" Because my friend Jennie Douglas has a beauti-
ful place there, which has been shut up for a year,
and will so remain for a year longer. The place
is left in care of the gardener ; but I have leave
to go there when I will, and stay as long as I see
fit, — why not bury ourselves there? AYe might
bribe the gardener and his wife to keep our pres-
ence a secret as much as possible."
"The very thing," responded Emeline. "Let
us start to-morrow. But where shall ^XG get our
rations while there, and who will cook them for
us? If we install a retinue of servants in the
house, w^e may as w^ell abandon all thought of
rest or comfort."
"I have a plan," I said, after a moment's reflec-
tion, " which will help me carry out a pet project
of my own, and at the same time enable us to
dispense with servants."
" My adorable Kate ! proceed, divulge, explain.
I am all eagerness to know what pet project of
yours can be subserved by our burying ourselves
for three months in some out of the way place. I
fail to see how that will do aw^ay with the evils of
intemperance, or give the sufirage to woman."
" Emeline, in my wandering to and fro upon
the earth, I have been in a great many houses,
HOW IT HAPPENED. 11
and have eaten of the labors of a great many
cooks. But the houses that deserved to be called
homes, wherein genuine comfort and cheerful hap-
piness dwelt peacefully together, — I could count
them all on my ten fingers. In searching for the
cause of this great lack, I cannot attribute it
entirely to the tyranny of man, or the servitude
of woman. I am forced to the conclusion that
women fail to appreciate the importance of the
Home. That in their just rebellion against lives
of drudgery and toil, they fail to see how much
of this drudgery is self-imposed, and what a grand
work each woman might do in her circumscribed
sphere if she could make the home attractive and
desirable above other places, to husband, sons,
and brothers. I have an idea that if the women
who are wives and mothers would bring all their
powers to bear in the right direction — making it
their first object to see that the home is comfort-
able and attractive, — a place where the husband
can rest, and the sons find pleasure, — that these
wives and mothers would constitute the most
efiective temperance crusaders ; that the labors
of the women who go forth to pray with and con-
vert the rumseller, would, in comparison with
their labors, count as nothing."
" Kate, I protest against being forced to listen
to your lecture on moral reform. Come to the
point. What is your pet project? "
12 COOKING AND CASTLE-BUILDING.
Page 2
Presented as published in 1880. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
" Because my friend Jennie Douglas has a beautiful place there, which has been shut up for a year, and will so remain for a year longer. The place is left in care of the gardener ; but I have leave to go there when I will, and stay as long as I see fit, — why not bury ourselves there? AYe might bribe the gardener and his wife to keep our presence a secret as much as possible."
"The very thing," responded Emeline. "Let us start to-morrow. But where shall we get our rations while there, and who will cook them for us? If we install a retinue of servants in the house, w^e may as w^ell abandon all thought of rest or comfort."
"I have a plan," I said, after a moment's reflection, " which will help me carry out a pet project of my own, and at the same time enable us to dispense with servants."
" My adorable Kate ! proceed, divulge, explain. I am all eagerness to know what pet project of yours can be subserved by our burying ourselves for three months in some out of the way place. I fail to see how that will do away with the evilsof intemperance, or give the sufirage to woman."
" Emeline, in my wandering to and fro upon the earth, I have been in a great many houses,
and have eaten of the labors of a great many cooks. But the houses that deserved to be called homes, wherein genuine comfort and cheerful happiness dwelt peacefully together, — I could count them all on my ten fingers. In searching for the cause of this great lack, I cannot attribute it entirely to the tyranny of man, or the servitude of woman. I am forced to the conclusion that women fail to appreciate the importance of the Home. That in their just rebellion against lives of drudgery and toil, they fail to see how much of this drudgery is self-imposed, and what a grand work each woman might do in her circumscribed sphere if she could make the home attractive and desirable above other places, to husband, sons, and brothers. I have an idea that if the women who are wives and mothers would bring all their powers to bear in the right direction — making it their first object to see that the home is comfortable and attractive, — a place where the husband can rest, and the sons find pleasure, — that these wives and mothers would constitute the most effective temperance crusaders ; that the labors of the women who go forth to pray with and convert the rumseller, would, in comparison with their labors, count as nothing."
" Kate, I protest against being forced to listen to your lecture on moral reform. Come to the point. What is your pet project? "