Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-08-11
MRS. DoDD's PoRTIERE.
BY MARY n. PRESCOTT.

Lawyer Brownies folks, over to bingham, have
real satin brocade ones in the best parlor. good
enough for gown. But Mrs. Kitchener, the
housekeeper, she took me into her room, and
there they was nothing but coffee-bagging, ii
you'll believe it, with bits of coored cotton
flannel sewed on 'em and the baggng amt over
fifteen cents rard.''
Il don't see the good of hanging curtains up
to the doors; nobody can see through 'em."
"Lor. Child, the door Is took off, and the Dor
tiere hangs In Its place, and looks mighty grand,
and makes You feel as though you was living in
palace"
Il don't believe it'll deceive me-" shifted Lu-
Cinda.
DO get the dictionary down, Lucindy. and
look out pOYtiere. | want to know how to spell
1t. and all about it. and when Mrs. Jerry comes
In she can't trip me. How cut up she'll be! You
know when brother Ben left me his best wooden
carpet she wanted to know if | wasn't afraid Of
moths oettingintO the house."
Lucinda took down the consumptive-iooking
dictionary and pondered over it.
Il don't believe that's the right word" she
said presently. there amt no such word here"
No such word! You're just like your Aunt
Jerry D0dd, -always making folks miserable
Don't you suppose Mrs. Kitchener knows and
she living this twenty year UP ter Lawyer
Browne's?"
Il daresay she's poking fun at you"
"POhing fun at me! Do you think your
mother is person calklated to hev fun poked
at her. Lucindy Dodd:'
Tile Duncans have got an unabridged" said
Lucinda. waving the question; 'Tli run over and
hunt it up.''
''But don't let on what you're looking after
want the neighbors to come in and ask what
Eve got ahanging up there and l want to tell
EN- po1'tiere. to be sure: and I want to sec em
turning it over in their minds. dying Of
curiosity to know what q pOrtie,e is but hating
to give in that they never heard of the thing
before"
But Mrs. Kitchener, who had been commits
stoned to buy the coffee bagngin bingham. hap
pened over with it the next day.
DO you know" said Mrs. Dodd. privately
we've hunted through the dictionary. and La,
cindy's looked in the unabridged, and we can't
find portie,e. high or low"
"Of course, You couldn't" answered Mrs
Kitchener .Why it's French word!'
real French word! You don't say SOL Why
foks'T come from Oldbury. and Near1ield. and
all about to see it, just as if it was whole men,
agere. Mrs. Jerryl be Just fit to die. But
don't don't know what Toml say about taking the
II guess he'll talk French" put in Lucinda.
And he did.
take the door off the hinges" he cried.
"What tomfoolery is this. eh? Are you crazy.
Pamely? Ali the neighbors'll be laughing at
you Hang your pOr'tieIe."
That's just what We want TO do" giggled
Lucinda.
1.-The neighbors don't laugh at LAWYER
Brownies folks and there's po,tie,es and po,-
there's all over the house. l see 'em with my
own eyes"
Yes"
blessed if ever heard of such a thing! It
must be modern progress. Why not take down
a side OF the house and hang up curtain:
What's il for, anyway? 1t amt pretty; it looks
like horse blanket. tn be mighty nice for
rheumatism and infuenzy. Why not take the
root OF the house instead?'
But for all Tom Dodd's disapproval the door
came Off and the po1'tiere brilliant with cotton
flannel dragons. Japanese young men and
women, half MOONS and hierogyphics reigned
in Its stead Mrs. Dodd was ready for the
neighbors.
Mercy sakos alive" calculated Mrs. Jerry,
VINO had come i'll with her darning for little
gossip. What on earth have you got u hang
ing up there? and where's your door gomez
That? Oh. that's only portiere." as If a
po,tis'e In Millvlllage was the most common
thing in the world.
"A what! 1t looks like slde-show at the
circus, or a poster"
Everybody don't take to 'em when they first
see en- Uttered Lucinda. Father didn't
Folks have to be educated up to 'cm, like eating
tomatoes
"a po,'tie,e did you say? Whered YOU oct
the idear 2"
'It's a French word" said Mrs. TON, as if
French were her daily speech. sit comes from
France"
pity it hadn't stayed there. 1t must let in
sight of cold air.
I'VE haven't suffered no Inconvenience, . re-
turned Mrs. Tom. loftily.
ut amt to be sneezed at" said Lucinda.
AS luck would have 1t. however, u cold snap
set In about this time. Mrs. Dodd piled on the
coal and shivered surreptitiously.
Your what ou-Inay -call-it don't seem to
keep out the cold like door," suggested
Mrs. Jerry In another OF her neig hboriy calls.
~ don't believe they'll be popular In MILL
village"
They're popular at Lawyer Brownies and in
the first families TO bingham" returned her
sister-ia-law.
We'll, s'pose they have furnace there, and
the price OF coal amt no consequence to EN-
For my part, shouldn't be able to reconcile it
to my conscience to waste Jerry's substance In
p0rtieIe."
II Mrs. Dodd had wished to set the neighbour
hood agog, She succeeded; Miilvillage wasn't
used 70 esthetc ideas and the report that she
had taken door off the hinges and hung up
curtain in its stead seemed to their unenlipht-
ened minds the height of absurdity.
- But it really does look ever go pretty" said
one genial soul at the sewing circle ''Only INV
teeth Chartered in my head all the time stayed
ut Mis- Dodd'a'"
'Lucindy tells me it's a new-fangled notion
they got up to Hinghan she says it's all around
there. as II 1t was the measles It's what they
call Art Decoration" explained Mrs. Lutte
string. the mIner.
'Art fddiesticks. snapped Mrs Jerry 'the
art of taking cold. reckon. Pameley had the
doctor, last night aud mustard piasteri I cal
kilate she's decorated with blister by this
time"
Pm afeared Miss Dodd's getting dreadful
worldly to be so took mp with coffee bayvlnv
and cottOn-fannei when there's missionary work
to be done" sighed old Mrs. Preacher.
" Miss Dodds got gentllity on the BRAIN" put
10 the village dressmaker. ''She wants to lead
the fashions in Millvage"
- think It's our duty to get up petition and
ask her to have the door hung again. seeing's
the sewing socetys going to meet there next
week; it wouldn't be convenient for ali OF us to
have the infiuenzy together" suggested the
president of the society
Its flying in the face of Providence" per-
sisted Mrs. jerry.
But before the week ended Aunt Hannah
dropped In from heartfelt to make Mrs. Dudd a
Visit. as the weather had moderated.
II thought I'd take advantage of the warm
spell. she exclaimed. ''YOu see I'm going over
to bingham next week to hev Lawyer Browne
make my WILL and Il thought I'd stop awhile
along with you. Pameley, on my way. You
Know She continued. dropping into whisper
as though all the heirs were at her elbow, "if