Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1878-07-04
OUR FRONT ROOM.

nishedr
Iwish it might be" observed Harrie,
obviously, but don't feel much encour-
aged about it as yet"
If | were you, Bessie, [ would order
the suit in reps, with a tapestry carpet"
| remarked, sarcastically. Pm afraid
we cannot quite afford AmbussOn and
satin brocade."
How much money have you, Har-
RE 2" asked Bess, ignoring M irony.
Five dollars and fOrty-three cents"
was Harries reply, after an inspection
of her pOcket-boOk.
And you, FLOP"
81 have ten dollars" laughed /. owe
shall not be able to rival the BentOns, /
am afraid, Bessie, dear"
The Bentons were our snowy next
door neighbors, be it remarked, whose
gorgeous parlor was at once the admira-
ton and the despair OF half the house
keepers in NorWoodyille.
"The Bentonsw exclaimed Bessie,
with superb scorn. "Do you suppose,
Florabella, that l would sit down in
our front room if it bore the faintest
resemblance to that upholstery shop Of
the Bentons? Do you"
'fOf course notr' L cried, with upIift-
cd hands warding off any more indigna-
ton don't suppose anything at all.
But what has sent you struggling with
that impossible front room again %
"'Tisn't impossible!' retorted Bess.
:" have twenty dollars all my own.
That makes thirty-fve between US.
Now, if you girls will follow my direc-
IL =, Ill
lars and furnish that ROOM"
How" [ queried, helplessly; while
Harrie evidently thought it of no use to
say any more to a girl who talked such
absurd nonsense as furnishing DarlOr
with thirty-fiye dollars.
We were three orphan sisters, keeping
house together on an income SO ridicu-
lousy small that any outlay for new
furniture was quite out of the question;
and yet the one desire of our three
hearts was to furnish our parlOr, pref
ty room, but bare as any barn. We
had Il conveniently appointed kitchen,
and a cool, clean dining-room, where
we sat in the afternoons with our sew
ing. Our bedrooms were comfortably
furnished, but for our parlor we had
not so much as Il table.
Tomorrow our quarterly income was
due, but that we must live ON for the
next three months SO the thirty five
dollars left over from this quarter was
all we could possibly count on and that
seemed too small sum to think of in
connection with the furnishing of our
front room.
Bess was our head and shoulders, our
right hand, our mainstay; and her ca
liabilities III the way of getting some
thing out of nothing were truly remark
able, as witnessed by the fact of her
possessing more money at the end of
the quarter than both her sisters;
though we had all the same allowance
for our personal expenses, and Bessie's
were the heaviest, on account of her
being the largest and requiring the most
dress material. Yet, in spite of Bees
sizes genius, the furnishing Of that front
room seemed exceedingly problemat-
ical.
There is my contribution to the
funds" remarked Bess, placing her
twenty dollars on the top step. | de
posted my ten beside it, and Harrie
followed with her five
Then we looked at Bess and awaited
~ explanation.
:" have been reading in a magazine, y
said Bess, "about woman who fur
nished her parlor with fifty dollars, and
had the prettiest room in town."
But we have only thirty-fve dol
lars, suggested |.
And forty-three cents" supplement-
ed Harrie.
Well, that woman bought some
things which we need not buy" re-
piled Bess. ITO be sure she had set
of lovely old chairs which belonged to
her great-grandmother, and which have
just come into fashion; and somebody
gave her a pair of pictures, and some
body else presented her with a statuette,
and"
" Do stop, Bess !" | cried imploringly,
while Harrie went off in a violent eX-
plOsion Of laughter.
Il don't suppose anybody will give
us a picture, or beg the privilege OF
keeping piano in our front room,
said Bess, candidly; although that
happened to the woman in the maya
zine. What | want is Ben Bradshaw
plane and saw, and Ben himself to
operate Them, and an old barrel OF
two"
81 suppose Ben and his tools are to
be had for Il thank you" remarked
Harue, land there are barrels enough
in the wOodshed. They are good ones.
too. What are you going to do with
them, Bessie?"
"You shall see," said Bessie, smiling
wisely. AT present let US go up to
Merrion's and get some OF that lovely
straw mattings for the floor"
Straw mating will do very we'll for
the present. said |. but when il
comes cold weather."
we must not begin to think of cold
weather in May interrupted Bessie
!" Perhaps by November some good
luck will bring us carpet. In sum.
mer, mating Is positive luxury"
We went to put on our things, Of
course preparatory to visit to a carpet
store, for we always Obeyed Bessie's or
der
When we returned from the expe.
dition we were accompanied by man
with barrow, and in that barrow Were
twenty-six yards of blue and cream,
colored mating, of nice quality
which we had bought for fifty cents {
yard; also eight rolls of pretty gray
wall paper, at fifty cents roll. Wher
the paper was up and the mating
was down, our front room was very
clean to look at.
but we could look at the pretty
mating aud the blue-gray paper IL
Merrion's store just as WELL" sale
Harrie. And | don't see where We