The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1880-02-26
FASHIONABLE q1FT.G1YINa.

Well, what was TO be done about itP
Mrs. Waters looked ruefully at the
five-dollar bill reposing in solitary state
in the inner compartment of her pocket
book, and pondered. In the first place,
there were the muffs for the girls 1t
would take the whole of the five for them
alone, to say nothing of the other things.
Clearly, they must be given up, and she
had been promising for so long a time
to get them, too. 1t was too bad
Then, there was the scarf for Clara,
and the fur gauntlets for herself, and
Mrs. Weeks's bill and the balance on
Kitty's birthday gift, and dozen other
things, all to be paid for out of that pal
try five dollars. No wonder Mrs. Wa
ters groaned as she contemplated these
impossibilitiss
"Why, 1 could use fifty dollars this
day, and then not get half we need, s"
said she, despairingly, tapping. her foot
nervously ON the fender ssBut / can {
get any more from John, for he said
when he gave ME this bill, this morning,
that must make it hold out rs far as
possible; he positively couldn't spare
any more for u mouth to come; his bills
were falling due, and he would be dun
ned to death, for he could not collect
any thing that was coming to him. Oh,
deari it's dreadful. thing to- be 50
stinted," " and the little rocking chair on
which she sat rocked back and forth eX-
citedly.
Mrs. Waters was by no means an ex-
travagant woman, and her complaints
and wishes on the morning in question
should notEbe so construed. IN fact,
her husband proudly declared her TO be
the best wife in town. She was eco
nomical ana industrious, as the neatly
mended garments of her children often
testified, while her worn-out dresses
were transformed into stylish frocks for
the little ones by her own deft fingers.
A wastetul woman, or one less skilled
in household management, never would
have been able To keep up" so re-
specially in every particulr as did Mrs.
Waters. Perhaps pride and ambition
had something to do with it, but if Sc,
it was certainly pardonable pride, and
an ambition not wholly unworthy, which
made this mother so careless in her own
case, aud so cheerfully endure many
sacrifices, that the family might always,
as she expressed it, t'put the best foot
foremost" "a els kEt.
But she could not sit longer, thinking
over the bestdispositiop of her finances.
Time meant something in that busy
household, and here it was almost IC
O'Clock, and the, dustiug TO be done yet,
and at any rate, thinking the matter
over forever did not make the problem
more clear, lfeLargued-
"I'll pay Mrs. Weeks what owe
and the balance due Mr. Todd, and
with what is left I'll try to get the scarf
and the gloves too, if they are not toe
dear. III have Kitty go at once and
pay those two little bills and ther
they'll be off my mind"
Here, DEAR" she said to her littIe
daughter, 'put on your cloak and tip
pet, and go down to Mr.. Todd's book.
store, and give him $3.50 owe him
He Will give You the change out of thi:
bill, and from there YOU can 90 around
to Mrs, Weeks and pay her 81 70 out o1
it, and bring back to me SI.75; or, stay
it is such long walk for you to botI
places in the rains your may pay Mr.
Todd and come directly home. 1 vii