Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1883-02-03
TWO SIDES 30 EVERYTHING


-%.- iss-A,t zf-.sst~
MARY" said Mr.. Norris to hi
wife, as he entered his snug littl,
home one. evening, 1--WE are to have
company to- supper Tomorrow.
met my old friend, Henry Ard, il
the street to-day, and asked him t.
come out.o 4ee'
'Isn't he the Ard who has grown
SO wealthy in the past few years p
asked Mrs. Norris, as she stepped
briskly around in laying the tea
/ table,. rs
"Yes; but / don't think his
wealth has spoiled him. He was
as cordial to me as ever, regretted
that / was still only clerk in Hol.
denis, and wondered heW / could
get along on such a poor salary.
He doesn't put on any airs at all.
So wear your prettiest dress to-
morrow. Mary, and have a good
| supper"
"He'll have no reason to complain,
I'll promise that said Mrs. Nor
ris, who was an excellent cook and
a capable housekeeper. 1t was to
her careful management that her
husband owed his freedom from
debt for only the most systematic
and judicious economy could have
made his small salary adequate for
the support of his large family.
While several of his friends
among them Henry Ard-had risen
rapidly, through fortunate specula-
tion, to positions of afffuence, Nor
ris had remained poor, clerk only
in the house in which he had start
ed as an errand boy. But, by
| means of the most rigid economy
and numberless sacrifices, he had
been able to purchase small cot
tage on the outskirts of the city,
and he declared. that the day he
made the last payment upon it was
the happiest Of his life.
1t had been the dream of many
years to own a home, and, in his
employment, he forgot the sacrifi-
ces he had made, which at the time
seemed very hard. His wife had
worked nobly to beautify the
grounds, planting rose-bushes with
her own hands and, training vines
over the cottage. A prettier place
in the summer it would have been
hard to find. '-s-:s,;.Fa.~} s..
Mrs. Norris was dressed in her
best, and. the children were as fresh
and sweet as could be, when Mr..
Norris reached home the next even
ing, accompanied by his friend.
/ The gentleman was cordial in his
manner, it is true, but his. coming
cast a gloom over the household,
for he began at once to complain of
the tedious ride he had from the
city, commiseEated them on living
SO. far out, and he averred that he
had heard that land was cheap IN
this section because it was un-'
healthy. He asked Mrs. Norris if
she did not think her ,'childFen
looked pale; and he advised Norris
to sell out and buy somewhere else.
He dWelt earnestly upon the fact of
there being so few neighbOrs,
and no doctor within a mile or 50
and he succeeded. in rfillingthe breast
of his hostess. with anxiety and
alarm.
AT the tea-table he spoke of the
elegant tea-service he had given his
wife few weeks previously; of the
delicious tea he had drank at the
house of friend the evening before,
been used, and the dozens of lux
uries which had been heaped upon
the table in his honor. ......
Mrs. Norris listened and sighed.
Her china set, used. for many years
began to look poor and mean in her
sight as she imagined the beauty of
Mrs. Ards silver; the tea tasted
bitter; and she had no appetite for
the fried oysters, salad, Jelly and
cake she had prepared so carefully
and with so much pleasure, antici-
pating as she had some compli-
ments from her guest on her cook
ing.
After supper the whole family
gathered about the stove, and lis
tened enviOusly as Ard dilated on
the delights of an open CRATE, of the
actual necessity of d home library,
where there were growing children;
of the costly books in his own
home; of the rare pictures and ele-
giant furniture in the houses of his
friends; ofthe fine society in which
his wife moved of her jewelry, her
costly dresses, and the number of
servants he found it incumbent on
him to keep in order to secure com
fort; of the convenience of gas, and
the danger of using Kerosene and |
of twenty other things that the host !
Of whose hospitality he was par
taking did not and could not pos
sess. Yet he was neither boastful |
nor ill-tempered, and gave no occa- |
sion for Offense in anything he said. |
But when he arose to depart |
neither Norris nor his wife felt any |
regret to have him go so early, nor |
did they urge him to come again. |
They felt sad and discontented. |
The little home in which they had |
taken such genuine comfort now |
looked shabby and mean. The |
small rooms seemed more cramped |
than ever, and they felt ashamed of |
the poverty which had prevented /
them from living as. Ard and his |
friends lived.
Mary put her children to bed and |
then went to bed herself, where, I
after thinking over her lot in life !
and recalling the many sacrifices
she had made, and the pinching
economy she was obliged to prac-
tice, she finally cried herself to /
sleep.
A few days passed, and the cloud |
of discomfort which had settled |
upon the family was still heavy,
when one evening visitor, IA Mr..
called, just as they were
about to sit down to supper.
Mr.. Norris invited him to the
table, and Mrs. Norris began to
apologize for the IIomely fare, wish
ing it was better.
''NO apologies are necessary, my /
dear madam" said the gentleman, I
as he threw off his overcoat and
seated himself at the table, 81
walked out from the city, and have
the sharpest kind of an
l feel as if | could relish
any and everything"
1--WE live such terrible distance
from town." said Mrs. Norris, sit
is wonder to me that our friends
ever find us at all. AS it is, they
come very seldom"
"Why, I think your home most
situated!' exclaimed
who was even Wealthier
than Ard, and lived in far greater
style. 81 drove past here one day
last summer, and remember think
ing how like a bower of beauty this
cottage looked, almost covered with
roses, and surrounded by I
And you couldn't have