Litchfield enquirer., 1853-04-07
What a Pair of Andirons Cost,

? -
 es from his pipe, and laying it on the cor
 Der of the mantlepiece, and then fixing ili eyes on the andirOns, Peter, those andlroni
 cost me one thousand dollars
 Dear me ! exclaimed my aunt.
 Oh father cried the girls.
 Impossible! said l.
 True, every word true. One thousand
 did say 2-yes-lwo thousa nd--iuil tive thousand dollars. " Well, well, said my aunt, folding up hel
 knitting for rhe night, 1 should like to
 kOw what you are talking about.
 My uncle bent forward aud planted hls hands firmly on his paEted knees, and with deliberate air, which showed no doubl of his being able to prove his assertion, he begun: Well, you see, good many years ago, we had pair of old common aDdirons.- Your cousin Lefty says oce day, Father, don't you think those old andiFons are. get ting shabby? Shabby or not. thought they would hold the wood ap as nicely as if they were made of gold. So ! paid Eo attention to Lefty. was afraid she was growing proud. Soon after that, Peter, yonr aunt took it up
 There it goes. interrupted my aunt, you can't get along without dragging me in.
 Your aunt took it up. Peter. and she said our neighbors could afford brass and irons. and were no better of than we were. And she said Lefty and her sister Zane were getting old enough 10 see company and the stingy looking andr0ns might hurt their market. thnow that women will have their own way, and there is no use ofobjec,ing and so l go' the andirons.
 The price of them was tour dollars and a, haif-
 An, that's more like it, cried my aunt i; | thought you said Two thousand dollars.
 My dear wish you would not interrupt me. Four and half Well the first night alier we had got them, as we all sat by the warm fire talking over the matter, city called my attention 10 the hearth, the etones or which wsne cracked and un- even. The hearth was entirely out of keeping with the new andiro g, and lho't l might as well have it replaced first as last. The next day a mason was sent for to examine it. He came in my absence, an! when 1 returned home, your aunt and cousins ali s4set me at once to have mar ble slab. The mason had convinced them ,he hearth would not look decent without a marble slab, and they pil 'ileir S:saas ,gether.
 La me exclaimed my aunt, 'there was no putting heads together about il. The hearth was real old worn out thing, not fit Tor pig pen.
 Ihsy put their heads together, Peter. as 1 was saying, and continued tll'l got a ln A s.,hi iNh ouo Wp Hul lars. Yes, twenty dollars, al leasl. Then thought was done with expenses, bat l thought wrong. Pretty soon | began to hear sly hints thrown out about the br!ck work around the fire place no, correspond. ing with the hearth. IstOod out a month or two against your amt aud the girls, bul they a. last got the better of me, and was forced to have marble instead of brlck.-- And then the old wooden mantle plece was so out of character, thai it was neces- sary to have marble one. Ehe cost of all this was nearly one hundred dollars.- And now that tie spirit of improvement had g0i a start, there was no stopping place. The new marble mantle put tO shame the old white washed walls. and they must be painted of course, and 10 prepare. them for paint, sundry repairs were necessar ". While this was going on, your aunt and the girls appeared quite satisfied, and when il was done, they mad no idea that the old parlor could be made ,0 look so spruce. But this was only short respite. The old rag caEpet began io raise dust, aud Hound there would be no peace
 Now, my dear! said the old lady, with a pleasant smile, accompanied by a partial rotation of the head ..r..
 Now, father 7! exclaimed the girls.
 Till 1 got new carpet That again shamed the old furniture, and il had io be turned out and replaced with new. Now, Peter, count up my lad twenty dollars Tor the hearth, aud one hundred for the man. llepiece, and thirty for repairs. What does that make! 0ar
 One hundred and fifty, uncle.
 Well, fifty for p per and paint.
 Two hundred.
 Then fifty for carpet, and one hun- dred for furniiure-
 Three hundred and fifty.
 Ahem There's that clock, too, and the blipds fiiiy more ...t
 FOur hundred exactly.
 My aunt and cousins winked at each other.
 Now, continued my uncle, so much Sr this one room. No sooner was the room finished than complaints came from all