The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1878-08-07
A Birthday Present,
HOW HUSBAND DUTIFULLY TOOK HIS wIFE'S
ADVICE UPON ITS MERITS.


Dear Consin Flo's birthday,
Ye twain have cen as sisters been,
And 'twere both just and pleasant,
That we on her should now confer
A handsome birthday present.
Twas at her house / first met thee,
And when thy hand sought
She lent such aid as usually t#@ a*
Girls in her place do not. .st
SO forth to the store of Tiffany, .-..
From counter or from shelf @a
A fitting present to select, .. ... .s..
Jewel, or bronze or delf; "
And letit be such gift as thou
Would'st choose for thine own self; =
On such occasion one should not III. y
Be covetous Of pelf. :...
Forth Jared the husband and the wife
To the store of Tiffany;
When she had heard her husbands word
An angry wife was she! .-.. III .
HE hath thought eno'," she said of Flo,
But never thought of me.
He knoweth, or he ought to know,
If he knoweth anything,
That the dress wear was worn thread
bare . -.
When had it turned this spring.
When at the Eastertide the theme
Of hats I daredt to breach,
He said, You may but in way F.
OF infinite reproach,
My references to expenditure
Ofdollars-e'en of dimes
Are met with gloomy lectures on
The hardness OF the times.
And yet, in spite OF his complaints, ~
When it is Cousin Flo,
To whom a birthday gift he'd give
He can lind cash eno."
III,
Ale should have KNOWN" the wife went
With a sardonic grin,
Not only Flo's cousin am
But in sense her twin.
Her birth and mine are on one leaf
OF the family Bible writ;
My birthdays on the same day us hers,
But he does not think of it,
Satsuma ware. or bronzes fair.
Or dead gold jewelry
Iohis Flos he fling, but anything
Is good enough Tor mer'-
In such ungentle mood she came
TO the store of Tiffany. -
I'VE crosses mortals cannot judge
Tween diamonds and tween PASTE"
The husband said unto his wife;
And hence on Woman's taste
AS these must aye be placed.
Sit down my dear, selection make
AS if 'twere for yourself
or any pretty article
In show case or on shelf,
care not what the price may be
Or what the article;
An it please thine eye, have it put by
And I will foot the bill"
A feudish thought was in that Wife's
heart,
And she smiled as if in glee,
AS they brought her there all that was
fair
In the store of Tiffany.
"These diamond earrings" said her lord.
Seem handsome unto me-
'Diamonds,' said she, "are worn no more
In the best society"
Fair is this string of Orient pearls,'
IT'S pretty, without doubt,
But read in the last Sunday World
That pearls were going out"
"Goodly to see these opals be-"
John, opals do not wash;
And they only wear coral jewelry
In the wilds of far Oshkosh,
No woman that respects herself
Wears costly Jewels now;
She leaves their use to the parvenues
Anu Luc DOWery mdluS, lrOW.
An had my choice of all the store
For my own self, wis
No article in it would more
Suit with my taste than this
VI.
"What?" said the lord, reluctantly,
"Perchance you're satisfied,
But as a gift would not this look,
In the poets language, snide?"
She beat the pavement of the store
With an impatient toe;
"What's good enough for me,'' she said,
Isn't good enough for Flop"
Her husband marked an angry flush
On her round cheek come and go;
Il did not mean that, louisa, dear;
You should not answer so
Ho, salesman! in a. package>do
Ne up this article; ~
Send it to-day to this address,
The salesman said, II will,'
And the husband he got back some
Out OF five dollar bill.
VII.
The wife had hardly reached her house
When at the door she sees
A wagon, the superscription
Whereof is Titfany's.
They give to her parcel small,
She tears the paper away,
Withln's card, ITO my dear wife,
On her twenty third birthday"
She opens the casket with trembling
hand,
And it to her eyes doth show,
The twopenny halfpenny article
She had picked out for Flo ... ....
Which she had sworn beyond return
In the monde was all the 20!
Her dark eyes filed with tears, TO
breath
A moment did she catch,
And gazing on her husbands gift.
She softly said, "The wrrrrrrrrrretch ZIP