The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 16, 1925, Page 11

of the Working Clas) | HE work was not so simple as Nickles had i imag- ined. He had ‘to be on his feet at 6 o’clock in the morn- g and to light the fire in the kitchen. “These people use up more dishes than they eat od,” he decided. He stood in close relation to the dishes. He was, }> to speak, an interested party—for he had to ash all those dishes together with Marguerite. | And then there were the knives. | Every one of them was Nickles’ sworn enemy. he point is that silver knives have a peculiarity having two parts. And each of the two parts ust be polished separately. Oh, those knives !. . Mrs. and Mr. Broidin did not seem to care for e latest inventions. Mr. Broidin’s great grand- ther must have brot aleng the knife-polisher om England; it consisted of a board and sand- aper. One of Nickles’ hardest problems was the rrect and even application of the sandpaper. And we must add, that only rarely did this prob- m find a successful solution. ‘The knives had to shine all in the same degree. o the knives that Nickles polished there were Ways traces of grains of sand to be seen. Fortunately John was a good chap, and initiated him into the art of polishing knives. But he needed ten mintites for every single knife. Ten minutes! 8} “Isn’t that too much?”—Nickles asked. “No”—John answered him—“because the knives must be sharp and bright.” But sharpening the knives required a_ great exertion of muscular power. One got real muscle- fever from it. And he had no chance at all to sabotage at this work for the knives underwent a careful scrutiny before every meal. “At Protopapadaki, we did this with a ma- chine”—Nickles remarked. . . . And then the carpet-cleaner. . . “Why is there no electric vacuwm-cleaner”— ‘les;in- the-meantime-turning. all hi attention to the task of picking up every little graiti of dust from the carpet. Nickles had a host of such enemies. Among others the white doors with theif tiny ornaments that he had to wash. But noticing that his prede- cessors had not attended to this work with such extraordinary care, he also tried to simplify it as much as possible. He took the tub. He dipped 9 rag and a piece of soap, got down by thedoor, assed over the parts that were especially dirty, ut hardly got up from his sitting posture: that is how he rested from the hardship of polishing knives. There was no chance however, of simplifying in the same way the work of cleaning the floors. For {| this work they commandeered even the gardners, -|and that’s where the heavy drudgery came in, for the thick carpets had to be rolled up and had to be carried out together with the massive furniture. “And how often!”’—Nickles stormed. There was one big room for almost every day. And then he had to turn and turn! And hop around with the wax thru the whole room so that the floor would shine properly! No, this:work was no pleasure. When it was about time to go to eat Nickles was dead tired. He thot again and again of how, outwardly, ..| the liveried la¢keys and servants in dress coats e| looked like idlers, but in reality they have to ¢| drudge just as bitterly. r|; Nickles. asked John, when was his day off? He leally wanted to put the question this way: “When .|is my day off?”—but then he thot that the other form was much finer. “A day off?—there’s no such thing really—only when the master and mistress are invited any- where we have to go to the city too.” ‘They spoke about this matter while they were re a. oo = . ye ee rtjarw Y eating. : ; Mary, the chambermaid, gave vent to her disgust at not being able to go to church Sundays. “I never heard of such a thing”—Marguerite t} Mary was of a warlike nature anyway. At lunch-time she used to tell of her experiences with Mrs. Broidin. .Today there was a quarrel over the ya e shoes. Yesterday the Mrs. had said that she would like to have the shoes shined only once in a long while, because the white “slippers” (slippers !— boats, regular boats!—Mary jeered) were. very delicate. And today she already got a calling down for not shining the slippers. “That’s how erazy she is!” They were unanimously of the opinion that Mrs.| Marguerite was also of the same opinion. Broidin was absolutely crazy. And Marguerite Be Pe Me who stood in awe of Mary was especially convinced MARGUERITE was a very good girl, of this. Ah, she despised the Mrs., but was entirely She always helped Nickles: at dish-washing, submissive to her. Her tyrannical bearing. Her|and he in turn would perform knightly services sharp, commanding, imperious tone. Her cutting] for her. For instance, leaves had to be laid under voice which tolerated no contradiction. Her con- the cantaloupes. Nickles went down to the park stant demands. The three shrill rings of the bell. willingly and plucked uniform-shaped fresh leaves All of this filled her with fright. Made her power-|/ from the lime-trees. (This was one of the basic less before the woman. requirements.) And he also helped her to cut up Bhe blushed again and again. pumpkins. He took the long, thin, sharp, knife She even felt at times that her knees trembled. | in his hand, lifted it up in the air and like an exe- And she did everything that she was ordered to do!| eytioner he struck down with it upon the pump- Immediately. Without contradiction. She did not} in. forget for a moment the idea that she was servant,| “gee! Sh, sh. and the other mistress: And that she was here Propapapadakis’ head.” to be ordered about. “Oh, oh, oh”—Marguerite cried with horror— Pi ee ee “that must have been frightful.” UNCH was, always a pleasant half hour. Lil-| The repeated the performance several times, lian the cook looked on with kindly eyes, tak-| then he picked out a very big and fine-looking can- ing care fhat everyone ate heartily. She did not|taloupe. spare Mrs. Broidin’s provision room in the least.| “This here is Gunaris!” The enjoyment was spoiled only because of the] Marguerite felt real pity for Cantaloupe-Gun- great hurry, for the master and mistress began to} aris, which met a wretched death under Nickles’ eat at one o’clock. The table had to be set. The|executioner’s axe. table-service had to be ‘scrutinized. Then there Sot Re were the dishes. “Bot now I’m goin’ to get even on that dog”— The master and mistress never dined alone. If thot Nickles, looking out at the animals thru they didn’t have any persons for guests, the dogs | the window. were present. The five dogs. The woman and man| “If I only knew which one took a bite at By John Lassen And Nickles felt in secret an overwhelming desire »to give that dog a hard kick in the side, and he resolved to do it that very evening. Ordinarily however there was almost always guests, which was something Nickles did not like Jat all. For guests meant still more dishes, more dinner service. that’s how they cut off could not stand each other, they had to have some-/me. . . Maybe I can recognize him. . . '— thing to distract them. he thot. The beasts afforded a good deal of amusement.| But. . . They leaped about. They played. It is true of course that they blocked the way en the-meal was being served; this ‘was most unpleasant to Nickles and John. The Mr. and Mrs. were very much amused when one dog snap- ped at Nickles’ leg as he served up the roast. In such cases it is the servant’s duty to be silent. 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