in her blandest tone; "here are the
keys. I lock the pantry because Mr. Mumbles is so absent-minded he often
leaves the door open, an