The Mystery of Mary

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1912 edition. Excerpt: ... a little money. I could buy a white apron. My trunk is a good many miles away, and I was in desperate straits and had to leave it." "H'm! A stepmother, probably," thought the kindly little woman. "Poor child! She doesn't look as if she was used to roughing it. If I could only hold on her and train her, she might be a treasure, but there's no telling what John will say. I won't tell him anything about her, if I can help it, till the dinner is over." Aloud she said: "Oh, that won't be necessary. Fve got a white apron I'll lend you--perhaps I'll give it to you if you do your work welL Then we can fix up some kind of a waitress's cap out of a lace-edged handkerchief, and you'll look fine. I'd rather 3o MM that and have you come right along home with me, for everything is at sixes at sevens. Betty went off without washing the breakfast dishes. You can wash dishes, any way." "Why, I can try," laughed the girl, the ridiculousness of her present situation suddenly getting the better of other emotions. And so they got into a car and were whirled away into a pretty suburb. The woman, whose name was Mrs. Hart, lived in a common little house filled with imitation oriental rugs and cheap furniture. The two went to work at once, bringing order out of the confusion that reigned in the tiny kitchen. In the afternoon the wouldbe waitress sat down with a box of watercolors to paint dinner-cards, and as her skilful brush brought into being dainty landscapes, lovely flowers, and little brown birds, she pondered the strangeness of her lot. The table the next night was laid with exquisite care, the scant supply of flowers having been used to best advantage, and everything showing the touch of a skilled hand. The long hours that Mrs. Hart had spent 107, puckering her...