The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1877-07-25


it would make the difference of couple
of dinners week to us.
"Pd rather take in sewing. shouldn'
dare to look them in the face. The idea
of grudging my servants -
"Oh, Clara, you're perfectly hopeless!
then Rex wound up. And at that cried,
and of course then he had to console me
and it was q great deal nicer than If we
hadn't quarreled.
"I'm sure T want to economize,"
said. II wear silks, but Kitty makes
them; and I think they're cheapest il
the long-run, and one feels so much more
comfortable. And then you always useC
to like to see me in silks"
"And SO I do now. Of course do
1t isn't that I would deprive you of 6
single trife, Clara, my darling, for any
thing in all the world; nothing is to goo(
for you. It's only-only- Why, yor
never scrutipize an account. "
Il deal with honest people. I'd be
ashamed to-"
"Well, the consequence is that you
don't even know the price of mutton
and the tradesmen whack on any price
they choose. Now what if we should
lose our income by any hocus-pocus?- 2
such things have happened. What
should we do?'
EDO? Why, do what other people
do. Everybody seems to get along,
Creditors allow you something, don't
they-so much a day." And then Rex
burst out in a great laugh, and cried
"You are certainly incorrigible, YOU
lovely little idiot p And wewere off for
a drive, and that was the end of thai
/ lesson.
Every once in while Reginald USED
to have one of these fits of economy.
His mother would say to me, when she
came over: "Acqu1esce init; agree with
him; do your best to meet his wishes,
when the fit is on; he'll soon get all he
wants of it," And 50 he did.
You know our little place on the
Nauginog beach? Well, it is so lovely
that we determined to make it our per-
manent home, and 60 to the city and q
hotel for two or three of the worst win.
ter months, but give up the city house
and have only one establishment. Gen
eral Durceau's is at the head of the cliff,
and he lives there all the year round land
Mrs. Gleason's directly adjoining, and
we are down below on tAe Long beach,
where don't know how many ships have
come ashore, and no end of fotsam and
ietsam, as Rex calls it. Spars come
ashore; bales; bottles holding letters;
drift-wood half ground to powder; once
I picked up sailors cap, and once, do
you believe, a cradle with little baby IN
it, sound asleep, and rocking SO sweetly on
the waves-I did SO want to keep it; but,
of course mother had to turn up, res
cued, too, on the other side of General
Durceau's cliff. Well, one afternoon
Rex and were walking on the Long
beach, making believe look for the
quicksand. 1t was after dinner-time-
we had expected Colonel M'Manus, but
he hadn't come-and of course l was
nicely dressed. I always do dress for
Rex, but had taken unusual pains to-
day. for Rex had some business reasons
for desiring to make an uncommonly
good impression on the colonel. The
colonel was securing a charter for some
tremendous notwithstanding Co.
topaxi or the Atlantic, or something of
the sort, sure to make the everlasting
fortune of all included, and Rex wished
to be included; and the colonel was so
irascible, and so important and pompous
and naughty, that we wanted he should
have the best of everything; so in his
absence magnificent dinner was spoiled,
and my superb toilet lost. I had never
worn my dress before, either; it was just
the loveliest shade of royal purple, a
melted amethyst, and it was deadened
and half covered with black lace, my
best and dearest, fine as a cobweb. OF
course it was no dress for beach walking.
"Let us have five minutes stroll, :"
said Rex. Perhaps the old bloke went
to the other station; I'll send Terence
round;" and had just thrown on my
scarf, and gathered my dress up out of
harms way-the beach couldn't hurt my
gold cable-chain, nor my pink corals,
born of the sea itself-and had run after
him. We hadn't taken ten steps before
T found that the fit was on, and that he
had it bad. The fact was, that comfor-
table as we we're, Rev had become dis
contented among richer people, and was
nursing the idea that he should like to
be a millionaire; and there were some
excellent schemes and chances for capi-
tai that he knew about, and it vexed him
to think he had no capital to spare; and
he dwelt on it and dwelt on it. Itseemed
, to him so ignoble to be living On his
grand!ather's entailed estate, and to be
making nothing of his own; and as We
spent every penny every year, he decided
that the one way to get any capital was
to save some, and that was the one tc
save it, and if he could only force mt
into q beginning, the thing would bt
done by natural momentum. But there
- could he change the spots on the
leopard?
"See here" said he, that afternoon
as we walked; "look at that. Enough
wood to last us the year round thrown
on til S shore, and nobody picking up {
stick of t."
cts nothing but chips" said I.
"Chips?" said he. "Let me tel
you, CHIPS ulahe ,lo So"u pluLc aS lleaI
can wish. We could burn these chips
in every CRATE we have and some o
them are goolly pieces"
"And 60 without our beautiful sea
coal fire p
"Our sea-coal costs us thirty dollar
q ton, and these chips cost nothing.
suppose if they did cost thirty dollars
ton, ships would be chartered to bring
them from the ends OF the earth. As i
is. Terence could be gathering then
when he has nothing else to do. And a
for beauty, Clara, I should like to hea
any one compare the beauty Of any Goa
with that of drift-wood blaze, rollin.
all manner of splendid alkaline-dye,
flashes of color up the chimney
ooh, well," said 7, eff you think
will be nice to have baskets Of thes
poverty y-stricken chips standing roun'
the hearths, making no end of a dust ant
litter, the fire fed every two minutes, @
else all out, and the little sparks snap
ping everywhere, you'd better try it
There's no excuse for a wood fire any
way. unless it's of whole logs, with
tremendous core of red heat, in hug