f a bottle in the
house."

"Well, honey," said Aunt Polly, "he says he likes my mince pies, and my
puddins, mightily; and does he 'spect me to make 'em good, and make 'em out
of nothin, too?"

"That's what I say, Aunt Polly, for you know none of us like to drink. The
captain belongs to the Temperance Society; and I don't like it, because it
gets into my head, and makes me stupid; and you never drink any thing, so
if we could only manage to get him to let us keep it to cook with."

"As to that, child," said Aunt Polly, "I mus have it to cook with, that's a
pint settled; there aint no use 'sputin about it. If he thinks I'm gwine to
change my way of cookin in my old age, he's mightily mistaken. He need'nt
think I'm gwine to make puddins out o' one egg, and lighten my muffins with
snow, like these ere Yankees, 'kase I aint gwine to do it for nobody. I sot
out to do my duty by you, and I'll do it; but for all that, I aint bound to
set to larnin new things this time o' day. I'll cook Carolina fashion, or I
wont cook at all."

"Well, but what shall I do?" said Mrs. Moore; "you wouldn't have me do a
thing my husband disapproves of, would you?"

"No, that I wouldn't, Miss Emmy," said Aunt Polly. "My old man's dust and
ashes long ago, but I always done what I could to please him. Men's mighty
onreasonable, the best of 'em, but when a woman is married she ought to do
all she can for the sake of peace. I dont see what a man has got to do
interferin with the cookin, no how; a woman oughter 'tend to these
matters. 'Pears to me, Mr. Moore, (captain, as you calls him,) is mighty
fidjetty about bottles, all at once. But if he cant bear the sight of a
brandy bottle in the house, bring 'em down here to me; I'll keep 'em out of
his sight, I'll be bound. I'll put 'em in the corner of my old chist
yonder, and I'd like to see him thar, rummagin arter brandy bottles or any
thing else."

Mrs. Moore was very much relieved by this suggestion, and when her husband
came in, she enlarged on the necessity of Polly's having her own way about
the cooking, and wound up by saying that Polly must take charge of all the
bottles, and by this arrangement he would not be annoyed by the sight of
them.

"But, my dear," said he, "do you think it right to give such things in
charge of a servant?"

"Why, Aunt Polly never drinks."

"Yes, but Emmy, you don't consider the temptation."

"La, William, do hush; why if you talk about temptation, she's had tha