Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1886-02-26
THE HUNTERS HOLIDAY.


Have aHo,ne Of Her Own, and How sb
Had Her Own Way.
Some years ago Henry Hunter wa
oookkeeper for a Lake street firm
And so he is still, Years ago his salar
was twenty dollars week. It is ius
y ne same now. In fact for twelve wear
"a. enry Hunter has sat at the sam
aea <, kept the same set of books, an
,..drsu n the same compensation for hi
serg;o s.. Ten years ago he was maj
riol "a I'd the few hundred dollars h
hud ~sau I'd WAS spent for househol,
Goods u e and his wife rented d So;
house on 4 C West Side, and, of cours
lived I'M to- their income. The wifi
dressed falr,s we'll and 50 did he
They Of coru,n ;, went to the theatre
and Henry snns 'ked cigars, and oc
cnsiona]lv took drink. Two Years
sped by and they ere happy and had
one child and pIesoA OF hope for The
future, but. no money AT times, in
fact, they were }ittIa IN debt to the
grocer and tbs butcher,
Then Mrs. Hunter b. gan to talk
about getting q home of h or own. She
seemed to set her heart orhA t, and Hen
ry talked about it, just to II u'nor her.
But he had no more hope OF 'etting
home OF his own than he had If flying
off to the moon to look for gold
That is, not for many years to come
He was willing enough, even anxious.
but his familiarity with figures and
finances was sufficient to show him
the great gulf there is between q mod
crate salary and 81 honest stead. But
Mrs. Hunter continued to talk OF the
home she hoped to occupy. Woman
like she had yearned, and, woman
like she refused to be comforted by
talk Of what would happen in the far
away future.
Ono evening Henry came home from
his work, and, after tea, settled down
with his slippers, his paper and his
pipe. Mrs. Hunter had been unusually
reticent during the meal, as a woman
always is when she has something Of
unusual Importance ON her mind and
the inevitable accompanying desire to
talk about it. SO Mrs. Hunter bided
her time until the tea was finished and
the dishes cleared away and then she
began:
CHOW, Henry, want to talk to
you seriously"
He reluctantly removed the paper
from his eyes, and took the big pipe
from his mouth.
II was over to Mrs. Smith to-day"
Mrs. Hunter went ON, animatedly,
"and what do yon think? They are
buying q home OF their own. Mr..
Smiths salary is only SIS, but they
say he can easily pay for it, :,
Sop replied Henry, with a grunt,
and resuming his paper.
eyes, his wife kept on, "and l
don't see why we can't do the same
thing. Your salnry is 81 week more,
and know II am quite as economi-
cal--~or, at least, can be-as Mrs:
Smith"
"Wo1l see about it next year, said
Henry YEARLY; maybe I'll get g. raise
in my salary
Aud then he resumed his paper, and
pulled vigorously at his cooling pipe.
But don't want to watt" persist
ed Mrs. Hunter, I'm tired hearing
about the increase in salary which
never comes, and I'm tired Of paying
rent and fighting with the landlord
about repairs, too. If the Smiths can
get q home Of their own I don't see
why we can't"
"Anq how on earth?" queried the
man with the pipe, "do you suppose
the Smiths are going to live and pay
for a house on $19 week."
"Why, they are in q building asso-
citation, and they pay SO much a week,
and that pays for the home in eight
years. O.; a. ~
"And what is building associa-
tion2"
"I-H don't know, but I'll run over
in the morning and ask Mrs. Smith"
replied Mrs. Hunter, q little abashed.
"Ill tell you~what it isl said the
lord OF the rented house with that
air OF superiority which the best OF
husbands put on at times, 'it's a
scheme by which inanciering fanatics
ing, by which they can pull themselves
w W oAASAA COcO tbk)Sp CtS ~ NCIt.
You don't catch me in any of those
schemes"
And Mrs. Hunters meekness return
ed to her with q realization of her ig-
norance, and she said nothing. The
paper and pipe were resumed, silence
reigned, and the wife got out her stock
ing bag and mendeo hose, saying not
u q word, but keeping up a lively think
sn ing.
The next evening, having in the
mea1tine seen Mrs. Smith, she tried
to tell her husband what building
association was, but that impatient
man listened none too sympat hizingly,
and questioned the correctness of his
:, wife's figures and Mrs. Smiths state
ments and ruthlesslyg exposed the
false fnanciering OF the building asso-
citation plan as he understood it, and
finally mixed Mrs. Hunter up 80 that
she>had to 90 off in the bedroom and
cry from vexation. Most good hus.
bands can tell when their wives are
crying, even if there are dozen walls
Intervening, and Mr. Hunter was that
kind of man. It may be perception,
instinct, the superiority Of man, OF
4 conscience that tells him But what.
ever it IS, on this occasion the hus.
S-, band threw down his paper and went
IN to see about it,. Of course he wiped
81. away her tears and took his pipe out
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