Paste Jewels

Paste Jewels, by John Kendrick
Bangs

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Paste Jewels, by John Kendrick
Bangs (#7 in our series by John Kendrick Bangs)
Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing
this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the
header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is
important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how
the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a
donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since
1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of
Volunteers!*****
Title: Paste Jewels
Author: John Kendrick Bangs

Release Date: January, 2004 [EBook #4930] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on March 27,
2002] [Most recently updated: March 27, 2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, PASTE
JEWELS ***

Transcribed by David Price, email [email protected], from the
1897 Harper and Brothers edition.

PASTE JEWELS

PREFACE

It may interest the readers of this collection of tales, if there should be
any such, to know that the incidents upon which the stories are based
are unfortunately wholly truthful. They have one and all come under
the author's observation during the past ten years, and with the
exception of "Mr. Bradley's Jewel," concerning whom it is expressly
stated that she was employed through lack of other available material,
not one of the servants herein made famous or infamous, as the case
may be, was employed except upon presentation of references written
by responsible persons that could properly have been given only to
domestics of the most sterling character. It is this last fact that points
the moral of the tales here presented, if it does not adorn them.
J. K. B.

THE EMANCIPATION OF THADDEUS

They were very young, and possibly too amiable. Thaddeus was but
twenty-four and Bessie twenty-two when they twain, made one, walked
down the middle aisle of St. Peter's together.
Everybody remarked how amiable she looked even then; not that a
bride on her way out of church should look unamiable, of course, but
we all know how brides do look, as a rule, on such occasions--looks
difficult of analysis, but strangely suggestive of determined timidity, if
there can be such a quality expressed in the human face. It is the natural
expression of one who knows that she has taken the most important
step of her life, and, on turning to face those who have been bidden to
witness the ceremony, observes that the sacredness of the occasion is
somewhat marred by the presence in church of the unbidden
curiosity-seekers, who have come for much the same reason as that
which prompts them to go to the theatre--to enjoy the spectacle. But
Bessie's face showed nothing but that intense amiability for which she
had all her life long been noted; and as for Thaddeus, he never ceased
to smile from the moment he turned and faced the congregation until
the carriage door closed upon him and his bride, and then, of course, he
had to, his lips being otherwise engaged. Indeed, Thaddeus's amiability
was his greatest vice. He had never been known to be ill-natured in his
life but once, and that was during the week that Bessie had kept him in
suspense while she was making up her mind not to say "No" to an
important proposition he had made--a proposition, by-the-way, which
resulted in this very ceremony, and was largely responsible for the
trials and tribulations which followed.
Thaddeus was rich--that is, he had an income and a vocation; a
charming little home was awaiting their coming, off in a convenient
suburb; and, best of all, Bessie was an accomplished house-keeper,
having studied under the best mistresses of that art to be found in the
country. And even if she had not completely mastered the art of
keeping house, Thaddeus was confident that all would go well with

them, for their waitress was a jewel, inherited from Bessie's mother,
and the cook, though somewhat advanced in years, was beyond cavil,
having been known to the family of Thaddeus for a longer period than
Thaddeus himself had been. The only uncertain quantity in the
household was Norah, the up-stairs girl, who was not only new, but
auburn-haired and of