The weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1869-18??, 1870-10-19
How we Obtained a Home.

y
wife met me at the door. 81,
why, Will, what has caused you to be SO
| late?" said she. "The tea has been stepped
this half-hour, and really began to fear
| that some one had taken fancy to your
watch, and caused you an unpleasant de-
lay" f.,i ,.,J,.,fe.s.3. ,s.. b
This remark was madein relation to an
ancient timepiece which carfied--a huge
watch which had belonged tn my grandfath-
er. My wife was always predicting that some
gentlemanly foot pad would seek to possess
| himself of this valuable, if | was not careful
about exhibiting it. The truth was, she was
sorry in heart that could not afford bet
| ter one, and so took this method to banter
me.
Wesat down to tea that night in our lit
tie back parlor, beside cosy CRATE fire, and
the fragrant Oolong, ndmy wife's CHEEKY
talk soon caused me to forget my long walk,
and the drenchipg rain, and the unpleasant
incidents of the day.
"Do you know, my DEAR" said l, breaking
open white creamy biscuit the while, and
laying on a slice of butter, "do you know
that ! had some serious thoughts on my way
home to night9"
20, no doubt you did," said she; "yor
were, perhaps, in a fit of mental abstraction,
thinking how much you made on the last
corner" in speculation,
All this was decidedly naughty. You see
had managed to save thousand dollars,
and friend of mine knew it, and he also
knew nice corner" in wheat, and the half
of my humble pile, he said, was sufficient
seed for rich harvest on such "cOrner" as
III k,l ~,
| please my friend, and good deal to please
myself and make little money quick The
the result was follows: Saturday night
Will atkins minus five hundred dollars.
"No," said I, nothing of the kind. I was
thinking how hard it was to be poor. How
hard it is to toll on, year after year and just
barely make living. Here we live in
rented house. We have paid out in rent for
this little cottage three times its first cost.
A man ought to own the house he lives mi
it be but she'd. L. have never seen the
time whenI could spend money for house.
"'When fortunate in specializing, have let
my funds slip through my fingers, don't
know how, and my regular salary is only
sufficient for yearly expenses"
"Do you mean to say said she looking at
me aychy over her cup, "that you would will
lingly compel the wife of your bosom to live
in smaller and cheaper structure? Do you
really" -e t.,...:..
"No," "said l." and Indeed, if l were to
think of building cheap cottage, where is
the money to come from 2" And then
groaned audibly over the aforesaid "corner."
n. SWELL" said she. 81 am glad you are still
devoted husband, not disposed the least
to play the truant, but would it not be well,
now that we ale on this subject, to see if
there is not some way open to liberty For
my part, would like to walk over patch
OF ground which we could call our own. Do
you know" said she, shat have never
cared anything about flowers here it is not
because am net fond of flowers, as you we'll
know, but it seems SO ridiculous to be cul-
tivating flowers on rented ground. How l
would like to be mistress of little yard
and then the flowers would be all my
| own"
| b. The fact is, my. wife had been always
talking after this manner. She wanted time
to build house, even though it had but
one room. And 30 1. answered her, " Yes,
yes, but where is the money to, come from 2"
And again thought of the !" corner
"Well," said she; I" this is tie first time
you ever seemed to see eye to eye#ith me
as ito love in icottage' When the thou
sand dollars were in the bank, you Insisted
that We had not enough; now that the half
is gone, Isay that we still have enough to
begin with, and my feelings is e 4rike for
your affairs and your fires. = sifa
By this time we were through tea, and
taking cigar from off the mantle, I sat
down in my easy chair, leaned back, took
two or three whifs of smoke and said to
her: 90 l-s.4.1' o. =
"My dear will you be kind enough to
inform me how shall go to work to build
house for five hundred dollars"
In the meantime she had draw stool to
my feet and was looking up at me, her rosy
lustrous face beautiful in the gaslight II
has been difficult from the first for me to
Withstand that face believe had never
yet refused any request of hers, save to
abandon my cigars and build cottage, and
now felt my time had come and so 1 pull
ed away at my Havana with uncommon
zest $500
",Now, WILL" said she, listen. I hear
there are lots for sale in C.; great, large
lots on long time, at three hundred dollars
1t is only ten miles by rail, and property
they say is rising there every day. My plan
is this: Go down and buy new lot now
and get ready to build in the spring.
'Yes," said I, "but you forgot the money
"Stop," said she, pulling with her tiny
hand at my beard; "you pay for your lot
to pay for two years. We shall be able to
replace the money by spring, and have five
hundred dollars to begin our house with
We can build cosy place large enough fol
you and me, for one thousand dollars"
"Yes," said 1, knocking the ashes from
my cigar, "but where is the remaining five
hundred dollars to come from 2" H'
"Look here" said she. We now pay
here three hundred dollars for rent, do W,
not This amount, at least, we shall SAVE
in the new house. You can readily borrow
OIL the security you have, the remaining five
hundred dollars, and by little econom.
we shall be out of debt in fifteen months
from March next, save the two hundred dol
lars on the land"
"Yes, yes" said 1, land such house W.
shall have-oh, dear! r-s-G s'ls4
Well, was influenced by my good it'll
wife. We went down one sunshiny day, an(
looked at the lots and closed bargain, anG
in the spring our house was commenced, ant
ready for occupancy before the first of May
TWAS not so large cottage as the one WI
had just left; there was no gas, and / hat
myself helped to dig well; but somehow
there was strange exhilaration of feeling
on getting settled in our new abode. The af
fair, too, had cost more than we had antici-
pated by two hundred dollars so that w
we were in debt on the house alone sevel
hundred dollars, on movingiD. 1 felt quit
uneasy over this debt the first night. Thi
feeling quickly passed off, and as we begal
toput down trees, make a garden, and pre-
pare for family of chickens, our estat
; seemed so immense that the debt Thereon
was trifng.
I cannot stop to tell you of the JOY of tina
summer Away from the roar and dust o