The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-10-08
OUR EXPERIMENT.

$50 am l." said Beth.
$50 alb ~ said Mamie, who was sui
fering with a dreadful cold.
"What is it, girls9' said l, turning my
book face down in my lap.
ats the suppers," said Beth.
sits the everlasting gossip" said Kate.
'It's so differed from hobc," said Nan
ME, to whom clearinghouse life was a
new experience.
'It's all three. and much more" was
what l wanted to say, but being the
oldest of the four, it seemed my duty to
make the best of things; so l said, quite
cheerfully, II didn't see anything unus-
ual about the supper tonight
"That's the trouble" groaned Beth.
ut was altogether too usual. I am so
tired of bread and butter and apple
sauce and dry cake that feel like gnash-
ing my teeth at the sight of them. l
should like a slice of toast or a bowl of
bread and milk occasionally, without
being made to feel that l had disarranged
the whole internal economy of the house.
The suppers arc bad enough" said
Kate, but they are nothing to the gossip.
Pm tired of hearing it whispered round
that Mr.. Johnson and his wife had a
quarrel in their room last night or that
Miss Robinson has worn three new
dresses this month";, or that Mr. Jewett
came in ever so late the other night, and
it sounded as though he fell upstairs.
BAH" and Kate locked as scornful as a
round face with a dimplc in it would
allow.
81 could stad everything else," said
Mamie, eff it was odly hobe-like. Oh!
if l could odly sit dowd in a clead
kitched, with by feet in the stove owed,
ad see a braided mat in frod of the stove
with a dice cat cd it, l should be per-
fegly happy"
We all laughed at this idea of bliss,
but after the laugh there was a sudden
silence, for each one of US recalled such
a kitten, and the presence that had made
it home-like.
We were not sisters, or wei kin to
each other, but meeting as strangers in
a city clearinghouse, a strong friend
ship had grown up between us, starting,
I think, in the fact that we were each
orphaned and had our living to earn, and
strengthened by many congenial tastes.
We were doing our daily duties in rather
a brave, cheerful way, usually with few
complaints, but tonight we were under
a cloud. Outside, a November rain was
lashing the windows, and inside, the
stove smoked.
1t was payday at the mandatory
,rlaro Eoto ,-o, hool. 1oo.o o~l 49,
was always a hard day for her; Beth had
worried two OF her dullest pupils through
their music lesson; and l had had a time
in school that afternoon with a wretch
of a boy, and was at my wits end
what to do with him on the
morrow; and Mamie was more than
half sick-so we sat there quite still for
q while. Finally Beth spoke: II sup
pose we might make these rooms look a
little pleasanter. We each have a few
pictures aad knicknacks."
"Do you suppose I would hang my
few pictures against this awful paper 2"
said Kate. ''Besides, what would be the
use Just as we got everything nicely
fixed, some man would want the room,
and we should be invited to 90 up high
err. rve boarded in this house two
years, and in that time I've advanced
from the first floor Jack to the third floor
front, ami two moves more will take me
out on the roof"
"We blight go subwhere %else," said
Mamie.
ooh! you poor little Innocent"
laughed Beth. you'd change the
place and keep the pain They're all
about alike"
At this Mamie lifted such a woe.be-
gone face that I felt something must be
done.
"Girlsm said I, in my most impressive
school-room manner.
But here there was an interruption, for
Mamie left the rockingham and rushed
toward the bed.
Oh, Mamie !!'cried Kate, "don'tmuss the
bed; it's hard enough anyway" But
she spoke too late, for under the com
bined influence of homesickness and in
.~fluenza, Mamie had flung herself on the
bed in a forlorn little heap, and was lift
ing up her voice in q hoarse. cry.
This was. simply dreadful.
Beth and I purred over and cuddled
her, and Kate slipped downstairs and
.oaxed the cross kitchen girl into max
ing a bowl of sage tea, and by the time
she was back with it the invalid was
somewhat comforted.
When quiet was restored, / spoke
again. "Girls! let's 90 to housekecp-
ing" Mamie stopped the bowl half
way to her lips, Beth sat upright on the
= trunk, and Kate dropped the stick of
wood in her hand back into the box.
"Where's the furniture coming from?'
said she.
"Wholl pay the bills?" said Mamie.
"Wholl do the work." said Beth,
who was born south Of Mason'sa and Dix
on's line.
"Wenl all do it," said /. answering
> the last question first; land as for the
furnishing, that needn't cost so very
much; and about the bills-Kate, how
much do VIC all pay a week."
e"Four times five is twenty, and two
Dollars for washing makes twenty-five"
said Kate, with bookkeeper promptness.
"Why," said Beth, beginning IS be
eager, "lots of families live on less than
>kat, and pay for everything out of it
>Rss and doctors bills and every
Me', ,e ttalkea till midnight. and the
meme seo%eed. the more feasible the
hemnnlLmcd, and it was decided that
/, Meor,i IN tencment-hunting
Il bnext morning; and after Beth
anu I'd gone to our own room. Kate
Gnu hurrying across to say she had
some spoons and forks which had been
her mothers, and that Mamie said she
knew how to make lovely wafles.
We expected a tedious time finding a
1 rent within our means: but it is aston
-isAiae how fortune helps those who try
TO help themselves. That very week
nice ftsi,s scholar of Nannie's stopped
after school to say that her parents
were going to move out OF the city.
We knew where she iived-a pleasant
house in a respectable locality; so after
supper Kate and l hunted up the land
lord, the next day we went in a body
to inspect the place, and the bargain was
%concL1ded.
Between that time and our departure
we babe fair to lose our reputation of
being the quietest boarders in the house,
for every night there was talking and
laughing in one room or the other, while
we stitched and hemmed and figured
this last the hardest of all.
Kate, with a confidence born of much
handling of money, made out q list in a
twinkling, which list was perfectly sat
isfactory to all of us-until we inquired
prices. One thing we were agreed upon,
and that was, rigid economy, so we
cheapened this and left out that, until it
looked quite reasonable.
Well. the first day of December found
us in s'our own hired house, and as Beth
turned the key in the hall door, we felt
that we had burned our ships behind us.
The outgoing tenants seemed to regard
our experiment in the light of a huge
joke, which they were willing to help
along, so they gave us a number of house: