ttle tear-stained face,
and sat talking in the soothing tones which a loving parent can so well
employ.

Leaving him there, let us make a somewhat closer inspection of Miss
Jemima, as she sits in solitary state before the fire downstairs. You
observe that she is tall, angular, and rigid. Her figure displays the
uprightness of a telegraph pole, and her face presents a striking
arrangement of straight lines and sharp points. Her eyes gleam like points
of fire beneath her positively shaggy brows. Her complexion is dark, and
her hair, though still abundant, is already turning grey. Her dress is
plainness itself, and she wears no jewelry, all kinds of which she regards
with scorn. Her old-fashioned silver watch is a family heirloom, and a
broad black ribbon is her only watch-guard.

Yet there is nothing of malice or evil intent in Aunt Jemima's soul. She
is no less strictly upright in character than in form. She cannot tolerate
wickedness, folly, or weakness of any kind. So far well. The lack of her
character is the tenderness which is woman's crowning grace. When she is
kind it is in such a way that one would almost prefer for her to be
unkind.

Such is Aunt Jemima, as we see her sitting in front of her brother's fire,
and as we know her to be. Need we wonder that, "Cobbler" Horn's heart
misgave him as to the probable fate of his little Marian in such rough,
though righteous, hands?

When "Cobbler" Horn at length came downstairs, his sister was still
sitting before the fire. On his appearance, she rose from her seat.

"Thomas, I am ashamed of you," she said, as she began, in a masterful way,
to make preparations for supper. "Such weakness will utterly spoil the
child. But you were always foolish."

"I am afraid, sister," was the quiet reply, "that we shall hardly agree
with one another--you and I--on that point."

CHAPTER III.

HOW MISS JEMIMA MANAGED HER BROTHER'S HOUSE.

On entering upon the management of her brother's house, Aunt Jemima
laid down two laws, which were, that the house was to be kept spotlessly
clean, and that everything was always to be in its right place; and her
severe, and even fierce, insistence on the minute fulfilment of these
unexceptionable ordinances soon threatened utterly to banish comfort
from her brother's house.

The restrictions this masterful lady placed upon her patient brother
constituted a state of absolute tyranny. Lest her im