MISS
HECK'S
THANKSGIVING
PARTY
OR
TOPSY
UP TO DATE
Miss Heck's
Thanksgiving Party
or,
Topsy
Up to Date.
By
Dedicated to
The Woman's Club
Of Evanston, Illinois.
Dedicated to
The Woman's Club
Of Evanston, Illinois.
(Copyrighted by the Author.)
To the Woman's club
of Evanston:
of Evanston:
Devoted, as it is, to "mutual helpfulnessin all the affairs of life," andto a union of effort towards attainingthe "higher development ofhumanity," this little brochure isdedicated by one of its members.
MISS HECK'S
THANKSGIVING
PARTY;
THANKSGIVING
PARTY;
or, TOPSY
UP TO DATE
UP TO DATE
IDA HAMILTON MUNSELL, B. M.
Any person with but half aneye could recognize at a glancethe extraordinary character ofMiss Myra Heck! And furthermore,if novelists did not showsuch decided preferences forwhite-skinned heroines, Miss Heckwould long since have won theworld-wide renown which of rightbelongs to her. But, unfortunately,Miss Myra was born ofblack parents away down in thesunny southland, and the dark hueof skin and wisps of woolly curlswhich are characteristic of thenegro race have descended upontheir offspring. This is the moreunfortunate in that this daughter—nowa young woman of twenty-fouror thereabouts—is possessedof really uncommon talents, whileher brain teems at all times with[4]schemes worthy of a French diplomat;and were she fair anddainty as to exterior, she wouldnot now be occupying the situationof "maid of all work" in thelittle town where we first discoveredher.
Yet, notwithstanding the accidentaldisadvantages which hamperthis bright maid, she hasmanaged to achieve at least localdistinction in more directions thanone. Few families are there inRexville who have not at one timeor another availed themselves ofMiss Heck's services. Servantsof any degree of ability are exceedinglyrare in Rexville, so thatMiss Myra could easily reign asthe bright particular star in thedomestic firmament of the universe,were it not for certain peculiaritiesof temperament, added toan ugly habit of prevaricating,together with a too confident dispositionto presume upon her mistress'willingness to permit hercook to parade the streets dressedin silks and satins from her ownwardrobe.
But, because of this scarcity ofhelp, and in view of the generalability possessed by Miss Heck,her employers have shut their eyesto such peccadillos as these so[5]often, that by dint of much experiencethe young woman has atlast possessed herself of suchpower that she rules the mistressesof Rexville with a rod of iron.She has indeed reached the conclusionthat although one familymay decide to forego the benefitof her assistance in their householdbecause of some little peculiarityof hers, nevertheless she issure of a position with some otherlady on the stree
...