"O! now I understand you; she's quite well, I thank you; and how
is our friend Mrs. S - -?" I replied, laying a slight emphasis on
the MRS., by way of a gentle hint for his future guidance.
"Mrs. S - -, I guess she's smart, pret-ty CON-siderable. She'll
be right glad to see you, for you're pretty considerable of a
favour-ITE with her, I tell you; but now tell me what you will
drink? - for it's my treat."
As he said these words, he strutted into the tavern before me,
throwing his head and shoulders back, and rising on his tiptoes at
every step.
Mrs. S - - had been a very handsome woman, and still retained much
of her good looks. She was a most exemplary housewife and manager.
I was often astonished to witness the incessant toil she had to
ensure in attending to the wants of such a numerous household.
She had plenty of Irish "helps" in the kitchen; but they knew as
much of cookery as they did of astronomy, and poor Mrs. S - -'s
hands, as well as her head, were in constant requisition.
She had two very pretty daughters, whom she would not suffer to do
any rough work which would spoil their soft white hands. Mrs. S - -,
no doubt, foresaw that she could not expect to keep such fair
creatures long in such a marrying country as Canada, and, according
to the common caution of divines, she held these blessings with a
loose hand.
There was one sweet little girl, whom I had often seen in her
father's arms, with her soft dark eyes, and her long auburn ringlets
hanging in wild profusion over his shoulders.
"I guess she likes pa, SOME," Mr. S - - would say when I remarked her
fondness for him.
This little fairy had a natural genius for music, and though she was
only four years old, she would sit for an hour at a time at the door
of our room to hear me play on the flute, and would afterwards sing
all the airs she picked up, with the sweetest voice in the world.
Humble as the calling of a tavern-keeper may be considered in
England, it is looked upon in the United States, where Mrs. S - - was
"raised," as extremely respectable; and I have never met with women,
in any class of society elsewhere, who possessed more of the
good-feeling and unobtrusive manners which should belong to ladies
than in the family of this worthy tavern-keeper.
When I contrast their genuine kindness and humanity with the
haughty, arrogant airs assumed by some ladies of a higher standing
in society from England who sojourned in their house at the same
time with ourselves - when I remember their insolent way of giving
their orders to Mrs. S - -, and their still more wounding
condescension - I confess I cannot but feel ashamed of my
countrywomen.
