News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-03-15
SHE RENTED A HOUSE.

music, had TO love for it; an extray
agant devotion to embroidery, and som
skill IN that Overdone art: a rather cIea
idea Of French. These [ could on refiec
ton recognize as the potent elements il
my hbation from the babbIing stream O
knowledge.
81 had never been in society and hac
but few gentlemen friends. and wheI
Tom came-my husband, you know
was IN love as quickly as he. We wer,
married soon after our first acquaintance
My parents died within a few years O
each Other-my father overwhelmed by
one of those business crashes, which O
late years occur so frequently. the sur
prise of the moment dies before the
deeper interest of society has been
moved For several years after our
marriage Tom was secretary in a manu-
factory of iron works. We boarded, be-
cause we could not afford a home.
We knew little of economy. In
those earlier years money came easy and
went with the passing enjoyment and
needs. Tom used to say: No use to
scrlmp, Mary; can't save enough to
count much. and I'll have a mine full
some day. Just see if I don't SO Iwore
ny pretty dresses, and indulged in nv
luxurious fancies, and was even more
thoughtless than he. We have suffered
enough for those sins of prOdigalitv, and
had to learn after little all the ins and
outs that serve to smooth the paths of
poverty. During the eleven years of
my married life [ have not had home.
s. After the boys had come-Ernest |
and Will-what visions used to have of |
a cosy nest for them Yet they were |
happy years till tine iron works failed and |
Tom was thrown out of employment.
with no assurance of obtaining other
He had never been robust, but now
tramping about the city from the weeks
beginning till its end in search of a sit
uation, hearing of a vacancy here and
there, only to find it already filed on his
application, he was almost in despair.
when the position he now holds was OBJ
tanned.
eve might then have subsisted on
the low salary; we might have endured
the discomforts Of a cheap boarding
house with cheerful minds. had not
Ernest suddenly fallen quite i'll. For
weeks his condition was critical. This
long strain of nursing and anxiety left
rs weak in purse as well as Ia body ere
he had recovered Ernest's safety again
.assur-d, decided something must be
done at once in new line of action for
Tom and the boys.
Zone evening We sat olone-the boys
asleep in their low couch by my bed -
Tom and in Respondent silence which
of late settled over US in our few leisure
hours.
''Tom. saidL Il am going to make
a home for you and the boys. intend |
to rent a house ct once
"He glanced mp with faint smile, but |
started as he met my serious look. He |
told me afterward he Thought I was tax |
ing the fever from which Ernest had so |
lately been restored.
- Yes, [ persisted, tomorrow I shall |
start in search of a house to rent. We |
viii endure this wretched life no longer
Tom was incredulous, amazed, disgusted. |
argumentative, as he found me firm. At
last he concluded I would awake with
cooler brains on the morrow and see my
plan a foolish, impracticabIe vision.
Next morning, however, I started in
sarch of house. For days I looked
about, not because houses for rent were
scarce, but my house had not vet been
discovered
"At last, one afternoon, tired and
hungTy-for had missed my dinner-I
reached this corner. Goods were being
moved out, tAe occupants leaving, and
'house for rent l thought, found it to
be the case, obtained the landlords ad-
dress, and in half an hour was shown
into DR.. Harris office. In a few words
he was told my business.
Seventy-fve dollars a month. in ad-
vance, madam
Sir, [ have no money
"How the doctor stared.
"' Consent to this demand of |
stupendous assurance, said 1, give me
a stranger, n wOman-the use of your |
property, without reference, without |
security, and You shall be paid at the
end of a month You shall not lose a
penny
81 waited his response, but not long.
Moved by divine influence TInow-and
- -,,,aI-oe nv c,,nooc, c4;11 r-,-,o4o,.
Doctor Hart responded, after thoughtful
scrutiny of my face: Mrs Howard, my
house is yours to use until | find that
my confidence has been misplaced
g Didn't / fly back to our dingy rooms ?
Tom had not yet returned from work.
could scarcely wait for his coming, but
kissed my boys, and frolicked with them
till we were too bOisterous to hear him
when he did come in, so quiet and wan
Tom, cried I, congratulate me; I've
rented my house He actually gasped
and sank into the nearest chair. I'M
possibler
"Oh, my. his words anGmanner might
have moved an escaped lunatic, but not
ult. Il uOuSty "Ouldu "utI6 dI6 your
beds, cupboards, tables, stoves, your
everything? By heaven, Mary, you are
cranky Not a bit, says I, behold In
me brilliant business woman, and
waved my lease triumphantly.
eve had a dramatic scene, and after
listening to Tom talk a long time [
thought best to tell him how, for months,
the hours had been spent by me, while
he, poor fellow, was making all efforts
possible to him to keep afoat with his
burden of wife and babies. Of my
pupils III French, my bits of embroidery
these were the secret of my managing
the family purse so cleverly-for which
he had so often praised me. Toms eyes
grew moist and he said not another harsh
word, though his silence was infexible
to my purpose.
There stood my house, when I came
up the hill next morning, half fearing If
to have vanished as castle of nv