San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1878-03-30

| 'freueTlc, shiu my auht, WV" "
mingling of reproof and surprise in her
tones" Frederic, can you be so insen-
sible to the value of true household Art
as to regret the furniture have discard
edP All, my dear boy, your words only
prove to me your lamentablc want OF
culture-the dizziness of your aesthetic
perceptions, in fact-and l shall do my
best to educate you to a higher plane in
Art"
My aunt shivered perceptibly as she
finished; and no wonder, for the room
was really cold.
"You are chilly. Let me open the
register; or shall tell John to put some
coal in the furnaceP" l asked, rising
from my seat at once. But Mrs. X.
stopped me, with another SILVER as she
did so.
Nonsense!" she replied, shortly;
81 am quite warm enough; besides, l
have had the furnace taken out. 1t is
the greatest of modern denominations,
and could not permit it to remain in
dwelling devoted to artistic furnishing.
Is not this charming woOd-fire de-
lightful substituteP" and so saying, she
sneezed.
elbow miss your pictures!" ven
tured to say next. l felt so disconcert-
ed by the strangeness of all about me
that made this remark with real tim
idity. My aunt was more reproachful
than before, as she said'
"Have you noticed the dado and the
fr,eze, Frederick That cove over the fire.
place is a marvel of Art, and then my
china plates are perfectly in keeping
with the tone of the apartment, while
my pictures were notp" .....
"But you had some lovely pictures,
aunt; those two, especially, by Greuze
and Bouguereau were real gems.
Couldntyou have given them aplacep"
"No; for the highest .Art demands
that each room be treated as a whole,
and that certain Tone once adopted,
shall never be sacrificed to any lesser
considerations; and it was in accord
ance with this maxim that l took down
my pictures," said my aunt, with a lof-
ty smile at my weakness.
was discounted, but l tried once
more: 81 think, though, that you
might have kept your carpets. These
waxed floors are so treacherous, and
then the comfort of walking on your
superb Administers"
But now my aunt was thoroughly out
of PAL ence, and she interrupted me
sharply: You astonish me, Frederic;
you have so little appreciation of or feel
ing for the best Art. Carpets, indeed!
utterly inadmissible in properly treat
ed apartment. Now these rugs"
But it was my turn to interrupt:
"Do you call that dingy square a rug,
aunt? Why, thought it was a bit of
carpet out of Johns pantry, left there
by mistake"
"Then let me tell you that that din
gy square of carpet is a relic of price
less value, sir. 1t was once the prayer
rug of an Arab chief, and it cost me
over one thousand dollars" answered
my aunt, looking really displeased.
Observation-Disclosures" l echo
ed, in dismay. "Oh, what a" But l
stopped in time to reflect, and the last
word remained unuttered. After all,
my aunt was rich enough to throw away
few thousands when she chose, and
what fool should be if | angered her
by ill-timed or unwelcome criticisms on
her acts!
So | fastened to retrieve my error,
and, by dint of judicious admiration of
the famous rug, and many appreciative
comments on the plates, clocks, cabi-
nets, etc., | installed myself once more
in my aunt's good graces, so that the re-
mainder of the evening passed pleas
antly enough.
Nevertheless, l was conscious of n
good deal of perplexity and annoyance
when thought over the whole inter-
view next day, and the result of my
thinking was a determination to watch
over my aunt us closely as possible with
out becoming obtrusive or exciting her
suspicious.
Well, in accordance with my resolu-
ton, went up there the next day, in
time for dinner, if she urged me to stay,
rs | knew she would. | found Mrs.
Kerammik terribly hoarse, but refusing
! tn helieve that the harn-like atmoSphere