Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1892-03-04


on legacy which could only be pos
sessed after the death of her venerable
relative.
A day or 50 after she had decided
that the house was to be thoroughly
renovated my wife said to me:
Il have been examining the parlOr
carpets, and | find that by using the
best parts of both, and buying wide
border, | can get quite a new carpet
for our bedroom, absolutely unworn."
Indeed" | remarked, with pleased
surprise; there was one thing that she
would not want anyhow.
Yes. and the carpet that is now on
it has enough good to cover the chill
dren's room, if / put the worn part
under the bed. Or maybe I'd better
put that on the spare room, she adj
ded, retiectiyely, and give that one to
the children. Theirs gets such hard
wear that an old one Will not last any
time h lrdly.",
/ sa d nothing, but felt greatly re-
lieved.
AS long as we don't have to buy a
uatingly, don't you think we could
dhcIi Il HC" SGJ Oh IuElllIuIS.
mo, [ don't" | returned, sayagely;
whereupOn she burst into tears and
called me a heartless monster. To
pacify her, [ had to promise the furni-
ture, together with a new silk and a
sealskin, that the mistress of the house
might be as fine as her dwelling.
1T does seem a shame" she said, a
few days afterward, ito spend so much
money On this house. That's very
handsome and expensive paper that
we looked at, and to substitute an
archway for the folding doors will cost
something"-this was the first that l
had heard of the archWay-"and then
those lovely carpets cut up to tit these
small rooms, too"
Yes, it is shame, replied, hardly
crediting my sense. Not all had been
lost, although much had been in dan
ger.
I'm so glad that you think So" re-
turned my wife, briskly; Il was sure
that you would agree with me that it
would be wiser for US to find a house
that suits us better, and buy right
away. Real estate is cheap now, they
say-there's SO much in the market"
She tried to put on a knowing look;
if she had known half as much about
that subject as about managing me, |
should have felt impressed. AS it was
[ weakly objected:
My dear, don't know where in the
world [ could get the money to buy a
larger and better house, any house at
all in fact"
you could sell this" she replied,
nothing daunted.
But if real estate is a drug on the
market [ do not want to SELL" [ re-
torted, thinking cunningly to turn her
own weapon upon herself.
There are those shares of stock,
then"
But that stock is going up daily; if
| wait six months | can get double
what it would bring now; or hold it
and draw big interest on my invest
ment"
well, what else are YOU going to
do? You said yourself that we must
have a larger and better house."
ThereupOn | mentally babe a regret
full farewell to the stock and the
money which had expected to pocket
by holding it. My wife occupied her
leisure time for the next three weeks
III looking for a residence which should
be in all respects suitable for the fur
niture we were going to buy. What
she would desire next | could not
guess, unless she should become thor
oughly dissatisfied with me.
At the end of the period mentioned
| came home one evening to find her
in tears.
Aunt James dead, she sobbed; "the
poor old lady died this morning. l
have just come from her house"
As Aunt Jane had been at the point
of death for the past six months, | was
hardly surprised to hear this bit of
news. l did my best to comfort my
Wits however, and comported myself
like dutiful Dephew-in-law at the
mournful ceremonies following the
death.
When I returned home the day after
the funeral my wife met me at the
door, her face flushed, her eyes blaz-
ing.
What do you suppose that old crank
has done?" she demanded.
What old crank?" [ inquired won
deringly.
why, Aunt Jane, of course"
I'm sure [ don't know" | returned,
mildly; "but you should remember,
my dear, that"
ooh, [ know she's dead. She wouldn't
give her things away under any other
circumstances. She's left me 800 in
cash, and that dear old silver to nv
second cousin, John Scott. He'll sell
it and spend every cent on liquor and
cigars and horses. [ know he will"
Then the blaze in her eyes was
quenched by flood of tears. | did
my best to soothe her, but my efforts
were useless. | assured her that if
her cousin sold the silver we would
buy it.
4 don't want it," she declared; Il
won't have livery vehemently-
"and [ won't get single new thing in
the house, or a new dress, or that seal
skin, or anything. I'll just stay here
with things as they are, and John
Scott can keep his silver and you can
keep your building association money
and stock, too. So there. now"
After that [ did not try to assuage
her grief. I was afraid that consola-
ton might be costly.-Good Housekeep-
ing
Edison Has a Rival in Maine.