Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-10-20

small iron pot In which she could cook any
thing she liked In the vegetable line, or
roast potatoes in the ashes
She furnished her room by inches, you
might almt st say. At first she had no car
pet. and she had not the strength to scour
her moor to keep 1t white, for 1t was old soft
painted IT rich yellow ochre-did it her
self one morning before she went to office.
That night she painted the hall bed room
and the hall floor.
Furnishing the Room.
One day, IN a secondhand store she
found two strips of carpet-a fine body
brussels. with a grayish cream ground and
suggestion Of figures in dark brown. One
strip was six yards long and the other two
yards. She got 1t for two dollars. and
speedily had the two yards matched into a
rug. little longer than wide, that was
almost exactly the right Shape for her room.
She painted the rocking chair a pale blue
with enamel paint. and put a cotton cushion
In II Of cream and blue cretonne. The
kitchen chair got coat of the yellow
ochre, and so did the legs and side Of the
table. OF her landlady she bought the
mattress and pillows for her cot, and COW
cred them with ruffied cretonne creation
of blue and cream. She got a cracker box
In which to keep her coal, and this she
covered with piece of blue denim lid and
all, and when the ruffied curtain was down
1t made nice enough seat for anybody.
Inc mantel she painted cream white with
enamel paint, picked out with gold On
this she put the few little trinkets she had
and on the walls she hung half a dozen
little water colors and bits of canvas, all
her own work, but all unframed. For a
long time the only window curtains she had
she made of heavy unbleached muslin, which
cost her cents a yard, and which she
tackled to the window frame at the top,
rolling them by hand and pinning them.
flnally she got some cream shades that
would fit her old-fashioned windows and then
81 no hOy n IL
to make long curtains for the inside. These
she tied back with band and bow of pale
blue Saline, and draped a narrow scarf Of
the same over the top as finish.
Pieces Of Bric-a-Brac.
Her hall bed room she used as a dressing
room and to hang her clothes in. reserving
the closet In the larger room for her cook
ing utensils, as there was no fire In the bed
room, and she could not cook there In cold
weather. She had the door taken off the
closet, and curtains of blue denim hung
there. She had curtains of the same hung
across the narrow entrance to her little
hall, which shut her off from the remain
der of the house quite effectually. For her
table she made cover of blue denim, which
she feather-stitched in yellow silk. 1t could
be easily removed when she wished to use
the table to serve one of her dainty meals
to a friend or two, and this became of fire.
quent occurrence.
She picked up pretty bits Of china and
crystal here and there. She bought her
spoons and other bits of table silver by the
piece until she has a service of six, all
through, and every bit of 1t sterling. One
day she found, in a secondhand store, two
mahogany chairs. that might have belonged
to Dolly Madison, 50 quaint and dilapidated
were they. She got them for three dollars.
and had her find removed to an upholsterer' 8
at once. This bit of extravagance-for she
had them done up in cream and gold bro
cade-cOst her so dear that she had to live
very close for a month. She followed up
this plan until she now has a collection of
bric-a-brac that a woman of wealth might
envy. She has for a iandlady a woman
who is not an ogre by any means; but be-
ing a business woman she exacts her pound
and after that is very kind to Margaret
permitting her to do many things that
would ordinarily be considered an imperti-
hence to ask, because she realizes that in
her quiet. determined girl roomer there is q
spirit Of Independence that should be stimu-
lated whenever possible
/ have said nothing of Margaret's ward
robe, because as she Is in mourning, she
dresses plainly in black. and requires few
changes of gowns. Two dresses for Office
one for church, and one rather more dressy
for evening, are all that she requires as
she has numerous bodices to change with.
Her recreation she finds largely in study
What she has accomplished thousands of
other girls "in office" might do, If they had
the courage to dare, the will to do.
SONORA SARA.