The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1888-11-21

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having If. suppose can buy L.
Oh. George, il you only viii. it will
be such comfort
Then. said her husband, turning to
the clerk. =. you may send it to my house,
1t shall be done this forenoon"
The young husband took five ten-dollar
bills from his poke and paid them over
for the sofa.
s. This Is the money said be, as he
was walking home, q that | was going TO
put into the savingsbank You know
that this is quarter day, and for the last
four have put in this amount NoW, in
consequence Of our new purchase, shall
not be able to-
10 is only for once said his wife,
~and then only consider how mnch bet
ter our parIor will look"
Was it only for once2 Time would
show.
When that sofa came home, and was
installed in the place Of honor, the old
fashioned sofa was removed 10 a cham
Der. Someho~ it did not seem to set off
the room as mnch as it was expected 10.
1t looked out OF place, as Mrs Hall could
not help confessing to herself, though SHE
was not disposed TO speak of it. The
plain but neat kiddermins;er carpet look
ed decidedly cheap in comparison with
il. However, Mrs. Hall resolutely shut
I her eyes to this unpleasant fact, and con-
tinued enthusiastically to expatiate in
praises of the new sofa. She could not
/ be conten,ed until Mrs. savary had call
ed and expressed her opinion oft. This
/ happened before long.
My dear" said that lady, taking
critical survey of the apartment, your
sofa is handsome one, acknowledge,
but w.ll you pardon my suggesting one
thing2"
Certainly, Mrs. Sayary7
Their allow me to suggest that dark
I Brussels carpet is necessary to have it
show TO good advantage. Now this Kid
dermister, dare say, is = tolerably good
one, but it couldn't have cost more than
dollar Yard
"only eighty-seven cents" said Mrs.
Hall, little confused.
$50 suppose Well, you see, a carpet
at eighty-seyen cents yard doesn't cor
respond very well with fifty dollar sofa
To tell the plain truth. the old fashioned
sofa looked more appropriate"
Mrs Hall almost wished that she had
never bought the new sofa but, having
done so, she was determined, if possible,
to have everything to correspond She
was too wise to say anything about it at
present, but waite until week before
the next quarter day.
Then she began to indulge in brief
hints, which at length became more de-
cided At first, George would no, hear Of
a new carpet. He was determined not to
omit his usual quarterly deposit this
time; but at length his wife's Emporium
iii > succeeded, aided by . lurking con-
viction on his own part that there was
real incongruity between the sofa and
the plain carpet. The new purchase cost
fifty dollars and trifie more, which
made George look little sober; bat he
could not deny, as his wife said, that the
room looked good deal improved
And was this all? BY no means
BY the time the carpet was put down
/ il was discovered that the chairs, which
were only cane seated, looked quite in
ferior to the good company which had
recently been introduced. When the
next quarter day arrived, it was found
absolutely essential 10 purchase some
black stuffed chairs. Afterwards came a
new mirror. and piano was hired, for
even Mrs. Hall did not venture TO sug-
gest so large an out lay as the purchase
would require. So the piano was brought
and some fifty dollais a year were paid
for its use, though by the way, it was
never used, since Mrs Hall had no ear
for music; therefore it served only for
ornament.
BY the time the year was mp, George
found this I two hundred and twenty-five
dollars had been spent for furniture, and
not one cent had been deposited in the
Swings bank. More than that, as their
I style of living had increased with their
new furniture, which had unconsciously
elevated their ideas, George found him
self some hundred and fifty dollars in
debt. At this time, or just before, the
great commercial reyulsion had swept
over the land, and Georges employers
I had not been spared. They had not fall
I ell, but their resources had been gseatly
crippled. They called him aside on the
{ last day Of the year and told him that,
though they should be glad to retain him
in their employ, they should be obliged
to cut down his income for the year to
come to six hundred dollars He went
/ home much depressed, as well he might
be. His expenses increased, his income
diminished, and debt 10 pay, which
would swallow up nearly all he had laid
aside in the savings bank.
He at length told his wife the cause of
his dependency, on her anxious soiicita-
ton The vanity and love of show she
had exhibited lay on the surface. She
determined to express her sympathy in
an active way. What that was will ex
plain.
When George came home the next
evening iotea. what was his astonishment
to find a load of furniture before his door,
"Can it be possible" he thought, that
Mary has been purchasing new furni-
ture?"
Looking more closely he observed that
the new parIor sofa and other articles of
furniture were included in the wagon
load. Full Of amazement he entered the
house.
What's all this, MARY? What have
you done with the parior furniture?p
Sold it, said his wife, composedly.
Sold it :" exclaimed George, in sur
prise.
Yes; knew that your circumstances
were not as good as they have been. and
! thought the money would be worth
more to US than the furniture. / had
heard that the Watkins we're about TO
furnish their house, and thought they
might be willing 10 buy our furniture at