Cooking and castle-building

"How annoying!" said Emeline. "To be turned out of such comfortable quarters before we get fairly started at our literary labors, is really too bad. But, of course, we must go. I couldn't think of remaining, under all the circumstances." Questioning in my mind what m^^stic meaning might be hidden in the latter part of her sentence, I replied : " Don't decide upon anything hastily ; and say nothing to Alice, at present, about the matter. Because, as Jennie writes, Gerald's moods may change, — he is so restless and unhappy, — and with them, all their plans. If they decide positively to come home, she promises to give ample notice before they sail. I dare say, however, they'll remain abroad another year." CHAPTER IX. We were in the orchard looking for apples to eat, to bake, and to make into pies ; and with baskets well tilled with Sweets, and Codlings, and Queens, Emeline and I sat under the shade of a tree, while Alice wandered farther on in search of fruit that was rosier-cheeked, or more golden, than any we had gathered. " Did it ever occur to you, Kate," said Emeline, breakhig the silence into which we had fallen, "that" there is a universal disposition among all classes of people to wait on the future, and make little account of the present? Most of us fail to enjoy the present, we are so occupied in preparing for the future. In consequence of this feeling we store our closets with preserved fruits, which are in a measure dead fruits, the life, the pure air and sunshine havinsr been crushed and cooked out of them in the process of canning and preserving. When winter comes our cellars are filled with fragrant, delicious apples ; so full of goodness that they make the atmosphere, even of a close, damp cellar, redolent of sweetness. But, in our blind stupidity, we pass by, with a careless word of commendation, the very prince of fruits, the apple, leaving it to wither and decay, while we feed on the husks of the past, the cherries and berries and peaches and plums that we have canned and preserved and pickled. How foolish it does seem to neglect the apple, when it is in its very prime, through the fall and winter months, for these fussed-up favorites, which are far less nutritious ; and Vv'hich we ate far too sparingly in their natural state, and while in season, during the sultry summer-time." "Yes, Emeline, it often seems to me that in caring for the future we waste much of the present. Do you know, by the way, some wise people hold that apples contain all forms or kinds of nutriment essential to sustain and nourish our bodies, and that we can live and thrive upon apples alone, if we use them cooked and uncooked, as food ? For the past week I have been thinking about the best methods of canning, preserving, and cooking fruits, and the very thoughts you express have occurred to me. If people were wise enough to eat plentifully of the different kinds of fruits in their proper season, there would be comparatively little need of canning and preserving, in many sections of our country." "You may be correct in your views, Kate ; but since people will can and preserve fruits for some