e.

"Besides my gift of beauty
And my cultivated mind,
I have other choice attractions
Of a very varied kind.

"My roasts and steaks are luscious,
On my hash all have relied,
My youthful veal's delicious,
And my milk is certified."

On these pleasing meditations
Broke a mother with her brood,
Sailing o'er that calm reflection
In a most ungracious mood.

"You may be steaks and roast beef
And hash of quality,
But you stoop to imitations
Of poor humble little me.

"You may be a benefactor,
But I'll just remind you, ma'am,
That in one small particular
You are a blooming sham.

"Don't let your sweet milk curdle
And don't let it sour your luck,
If I make so bold to mention
That imposture called 'Mock Duck'!"

So this web-footed lady,
With a malice quite feline,
Disturbed the calm reflections
Of that innocent bovine.

CHAPTER IX.

A LESSON BY THE WAYSIDE.

Promptly at nine o'clock Saturday morning the "Comet" might have been
seen crawling down the side of the mountain with Billie at the wheel.
Dr. Hume sat beside her and Elinor and Ben were in the back seat. It was
with something of a holiday feeling that they went forth to meet
Alberdina, the new maid, whose presence was becoming a pressing
necessity.

"I don't mind the cooking a bit, Doctor," Billie was saying. "Especially
with Nancy, although I suppose I am really her assistant. She makes
things exciting enough. I think she's a kind of culinary speculator and
takes a lot of chances, but she's awfully lucky. She takes all sorts of
rag-tag ends of things, chops them into bits and turns out what she
calls _ragouts_."

"They're mighty good," said the doctor. "Experimenting cooks generally
have a sub-conscious instinct that carries them along when they seem to
be going blindly. But it's difficult to work with them. They are always
dictatorial and inclined to treat the assistant as a scullery maid."

Billie groaned.

"I hope Alberdina, strong and fearless, will relieve us of that awful
scullery work. I have a feeling it would be a reflection on my character
and on the Campbell family if I didn't leave every pan bright and
shining, but oh, dear, it's work! I think if I had to keep it up I
should cook everything together, vegetables and meat, in one big kettle
full of boiling water."

"That wouldn't be such a bad mess," laughed the doctor. "The vegetable
and meat juices would make a rich broth and you could serve