Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1882-06-16
POTTEE'S PLEASANT SURPRISE,

Good-by, dear: BE sure to take good
care of yonr-elf. Get scat on the last
carts always safest-and don t forget
to take your lozenges. You're sure of
being home again in two weeksp"
This inquiry was made with such evi.
dent anxiety as to elicit an induIgent
smile from the comfortable looking,
ro!y-faced gentleman to whom it was
addressed.
"Oh. yes, Louisa, I'll he back in a
fortnight, or less. Don't be uneasy
I'm too fond Of home to stay away q
day longer than is absolutely necessary,
AID my business can be finished in two
weeks.
Then there were affectiOnate adieus,
and Mrs. Potter stood at the door and
watched her liege lord as he hurried
down the street, anxious to catch the
train in time. The moment he hal dis
appeared, she closed the door and turned
briskly around.
"NOw, Martha. we haven't q moment
to lose. Only two weeks allowed for all
my arrangements, and if he should hap
pen to return before that time it would
be dreadful. We must begin at once !;
and, having SO little time, must be sat-
isiied at present with the dining-room
and my bedroom. What q surprise it
will afford him, and how pleased he
will bel"
Martha-a staid domestic looked q
little doubtful at this last proposition,
but discreetIy said nothing.
All that day Mrs. Potter and Martha,
with the cook pressed into service, were
very buy. and the house 10 general as
sumed topsy-turvy aspect.
Carpets were taken up, and the furni-
ture moved into the halls up and down
stairs. AT first glance it might have
appeared as though the family were
about to remove. But when, on the fol-
lowing day, workmen arrived and COM
menced tearing up hearths and taking
down mantle-pieces, it became evident
that the house itself, or at least the two
particular apartments specified by Mrs.
Potter, were undergoing a transforms.
ton.
"When no sees these rooms all ar
ranged and furnished according to
aesthetic principles and the rules of
art" observed Mrs. Potter, with an air
of dignity, she will, of course, desire to
have the rest of the house similarly ar
ranged. At present, l merely desire to
afford him an agreeable surprise"
For about ten days following, the Gu
riosity of the opposite neighbors was
much exercised over the unwonted pro-
ceedings of Mrs. David Potter and her
servant Martha.
maiden, Mrs. Potter would set forth
from her home early in the day, some
times on foot, sometimes In hired hack,
and returning about dusk, accomp anied
or followed by innumerable parcels and
packages, Large aud small.
She was seen in extraordinary places,
end recognized in various remote and
out-0f-the-way localities.
1t was ascertained, By q comparison
of notes between Mrs. Green and Mrs
Hicks, that she had visited q jewelers.,
pawnbroker's and junk-shop, all in
one morning.
Those two ladies marveled much as
to what it could mean; but they being
ordinary, common. place characters, who
had never studied the new books on
high art furnishing, or even attended
the series of exquisite lectures recently
given BY the learned Professor Recocco
and his accomplished lady upon aesthetic
tastes and principles. could not be sup
posed to comprehend what Mrs. Potter
was really so much interested in and
busted about.
She had always been q rather senti-
mental and romantic little woman, with
aspirations, as she declared, above the
commonplace of daily life, and yearn-
Ing for the beautiful in all Its aspects in
nature and in art. Hitherto these in
stincts had been exercised in embroi-
dering piano covers, knitting tides and
stitching bed-quilts of curious and intri-
crate pattern; but since her mind had
become enlightened by the reading and
lectures above mentioned, her eyes we're
opened to the righteousness of these
things, as well as to the whole system of
modern liying-including house ar
rangements and furnishing. As for
Potter, he, easy soul, never troubled
himself to oppose his wife's s'little harm
less notions" and made a point of as.
senling TO all she said in praise of art
and aesthetics; hence her brilliant idea
Of giving him an agreeable surprise up
on his return from his business trip.
On certain particularly wet and dis.
NAL day, with an easterly wind blowing,
MIR. David Potter stepped briskly from
the train, and with Overcoat tightly but
toned, and umbrella overhead, hurried
eagerly TO his own abode. He was very
glad that the two weeks of his enforced
absence were over and that he was
about to return to the comforts and lux
urles OF his own home. He thought of
.ne clear, glowing CRATE fire which
awaited him; Of the round table, with
ns bright cover, and piles of books and
papers; OF the plethoric sideboard, glis-
,ening With china and silver; and he