The Republican journal., 1882-02-16
Mrs. Symington's Bargain.
By LUCY RANDALL COMFORT

By lucy RANDALL COMFORT.
| All women, we are told, have their
| Weaknesses, and Mrs. Stanhope Syming-
ton was china maniac, as are most
| people to some degree i'll this esthetlc
| nineteenth century OF the world. But
| Mis- SymingtOn eXcelled in the matter.
| She would proWl in second hand stores,
| penetrate into the cavernous recesses of
| tenement hOus drive long distances
| into the country to old homesteads where
| She had heard vague rumors concerning
| E'haring blue" sold green glaze" "but-
| tertly Yellow" and "genuine old India
| wares" She would remorselessly turn
| the choicest pieces of modern bric- a. brac
| from her tables to make way for spout
| less teapots, cracked bowls and noseless
| Jugs. She crowded her drawing room
| with brackets, shelves and cabinets for
| the accommodation Of ancient plates,
which she called 'plaques," and pitchers
| which she rechrstened "vases."
| Mr.. Symington, a meek little man. with
limp yelow-whte hair, fiat nose and
tolorless eyes like dim glass marbles,
began to find it no slight task to make
| his way through his own house without
| iPl tdhel-t vi lIlSlOl lulIt-
| Il wish there was not such a thing as
qld china in the world" he lamented up
On one particular occasion, after he had
knocked a handleless cup from a tripod
draped in olive velvet.
| "Stanhope," reproved his wife, not
! Without severity, would you retard the
progress Of modern civilization This
cup, fragile as it may seem, represents an
era in decorative history
"Well it won't represent it much long
er," observed Mr.. Symington, as he gath
cred up the fragments, with something
like vindictiveness in his faded eyes.
| "But, Stanhope,' cried his wife, "what
are you going to do with those pieces 7"
| "Throw em into the ash barrel, Of
course said Mr.. Stanhope, spiritlessly.
But Mrs. Symington rescued them from
his grasp, with shrek Of apprehension
Are you mad, my dear?" she ejacu-
| lated. II can mend them with little
cement and a great deal of time; and
even then wouldn't take twenty dollars
for this exquisite cup. And have been
| thinking Stanhope-"
| 'Well, my dear" said the luckless
| iconoclast, looking doletully at his finger
which had been cut with one of the
| pieces of broken crockery, "what have
! You been thinking?
/ That | should like to go up into Maine
next week" said the lady, insinuatingly.
| Into Maine? In midwinterg" echoed
! her amazed spouse, opening the dim eyes
! Very wide indeed.
| 10 see Aunt GriZzel," explained Mrs.
| Symington -''My aunt Grizzel Grumpton
| You know, at Wild River
| ''Humph." remarked Mr.. Symington,
| pandagng his finger with his pocket
| handkerchief. II didn't know that you
cared SO very much about your aunt
| GriZzel."
| My dear" said Mrs Symington, merg-
| ing her speech into a mysterious whisper,
| eve Just remem bcred- of a sudden,
as it were-that she has a set of Uery old
| tlaring blue china. She must have. 1t
belonged to her mother before her: and
| how I've forgotten it for all these years
I'm sure | can't imagine. Even now,
| shouldn't have recalled it to my memory
| suppose, if hadn't chanced to see, at
| Mrs. Hepburn's afternoon tea yesterday,
the darlingest little egg-shel cups, with
| bridges and pagodas and willow trees all
| over EN-, exactly such as Aunt GrizZy's
| mother used to have. And then it came
to me like a flash Of lightning g-Aunt
| tirizzel's china"
'Probably it's all broken by this time" "
| gloomily suggested her husband.
"Nonsense said Mrs. Symington,
briskly. "Aunt Grizzy never broke any
thing in her life. She is carefulness itself;
and up there in Maine, you know, they
don't have clumsy mattresses to fling
things about. No, no, you may depend
| that she has it all safe and sound in one
Of those odd little three -cornered cup
| boards of hers. A treasure, Stanhope, a
perfect treasure. Money wouldn't buy
| such set as that; a hundred years old
if it's a day. So, if you don't mind, my
dear, III just run up to Maine, and see
about it."
| "Do as you please, Arabela," said Mr..
Symington resignedly. He knew that
Mrs. Symington generally did as she
pleased, and he saw no especial advan-
tage in debating the question.
| Thanks, dear: so kind of you !" ut
tered Mrs. Symington. "And of course
| can't go to the polar regions entirely un-
protected, 50 I'll order one of those COM
Portable seal dolmans that every body is
! wearing now, and new plush hat with
4 cluster OF ostrich tips. One must go
dressed like other people; and if you can
give me twenty five or thirty dollars, |
dare say Aunt Grizzy will let me have
the set for that (she don't know the value
of old china, poor thing y and the journey
won't be more than thirty dollars both
| ways, if go by sea, including a state
| room"
ton, discouragingly, THAT this is a good
deal of a wild goose chase, going dancing
up to the northern boundaries of Maine
at this time of year for an old set of
trumpery china which probably didn't
cost ten dollars to start with"
"Oh, Stanhope, it djd!' cried the lady
indignantly. at was real India ware,
Imported, without paying dollar of duty,
by an old sea captain in the India trade,
expressly for my grand mother Grump-
ton. And, besides, you are so dreadfully
grovelling and prosaic in your ideas As
if the original cost of thing of this ma
ture signified. It's the esthetic value
that we look at, don't you see ?"
'Ah" said Mr.. Symington. "Well, if
you must go, you must 60, Isuppose and
OF course | shall have to give you check
for what money you are likely to want"
| And Mr.. Symington sighed deeply, and
went up stairs to get piece of court
plaster for his cut finger.
Mrs. Symington went to Wild River, in
the northern boundaries Of Maine, where
the pine forests were thatched with snow
and the icicles tinkled in the woods of a
moonlight night like so many castenets
gone mad. She made the greater part Of
the voyage by sea, and was consequently
very seasick, for the water was rough and
the gales tempeStuOuS.