Cooking and castle-building

"In answer to my question why she didn't beat the eggs before she put them in the batter, she said emphatically, ' Better dis yere way, honey. You take my 'vice, and don't go trying no 'sperinients wid dese yere slappers.' I did, however, try the experiment of beating the eggs separately, after which I agreed with Aunt Nancy that they were better ' dis yere way.' " This same ' slapper ' batter, left a little stiffer, baked in the oven in shallow pans, cut in squares and served hot, is a very fine specimen of cornbread, sometimes called Cape May bread." " Cousin Kate, do you know why the * slappers ' are better for having the eggs beaten only in and with the batter?" "I think I do. But I don't mean to tell you, Alice, for the reason that I wish you to solve those riddles yourself, the reading of which requires only a little mild thinking." " Speaking of riddles, reminds me of something," said Alice, "I intended mentioning to you half an hour ago. Have you or ma seen the absurd article in the ' Democrat ' ? " "No," exclaimed both Emeline and myself, involuntarily. "Then listen to this," was Alice's reply, as she unfolded the Westfield "Democrat," and read to us the following : — "About Ghosts. — For some weeks it has been the current report that ghostly visitants have taken possession of the Douglas mansion, which is in charge of the gardener during the absence of the family, and hold private seances there, on which occasions they materialize or assume the forms they wore while tarrying in this mundane sphere in years gone by. Although we have but little faith in either the ghosts or the reports, many of our readers appear to be deeply interested in both, and wish us to give them all the information that can be obtained upon the subject. We have therefore detailed a special reporter, in whom we have the utmost confidence, to work up the case, and give us the benefit of his investigations, and we hope shortly to lay before the readers of the ' Democrat,' a full account of the ghosts and their doings. Our reporter has been on duty several days, but has not as yet made much progress. The gardener, he says, * doesn't interview worth a cent,' and he adds, very emphatically, 'the old fellow's wife is more secretive than a clam.' He is busily engaged reading up on the literature of ' spooks,' and hobgoblins generally, so as to be equal to the emergency, and fully prepared to tackle any sort of a ghost that may present itself. The facts he has gathered are very few and unsatisfactory, but we have high hopes of his giving us something racy in a short time, for he is willing to swear that he has had frequent glimpses of a creature, not of the earth earthy, flitting about the garden and veranda in the twilight, with hair floating about her shoulders, and dressed in the traditional white robes that ghosts are said to assume when they appear to mortal eyes." CHAPTEE YI. "Kate, do I understand you to say that this coffee, which is so perfectly clear, has nothing used for settling it, but a spoonful of cold water?"