The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1885-04-10
MRS. GATES EXPERIMENT.


and tearing into B%lithedale several times a
day a lady alighted one November morn
ing, whose characteristic were an unmis-
taxable city air and a general aspect of
never having been in Blithdale before.
She was not sure, so far. that she would
ever be i'll it again, for the New Jersey
town did not impress her picturesquely.
She objected both to the redness of the
soil and the matter-of-fac expression of
the houses.
Yet Blithedale was always described as
"a place of resort in summer and early
autumn, and within easy access Of the
city, but the last of November is an nm.
favorable season for such settlements, when
the green, leafy glamour of summer has
vanished and the bridal veil of winter has
not yet been thrown oven the scene.
Mrs. Rapson was making an experiment
al and unheralded visit to her friend Mrs.
Gates, who. about three months ago, had
been obliged by unexpected losses to go
into exile ON the line of the New Jersey
Central railroad. and, having some friends
in The place, she chose Blithedale. What
she was doing with herself there, and in
what way she was able to live on next to
nothing, remained to be seen.
II was not difficult to find the house,
the street being given. but, when found, it
was something of a shock to a person
fresh from New York. 1t was of wood,
dingy-white in hue, and the two-storied
front slanted to Il point over the windows,
giving the impression that by some acct
dent, which could scarcely be called a
happy one. the sides of the dwelling had
got turned to the front. The door and
windows were small and severely plain;
there was ground on both sides of the
house, and a tagged walk led from the low
wooden gate to the steps.
A door-bell was a rather unexpected
piece of civilization, and the visitors ring
was quickly answered by a neat, smiling
hand-maiden with a very German face.
was requested to walk into the sitting
room. which appeared to cross the entire
house.
It was fairly tapestried with vines. and
in the windows were blooming plants. An
open Franklin stove, the next best thing
to a 9 CRATE, had a cheerful fire in it. and
there was a general look of warmth and
brightness about the large, low room,
that impressed the visitor very pleasantly.
Perhaps the lounge and easy chair, cover
ed with Turkey red, had something to do
with this: but the whole room was a study.
.iAlice's flat in-street was a perfect
poem, to be sure" mused the lady, ''but
who would expect her TO make a hut like
this habitablc looking?"
''Alice' herself had now appeared from
some mysterious back precinct with a
warm welcome, and she was immediately
called upon to give an account of herself.
There is not very much to give she
began, smilingly. You were so late this
year at your beloved mountains that my
fitting had to be dore while you were
away. No, I didn't feel d~readfully at all
at having to do it. | am very fond, you
know, of the Joys and S%aunderses who have
homes here, and | mean to make he best
of it. When more than half of my little
capital was swept away, | felt that the
first reduction to be made was in rent, and
| get this ugly, comfortable little house
for $50 a month, while my fourth-story
cabinet finished flat, cost me, as you know,
$50
but are not other expenses very much
the same
by no means, was the reply. Pro
visions are one-third cheaper than in New
York. for B%iithedale has quite "a reputation
in this respect; aud Louisa, my German
maiden, a prize among servants, is abso-
lutely contented with s. a month.
"Well,i said the astonished visitor,
this is certainly Arcadia in one way, if
not in another.
Il must show you the house" continued
Mrs. Gates. 1T is better than it looks;
but first you shall see my greenhouse
Her friend restrained her surprise as she
was conducted through a doorway into an
u~npretending '~'lean-to, with sloping glass
roof and glass front and sides, quite filled
with callas and carnations that promised
abundant bloom shortly. Every plant
looked green and glossy; and the tempera-
ture of the place seemed perfect.
This and the steam pipes for heating
were all in readiness when | took the house,
having been put in by the owner for his
own use. But the doctors ordered him
south for his health, and fortunately APP
peared Just at the right time"
st is very NICE murmured her per-
picked friend; you were always so fond
of flowers!'
Eyes; and you remember how always
had something i'll bloom in my New York
fiat? 1t was that circumstance which
made me bold enough to venture on a
greenhouse.
''.And you have 40 roses? - asked Mrs.
Rapson, who did not quite see her way
through this greenhouse problem. Moth
inc but callas and carnations?'
ssNothing but callas and carnations, : re-
Joined her hostess. for both require the
same temperature and moisture, both are