The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1880-03-06
FASHIONABLE GIFT.GIVING.

WELL. what was to be done aboutitP
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
ap, and she had been promising for so
long 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 bill, and the balance on
Kitty's birthday gift, and dozen other
things, all to be paid for out of that
paltry five dollars. No wonder Mrs.
Waters groaned as she contemplated
these impossibilities!
"Why, l could use fifty dollars this
very day, and then not get half we
need" said she, despairingly, tapping
her foot nervously on the fender. ''But
l can't get any more from John, for he
said when he gave me this bill, this
morning, that [ must make it hold out
as far as possible; he positively couldn't
spare any more for month to come;
his bills were falling due, and he would
be dunned to death, for he could not
collect anything that was coming to
him. o, dear! it's a dreadful thing to
be so stinted," and the little rocking
chair on which she sat rocked back and
forth excitedly.
Mrs. Waters was by no means an ex-
travagant woman, and her complaints
and wishes on the morning in question
should not be so construed. In fact,
her husband proudly declared her to be
the best wife in town. She was eco.
nomical and Industrious, as the neatly
mended garments of her children often
testified, while her orn.out dresses
were transformed into stylish frocks for
the little ones by her own deft fingers.
A wasteful woman; or one less skilled
In household management, never would
have been able to "keep up'' so respect
ably in every particular as did Mrs.
Waters. Perhaps pride and ambition
had something to do with it, but if so,
it was certainly a pardonable pride,
and an ambition not wholly unworthy,
which made this mother so careless of
many sacrifices, that the family might
always, as she expressed it, "put the
best foot foremost"
But she could not sit longer, thinking
over the best disposition of her finances.
Time meant something in that busy
household, and here it was almost ten
O'Clock, and the busting to be done yet,
and at any rate, thinking the matter
over forever did not make the problem
more clear, she argued
"Pu pay Mrs. Weeks what l 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 too
dear. I'll have Kitty to go at once and
pay those two little bills, and then
they'll be off my mind"
"Here, DEAR" she said to her little
daughter, "put on your cloak and tip
pet, and go down to Mr.. Todd's book
store, and give him $3.50 1 owe him.
He will give you the change out of this
bill, and from there you can go around
to Mrs. Weeks and pay her ST.. rs out of
it, and bring back to me $1.75; or, stay
it is such long walk for you to both
places in the rain, you may pay Mr..
Todd and then come directly home. l
will send Clara to pay Mrs. Weeks, or
will perhaps go myself this afternoon.
Now, be careful and don't get in the
mud, the walking is so bad on this side
of the street, perhaps you had better go
past DR.. Gross IS nice and dry down
that way. And oh, goodness! that re-
minds me that l promised to send my
dollar for the missionary society to Mrs.
Gross early this week. 1t was due last
month, but couldn't possibly pay it,
and it wont do to let it run on any Ion
ger. So Kitty, you'll have to stop there
and give her dollar. don't see that
there's any other way" and with a
sigh at the remembrance of this unex-
pected debt, Mrs. Waters took her
busting cloth and went to work, solilo-
quizing: "That ends the chance of buy
ing Clara the scarf; but it would never
have done to let that missionary money
go unpaid. Mrs. Gross is President
now, and they say she has made rule
that if any are in arrears she will read
out their names before the whole So
ciety. l don't believe in anybody being
so fierce, for my partp'
She went on vigorously with her
work, and had just completed her dust
ing when Kitty returned with the
change, and somewhat ambiguous
message of thanks from Mrs. Gross
e that she was much obliged for the
dollar, as it was betterlate than never"
which only elected from Mrs. Waters
dry "ahemr'
"Well, Kitty" she said, after a
pause, "you may run and play now.